Florida Gulf Coast Creations

Tag: Reddish Egret

  • Bahia Beach Nature Preserve

    Bahia Beach Nature Preserve

    This past Monday, my friend Art Nadelman and I made a visit to Bahia Beach Nature Preserve in Ruskin. The preserve is less than a mile from Tampa Bay and has become one of favorite winter spots for waterfowl. We often see many other species of water birds like herons, egrets, gulls and shorebirds. Occasionally we also see some beautiful roseate spoonbills. We don’t typically go to this spot during the summer because of mosquitoes. But we had another motivation for making the trip.

    Last fall Canon released a new zoom lens that received rave reviews in testing. Both of us ordered the lens back in November when it was first available to ship. It only took 6 months for us to get them. No need to comment here. We felt like this would be a great place to put the lens through a good test because the preserve is an easy walk and generally provides a lot of good photo opportunities, especially for birds in flight.

    Roseate Spoonbill Flares To Land
    Roseate Spoonbill Flares to Land

    The day turned out to be a blast. We arrived at sunrise to clear skies with lower humidity and a nice breeze. Better yet … no mosquitoes! The recent rains expanded the water areas and brought in a lot of birds. The hiking trail isn’t much more than a half mile long and it meanders along a large pond on the entire east side of the trail and two other ponds along the west side. We started off by walking to the very end of the path so we could position the sun behind our backs as we reversed and headed toward the park entrance.

    Reddish Egret Grabs Another Small Fish
    Reddish Egret Grabs Another Small Fish

    The birds were very active. We logged about 40 species, but the number of birds was impressive. I’ve written about reddish egrets in the past. Many photographers and birders head to Fort De Soto Park near St. Petersburg to see them. There are usually 1 or 2 fishing in the tidal pools. We rarely find them inland and, on this day, we had 4 feeding around us! There was also a flock of 19 spoonbills that didn’t seem to mind us being near them. Another of my favorite shorebirds is the black skimmer. It’s fun to watch them glide over the top of the water with their bottom beak skimming just under the surface for fish. There were close to 20 fishing in the ponds. We would normally only see those numbers on the coast but not inland. The waters were alive with birds. At times the shoreline seemed like a white mass with all the snowy egrets and great egrets. It was a feeding frenzy. There were numerous species of terns diving into the water for fish along with several types of gulls. It was amazing to see the activity.

    Sandwich Tern And Black Skimmer Join Feeding Frenzy
    Sandwich Tern and Black Skimmer Join the Feeding Frenzy

    In addition to the aerial displays, there were also other shorebirds. Black-necked stilts were everywhere. They’re funny-looking birds with their very long pink legs. As we finally got back near the park entrance, we came across a killdeer family that had 4 little fuzzy chicks running through the weeds. It was a fantastic morning.

    Killdeer Chick Stops For Moment
    Killdeer Chick Stops For a Moment

    If you’re wondering about the new lens, it performed beautifully. Both of us agreed, after reviewing hundreds of photos, that the lens is very impressive. I’m still not sure I can let Canon off the hook for the wait, but the results are exciting. We’ll see how it holds up in the long run.

    For more information about Bahia Beach Nature Preserve, follow the link below.

    A few more pictures from this journey are featured below. For a larger selection of photos, please visit the galleries listed.

  • Reddish Egret at Fort De Soto

    Reddish Egret at Fort De Soto

    For the past 9 days, our daughter and granddaughter have been visiting us from Japan. Of course, anyone who comes here wants to go to the beach so last week we took a trip to Fort De Soto Park in St. Petersburg. They have a huge beach that is good for shelling. While the ladies were walking the shore searching for shells, I wandered over by one of the large tidal pools to watch a reddish egret fish for its breakfast.

    In the United States, the reddish egret is typically only found along the shores of the Gulf of America. They are not a common bird but we often see several at Fort De Soto Park. In fact, the park has become a destination for birders and photographers looking for a reddish egret.

    They are very entertaining when they begin hunting for food. They work the shallow waters of the tidal pools where small fish get trapped by the receding waters. The egrets will run through the water, often with their wings raised like a cape to herd the fish into areas that are easier for them to grab.

    Reddish Egret Striking Water For Fish
    Reddish Egret Striking the Water for a Small Fish

    For more information about reddish egrets, follow the links below.

    A few more pictures from this journey are featured below. For a larger selection of photos, please visit the gallery listed.

  • Hurricane Idalia Flamingos

    Hurricane Idalia Flamingos

    Every now and then there is a silver lining to a major hurricane. Despite all the damage that occurred with hurricane Idalia last week, there were some positive things that happened that astonished communities all along the Gulf Coast. For the first time in decades, American flamingos were spotted in several places after the storm. Even though flamingos are often associated with Florida, the reality is that, outside of places of captivity, there are only a few wild flamingos in the Everglades near Miami.

    Idalia made landfall in the Big Bend area of Florida on Wednesday, August 30. The following day, a group of 17 flamingos was spotted between Clearwater and St. Petersburg. As word got out about the initial sighting, more reports started to come in from other areas along the coast down to Fort Myers. Speculation was that the birds were carried from their native areas of Cuba and the Yucatan Peninsula when the storm intensified in the region and quickly headed north. There were even reports of flamingos being rescued due to exhaustion.

    On Friday, we journeyed out to Fort De Soto Park in St. Petersburg in search of these rare birds. Being connected to the birding community helped tremendously. My friend Art Nadelman was receiving emails and text messages with updates. We checked out several areas in the park and talked with other photographers, but it seemed like everyone was striking out. As we started to head back home, a text came in about a sighting nearby. Apparently, a pair had flown into an area we just left. We found one of the two birds a long way from where we were standing and were able to get some photos.

    After hearing that the birds were still being seen in the evening on Friday, we decided to go back to the park the next morning hoping they hadn’t left overnight. It turned out to be a great decision. When we arrived at the park, there was a group feeding in the tidal pools along the beach. But, by Friday night, the flamingos had become one of the top news stories and the park was quickly flooded by photographers and people wanting to see them. It didn’t take long for the masses to get too close to the birds and they flew off. But we got word that they didn’t go too far and were even more accessible. Fortunately, we were able to get great shots.

    Group Of American Flamingos Preening At Edge Of Lagoon
    Group of American Flamingos Preening at the Edge of a Lagoon

    Fort De Soto is a wonderful park. It has miles of beautiful beaches and since its located right at the point where Tampa Bay flows into the Gulf of America, it’s known to birders and photographers alike for its amazing access to so many species of shore birds. One of the most sought after is the reddish egret. I’ve posted stories about these beautiful birds in the past. While my wife Pam was busy shell hunting, I photographed one of the reddish egrets along with a few other birds. And you never know what other critters you may find in the sand and receding tidal pools.

    Reddish Egret Walking Through Tidal Pool
    Reddish Egret Walking through a Small Tidal Pool
    Fiddler Crab Crouched Next To Sea Grass
    Fiddler Crab Crouched Next to a Piece of Sea Grass

    For now, our hope is that some of the displaced flamingos will find our area to their liking and make this their new home. Only time will tell. But as of Monday evening, several were still here. We’re keeping our fingers crossed. I’ve attached a couple of links to recent articles.

    A few more pictures from this journey are featured below. For a larger selection of photos, go to the galleries listed.

  • A Day at the Beach

    A Day at the Beach

    One of our favorite all-around photography locations is Fort De Soto Park in Tierra Verde near St. Petersburg. For this visit we decided to target the shore birds. With 3 miles of beach, there are LOTS of shore birds. The park is located where Tampa Bay connects to the Gulf of America. In the spring and fall it is a stopover point for many migrating birds. The park is also a seasonal home for several migrants.

    We picked a morning where the tide was out which creates a large area of tidal pools. The pools trap fish and little crustaceans that provide a feast for the birds. It turned out to be a very calm morning, so the pools made for great reflections.

    American Oystercatcher Eats A Morsel
    American Oystercatcher Eats a Morsel

    We were fortunate to capture shots of many different species such as American oystercatchers, roseate spoonbills, brown pelicans, gulls, plovers, marbled godwits, ruddy turnstones, willets, great egrets, snowy egrets, and a reddish egret chasing schools of small fish.

    I’ve included a link for more information about Fort De Soto Park.

    A few more pictures from this journey are featured below. For a larger selection of photos, go to the galleries listed.

  • Reddish Egret

    Reddish Egret

    One bird that has become a favorite of photographers is a reddish egret. They are acrobatic feeders. There is one that people search for at Fort DeSoto Park in St. Petersburg. If you find a group of people in the tidal flats, you can generally figure that a reddish egret is the focus of their attention. They typically favor the pools along the beaches created by the receding tide where fish get trapped.

    Recently we found one that was fishing shallow inland waters. He was alongside a large flock of white pelicans.

    Reddish Egret Watching For Fish
    Reddish Egret Watching for Fish

    For a larger selection of photos, go to the galleries listed.

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