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.
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.