Beautiful Birds at Fort De Soto

Jun 8

The same day I photographed the cute little American Oystercatcher chicks at Fort De Soto, I also photographed a few other beautiful birds in the park. It started with an immature Little Blue Heron. Little Blues are born with all white feathers. These are replaced in the first year of life with dark slate-blue feathers. I think the best time to photograph these birds is when they are in this transition phase. This Little Blue was photographed in a dark lagoon area, providing great contrast between the background and its feathers.

First summer Little Blue Heron standing in deep black water — **First summer Little Blue Heron.** The “calico” pattern of the feathers tell us this is the first summer for this Little Blue. By winter this bird will lose all the white feathers and will be completely slate-blue. Photographed with the Nikon Z9 and Nikkor Z 800mm f/6.3 VR S lens mounted on a gimbal head to a Skimmer Ground Pod. ISO 5000, f/6.3, 1/1250 sec.

The Little Blue Heron eventually made its way into the mangroves so I turned my attention to a nearby Great Egret. The Great Egret was staying perfectly still, waiting for a fish to swim by a small stand of grass. Most of the time he was looking away from me, but with a little patience I snapped the photo to the right when he turned his head.

In addition to finding a wide diversity of birds at Fort De Soto, this park also provides a variety of pleasing backgrounds. Backgrounds are often overlooked in bird photography but it is an essential element of the photograph with the power to elevate your photo from snapshot to art. If you know how to position yourself (which I will show you in my Fort De Soto Photo Walk), then you can create pleasing layers such as these photos of a Willet and a Marbled Godwit.

Marbled Godwit standing in shallow water — **Marbled Godwit searching for worms in the sand beneath the waves at high tide.** Photographed with the Nikon Z9 and Nikkor 200-500mm f/5.6 lens handheld. 500mm, ISO 500, f/6.3, 1/2500 sec.

The resident star of Fort De Soto, the Reddish Egret, was also working the lagoon areas at high tide. This bird is always so much fun to watch and photograph as it sprints and hops around to track down its prey.

Reddish Egret taking flight — **Reddish Egret taking off.** Photographed with the Nikon Z9 and Nikkor 200-500mm f/5.6 lens handheld. 400mm, ISO 500, f/6.3, 1/2500 sec.

I wrapped up my day with a quick visit to an area where it’s easy to get close-ups. Here is a Great Egret and a Laughing Gull hamming it up for the camera.