Trip Report: Fort De Soto, 12 Aug 23

This morning I made the 45 minute drive down to Fort De Soto Park. It was warm and humid, so 15 minutes out I turned off the AC and rolled down the car windows to give the lens element time to fog over and clear up. Skies were clear with no wind. The no-see-ums were brutal, so I sprayed up with Off. Nanday Parakeets were squawking in the trees in the parking lot area.

On the beach it was warm and the tide was coming in. Reddish Egret, Sanderlings, and a few plovers were in the tidal pools. Black Skimmers and Royal Terns were further out on the point, but I was feeling a bit lazy and didn’t walk out there. The lagoon area, previously roped off, is now open. There I spotted a single Great Egret, a few White Ibis, a Little Blue Heron, and a Tricolored Heron. There were no signs of Roseate Spoonbills. For the most part, I and most of the other photographers stayed on the Reddish Egrets.

Reddish Egrets are surprising aggressive towards one another and it’s always good photography when one Reddish flies into another’s space. Both will raise their crest and and typically crane their heads and necks up. One usually runs after the other with wings outstretched, and will sometimes flip their tails. This behavior happened on this particular morning when an adult flew into the tidal pool where there was already a juvenile. The juvenile raised its crest and chased after the adult, probably its parent. Both kept their distance and settled into foraging for fish.

Reddish Egret (juvenile). Raised crest, clapping of the bill, and running towards the intruder are common agonistic displays. Nikon Z9 with Nikkor 800mm f/6.3 lens handheld at f/6.3, ISO 1000, 1/2000 sec.

Reddish Egret (juvenile) with a raised crest. Nikon Z9 with Nikkor 800mm f/6.3 lens handheld at f/6.3, ISO 1000, 1/2000 sec.

Reddish Egret (juvenile) running with outstretched wings while foraging for small fish. Nikon Z9 with Nikkor 800mm f/6.3 lens handheld at f/6.3, ISO 1000, 1/2000 sec.

Reddish Egret (juvenile) with outstretched wings foraging for fish. Nikon Z9 with Nikkor 800mm f/6.3 lens handheld at f/6.3, ISO 1000, 1/2000 sec.

Reddish Egret (juvenile) with a successful catch. Nikon Z9 with Nikkor 800mm f/6.3 lens handheld at f/6.3, ISO 1000, 1/2000 sec.

Reddish Egret. From what I see on Facebook, many photographers are challenged by the colors of the Reddish Egret. Too often, photographers reflexively slide the saturation bar to the right when processing their images. Camera sensors commonly oversaturate reds and yellows, so what the photographer actually needs to do is compensate for this by desaturating the reds and yellows. If they don’t do this, and especially if they slide the saturation bar to the right, the Reddish ends up looking unnaturally burnt orange. This photo has been desaturated (-18) to accurately show the bird how it looks in real life. Nikon Z9 with Nikkor 800mm f/6.3 lens handheld at f/6.3, ISO 1000, 1/2500 sec.

Reddish Egret (juvenile) waiting for the right moment to strike. Nikon Z9 with Nikkor 800mm f/6.3 lens handheld at f/10, ISO 1000, 1/2000 sec.

On my way out, a birder stopped me and asked if I had see the Wilson’s Phalarope. I didn’t even know what that bird was so he showed me an image from eBird and explained that someone had reported it at De Soto yesterday. In non-breeding colors it looked similar to a Yellowlegs. The Phalarope is common in the Western U.S. and extremely rare in the east, so more than likely someone misidentified a bird and incorrectly reported a Wilson’s Phalarope. Still….be on the lookout.