Fort Desoto
This past Tuesday I went to Fort Desoto at sunrise. The light was beautiful and went from a soft early sun glow to nice bright morning sun. The Reddish Egret was out too having fun with a friend, a Red Breasted Merganser.
The light at sunrise gives a nice, soft feel to the Reddish Egret in the shallow water near the beach
Reddish Egret looking somewhat intensely at a Greater Yellow-legs sharing the shallow water
The Reddish Egret decided to move on
Snowy Egret watching the water roll in near the beach
Greater Yellow-legs staring back at me
As the sun gets up a little higher, the colors start popping more around the Greater Yellow-legs
Back to the Reddish Egret searching for breakfast
The wind blown “mane” of a hunting Reddish Egret
A Great White Egret lands into the sunlight
Reddish Egret dragging its feet as it takes off
A Least Tern flies quickly past
Osprey taking a bath in the shallow water
A very wet Osprey takes off after its bath, hoping to quickly air dry in flight
A Little Blue Heron on the hunt
A Laughing Gull taking off from the beach
A Black Skimmer doing what it does best, skim the water for fish keeping its longer lower beak in the water
Great White Egret taking flight as the Reddish Egret strolls in the background
The Reddish Egret is getting more animated in its hunting
The tiny fish on the right is swimming for its life as the Reddish Egret and Red Breasted Merganser (under water right behind the fish) chase it down
The Red Breasted Merganser paused it search for breakfast to pose
The Red Breasted Merganser does a nice wing flap for me
Red Breasted Merganser doing some preening
Red Breasted Merganser directing the band
Red Breasted Merganser doing a shake to dry off and fluff out its feathers
Red Breasted Merganser. The females and immature males look about the same as this one. The males have a darker head.
You can see the little teeth on the top part of the bill here. The teeth help the Merganser hold onto fish.
The Reddish Egret doesn’t seem happy that the Red Breasted Merganser caught a fish right in front of it
Reddish Egret doing its hunting dance in front of the Red Breasted Merganser
The intense look of a fishing splash down
Downy Woodpecker in a tree between the beach and picnic area
Mama Osprey is napping on her eggs as dad looks at me with a bit of attitude.
Fort Desoto is a great place to watch and photographer birds as the sun is coming up. The light is gorgeous and the birds are very entertaining!