“There’s Not Much Out Here Today”

“There’s not much out here today. The Reddish Egrets aren’t here.”

That’s what a photographer told me when he was leaving the beach and I was arriving at Fort De Soto. And from his perspective, he was right. Certainly the Reddish Egrets were no where to be found. But there were Willet. And Red Knots. And Laughing Gulls. Marbled Godwit. Sanderlings. Snowy, Piping, and Wilson’s Plovers. A Snowy Egret. A Great Blue Heron. Brown Pelicans.

But there was “not much out here today” because the Reddish Egrets weren’t around.

I think the problem many photographers have, myself included at times, is that too often we come to a site with certain expectations. Clearly this photographer was there to photograph the Reddish Egret and when it wasn’t there, he was done for the day. When that happens, you have to clear your mind and reset your expectations. While he saw nothing worth photographing, I saw a single Snowy Egret wading in the shallow water. I linked up with another photographer and we walked towards the Snowy. The other photographer saw some plovers and focused on them, and I waded out into the water to get a good sun angle on the Snowy.

The Snowy looked fantastic. The tail feathers were delicate and curled up, the lores around the eyes were a deep yellow, and the legs were pitch black with yellow feet. Just a beautiful bird.

Snowy Egret. On the prowl. Nikon Z8 with Nikkor Z 800mm f/6.3 VR S lens at f/6.3, 1/3200, ISO 400.

The Snowy Egret hunting style is similar to the Reddish Egret. It waits patiently in the shallow water until it sees a target. It then starts running around chasing the target, twisting and turning, using its wings for balance. It’s not as dramatic a dance as the Reddish, but it’s fun to watch and delivers some awesome poses.

All that, and it’s often ignored by photographers. Because it’s not the Reddish Egret.

I guess it is too common of a bird. It doesn’t have the mystique of the rare Reddish Egret. But often times I’ll see a beautiful bird right in front of a photographer giving amazing poses in amazing light - and they pass it up, walking aimlessly in search for something better. They pass on the Snowy, the plovers, and the Great Blue Heron - they’ve photographed them all before.

I could care less if it is a common bird, especially when it’s in its breeding plumage. Look at the winners of the Audubon Photography Awards. Many of those photographs feature very common birds. In fact, a Snowy Egret won the #52 spot in the Top 100 of the 2024 awards. Really! So don’t pass birds by because they aren’t rare enough for you or you came to photograph a bird you cannot find. Instead, ask yourself if the bird you do see is exhibiting awesome behavior and if the light is good. Who cares if it’s a common bird when you’re about to take an awesome bird photo?!

Truth be told, I’d rather shoot a super common bird like a Tufted Titmouse if it was exhibiting awesome behavior in great light than a super rare bird not doing anything in bad light. I’d make that choice every time.

Ok, rant over. And look at this business from the common Snowy Egret. I mean, c’mon! What an awesome bird!

Snowy Egret. These wings look exactly how I imagine an angel’s wings look. Nikon Z8 with Nikkor Z 800mm f/6.3 VR S lens at f/6.3, 1/3200, ISO 560.

Here’s a top tip when shooting a white bird at the beach: Set your aperture and shutter speed to what you want, then adjust the exposure compensation by +1/3 to +2/3, maybe even more. You may think you’ll blow out the highlights and may even get “blinkies” on the back of the camera, but trust me, it’s OK. The blinkies are based on an artificial preview JPEG, so that information is meaningless. You want to increase the exposure compensation because your camera sees a really bright white object and wants to bring the exposure down to neutral gray. If you shoot the “perfect” exposure as dictated by the camera, you’ll actually be underexposing your shot and you’ll have a gray bird, not a white bird.

Snowy Egret. Nikon Z8 with Nikkor Z 800mm f/6.3 VR S lens at f/6.3, 1/3200, ISO 500.

After the Snowy Egret moved on, I walked around some more looking unsuccessfully for the Reddish Egrets. I did come across a Great Blue Heron standing on the shoreline, but his back was to me. He finally looked towards me and I got this shot:

Great Blue Heron. Nikon Z8 with Nikkor Z 800mm f/6.3 VR S lens at f/6.3, 1/1250, ISO 1000.

While sitting there waiting on the Great Blue Heron to do something amazing, a Brown Pelican flew over and dove about 25 yards immediately next to me. He came up empty, but I got some pretty sweet shots as he flew off for another run. What a fantastic looking bird! And if I was not sitting there photographing the common Great Blue Heron, I would not have had the opportunity to photograph the Brown Pelican. You make your luck sometimes just by being there.

Brown Pelican. Nikon Z8 with Nikkor Z 800mm f/6.3 VR S lens at f/6.3, 1/2500, ISO 900.

Brown Pelican. Nikon Z8 with Nikkor Z 800mm f/6.3 VR S lens at f/6.3, 1/2500, ISO 900.

Brown Pelican. Nikon Z8 with Nikkor Z 800mm f/6.3 VR S lens at f/6.3, 1/2500, ISO 900.

I came to Fort De Soto for Reddish Egrets. I got Snowy Egrets and Brown Pelicans. And I am not disappointed. The Reddish can wait till my next visit.

Next Saturday I plan on going to Circle B Bar Reserve, and maybe on Sunday I’ll return to De Soto.

Until then, happy birding!