White ibis feeding with reflections, Bunche Beach Preserve

Photographing the wading birds at Bunche Beach Preserve in Florida provided so many unique viewpoints even though I didn't cover much distance. This particular morning the tide was way out when I arrived for sunrise, so I had a chance to wander the exposed tidal flats and shoot back toward the mangrove-shrouded shoreline. It was fun to find a few tidal pool filled with shallow still water that was drawing in the wading birds, which provided a what felt like a fairly unique perspective to be shooting across water toward the beach without being on a boat.

It was a pleasure to observe this ibis cruising back and forth across the pool, and eventually it found what it was looking for with the small crab being tossed from bill to gullet in the photograph below.

Little blue heron with reflection, Bunche Beach Preserve

A little blue heron intently searching the shoreline of a title pool for a meal at Bunche Beach Preserve in Fort Myers, Florida.

Snowy egret searching for prey, Bunche Beach Preserve

A snowy egret staring intently through the rising tide for prey below the surface at Bunche Beach Preserve in Florida.

Little blue heron catches a shrimp, Bunche Beach Preserve

For someone who typically photographs small shorebirds that feed on tiny prey, it was pretty amazing to watch waders pull all kinds of large foods from the warm waters at Bunche Breach Preserve in Florida a few years ago. This little blue heron worked its way back and forth across a tidal pool over and over again, catching a variety of fish as well as this shrimp.

White ibis hunting in a tidal pool, Bunche Beach Preserve

The white ibis looks like it should be awkward with that elongated bill, but this one kept a stately posture as it moved back and forth across a tidal pond at Bunch Beach Preserve.

While I saw ibis catch a lot of prey on my few mornings in the preserve, a near miss let this crab escape.

Willet catches a crab, Bunche Beach Preserve

It was fun to work some shorebird reflections in the rapidly rising water of this tidal pool at Bunche Beach Preserve in Florida a few years ago. The diversity of prey that the birds pulled from the water was remarkable, and in the shot below, this willet came up with a small crab!

Willet catches a fish, Bunche Beach Preserve

Willets are a really fun shorebird to watch and photograph. What they lack in interesting plumage patterns and elegance, they more than make up for in character. I've had so many fun encounters with these curious birds on various beaches over the years. On this trip to southwest Florida, I had a chance to photograph so many interesting species, many of which I have no opportunity to see near home on the coasts of New England, but on each of my morning outings to Bunche Beach Preserve a willet caught my attention and left me delightfully entertained.

This willet was working a shallow tidal pool near the main entrance of the park. It was wading through the water in a much more heron-like pattern, clearly hunting for moving prey. For the frame above, it was working hard to pull something to the surface.

It continued to manipulate the prey under the water, attempting to find the right grip. Much to my surprise, when it finally pulled its prize free from the water's surface, it was some type of small flat fish. As many times as I've enjoyed photographing willets in the past, never before had I seen one with such an interesting type of prey! Unfortunately, in the excitement of finally freeing its meal from the water, I lost the lovely backdrop of the sand and mangroves in the distance as I tracked its movements sprinting out of the pond with its catch.

Eye on the prize, Little Blue Heron at Bunche Beach

With no recent trips to pull from, here are two frames from a fantastic trip to southwest Florida I had a few years ago. I spent two mornings at Bunch Beach Preserve in Fort Myers, and came back with so many images (many of which are still waiting to be shared). That area is truly a bird photographers haven!

I watched this little blue heron hunting in a shallow tidal pool for over a half an hour. It strolled back and forth through the water, constantly searching for prey, and I saw it pull a surprising amount of fish from the small pool. When the image above is viewed at 100%, you can see the small fish caught in its bill behind the splashing water, which it shows off quickly below before swallowing it down.

Little blue staredown, Bunche Beach Preserve

Little blue herons have such a great "personality" and this one put on a show for me last spring at Bunche Beach Preserve. I saw it catch a surprising number of fish in this small tidal pool, all the while casting a series of expressive poses. Though, I can't quite decide if this straight-on looks is more comical or stoic.

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Focused snowy egret, Bunche Beach Preserve

I had only a handful of chances to get outside with my camera this year, but thankfully they were pretty productive. This snowy egret is from a March morning spent at Bunche Beach Preserve in Fort Myers, Florida. It really was almost too easy to get close to the birds there. I would just lie down on the mudflats next to a tidal pool and it wouldn't take long for the birds to start filling it in. The reflections in the slowly rising tide were really fun to play with too.

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Reddish egret chasing a fish, Bunche Beach Preserve

On my trip to southwest Florida in March, one of the most exciting species to see, other than the roseate spoonbill I've previously posted, was the reddish egret. This bird was a lifer for me, and we first saw one at quite a distance through a docent's scope at Ding Darling NWR. At the time, I had no idea that I would have the privilege to photograph one at relatively close range each of the next two mornings at Bunche Beach Preserve. They are such a beautiful species, and their goofy running, jumping, and flapping behavior while chasing fish was really a sight to behold. Its comical movements reminded me quite a lot of Big Bird from Sesame Street!

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Willet on a quiet morning, Bunche Beach Preserve

Warm morning light, still water, and the slow gait of this willet through the shallow tidal pool combine to transport me to a serene setting of quiet solitude. While the beach had plenty of action that morning, this image encapsulates the internal silence I often experience while photographing wildlife.

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Portrait of a juvenile white ibis, Bunche Beach Preserve

I've been posting a series of photographs lately of tiny juvenile piping plovers, so I thought I'd mix it up with a substantially larger youngster. This handsome bird is a less than a year-old white ibis that I photographed in March at Bunche Beach Preserve in Ft Myers, Florida. Seeing this species is a highlight of any trip to Florida, and we saw probably 20 or so juveniles on a kayaking trip through the mangroves in Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge. Though it wasn't until the next morning that I was able to get a close enough view to see those beautiful blue eyes.

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Little blue heron shows off a silver fish, Bunche Beach Preserve

This little blue heron (Egretta caerulea) put on quite a show for me as a watched it hunt for a half-hour at Bunche Beach Preserve in Fort Myers, Florida. It had a terrific success rate as it struck at fish below the surface of the tidal pool. Here, it proudly showed me a full view of its silver prize before quickly swallowing it whole.

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This post shared with Wild Bird Wednesday -- follow the link for this week's posts!

Snowy egret amidst snowy reflections, Bunche Beach Preserve

The reflections were really fun to work with as the tide was rising in these quiescent tidal pools at Bunche Beach Preserve in Florida. By elevating the camera a little above the water it was possible to capture reflections of an entire bird. When I dropped my lens down to essentially resting on the ground, the reflections became wondrously elongated -- as shown here with this snowy egret in front of a backdrop of white ibises.

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Spoonbill reflection, Bunche Beach Preserve

The smooth surface of the shallow tidal pools at Bunche Beach Preserve made for some nice reflections all morning. It was surprising to experience how quickly the flooding tide rose across the flat expanses of exposed mudflats. I initially placed myself a few yards from the edge of this pond, but after about 15 minutes of photographing this juvenile roseate spoonbill, the water had reached my location. Thankfully, the bird soon opted to fly off to a different pool, making it a much easier choice to stand up before being completely soaked through.

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Little blue heron in an infinite sea, Bunche Beach Preserve

On this morning last March, I had enjoyed photographing wading birds in the warm sunrise light further up the beach at Bunche Beach Preserve. As I was walking back to the car, some high-level clouds moved in and provided wonderful diffuse light for this lone little blue heron as it hunted in a shallow tidal pool. Combining that with a low-angle approach, and this small tidal pool appeared to extend all the way to the horizon.

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Roseate spoonbill feeding at Bunche Beach Preserve

It was such an awesome experience to be able to watch this young roseate spoonbill at close range in a tidal pool at Bunche Beach Preserve. This species has such an elegant behavior as they rhythmically sway their bill sideways back and forth through the water.

But in this series of photographs, a sort of goofy expression appeared on the face of this individual while it splashed in the water -- making it all the more endearing to me.

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Tricolored heron on the prowl, Bunche Beach Preserve

Herons have such amazing eyes, and they seem to move with such focus. As this one prowled the shallow waters of a tidal pool, I certainly would not want to be a small critter looking up through the surface of the water to see that face staring back at me!

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Early morning willet, Bunche Beach Preserve

On my trip to Florida in March, I enjoyed the chance to photograph a variety of bird species that we don't get to see up here in the northeast. But no matter where I am, its hard to pass up an opportunity to photograph a shorebird, even if a plain old willet like this one. What they lack in color and plumage pattern they certainly make up for in character!

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