I took a gazillion pictures of these rare birds. This wasn’t the first time Avocets had been seen at Fort Desoto. Nor was it the first time for me to see this bird. But they are rare to see in the Tampa Bay area and usually don’t stick around long. My first sighting was on a small beach in north Tampa bay and there was only one.  Usually when someone posts a sighting in the area, they are gone hours later. These 3 had been around for a few days and I did not think I’d find them at the big park. As soon as I walked out on the beach I saw them so I was pretty excited. They were out on a sand spit and were far away but posed for a while. They looks so classy, almost like ballerina birds.

People were started to head out on the beach and someone came close by and spooked them. They flew right by me.

Later I saw them snoozing farther out.

While I was in Salt Lake City 2 years ago, I saw hundreds of them out in the middle of Salt Lake but I’m not counting this sighting since they were so far away. They are fairly common out there.