It was early in the morning when I headed to Fort Desoto Park in late May.  I had heard there were baby oystercatchers in the lagoon the day before so there was a good chance I could find them somewhere near there. The park opens at 7am and I was over the bridge before the park at 6:55.

I was not alone in my quest. Word gets out fast around this area and there were several other photographers also heading to the lagoon. We didn’t find the oystercatchers there (they are on the move once their babies are born but they couldn’t have gone too far). There were a lot of other great birds in the lagoon though. I snapped a few shots before heading to the north tip. The sun was just coming up over the bushes and you can’t see the lagoon from the other side. There were so many different birds here. Great egrets, a reddish egret, a snowy egret, a tricolored heron, and several spoonbills were all feeding in this swampy corner.

I saw the white morph reddish egret feeding on the way to the north tip. I hadn’t seen this bird since last August and I forget how beautiful and graceful he is.

Boats out on the gulf include a small flat fishing boat and much bigger boats.

I did find the oystercatcher babies but more on them later. Before leaving the park I always stop by the fishing pier to see if I can find anything interesting. This great blue heron had taken a fish from a fisherman and the great egret was trying to steal it from him. The great blue heron swallowed it quickly.

A snowy egret had snatched someone’s bait.

A quick video of the snowy egret being chased by the other birds to steal his snack.

Out on the beach early in the morning before the tourists get here, although it’s a long hike out to the tip and the tourists usually stay close to the parking lot.