Tigertail Beach - Marco Island - Florida

(Tigertail beach = H)

My trip trip to Tigertail beach was, in a way, one of desperation! I had spent most of my trip at saltwater tidal lagoons at Bunche Beach, Little Estero Lagoon and Fort De Soto. My target bird of the trip - a White Morph Reddish Egret in high breeding condition - still eluded me. I had heard that Tigertail Beach was a great location for these birds, and it would be the last stop on my Florida trip where I would hope to get one!

As soon as I arrived at Tigertail beach, I paid to park (paid a lot to park) and wandered along the lagoon shore. The first Reddish Egret I saw was exactly what I wanted. A white bird with those electric blue lores! It was high noon, so I would need to wait for afternoon light to get good photos. I wandered around the rest of the lagoon, and then made my way back to my car to get my gear.

As I arrived back at the Lagoon, I was struck with horror!!! (Well it wasn't that bad), but the bird was gone! I spent the rest of the afternoon getting shots of other egrets, shorebirds, osprey etc. I figured the bird would be back, and I was willing to wait another day! After a good nights sleep, I awoke pre-dawn and wandered out into the lagoon. Horror again!!! (Dun dun dun) The bird wasn't around in the morning either! How was I going to get shots of this bird, if it didn't show up when I had my camera?

During the afternoon, I wandered out into the lagoon and saw the bird foraging way at the far northern end. I lugged my camera way out there, and although it wasn't a "perfect evening light" I was finally able to get a few hundred photos of this stunning bird as it chased fish. Another white morph (without the coloured lores), and a dark morph bird dominated my target bird. So that kept me busy, as I tried to follow it around the lagoon each time it was flushed. Shooting the bird a low ISO helped keep the quality up when dealing with the shadows.

After getting lots of images, the bird finally flew away, leaving me with a smile on my face! I spent the rest of the afternoon with some Snowy Plovers and the other Reddish Egrets. Tigertail beach was a great place for photography, but having already spent time in similar habitats up the coast, I was itching for something different. That evening I started my long drive to the everglades!

Tigertail beach gave some great views of shorebirds, highlights being Snowy, Wilson's and Piping plovers for me. There was also a good number of Red Knots around, with one bird starting to get breeding plumage (just a few feathers), along with a few banded birds. Ospreys nesting nearby were very tame and made for great photos. Groups of White Ibis, Snowy Egrets and other herons visited in large numbers each morning. Parking was expensive the first afternoon, but when I arrived pre-dawn the next day - I didnt have to pay! Burrowing Owls are found around Marco Island as well, but I didn't spend any time with them, after being in Cape Coral! Overall it was a great stop on my adventure around Florida!

Some pics from Tigertail Beach:

The target