Florida 2010 – VIII – Little Estero Lagoon

Morning hunt, Great Egret (Ardea alba), Little Estero Lagoon

Welcome, Little Blue Heron (Egretta caerulea), Little Estero Lagoon

Well, what makes Little Estero Lagoon so attractive to photographers is very easy access, comfortable photographing and of course the variety and tameness of the birds. Thanks to the very gentle banks around the lagoon you can take a flop almost everywhere, the lagoon is located on the beach and so lying in the sand and watching the beautiful birds in the viewfinder was one of the best photography I have ever experienced! In my case the joy from watching birds was a little spoiled by the fact, that the time I visited Little Estero lagoon was one of the coldest winters ever recorded in Florida; the temperature dropped down to freezing point, but I have wrote this in some of the previous articles…

Crab snack, Ibis bílý (Eudocimus albus), Little Estero Lagoon

Little Estero lagoon is really busy place – not only you will se many birds (especially at dawn and dusk) but you almost certainly meet another photographer and many passers-by – fortunately the people here are quite used to seeing photographers crawling in the mud so you will not feel that silly as in the same position elsewhere.

Hunt, Great Egret (Ardea alba), Little Estero Lagoon

If you have got the whole day, it is worth to start at Little Estero very early and hang around till the very last sun beams of the day. When the first light hits the lagoon in the morning, it is the best moment to take pictures of Herons, Egrets and Ibises against the dark bushy background. When the sun rises up, flump yourself into the sand in southern part of lagoon where you can enjoy watching the Plovers and Sandpipers wading in shallows ponds and pulling the worms and larvae out of the mud.

I’ve got you! Semipalmated Plover (Charadrius semipalmatus)

When the pain in your back turns to be unbearable (while you are on the ground), stand up and explore the Fort Myers beach – the beach is busy with rather little birdlife in its north part but south of Little Estero Lagoon you will find many other small ponds with the same inhabitants as in the famous lagoon itself. One of the best photography then is to sit down into the beach sand, let the sun beams to warm you up and watch the sea in front of you – besides Pelicans constantly hovering above the water you can be lucky to take a picture of Osprey fishing just few meters from you. Come back to the lagoon in the evening and take pictures of wading birds during sunset. You will have buildings in the background this time – I tried to avoid them but e.g. Michal Jirouš used that to make interesting golden background on his photos.

Punk, Snowy Egret (Egretta thula), Little Estero Lagoon

The sooner the better