The first time I saw one of these birds I thought I was going a little crazy. I mean, it’s hard to see how there’s a need for a bird to look like this. But I’m really glad they do.<\/p>\n
I visited Fort De Soto last weekend, and you’re almost guaranteed to see them at North Beach there, and on Saturday I saw 6 – four at North Beach and two at the boat ramp.<\/p>\n
The birds at the boat ramp were far more cooperative, so that’s where these photos came from. Unfortunately, these birds were standing on solid concrete.<\/p>\n
That was almost enough for me to skip photographing them. However, I normally crouch down as low as I can, and I thought if I did, I might be able to minimize the how man-made the ground looked.<\/p>\n
There was some debris near the birds as well, and I thought that might add to a more natural feel.<\/p>\n One of these birds has an eye issue. It looks to have a blown out eye. I don’t know to what extent oystercatchers are affected by this condition–perhaps none at all, but it has aroused my curiosity. If any of you know about this, feel free to let me know.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/scottsimmons.smugmug.com\/DailyShoots\/2015\/02-01\/i-mzShjgQ\/0\/L\/_MG_1455-L.jpg\" "\\"\\"")