Famous baby oystercatcher at Fort Desoto

"I believe I can fly, I believe I can touch the sky!"

" Wait for me!"

"This shell looks yummy!"

"Mom, get this gunk off my foot!"

"I swear mom, I don't see it."

"It's time for a nap."

Full disclosure - I did not just happen to stumble on the above. It's probably one of the most photographed babies this month in the Tampa Bay area. There have been other pictures of it on Flickr and Pinellasbirds.com. I got up early on Sunday and headed out to find the family of oystercatchers that everyone was talking about. I have never seen a baby oystercatcher in person. You don't see many adults around that often as well. There are two babies but they were never even close to each other the whole time I was there. The parents had a tough time keeping them together and close to the adults. They were running around crazy (like little human kids do). They were so cute and animated. I must have taken 150 pictures in 20 minutes. I just plopped down on the beach and watched them run around. It was early enough in the morning that there weren't a lot of people around, just a few fisherman who barely glanced at them. I'm sure later when the beach gets crowded they head back into the roped off area to rest.