The dates for Spoonbill tours are January 30-31, February 27-28 and June 5-6. The recent May 30-31 tour was a great success with very high bird activity and many newly fledged youngs in the open. This is the only time and place where you might get to photograph them at that stage of their life. Send me an email at steven@stevenbirdphotography.com to book your spot!

Young Spoonbill in flight - Florida Tour
Young Florida Spoonbill in flight – Tampa Bay Rookery
ISO 1000 | f/8 | 1/4000 sec. | Manual mode | AI servo rear focus
Canon 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 L IS II with 1.4x extender and the Canon EOS 1DX mark II.

Young Spoonbills have a full set of feathers on their head! Their colors are paler, with black accents on some of their wing tips. Sometimes, their lore (around the eyes) is of a blue tint. The image above was created while shooting from the boat. I am really happy the clouds definition, which gives a strong sense of perspective.

Young Spoonbills playing in flight - Photography Tour
Young Spoonbills playing in flight – Tampa Bay Rookery
ISO 1600 | f/5.6 | 1/3200 sec. | Manual mode | AI servo rear focus
Canon 600mm f/4 L IS II with 1.4x extender and the Canon EOS 1DX mark II.

There were many young birds in the open in the last May 30-31 tour. One of my favorite part was how playful they were. If not playing while feeding, they were playing while in flight, delivering some impressive stunts. That was quite the treat for action shots! The image above displays two youngs goofing together in flight.

Spoonbills blur - Photo Tour
Spoonbills in flight blur – Tampa Bay Rookery
ISO 1000 | f/8 | 1/30 sec. | Tv mode | AI servo rear focus
Canon 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 L IS II with 1.4x extender and the Canon EOS 1DX mark II.

Did I mention the very high bird activity? Early in the morning, we had a great number of birds flying in and out. As a result, pre-sunrise blurs were spectacular! See two adult Spoonbills in the image above, flying in tandem.

Florida Spoonbills Photography Tour – $1,490

January 30th-31st 2021 / limit 4 people – 2 open

February 27th-28th 2021 / limit 4 people – 1 open

June 5th-6th 2021 / limit 4 people – 3 open

Florida Spoonbills Photography Workshop

Receive a full refund up to one week prior to the tour in case of COVID-19 issues! 3 shoots and 1 working lunch to the absolute best rookery to photograph spoonbills with breeding colors. $250 deposit. Limited to 4 participants until social distancing guidelines loosen. Send me an email at steven@stevenbirdphotography.com .

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