One new date for the Black Skimmers Colony: July 8-9

The first Black Skimmers colony tour just ended and I am adding a new date for July 22-23! If you like the pictures from this blog post, try to register to the July session to create your own images of the same theme 🙂

We are still very early in the breeding season and some chicks started to pop out. The few young chicks in the open were mostly located in the inner circle of the colony, making photographing them a challenge! The image above is a rare occasion when a clear shot was possible. I suspect there will be more young chicks popping out within the coming month as there was a lot of mating happening in the outer circle of the colony. Photographing chicks should become a lot easier a few weeks from now!!

There is a pretty decent size Least Terns colony that settled next to the Black Skimmers one on the beach. We were lucky to witness many of them in the middle of their courtship rituals. After spending a solid 5 min looking left and right, the pair mates with a fish being passed down as offering. Note that Least Terns are fairly small shorebirds and creating images of them often requires laying down on your belly for best results.

Interestingly, there is a small pond behind the colony now and we get Skimmers bathing or flying at low altitude. Many of them go to the pond to dunk their head so to clean their beak. The image above is shortly after a head dunk, hence the water splashes behind.

Black Skimmers Colony Photography Workshop – $1,090

July 8th-9th 2023 / limit 6 people – 5 open

3 shoots and 1 over-the-shoulder Photoshop tutoring => 3 shoots at the Sarasota Bay Black Skimmers colony. We shoot along the beach, where the nesting colony is easily accessible. $250 deposit. Send me an email at steven@stevenbirdphotography.com .

Ospreys / Spoonbills mix Photography Tour – $1,490

April 20th-21st 2024 / limit 5 people – 3 open

3 shoots and 1 over-the-shoulder Photoshop tutoring => 2 boat-based Osprey shoots at the Vero Beach Cypress Lake + 1 land-based Spoonbills shoot at a local rookery. $250 deposit. Send me an email at steven@stevenbirdphotography.com .

Tampa Bay Spoonbills Rookery Photography Tour – $1,590

January 21st-22nd 2023 / limit 5 people – Full

February 18th-19th 2023 / limit 5 people – Full

April 15th-16th 2023 / limit 5 people – 1 open

3 shoots and 1 over-the-shoulder Photoshop tutoring => 3 shoots at the Tampa Bay Spoonbills rookery. We typically shoot while wading in the water in the mornings and from the boat in the afternoon. $250 deposit. Send me an email at steven@stevenbirdphotography.com .