Steven Blandin | Bird Photography Blog

Where to capture bathing Spoonbill images?

This is a common question from the Spoonbill connoisseurs! In truth, I cannot recall a time that I witnessed a Spoonbill bathing outside of the proximity of an actual rookery. During the photography tours at the Tampa Bay Spoonbills rookery, there are usually a couple of sightings of bathing Spoonbills per season 🙂

Experience has shown to me that the maximum impact happens with a dark background when it comes to bathing action. The water splashes and drops become very visible and make for a beautiful chaotic scenery. The key is to capture the outward movement of the water drops while having a good head angle on the bird. This is not always the case, so you want to keep a good eye for the special moment.

Sometimes, the birds get very enthusiastic and start bathing in big splashes. The image above is a good illustration with two columns of water on each side of the bird. This Spoonbill had to open its wings somewhat wide to reach that far on each side. Again, the dark backdrop really cranks up the drama.

And after all that bathing, what happens? The wing flaps to dry the wings! This is often my favorite time after all. The wings open wide and you still get a decent amount of water drops flying in the air. If you like those images, sign up for any of the Tampa Bay rookery tours to try your chance 🙂

Tampa Bay Spoonbills Rookery Photography Tour – $1,590

January 13th-14th 2024 / limit 5 people – 2 open

February 10th-11th 2024 / limit 5 people – Full

March 23rd-24th 2024 / limit 5 people – 5 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 .

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 .

Black Skimmers Colony Photography Workshop – $1,090

June 8th-9th 2024 / limit 6 people – 3 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 .

Least Terns were a blast this year!

There was a very decent size Least Terns colony neighboring the Black Skimmers colony this year. Among the smallest Terns, those little guys are very interesting to observe and their pre-mating ritual is one of the funniest! See the short video on this blog 🙂

It is typically fairly challenging to photograph Least Terns… It is a small bird that is not always very successful at maintaining its nesting colony on the beach. In fact, more often than not they end up nesting on roof tops nowadays. They are easily predated upon by crows and gulls. Hence, it was a nice surprise to find near a hundred pair of birds nesting close to the Black Skimmers this year. The image above is a young chick wiggling its wings in front of mom.

The short video above depicts the few minutes before coupling. The birds start a lookout parade, making sure that nobody is coming close so that they will not get interrupted. They will do this for sometimes up to ten minutes!! Then, when the moment seems right, the male will hop on and pass down his fish to the female. The love making is short and sweet. The chicks will typically pop their head out about three to four weeks later.

And all that while keeping an eye on the Black Skimmers action. See above for an adult squawking while banking in flight.

Black Skimmers Colony Photography Workshop – $1,090

June 8th-9th 2024 / limit 6 people – 3 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 13th-14th 2024 / limit 5 people – 2 open

February 10th-11th 2024 / limit 5 people – Full

March 23rd-24th 2024 / limit 5 people – 5 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 .

2024 Tampa Bay Spoonbill Tour Dates Announcement!

For those of you waiting for the 2024 Tampa Bay Spoonbill tour dates, here they are: January 13-14, February 10-11 and March 23-24 🙂 Send me an email at steven@stevenbirdphotography.com to book your spot!

The image above was created during the April 2023 tour and depicts a beautiful spoonbill bathing in splashes. It is not all the time that one gets to witness bathing, so it is always a treat when it happens. The key is often to capture as much water splashing as possible while looking for a good head angle on the bird. The lashing motion of the feather tips is a plus here.

Getting full blue water behind the subject can be a challenge at the Tampa Bay Spoonbills rookery, but when the conditions are right results are usually very spectacular. The image above was created during the February 2023 tour and represents the epitome of the type of images I strive to engineer: breath-taking action on a clear background. The wings fully open in a U shape make for a stunning view, with the added bonus of the open beak.

After bathing, there is usually some wing flapping and feather shaking action. That happens as the bird simply tries to shake off the water drops from its feathers. The image above, created during the April 2023 tour, was captured towards the end of the drying up sequence. I am very pleased with the shine on the beautiful breeding colored feathers and the fine overall detail.

Tampa Bay Spoonbills Rookery Photography Tour – $1,590

January 13th-14th / limit 5 people – 2 Open

February 10th-11th 2024 / limit 5 people – Full

March 23th-24th 2024 / limit 5 people – 5 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 .

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 .

Black Skimmers Colony Photography Workshop – $1,090

June 8th-9th 2024 / limit 6 people – 4 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 .

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 .

Ospreys/Spoonbills mix tour date for 2024!

The 2024 date for the Ospreys/Spoonbills photography workshop will be April 20-21. This year, we ended up with nice weather for Ospreys and an overcast finish for Spoonbills.

While the weather forecast was not very encouraging, the first day turned out as mostly sunny! In the image above, you will see an Osprey bringing nesting material back to the nest. The Cypress lake that hosts those Ospreys during that time of the year counts no less than 500 active nests!! Thus, there is plenty of activity to observe, with a lot of it happening at eye level from the pontoon boat.

During an hour or so, we had a very cloudy sky. The silhouette image above is an attempt at creating something different with a good story behind it. Note that the very well distinguishable shape of the full fish in the bird’s talents. Frankly, I almost did not think anything of the initial situation given that we were positioned against the sun at that time, when a struck of inspiration came to me to flip things around.

While the last morning was overcast, there was still plenty of landing action! See for yourself, with this Spoonbill maneuvering to land. A strong North wind pushed the birds to pull out aerial stunts for spectacular landings. Note the high ISO at 5000, with yet a very clean image. This is achieved through my digital workflow, fine tuned across the last ten years. The workshop includes a Photoshop image editing session where I walk the participants through my vanilla techniques.

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 .

Black Skimmers Colony Photography Workshop – $1,190

June 3rd-4th 2023 / limit 6 people – 1 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 .

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 .