Plenty to Learn
We timed our 2 workshops to coincide with spring migration. Colorful songbirds like Painted Bunting, Scissor-tail Flycatchers and Blue Grosbeak stop near the bird blinds in South Texas on their annual migration north.
We visited both the Laguna Seca Ranch and the Santa Clara Ranch to maximize the number of species we photograph.
In late April and early May the temperatures reach the 90s and birds come in to the blind areas for water.
How do you get those backgrounds?
Colorful perches and clean backgrounds are the signature look for images created in the South Texas bird blinds.
By having a plain field behind the perches, the backgrounds in our photos are almost guaranteed to be distraction free.
Gold
Golden fronted Woodpecker confronts a
Interesting Behaviour
This year we saw plenty of courtship behavior like these cardinals feeding each other. Feeding, fighting and interesting ruffled feather were daily occurrences.
Raptors in Flight
Capturing birds in flight was one of the goals of our raptor day. With larger subjects slowing down to land on perches, we honed our skills and captured interactions between species.
Songbirds in Flight
With new mirrorless technology, capturing songbirds in flight has become easier and easier. We used high frame rates and new Nikon features like pre-release to capture flight details.
Three
All from the Comfort of a Chair
The blinds were raised, mid-level and ground-level. With comfortable chairs and no need to move, the tour was very accessible for everyone in our group.
By using ground level blinds, we are able to capture behavior at the bird eye level perspective
Bird Diversity
Ground birds are abundant at both ranches. Thrashers, 5 types of doves, Greater Roadrunners and Northern Bobwhite walk into the ponds to drink and look for seeds.
More than just Birds
One of the highlights of the Santa Clara Ranch was the chance to photograph land animals. With more vegetation near the blinds, animals, like the Desert Box Turtle are comfortable coming in regularly for an afternoon drink.
Our Highlight
Everyone's favorite was seeing brightly colored birds like the male Painted Bunting right in front of us. Even photographers who were new to birds learned a bunch and are ready to return in the future. Both 2023 and 2024 are full for our Texas Birds Workshops.
Want to join us to photograph birds? Ecuador Cloud Forest Photo Tour in July 2023
Mammals more your thing? Two spaces are available for our July 2022 Lake Clark Bears Workshop. Perfect time for spring cubs.
Credits:
Cree Bol and Tom Bol