|
All images on this card were created by Arthur Morris on the Hooptie Deux at Alafia Banks |
2018 Spoonbill Boat 1 1/2 DAY IPT: $1199.00. Limit: 6 photographers/Openings 3.
2018 Spoonbill Boat 2 1/2 DAY IPT: $1999.00. Limit: 6 photographers/Openings 2.
FEB 19 & 20: one full day with morning and afternoon photo sessions via customized pontoon boat. FEB 20, morning photo session.
FEB 23 & 24: two full days with morning and afternoon photo sessions via customized pontoon boat. FEB 25, morning photo session.
We will be leaving the dock very early for the morning sessions (weather permitting) in hopes of photographing the pre-dawn White Ibis blast-offs. The morning sessions are planned for the Alafia Banks Roseate Spoonbill Rookery. We have several options for the afternoons including returning to Alafia. There will be lots of opportunities for flight photography of several species including and especially Roseate Spoonbill. Also likely for flight photography are nesting Brown Pelican, Great Blue Heron, and Double Crested Cormorant, many carrying nesting material. This IPT includes all boat and guide fees, in the field instruction, chest waders (feel free to bring your own of course to assure a perfect fit), and two working lunches on Friday and Saturday. For the most part we will be standing in mid calf to knee high water behind our tripods. We help you get in and out of the boat with your gear. This is likely not the best trip for folks with mobility or balance problems. Note however that some folks may opt to stay on the boat to photograph. They usually have lots of chances for flight photography of spoonbills and other species but are almost always pretty far away from the spoonbills that land.
I recently saw a similar trip advertised two months too late for breeding plumage spoonbills. The Hooptie IPT represents an incredible opportunity and with 3 slots filled already the remaining three spots should be filled very quickly. I do hope that you can join us. There will be a meet and greet at 7:00pm sharp on the evening of Thursday, FEB 22. All of the images on the card were made on the Hooptie Duex during the last two weeks of February, prime time for the spoonies in mega-breeding plumage. Many folks have written expressing interest so please do not tarry.
You may hold your spot with an e-mail request; the next two are in. Then you may either secure your spot by calling Jim or Jennifer at the office at 863-692-0906 and leaving the $400 deposit on credit card or sending your check for payment in full to us as follows with the check made out to:
BIRDS AS ART
Please send it via US mail here:
BIRDS AS ART
PO BOX 7245
Indian Lake Estates, FL 33855
If you call to leave your deposit you will be asked to mail your check for the balance asap.
|
|
|
Images courtesy of our guide; copyright 2017 Captain James Shadle (aka Froggie). All of the images here were created at Alafia Banks. Card creation and design by Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART. |
Roseate Spoonbill is one of if not the most sought after avian photographic subjects in Florida. They are generally hard to find and somewhat difficult to approach. They are relatively easy to find at Alafia Banks—heck, you can’t miss seeing them, but even there they can on some days be somewhat difficult to approach. On some days we may be able to get ridiculously close to them. The huge incentive to get out to Alafia Banks in mid-February is the chance to photograph this species at the height of its spectacular breeding plumage…. with long telephoto lenses. A 500 or 600 with a 1.4X TC is perfect for flight.
As above, there will — weather permitting — three boat trips — 2 mornings and 1 afternoon — on the first IPT –, five boat trips: 3 mornings and 2 afternoons on the second. Mornings to Alafia Banks for spoonbills and Brown Pelicans (with lots of flight photography often with the birds likely carrying nesting material), Double-crested Cormorants, ibises (both Glossy and White) in breeding plumage. Many of the White Ibises will be sporting their spectacular, distended, red, naked (un-feathered) throat pouches—typically larger in the females. In addition we will get to photograph egrets including Great and Reddish, both in full breeding plumage, shorebirds, and more. There will be lots of flight photography opportunities. Afternoon trips either to Alafia Banks for spoonbills and more or to a more sheltered inland rookery location for a variety of nesting birds. In the event of horrific weather artie will either take the group to Fort DeSoto or will conduct an image review/Photoshop session. This IPT includes lunches on the full day with small group image sharing and review and some over-the-shoulder Photoshop instruction.
