Tufted Puffin in flight with fish

I am about to start my Deluxe Atlantic Puffins and so much more workshop in Quebec, so I thought I would share a TUFTED PUFFIN in flight with a mouth full of fish for its baby. Image created hand-held from the boat as we commuted from ship to shore during my Coastal Brown Bears of Katmai workshop in Alaska.

Northern Gannet love

The last frame from the first day of my Gannets Galore and so much more workshop on Bonaventure Island. I had to lie in the wet grass to get this, but it was well worth it - smile.

Northern Gannets reinforce their bond through mutual preening, nape nibbling, and "fencing," where the pair knocks bills together.

Golden-winged Warbler

A Golden-winged warbler from my SONGBIRDS OF PELEE WORKSHOP at Point Pelee National Park of Canada in May.

Tennessee Warbler

There was no shortage of warblers during my recent Songbirds of Pelee Workshop. There were times when it was hard to choose which species to follow; a great problem to have!

The Tennessee warbler specializes in eating the spruce budworm. Consequently, its population goes up and down with fluctuations in the population of the budworm.

Northern Gannet Preening

A Northern Gannet Preening photographed during my recent Gannets Galore and so much more workshop in Quebec.

Preening allows the bird to remove dust, dirt and parasites and realign each feather and their tiny barbules in the correct position relevant to the next feather, following the body's contours underneath. Birds preen several times a day, often for hours, to keep their feathers in top shape.

Northern Gannet in flight with seaweed

A Northern Gannet brings home seaweed to line its mud bowl nest during my Gannets Galore and so much more workshops on Bonaventure Island in Quebec. This dark grey background made standing in the rain all day well worth it - smile! Join me next June for the adventure!

Bald Eagle over the top light

A Bald Eagle cartwheels at the top of the dive from my Eagles Galore Workshop in Alaska. We had a blast photographing Eagles until the last drops of golden light: What a perfect way to end the day.

Northern Gannet Artistic Eye Detail

Here’s another Gannet from the first day (June 5, 2023) of my Gannets Galore and so much more workshops on Bonaventure Island. Near the end of our very long day of rain, it started to let up a little, and I decided to lie down in the wet grass and wait for a Gannet to get close. I spent almost 25 minutes with it before starting the hike back to catch the boat. I wanted something that would work on a cover, so I kept the camera in vertical orientation and let the composition …develop - smile.

Click on the image above to see and read about a horizontal image cropped to vertical and published on the cover of the now-defunct Dutch E & V magazine way back in 2010. ©Christopher Dodds

Bay-breasted Warbler

A Bay-breasted warbler from my SONGBIRDS OF PELEE WORKSHOP at Point Pelee National Park of Canada.

In contrast to the more stable populations of other warblers, Bay-breasted Warbler numbers go up and down depending on spruce budworm outbreaks. The birds are abundant during infestations but decline or disappear from some areas a few years later. A similar relationship with spruce budworm exists for Tennessee and Cape May Warblers. Blackburnian and Blackpoll Warblers also readily consume budworms but are not as specialized in their diets.

Kentucky Warbler

A Kentucky warbler poses briefly during my recent SONGBIRDS OF PELEE workshop at Point Pelee National Park of Canada. Kentucky warblers are rare visitors to Canada, but a few are seen yearly at Point Pelee National Park.

Red Fox peek-a-boo

On the first morning of my GANNETS GALORE AND SO MUCH MORE WORKSHOP in June, we were treated to this Red fox peeking over the cliff edge briefly during the four-hour Zodiac Hurricane cruise.

Atlantic Puffin in flight with fish in the fog

It was a dark and foggy morning, and waves of Puffins were bringing back freshly caught fish for their babies during my Deluxe Atlantic Puffins and so much more workshops. Today’s cameras with the latest software can negate any sign of fog, but I much prefer the fog as I saw it, as it adds such an ethereal quality to the image.

Another image from my Deluxe Atlantic Puffins and so much more Workshop. Nature is not always cute and cuddly like this baby Common Eider was before being snatched away from its mother and aunts, who all tried to protect it from the Great Black-Backed Gull.

Unlike most other Larus gulls, Great Black-backed Gulls are highly predatory and frequently hunt and kill any prey smaller than themselves, behaving more like a raptor than a typical larid gull. Lacking the razor-sharp talons and curved, tearing beak of a raptor, the great black-backed gull relies on aggression, physical strength and endurance when hunting. When attacking other animals, they usually attack seabird eggs, nestlings or fledglings at the nest, perhaps most numerously terns, but also including smaller gull species as well as eiders, gannets and various alcids. In Newfoundland and Nova Scotia, 10% of the stomach contents of great black-backed gulls was made up of birds, while a further 17% of stomach contents was made up of tern eggs alone. Adult or fledged juveniles of various bird species have also been predaceously attacked. Some fully-fledged or adult birds observed to be hunted in flight or on the ground by great black-backed gulls have included Anas ducks, ruddy ducks (Oxyura jamaicensis), buffleheads (Bucephala albeola), Manx shearwaters (Puffinus puffinus), pied-billed grebes (Podilymbus podiceps), common moorhens (Gallinula chloropus), terns, Atlantic puffins (Fratercula arctica), Dovekie (Alle alle), coots (Fulica ssp.), glossy ibises (Plegadis falcinellus), rock pigeons (Columba livia) and even predatory birds such as hen harriers (Circus cyaneus). When attacking other flying birds, the great black-backed gulls often pursue them on the wing and attack them by jabbing with their bill, hoping to bring down the other bird either by creating an open wound or simply via exhaustion. They may kill healthy adult birds weighing up to at least 750 g (1.65 lb) but take exclusively the small young of larger birds such as common eider (Somateria mollissima) and cormorants. They will also catch flying passerines, which they typically target while the small birds are exhausted from migration and swallow them immediately. Great black-backed gull also feed on land animals, including rats (Rattus ssp.) at garbage dumps, rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) and even sickly lambs (Ovis aries). - Wikipedia.

Savannah Sparrow

I love spending time with the Savannah Sparrows, which inhabit the tiny island where I host my Deluxe Atlantic Puffins Galore and so much more Workshops. I carefully positioned myself at the minimum focusing distance of my Sony 200-600mm so that the background was far enough away to be out of focus.

Snowy Owl SOLITUDE

A Snowy Owl from last winter’s WINTER OWL WORKSHOPS. Allowing for a generous negative space adds definition to your subject, and it reduces the negative impact of a busy composition by acting as a buffer, an area in which the eye is drawn back toward the subject.

Savannah Sparrow on Fireweed

A Savannah Sparrow posed on some Fireweed during my Deluxe Puffins Galore and so much more workshop in Quebec. Savannah Sparrows nest on the island and are easy to photograph as they forage and return to their nests with food for their babies.

Atlantic Puffins in flight with fish

We got photobombed while I was tracking the nearest Puffin as it brought fish back to its baby during my Deluxe Puffins Galore and so much more workshops in Quebec. Join me at the best location in the world to photograph Puffins bringing home fish. It was one of those days when it got cloudy and we were having so much fun that we stayed out late in the dark; notice my ISO of 32,000 :)

Atlantic Puffin in flight with fish (Capelin) in sweet light

Join me for a DREAMY DELUXE ATLANTIC PUFFIN WORKSHOP from August 10-13, 2023. It all starts when we arrive on the tiny island and move into the newly renovated lighthouse accommodations; We will be living only feet away from the many Atlantic Puffins, Razorbills and Common Murres that call the island home - all of the photography is within 200 meters (200 yards) of our bedrooms! This is THE BEST PLACE IN THE WORLD to photograph Atlantic Puffins; in sweet light, in flight and bringing home loads of fish to their babies! The included gourmet food is a bonus - smile!

Grizzly Coastal Brown Bear Mother and Cub

Another image from my recent ULTIMATE BROWN BEARS OF KATMAI WORKSHOP in Alaska. After another of Melissa’s epic home-cooked meals on our private charter ship, we returned to shore in heavy overcast and foggy conditions and spent a few hours waiting for this mother and cub to wake up from their afternoon nap :)

Grizzly Brown Bear second summer cub in the rain

A second summer Coastal Brown Bear grazing in the rain from my recently concluded ULTIMATE BROWN BEARS OF KATMAI WORKSHOP. I love cloudy and overcast light, especially when it is misty or drizzling in Katmai. The short grass in mid-June offers amazing low-angle images possible. The bears love the sweet, high-protein sedge and spend much time grazing like cows - smile.

One of the few reliable food sources for bears in the spring is Lyngbye's sedge (Carex lyngbyaei). On the Pacific coast of Katmai, large numbers of bears gather to graze like cattle when this sedge emerges in salt marshes. As it begins to grow, Lyngbye’s sedge is relatively high in protein and lower in crude fibre, making it easier for bears to digest and extract nutrition.