Razorbill in flight with Sand Lance

A Razorbill with Sand Lance caught breaking before it hit me in the head. This image was created with the Sony Alpha 1, 600mm f/4 G-Master Lens and the Sony 1.4X Tele-extender.

I have just announced the 2024 Deluxe Atlantic Puffins and so much more workshops. Learn more:

Atlantic Puffin in flight with mouth full of sand lance

Here is an Atlantic Puffin returning to its burrow with a mouth full of Sand Lance to feed its baby. The image was made at 04:50 on a cloudy and foggy morning during my Deluxe Puffins Galore Workshop.

Instead of waiting for brighter conditions, I chose to use 20,000 ISO and love the results that the new AI noise reduction algorithm in Photoshop produces.

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.

Deluxe Atlantic Puffin Workshop update

A portrait of an Atlantic Puffin against out-of-focus kelp at low tide. I have only one room available for my August 10-13, 2023, Deluxe Atlantic Puffins and so much more workshop in Quebec, Canada. This is your chance to join me for a dream workshop; it all starts with the newly renovated lighthouse accommodations, gourmet food, and….wait for it….. Puffins. The island is only 1km (.6 mile) in circumference, and the action happens only 200 meters (200 yards) from our accommodations! No long drives, hikes or cliffs to contend with! Live the dream & join the trip HERE.

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.

Razorbill in flight with fish takeout

It’s not only Puffins: A Razorbill bringing home some fish for its baby during my Deluxe Atlantic Puffins and so much more Workshop.

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.

Atlantic Puffin in flight with fish at sunset

One of my favourite Atlantic Puffin images of all time; We were set up on the beach in perfect conditions with the wind blowing from our backs and the sun behind us. The storm cleared quickly, and the pastel colours in the sky were fabulous as sunset quickly approached. The tide was about to turn, but no Puffins were flying in. We waited patiently, and suddenly, there was a flurry of activity, and Puffins started bringing fish back to the babies in their burrows. This image was made with my Sony 200-600mm zoom lens @472mm.

Join me at the best place in the world to photograph Atlantic Puffins! The included recently renovated lighthouse accommodations on a small private island are what dream adventures are made of. Learn more about my DELUXE ATLANTIC PUFFINS GALORE AND SO MUCH MORE WORKSHOP HERE.

Black Guillemots Cuddling

A pair of Black Guillemots on seaweed at low tide from my Deluxe Puffins Galore and so much more workshops in Quebec. The Atlantic Puffins always steal the show, but there are some other great opportunities for other species during the workshop.