Bird photography on a "birding" tour

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GrandNagus50

GrandNagus50

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I just got back from Panama, where I participated in a 9 day birding tour with Eagle Eye Tours of British Columbia. I have gone on birding tours as a birder/photographer before, and as long as one can get into a kind of "run and gun" rhythm one can come back with some good photos. In reality, many people who go on birding tours bring cameras nowadays, even if they are of the "bridge camera" variety. For this reason, a couple of tour companies have developed "birding with a camera" tours, a kind of hybrid between a photo tour and a regular birding tour.

But the destination matters.

My experience in Panama gave me pause regarding any future "birding tours." I guess one has to be selective and judicious. This was a tour with a leader who is an amazing birder with fantastic eyes. He can spot an itty-bitty flycatcher or gnatcatcher way up high in the tropical canopy buried behind foliage. Like most current birding tour leaders, he uses a green laser-type pointer to help participants locate the bird. "Look at the light shining, now look above and behind." This is supposed to make it possible for people like me to spot these birds, but I found in many cases I could not. I think with age my ability to spot birds has declined, I'm afraid, but in any case, the kind of "look" you tend to get in these situations is perfunctory. The idea is to be able to discern the bird well enough to tick it off on your checklist.

In fact, the driving force in this trip was an unrelenting push to build the species list. We saw over 300 species. But in this kind of environment, i.e., thick tropical forest, getting great looks at birds is really hard, and getting photos in most cases is just a dream. But the hard-core birders on the trip were perfectly happy. So clearly this was not a great fit for my own interests. This was my own responsibilty and I have no complaints about how the trip was run.

One or two of you might recall that when I started the recent "bucket list" thread, one of my primary birds for my own list was the Blue cotinga. Well, we saw two males and several females on this trip. But partticularly the males were high in trees and far away, and we viewed them with a powerful spotting scope. Below is my hilariously bad photo, of a male bird perhaps a half a kilometer away. Where's Waldo?

In all seriousness, for the birders this was satisfactory. However, I consider the Blue cotinga to still be a "bucket list" photo species.

I did get some good photos of other birdds but overall, what I took from this experience is that from now on I need to concentrate on "photography" tours intead of birding tours.


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The reason I never and will never book a birding trip. On my last trip to Costa Rica was a birder. All he wanted to do was run and gun and enlarge his check off list. Somehow that was a huge deal to him....bragging rights I guess. Sorta spoiled it for the photographers on the advertised PHOTO tour.
 
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Not a tour person. Too many variables, primarily who you'll end up being with. Prefer to wander around alone, quietly, and see what I can find. Glad you at least got to see your Cotinga.
 
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Just experienced this in Mexico. Our guide was a photographer, and he understood my intent would be to get good photographs, but the tour was for bird watching, so it was catered to that group. Same as above, it was all about the species count and just laying eyes on, not waiting around so Matt the Photographer got a decent shot. While I was able to nab a handful of decent photos, they're nothing at all compared to what I could have accomplished if I'd had all morning alone with a couple of species. It was still fun, but I wouldn't do it again; same as Jim, I want to find things on my own time and at my own pace so I can get in the mindful state required for me to really enjoy the craft.

This was about typical, shots way at the top of trees, no time to wait for a better perch or background, or to be able to move around and get optimal lighting. Most of the time I was thinking in my head "dang, I could have made some KILLER photos here", while all I could do was watch.

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My apologies if I seem ambivalent to resentful about some of these operations. It is difficult to parse out responsible tour operators and more importantly vet their clientele. Case in point, during one of my recent forays to Stick Marsh, a tour operator appeared with a handful of his selective "students". Please don't take offense my UK friends as I am sure there are plenty of "ugly Americans", however these folks epitomized the "ugly Brits" and proceeded to step in front of the existing photographers while some had the audacity to plop down tripods, in front those who had established shooting "spots". After directing instructions to the group, the operator headed off to gather a bunch of sticks and stepped down to the water's edge to stage the action. Perhaps, I am getting too old and intolerant but for what ever reason, this really riled me.
 
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To back things up a bit: I have been on "birding" tours where terrific photography was possible. But my trip to Panama was different in that respect. Lots of birders bring cameras and want some time devoted to taking photos. For that reason Tropical Birding has instituted "birding with a camera" tours that attempt to be kind of hybrid. I have not gone on such a tour. I think there is not always a hard and fast division between "birders" and "photographers." I have long considered myself to be both. But this particular trip included almost exclusively aggressive "listers," and that desire to tick off species dominated. Like I said, from now on I will likely favor photo tours, though I have also been on such tours where some participants knew and cared virtually nothing about birds. Birds were just another thing to photograph.
 
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I will add that I did not blame the leader for the nature of the tour. It was a "birding" tour and nearly everyone else was gung-ho to tick off birds and move on.
 
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GrandNagus50 said:
I just got back from Panama, where I participated in a 9 day birding tour with Eagle Eye Tours of British Columbia. I have gone on birding tours as a birder/photographer before, and as long as one can get into a kind of "run and gun" rhythm one can come back with some good photos. In reality, many people who go on birding tours bring cameras nowadays, even if they are of the "bridge camera" variety. For this reason, a couple of tour companies have developed "birding with a camera" tours, a kind of hybrid between a photo tour and a regular birding tour.

But the destination matters.

My experience in Panama gave me pause regarding any future "birding tours." I guess one has to be selective and judicious. This was a tour with a leader who is an amazing birder with fantastic eyes. He can spot an itty-bitty flycatcher or gnatcatcher way up high in the tropical canopy buried behind foliage. Like most current birding tour leaders, he uses a green laser-type pointer to help participants locate the bird. "Look at the light shining, now look above and behind." This is supposed to make it possible for people like me to spot these birds, but I found in many cases I could not. I think with age my ability to spot birds has declined, I'm afraid, but in any case, the kind of "look" you tend to get in these situations is perfunctory. The idea is to be able to discern the bird well enough to tick it off on your checklist.

In fact, the driving force in this trip was an unrelenting push to build the species list. We saw over 300 species. But in this kind of environment, i.e., thick tropical forest, getting great looks at birds is really hard, and getting photos in most cases is just a dream. But the hard-core birders on the trip were perfectly happy. So clearly this was not a great fit for my own interests. This was my own responsibilty and I have no complaints about how the trip was run.

One or two of you might recall that when I started the recent "bucket list" thread, one of my primary birds for my own list was the Blue cotinga. Well, we saw two males and several females on this trip. But partticularly the males were high in trees and far away, and we viewed them with a powerful spotting scope. Below is my hilariously bad photo, of a male bird perhaps a half a kilometer away. Where's Waldo?

In all seriousness, for the birders this was satisfactory. However, I consider the Blue cotinga to still be a "bucket list" photo species.

I did get some good photos of other birdds but overall, what I took from this experience is that from now on I need to concentrate on "photography" tours intead of birding tours.


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I hear you loud & clear & am in 100% agreement.
Last summer I booked what I thought was going to be a 4 day combination birding & bird photography tour in Canada. Well, I will not ever make that mistake again. Birders just seem to want to check birds off their checklist. Bird photographers are all about getting a good photo of the bird. There were 4 of us plus our leader. I was the bird photographer in the group. I was not happy!
One good thing did come of that trip - I now know where to find certain species. Sooo I have booked my very own (led by me) tour back to that same area. Two friends who are serious bird photographers are joining me. We will be spending two weeks stalking birds without our husbands!
 
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I think it depends on who you go with. I did a tour in Spain with David Lindo - aka The Urban Birder. We saw 147 species in 7 days in Extremadura. And he takes photos as well - but not a pro photographer. In one place we stayed was a birding holiday group - and that seemed to be all about ticking off a check list, as opposed to watching the birds and their behaviour
 
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I'm involved in leading outings for both birding (bird walks and bird counts) and bird photography (leading workshops). The two are very different. With experienced birders, there is a high emphasis on birding by ear and seeing a distant bird. The amount of time spent watching behavior or habitat depends on the birders on the trip and the real objectives of the tour. Photographers on the other hand, spend a lot more time photographing common birds or uncommon birds because they were seen. Some birding trip leaders do spend time observing and teaching rather than counting. Photographers might spend 20 minutes or more working a single subject. Birders tend to walk for 5-10 minutes then stop for 5-10 minutes to allow birds to acclimate and approach.

When I'm birding, I take a different approach. I'm not trying to make the same high quality photo I would with bird photography. I won't have time to really work a subject choosing the background and light of my preference. I'll take photos for identification, social media, eBird, and similar reasons. If I have an opportunity, of course I'll try for artistic presentation of the subject, but it's driven by birding.

There are plenty of birders who take a more relaxed approach - especially when birding for their own interest. A tour leader leading a group of birders probably is going to be emphasizing the number of species, seeing unusual birds, and achieving objectives of the group.

I would encourage you to join birders in the future. Just understand what kind of birding trip its going to be. There are plenty of birders who are also very good photographers. I'd probably ask questions about the kind of camera and lens used by a leader, the opportunities to emphasize photos of specific birds, and how many photographers will be on the trip as opposed to pure birders. Personally, I like the blend of birding and photography as it usually turns up one or two additional species that are best identified through photos. The catch is you need ot be content with 5-10 minutes viewing a subject.
 
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This is why I always book private birding guides, with the understanding that photography is the primary focus but I also want to see as many birds as possible without rushing. I always tell them, "quality over quantity." I am a birder and do keep a list but obviously want to photograph as well. I have only done group birding tours twice--and would only do them to places where I felt were just too difficult to find a private guide or do safely on our own. Once was a near disaster (Madagascar) and once was a great success (Cuba); mainly due to the guide and the other participants also mostly being serious photographers.

The new trend of "Birding with a camera" or photography focused-birding tours is interesting, though. Several companies are offering those now, including Tropical Birding, Rockjumper, and Wildside.
 
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Most wildlife guides only point out subjects for people to see and that is good enough. Very different with a guide for photographers who needs to get his customers close enough to take a photograph. This is true on land and also true on a boat. I have had guides in cars and in boats who approached subjects too quickly and spooked them making a photograph impossible.

It costs my wife and I half as much to put together our own trips and we can go at our own pace and spend as much or as little time at a location. Tour operators need to make a profit and so upcharge on everything. There are also fewer choices for lodging and mode of transport with a large group than for my wife and I with a guide/driver. The cost to hire a boat and driver for half a day in the U.S. has been around $350 and outside the U.S. it has cost us anywhere from $40 to $120.
 
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Erik said:
This has been a great thread to follow. Would love to go on a tour sometime... now I know what to watch out for!
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There are definitely some great tour leaders out there, also some very poor ones. Trying to avoid the latter and find the former not always easy. At least in my experience. Sometimes the people who are quite poor have followers who rave about them, so need to know whose views one can trust.
 
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