April 15 - 20

Birds of Fort DeSoto State Park and Honeymoon Island, FL Photo Workshop

$2,095

Flight Destination: Tampa, FL

The Pinellas Suncoast is a hidden gem on Florida's Gulf Coast as not every wintering and resident bird makes its way further down the Gulf Coast. Nesting osprey photography at Honeymoon Island is just one of the highlights. At Fort DeSoto a wide variety of shore and wading birds add to the mix. Several other parks with more opportunities will also be featured as well as some very photogenic pelicans. Year-round residents are also more plentiful than many other spots in the state. With Pinellas County being a peninsula both sunrises and sunsets are capable.

Photograph the behavior of laughing gulls as well as royal and sandwich terns. Herons, great egrets, reddish egrets, roseate spoonbills, shorebirds including threatened piping plovers, and skimmers are among the many birds found in the area.

There is always at least one reddish egret that puts on a show that keeps everyones attention captivated over and over again.

It is not uncommon to have a mix of birds such as snowy efretsm night herons and spoonbills all gathered in one small area and the interaction between them can be quite amusing.

Having grown up in St. Petersburg, I know several hidden parks and lakes where the action is just as good as the other more popular parks and some different birds find the solitude enjoyable including green herons, wood storks, and hawks.

Both Fort DeSoto and Honeymoon Island are now counted on as premier birding locations in the country. While other spots in the state might receive more notice, the photography opportunities in Pinellas County are just as good if not better.

A look through the guides of the Great Florida Birding Trail shows how prolific the bird activity is here. And this hasn't even touched on the migrating songbirds that show up in great numbers at one of two spots at Fort DeSoto or the skimmer activiy we will encounter on our way to Honeymoon Island to photograph the osprey.

Click here to see bird photography from this area.

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