Day 1: Arrival in Seattle

After arrival in the city, you will be transferred to a local airport hotel for the night. Afternoon arrivals are recommended, in order to have some downtime before meeting with the group for dinner at the hotel on this night. Dinner will also include a short presentation on photo principles and advice for the following day. Each night the guide will review results from the day, but also advise techniques and strategies, for the planned activities on the following day.

 

Day 2: Seattle to San Juan Island

To start the tour off, we will focus on photographing some coastal Washington birds. Our journey will ultimately lead to San Juan island by way of ferry, but we will have time before then to photograph some coastal birds around Anacortes, on Fidalgo Island. The location of Rosario Head, on the south of the island is an especially good location for birding and photography. Coastal waterbirds at this time of the year include the gorgeous Harlequin Duck, a bit of a local specialty, as well as Surf Scoter, Black Oystercatcher, and Pigeon Guillemot. This area of Washington has a booming Bald Eagle population, and so there is always a chance of coming across one of these giants too. The coast is also home to plentiful songbirds in this breeding season, including Black-headed Grosbeak, Orange-crowned and Wilson’s Warblers, Chestnut-backed Chickadee, Golden-crowned Kinglet, Pine Siskin, and Pacific Wren, a bird with an impressive voice when compared with its modest body size (4 inches long)! A 90-minute ferry ride will take us across the Rosario Strait, weaving through the other San Juan Islands of Decatur, Orcas, and Shaw, in order to reach Friday Harbor on San Juan Island itself. Although a short journey, it could be an eventful one, as Orcas and alcids (i.e. birds like Pigeon Guillemot, Rhinoceros Auklet and Marbled Murrelet) are regularly sighted from the ferry. We will arrive at our base close to Friday Harbor in San Juan, with enough time to visit the fox den late in the afternoon, and to take advantage of the glorious light at this time for photographing our primary subject. Three nights will be spent on San Juan island, giving us multiple times of day, and lighting options in which to photograph these fascinating creatures. Behavioral shots are an objective, and this is the season to get them, when the kits are out and playful, and the adults constantly attentive to them.

 

Day 3: Red Foxes and Jackson Beach Birds

The morning will be spent photographing the foxes. We will get to the location early, when we hope to see the young kits out of the den playing, waiting for either of the adults to return with a meal. After several hours with the foxes we shall return to town for a meal, and a post-brunch presentation in at the hotel on composition by your Tropical Birding guide. In the afternoon, we will take time to use the great afternoon light to photograph coastal birds south of our hotel around Jackson Beach, which could include Great Blue Herons, Canada Geese, Bald Eagles, Pigeon Guillemots, Glaucous-winged Gulls, and smaller songbirds like White-crowned Sparrows. 

We will be staying in Friday Harbor, the main hub on San Juan Island. This is a beautiful location in its own right, dotted with boutique shops, art galleries, museums, and a scenic marina. Thus, for those who wish to spend some time away from the camera, between sessions, there are multiple walkable attractions to take advantage of.

 

Day 4: Red Foxes Revisited

Armed with the knowledge gained from the previous day’s session with the foxes, we will return in the morning again. This tour is all about spending lots of time with the foxes to ensure a series of neat shots in a variety of light and when the animals are engaged in a variety of interesting poses and behavior. This is something that the kits, in particular, regularly offer. On this day, we will have both morning and afternoon periods with the foxes, so as to add different lighting perspectives to our photoshoots. We will likely remain until after sunset, to take advantage of that unique period of light, and then take a later dinner. Between these sessions, we will partake in a second presentation at the hotel, with the Tropical Birding guide this time focusing on angles, light and perspective; good preparation for the coming afternoon time with the foxes.

 

Day 5: Field Photography with Birds

Having spent most of the tour photographing foxes, in a fixed situation, (with a den as the focus), this morning will be about teaching entirely different field photography techniques. We will visit San Juan County Park to photograph birds, “on the fly” in the field. The species of birds are not of particular importance (although the park is home to eagles, geese, woodpeckers, kingfishers, nuthatches and others), as this session is about teaching how to photograph birds in natural situations, whenever birds present themselves. In other words, not using feeders or a set-up of any kind, but photographing birds as they come along. While this can be more challenging at times, learning these techniques can greatly increase your success in the field, and rapidly expand your personal photo library. After lunch, a final classroom session will be offered, this time focusing on editing, now that you will have a substantial set of photographs from the tour to deal with! After taking the ferry back to the mainland, we shall spend a final night in Seattle.

 

Day 6: Departure from Seattle

With no photography sessions planned for the day, you are able to depart whenever you want, with a hotel transfer provided for this.