Join award winning wildlife photographer Dawn Wilson on the southern shores of Louisiana for this dynamic exploration of bird habitats.

Southern Louisiana may be more known for Cajun music, jazz festivals and partying on Bourbon Street but step away from the busy city center and the landscape along the Mississippi River delta becomes a hotbed of bird habitats. From swamps with thick cypress forests to wide-open coastal environments, birds love the diversity of food and habitat along the Gulf Coast. 

Our small group of six female wildlife photographers will have a blast exploring southern Louisiana to add new birds to your life list and photograph some of the prettiest avian species in the U.S. The four-day, four-night photo workshop will take photographers to beaches along the Gulf Coast, a boat ride to barrier islands in the Gulf of Mexico, a boat ride in a cypress swamp, walks through wooded migration corridors and rookeries teeming with avian life at the beginning of nesting season. 

The trip is timed to align with the spring migration of songbirds and shorebirds heading north across the Gulf of Mexico. It is also the beginning of nesting season for the early arriving birds, like great egrets, osprey and roseate spoonbills, giving potential opportunities for courtship displays and nest building.

In addition to colorful and dynamic bird photo opportunities, participants will also get a chance to enjoy some of the best food Louisiana has to offer, including crawfish, seafood and beignets.

This workshop is sure to instill in you a love for the diverse bird life of southern Louisiana!

Birds you may encounter on this tour:

• Roseate Spoonbill
• Tri-Colored Heron
• Brown Pelican
• Least Tern
• Hooded Warbler
• Painted Bunting
• Roseate Grosbeak
• Black Skimmer and more!

5 Participants

$2,500

$300/single supplement

About Your Leader…..

Dawn Wilson is a professional and award-winning nature photographer specializing in images and stories about wildlife of high latitudes and high altitudes of the Rocky Mountains and Alaska. With more than 600 bylined articles and photo credits, Dawn’s text and photography has appeared in numerous regional and national publications, including Colorado Life, Colorado Outdoors, Wyoming Wildlife, Outdoor Photographer, MotorHome magazine, Nature’s Best Photography, and many others. In addition to her editorial work, Dawn leads multiple workshops each year in North and South America to photograph wildlife, such as brown bears in Alaska and birds of Louisiana. She also leads photo tours in Rocky Mountain National Park. She served two terms as President of the North American Nature Photography Association and has been the co-host of The Nature Photographer Podcast. Learn more at dawnwilsonphotography.com.

Day 1 (April 19th)

• Dawn will meet the group at the airport in New Orleans (MSY) to pick up luggage and take everyone to our lodging along the Gulf Coast
• We will start the workshop by meeting at noon on Friday to have lunch at one of the most popular burger restaurants in New Orleans on the edge of the French Quarter before driving to Bay Saint Louis/Long Beach, Mississippi. 
• After checking into our lodging, we will head out to the beaches to look for the shore birds of the area, including the endangered least terns, which are just arriving from their winter farther south. Other birds may include great blue herons, black skimmers, killdeer, brown pelicans, sanderlings and laughing gulls. 
• Lodging in Long Beach, Mississippi

Day 2 (April 20th)

• Saturday morning will start with a boat tour from Long Beach out to Cat Island and other marsh habitats along the Gulf Coast of Louisiana and Mississippi. Here we can see a wide variety of shorebirds and migrating birds that use this area of the Gulf Coast as one of their first stops on land after flying across the Gulf of Mexico on their journey north. Bird species may include roseate spoonbills, reddish egrets, ruby-throated hummingbirds, summer tanagers, spotted sandpipers, green herons, osprey, and much more. We will be out until at least midday exploring the coastal waters of this region.
• After our boat tour and lunch in Long Beach on Saturday morning, we will drive to Lafayette, Louisiana where we will check into our lodging before heading out to photograph at a rookery. During nesting season, which will just be starting during our visit, great egrets, little blue herons, snowy egrets, cattle egrets and roseate spoonbills enjoy the safety of the rookeries in the center of the ponds and lakes. Alligators enjoy basking in the warm sun on the grassy knolls. 
• Lodging in Lafayette, Louisiana.

Day 3 (April 21st)

• Sunday morning’s adventures include another boat ride, but this time into the cypress swamp of Lake Martin, Louisiana. Here the humid air surrounds the tall cypress trees in eerie atmospheric conditions. Sunrise opportunities will include silhouettes of bald cypress against potentially colorful skies as the birds start their day. Our tour will take us to various locations around this large lake where we may see great egrets, wood ducks, roseate spoonbills, great blue herons, pileated woodpeckers and other birds starting their nesting season. 
• From Lake Martin, we will head to PJF Farm for an afternoon of photographing nesting birds and potentially migrating songbirds before driving towards Grand Isle along the Gulf of Mexico. 
• Lodging in Galliano, Louisiana.

Day 4 (April 22nd)

• One of the last inhabited barrier islands along the coast of Louisiana, Grand Isle offers a respite for traveling birds flying across the Gulf of Mexico during migration. Here songbirds, wading birds, birds of prey and shorebirds of all shapes, sizes and colors enjoy a short stay before continuing their journey north. Our morning outing on Monday will cover a wide variety of habitats — bays, beaches, woods and marshes — before our drive back to New Orleans. 
• We will end our southern Louisiana adventure with a group snack at Café du Monde for the best beignets in the area and a wrap-up discussion about the weekend. 
• Lodging at the airport in New Orleans.

Day 5 (April 23rd)

Flights home.  End of tour.