photography

Birds of Cuba

February 4, 2026 by Sunil Gopalan 7 Comments

Cuba. Geographically close but historically challenging to reach for visitors from the United States. Its accessibility is shaped by shifting policies and paperwork rather than distance

After plenty of planning, and navigating the necessary permissions, I finally set foot on the island last Spring under the appropriate license.

My trip, after landing in Havana went through Las Terrazas, Viñales, Zapata Peninsula, Girón, Bermeja, Trinidad, Camagüey, Najasa, Cayo Coco, Cayo Guillermo and points between. These are some of the birds I encountered along the way.

After overnighting in Havana, I visited some farmland in Las Terrazas. Wide variety of species were found here including La Sagra’s Flycatcher, the cute Cuban Tody, Cuban Grassquit, Cuban Trogon, West Indian Woodpecker, Fernandina’s Flicker, Stygian Owl, and omnipresent Red-legged Thrush.

That evening I reached Viñales, where new species kept the momentum going. Cuban Pewee, Olive-capped Warbler, and Yellow-headed Warbler joined the list, along with more West Indian Woodpeckers actively nesting—always a treat to observe.

I swung my way back east through Matanzas the next day picking up some great views of Cuban Pygmy Owl, Bare-legged Owl, nesting Fernandina’s Flicker, and Gray Kingbird.

The Zapata Peninsula in southern Cuba is a premier Caribbean birding destination, characterized by extensive wetlands, mangrove forests, and sawgrass savannahs. It is globally renowned for harboring rare, endemic species found nowhere else. I spent several days on the peninsula, staying at Playa Giron – it’s a gem of a place with birds ranging from the tropically colorful Cuban Parakeet, shimmering little Bee Hummingbird, three species of quail dove, exceedingly rare Zapata Wren and a lot more.

Some of these birds were on private farmlands outside of the park – this included the already mentioned Cuban Parakeet and Bee Hummingbird – one of the smallest known birds!

A park ranger provided access to a blind that allowed intimate views of Blue-headed and Gray-fronted Quail-Doves—an unforgettable experience. Other species turned up conveniently right on hotel grounds.

And of course, a really big deal was the endemic and endangered Zapata Wren which was found after a long drive through heavily wooded terrain and a flat tire along the way.

The Cuban Tody and Cuban Trogon were found along the way.

After moving on from Zapata, I made my way further east to Trinidad. Along the way adding Great-Lizard Cuckoo, and the Cuban subspecies of American Kestrel.

Trinidad is one of the best preserved cities in the Caribbean. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site because of its historical importance as a center of the sugar trade in the 18th and 19th centuries.

An early morning in Trinidad filled with the distinctive calls of Antillean Nighthawks.

Camagüey netted me the Cuban subspecies of Eastern Meadowlark, Cuban Martin, Smooth-billed Ani and Black-crowned Night-Heron

On the way through Cuba’s north-central coast, I added the Cuban Gnatcatcher, and Cuban Bullfinch.

Before the long return drive to Havana, I spent two nights on Cayo Coco, a low island off Cuba’s north-central coast. It was a fitting finale—sunlit, windswept, and rich with birdlife—bringing a memorable journey through one of the Caribbean’s most distinctive avian landscapes to a close.

Audubon Photography Awards Win

June 21, 2023 by Sunil Gopalan 2 Comments

I’m thrilled with my win of the Fisher Prize in the 2023 Audubon Photography Awards. The winning photograph shows the interaction between a pelican in the water at night and the ghostly silhouette of a shark swimming up underneath it.

From the APA description of the award:

It recognizes the most creative approach in photographing birds—for example, highlighting an unexpected point of view—blended with technical expertise and an original composition. The Fisher prize pushes the traditional canons of bird photography to daring new heights, while never compromising strict ethical guidelines.

The image was created while on a family trip to the Galapagos last year. You can read more about that trip as a whole here.

Suffice to say, the cruise was photographically very productive, but the fun doesn’t stop when everyone goes to bed. At night, when the boat was anchored, the lights off the stern attracted many little fish. This in turn attracted several Galapagos Shark as well and a Brown Pelican. With my daughter acting as a spotter, I was able to photograph a few different interactions between the two species including this shot where the shark swims right under the pelican.

I have always been a huge proponent of shooting in very little light, and the latest technology makes it easier than before. That said, this was a very noisy shot at ISO-25600. Many props to the fine Canon R3 and denoising capabilities of Topaz Denoise AI for letting me pull this off.

The image will be in the Summer edition of Audubon Magazine.

Birds of the Rio Grande Valley

February 1, 2023 by Sunil Gopalan Leave a Comment

I had the opportunity to spend a day in the Valley this winter. Many of the species found here are typical of eastern Mexico, not found north of the border beyond extreme south Texas. This Long-billed Thrasher is a non-migratory native of the area.

With the normally dry weather in this area, birds are attracted to any and all sources of water – so blinds set up near these ponds can be exceptionally productive.

The Northern Cardinal is of course a much more widely ranging bird, but some beautiful opportunities were presented with this species here.

While a day was all I had, I was able to visit the Raptor blind at the Laguna Seca Ranch. Crested Caracara were the stars of the show.

As with other species, a long lens was able to accomplish much closer shots showing great behavior.

And here are some remaining shots to wrap up the work from the day.

So until next time!

Roseate Spoonbills from Florida

February 20, 2020 by Sunil Gopalan Leave a Comment

“Gorgeous at a distance and bizarre up close” is a fairly accurate description of the Roseate Spoonbill. These gregarious waders are locally common in coastal Florida and even non-birders generally know of this distinctive bird. I was able to dedicate a weekend photographing these birds at a colony in Tampa Bay.

I was able to get some photos before the dawn light hit – slow shutter speeds and blurry artistic shots are definitely my cup of tea. But I always seem to get some – did you drop your camera while you got that shot sort of comments 🙂

After daylight hit, I was able to get some more conventional wading shots. The pink in the feathers get a little yellow tinge when direct sunlight hits it.

And some photographs of interaction between individuals as well. This is breeding behavior in the species.

Roseate Spoonbills are gorgeous when you capture them with their wings outspread. Unfortunately these feathers made them a prime target for hunters in years past.

Here are some flight shots of these large birds as well. Shooting into the sun is unconventional but results in a very ethereal washed out image.

And to wrap up this post, here are some of the other birds I observed while on site for this brief weekend.

Bald Eagles of Skagit River

January 10, 2019 by Sunil Gopalan Leave a Comment

The Skagit River has arguably the largest concentration of Bald Eagles int the lower 48. In about November, the birds from Canada and Alaska start showing up to feast on the dying salmon.

I spent a long weekend photographing these birds from the water.

There was plenty of opportunity to photograph the eagles interacting with each other as they tried to get to the salmon. No one was hurt in all the fighting – that I could tell. This sort of aggressive behavior is typical at this time of year.

With some patience and skillful maneuvering by the boat captain, we were able to make some close approaches for some stunning head shots. I’m particularly liking the shots showing the birds nictitating membrane over their eyes.

This Great Blue Heron thought it could get in on the action. And no – it was no match for the juvenile Bald Eagle.

I’ll wrap up this post with a few other action shots from the weekend.

Gannets of Shetland

July 13, 2017 by Sunil Gopalan Leave a Comment

After a fantastic time with the confiding puffins of Fair Isle, I decided to spend some time photographing Northern Gannets on some of the other Shetland Islands. Northern Gannets are some of the largest seabirds of the North Atlantic. They breed in only a few large colonies and spend most of their time out at sea. Their stunning white plumage is as beautiful to see as its hard to photograph properly.

First stop was Hermaness National Nature Reserve on Unst. Overlooking Muckle Flugga – Britain’s northernmost point, this is a haven for seabirds with the gannets here representing 5% of the entire Western European population. And at the right time of year, it is a busy busy place.

Places like these are where wide angle photography really helps give you a sense of what it’s like. Changing light conditions allowed me to capture a few different views.

But while the pictures above show the sheer vastness and numbers, it’s difficult to capture how busy it is. I tried to come up with a way to capture this very busy colony in still photographs – and this is the result: the photographs capture the gannets as streaks in long exposure. I love spending time at seabird colonies and these are some of my favorite photographs. Imagine sitting at the edge of a cliff with seabirds flying all around – the smells, the sounds cannot be photographed but some of the action can.

I took out my long lens equipment for some tight close-ups as well.

As a bonus, I was also able to spend some time photographing a chick at a nest. They look quite a bit different from a grown adult! This one has quite a bit of growing up to do.

As the sun set in the distance, fog moved in which made for some challenging shooting before I wrapped up for the night. A puffin photographed in the fog here:

Here’s a Great Skua bidding me goodnight.

The other opportunity I had to photograph the gannets was from a very different vantage point. Gannets hunt by diving dramatically into the sea to capture fish. The only way to get up close to the action here is from sea – so I hopped on a small boat loaded up with chum and made my way to Noss National Nature Reserve. Not the largest, but certainly quite dramatic as far as seabird colonies go.

As we approached the tall 180 meter high sea cliffs of Noss NNR from sea, I was able to appreciate the scale of these colonies in a whole new way. There are over 45K nesting guillemots here but they are overshadowed by the noisy 8K gannets.

A little closer approach saw many of these birds going about their daily lives. But the most remarkable parts of these birds were photographed under water. Have you ever wondered what these massive birds look like when they dive after fish in the water? These photographs were made with the camera in a dive housing.

Prehistoric monsters come to mind.