Tour · Cypress Island
Louisiana Rookery and Bayou Bird Photo Tour
Run by Charles Bush Photography · 4 days · Up to 3 people · Apr–Jun
About
Three-and-a-half day spring bird photography tours for three participants in the Atchafalaya region, with three morning sessions in double-hulled skiffs at heron, egret and spoonbill rookeries (Cazan Lake at PJF Farms, Miller's Lake, Rip's Rookery) and afternoon shore sessions at Lake Martin. Dates are timed for courtship, chick feeding and nesting spoonbills.
What you can photograph
From this listing
| Subject | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Osprey | Outside the window | Outside the window | Peak | Peak | Peak | In season | In season | In season | In season | Outside the window | Outside the window | Outside the window |
Open months
| Month | Presence |
|---|---|
| Jan | Outside the window |
| Feb | Outside the window |
| Mar | Peak |
| Apr | Peak |
| May | Peak |
| Jun | In season |
| Jul | Outside the window |
| Aug | Outside the window |
| Sep | Outside the window |
| Oct | Outside the window |
| Nov | Outside the window |
| Dec | Outside the window |
Light on 15 March
Clear sky
| From | To | Light |
|---|---|---|
| 00:00 | 07:03 | Night |
| 07:03 | 07:21 | Blue hour |
| 07:21 | 07:49 | Golden hour |
| 07:49 | 08:55 | Soft |
| 08:55 | 11:04 | Medium |
| 11:04 | 15:29 | Harsh |
| 15:29 | 17:38 | Medium |
| 17:38 | 18:44 | Soft |
| 18:44 | 19:12 | Golden hour |
| 19:12 | 19:31 | Blue hour |
| 19:31 | 24:00 | Night |
3.1 hours of golden and soft light.
Light by month
Hours a day
| Month | Golden hour | Soft | Medium | Harsh |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 1.0 h | 2.6 h | 6.7 h | 0.0 h |
| Feb | 1.0 h | 2.4 h | 6.0 h | 1.6 h |
| Mar (window) | 0.9 h | 2.2 h | 4.3 h | 4.4 h |
| Apr (window) | 0.9 h | 2.2 h | 3.9 h | 5.8 h |
| May (window) | 1.0 h | 2.2 h | 3.9 h | 6.4 h |
| Jun (window) | 1.0 h | 2.3 h | 3.9 h | 6.7 h |
| Jul (window) | 1.0 h | 2.3 h | 3.9 h | 6.6 h |
| Aug (window) | 1.0 h | 2.2 h | 3.9 h | 6.0 h |
| Sep (window) | 0.9 h | 2.2 h | 4.1 h | 5.0 h |
| Oct | 0.9 h | 2.3 h | 5.2 h | 2.9 h |
| Nov | 1.0 h | 2.5 h | 6.9 h | 0.0 h |
| Dec | 1.1 h | 2.7 h | 6.3 h | 0.0 h |
The trip
- Length
- 4 days
- Group size
- Up to 3 people
- Led by
- Charles Bush
- Route
- Starts and ends in Breaux Bridge area, Louisiana
- Language
- English
Route
- Lake Martin
- Miller's Lake
- Cazan Lake
- Atchafalaya Basin
Osprey — Blue Cypress Lake, Florida — March to May
Shoot window
Osprey: you will almost certainly see it (Mar–May)
| Month | Presence |
|---|---|
| Jan | Outside the window |
| Feb | Outside the window |
| Mar | Peak |
| Apr | Peak |
| May | Peak |
| Jun | Outside the window |
| Jul | Outside the window |
| Aug | Outside the window |
| Sep | Outside the window |
| Oct | Outside the window |
| Nov | Outside the window |
| Dec | Outside the window |
- Peak
- Last week of March to first week of April for nest building and material carries. Mid April to mid May for fish deliveries to chicks, which is the higher action window.
- Days needed
- 5 days
- Behaviour
- Nesting, Hunting / predation, Fledging, Mass aggregation
- Coat
- Juveniles present
- Habitat
- Wetland / water, Green season / lush
- Crowds
- Moderate
- Also here
- Roseate spoonbill (land based rookery nearby), limpkin, anhinga, great blue heron, barred owl, bald eagle, alligator. The spoonbill session is worth a morning on its own.
- Light
- 27.7 N. Mid April solar noon altitude is roughly 72 degrees, so midday is dead. Golden hour runs about 30 to 35 minutes. Realistic soft light window is first light to about 09:00, call it 2 usable hours per morning. Overcast is unreliable in spring, but dawn mist and fog over the lake are frequent and are the real asset. Afternoon convective cloud builds from late April and can give a second soft window before storms. Boats launch pre dawn, so access does not block the good light.
- Weather risk
- Fog / mist (asset), Heat haze (kills long lens) and Extreme heat
- Tides and moon
- Not applicable, freshwater lake. Wind matters more than anything: a flat calm dawn is what makes the reflection frame work.
- Atmosphere
- Dawn fog and steam off black water. Spanish moss backlit. Still water at first light gives full mirror reflections of the cypress and the bird. Storm light on late spring afternoons.
- Permits
- No permit for the lake itself. You need a boat. Do not push close to active nests, Ospreys are protected under the US Migratory Bird Treaty Act and nest disturbance is an offence. Check current drone rules locally, operators generally do not allow them near the colony.
- Getting there
- Fly to Orlando or Melbourne, drive 1.5 to 2 hrs. Stay in Vero Beach or Fellsmere so you are at the ramp before first light. Physically easy, you shoot seated from a pontoon. The boat is the whole game: low freeboard puts you at or below nest height.
Who runs trips here: Middleton's Fish Camp (the long standing launch). Blue Cypress Osprey Tours and DV Wildlife both run 24 ft pontoons set up for photographers. Christopher Dodds runs an Ospreys Galore workshop here each April, group capped at 5, two cruises a day. A private charter beats a mixed group if budget allows.
Confidence: medium · Last verified 20 Sept 2026
Osprey — Blue Cypress Lake, Florida — June to September
Shoot window
Osprey: you might see it, but it is far from sure (Jun–Sep)
| Month | Presence |
|---|---|
| Jan | Outside the window |
| Feb | Outside the window |
| Mar | Outside the window |
| Apr | Outside the window |
| May | Outside the window |
| Jun | In season |
| Jul | In season |
| Aug | In season |
| Sep | In season |
| Oct | Outside the window |
| Nov | Outside the window |
| Dec | Outside the window |
- Behaviour
- Fledging
- Coat
- Not applicable
- Habitat
- Wetland / water
- Crowds
- Quiet
- Also here
- If already in Florida in this period, the lake still holds limpkin, anhinga and alligator, and the summer is better spent on coastal work at dawn than on the colony.
- Light
- 27.7 N. Solar noon altitude reaches about 85 degrees in late June, effectively overhead. Golden hour is at its shortest of the year. The usable window collapses to roughly 06:30 to 08:00, and heat haze over warm water degrades a 600 mm well before the light does.
- Weather risk
- Heat haze (kills long lens), Extreme heat, Cyclone / storm season and Rainy season
- Permits
- No closure, the lake is open. The reason not to come is biological and meteorological, not regulatory.
Confidence: medium · Last verified 20 Sept 2026
What the price covers
- Included
- Not stated
Prices are in the operator's currency. Conversions on the site are approximate and marked ≈. Enquiry form coming soon.
Ethics
- Feeding Unverified
- Baiting Unverified
- Captive Animals Unverified
Green means ShutterAtlas has checked it. Yellow means it has not been checked yet. Red means it happens here.
Light and conditions
Loading today’s light and weather…
Light through the year
Golden hour is when the sun is low, between the horizon and 6° above it: soft, warm light. Times are for the 15th of each month, in Chicago time (with summer time where it applies). In-season months are marked.
| Month | Golden hour | Daylight | Sun at noon | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Morning golden hour | Evening golden hour | |||
| Jan | 07:09– | 16:55– | 10h 25m10 h 25 min | 39° |
| Feb | 06:52– | 17:23– | 11h 9m11 h 9 min | 47° |
| Mar | 07:21– | 18:44– | 11h 59m11 h 59 min | 58° |
| AprIn season | 06:44– | 19:03– | 12h 55m12 h 55 min | 70° |
| MayIn season | 06:18– | 19:21– | 13h 41m13 h 41 min | 79° |
| JunIn season | 06:10– | 19:36– | 14h 5m14 h 5 min | 83° |
| Jul | 06:21– | 19:36– | 13h 54m13 h 54 min | 81° |
| Aug | 06:39– | 19:16– | 13h 14m13 h 14 min | 74° |
| Sep | 06:56– | 18:41– | 12h 21m12 h 21 min | 63° |
| Oct | 07:14– | 18:04– | 11h 27m11 h 27 min | 51° |
| Nov | 06:37– | 16:37– | 10h 38m10 h 38 min | 41° |
| Dec | 07:01– | 16:33– | 10h 13m10 h 13 min | 37° |
Getting there
- Nearest airport
- Unknown
Sources
Imported listing, not yet claimed by the owner · last checked 28 Oct 2026