Ben Knoot Photography (2024)

16/10/2024

~ White-necked Rockfowl ~

Also known as the Picathartes, this is quite possibly the most sought after bird on any tour to Ghana. A cartoonish rock-loving ground bird that definitely lives up to its hype. I got to see this bird for the second time this last August on a tour through Ghana with a wonderful family from the U.K.

For the next 30hrs or so I will be working my way over to Darwin, in the Northern Territory of Australia. Until then I'll be working on some video content for my new editing project :)

Cheers,
Ben

15/10/2024

~ Moustached Grass-Warbler ~

A sweet LBJ for your Tuesday morning. I photographed this individual on my last Ghana tour but it can be found throughout Western and Eastern Africa.

Captured with OM System OM-1 and 150-400mm f4.5 IS PRO

Cheers,
Ben

14/10/2024

Just a few days now until I head off to Australia to lead my last tour for the 2024 year. A solid 28-Day traverse of the 'land down-under' starting in Darwin in the Northern Territory and finishing up on the small southern island of Tasmania...should be epic.

Here a few photos I took in 2022 and 2023 from the Northern Territory section...looking forward to another great season and I will hopefully have some fun photos to share from this years Tropical Birding Tours Australia: Birding from Top to Bottom tour.

*ID's on individual images

Cheers,
Ben Knoot

11/10/2024

Here are a few more fun photos from this years Costa Rica Photo Tour. I am thrilled to be heading back to this country for the 5th year in a row to lead a custom tour next February. I don't just like to focus on those big well known targets like quetzals, hummingbirds and toucans...everything that presents itself for a decent photo opportunity is a potential target...even LBJ's!

If you have yet to experience this tropical and bird rich paradise, I highly suggest you get it on your calendar as soon as possible!

*ID's on individual images

Cheers,
Ben Knoot

30/09/2024

~ Black-throated Mango ~

Spotlight effect is one of the cooler lighting conditions you can find in nature. Typically it comes very early morning or late evening when rays of sunshine pe*****te a forest or some other natural barrier and have not yet illuminated the rest of the environment but rather small sections. Having a dark background to really accentuate the target gives these photos an almost studio look...

I photographed this guy in a garden while in Trinidad with some friend this past February :)

Cheers,
Ben

23/09/2024

~ Great Gray Owl ~

On this day 4-years ago, I lead a great group in search of the 'phantom of the north' in Yellowstones great wilderness. It was a wonderful feeling to be in the presence of such a beautiful and graceful hunter...it's really tough and actually near impossible to describe the feeling perfectly, you just have to experience it for yourself.

Still kicking it around home but starting to get lots of tours prepped for 2025 and 2026. Thinking about some new places...any ideas? Where did you all go this year that you'd recommend?

Cheers,
Ben

18/09/2024

~ Ruddy Duck ~

Lately I have really been itching to get back to Washington State for some breeding bird photography. Late Spring/Early summer in the PNW is an amazing destination and one that I'd highly recommend checking out at least once!

I think a trip up in 2025 is on the menu...👀

Cheers,
Ben

12/09/2024

~ Tinkerbirds ~

It's been awhile since I've posted something! I've been home awhile but haven't really had anything to do. I have been enjoying my new landscaping job but it does take me out of my prime posting hours - haha. Had the day off today and so...it's tinkerbird-time!

Here are some more family highlights from Ghana. These are the 5 tinkerbirds of Ghana, all of which are quite typical to see on a tour throughout this country. A few minutes of effort brought these birds down for a photographic opportunity but otherwise you are typically staring up at them high in the trees...definitely worth the extra effort!

*ID's on individual images

Cheers,
Ben

28/08/2024

Here are a couple more images from an extremely fun custom tour I ran back in February. I quite enjoyed my time on these two islands. Photography definitely a challenge but overall quite rewarding! Settling in for some R&R before planning for Australia starts in late October!

*ID's on individual images

Cheers,
Ben

27/08/2024

~ Copper Sunbird ~

One of the only cooperative sunbird species I was able to find in Ghana. We saw lots of beautiful sunbird species but getting photos of them during the off season proved difficult.

If you haven't already seen the trip report, you can check that out here:https://www.tropicalbirding.com/_files/ugd/1cfdff_19e75359738847f280785fa40bca694c.pdf

Cheers,
Ben

21/08/2024

~ Blue-naped Mousebird ~

I have quite a few photos left from Tanzania still to post...mousebirds are certainly a fun family and I dare say the Blue-naped Mousebird might just be my favorite. We photographed this fellow near Lake Manyara.

Looking forward to returning to Tanzania in 2025 and 2026...seems like this tour for us is really gaining some good traction. Maybe it's time to see what all of the fuss is about 😉

Cheers,
Ben

20/08/2024

~ Ghana Highlights ~

Continuing on with the themed photos from Ghana with 'Bee-eaters'. Bee-eaters definitely have a certain charismatic attraction to them that makes them big targets for most of the guests. This specific tour wasn't run at the very best time to maximize bee-eaters but regardless, we did vey well, nailing what was decided as the 'Bird of the Trip', the stunning (and as we all agreed, poorly named) Black Bee-eater.

Also, I just added the final touches to my recent Arizona Photo Tour trip report. If you want to give that a read you can check that out here:https://www.tropicalbirding.com/_files/ugd/1cfdff_b86ac1e07c084a14b4c4f951d05c0633.pdf

Cheers!
Ben

15/08/2024

~ Bishops of Ghana ~

There are three species of bishop in Ghana and our Tropical Birding Tours birding tour saw them all. They aren't that difficult top find truth be told but I did find them oddly a bit challenging to photography as they seemed to be incredibly shy! But in the end, I managed some decent images of all three of these stunners.

The trip report is officially done and online so if you'd like to have a look and give it a read, you can do that here:https://www.tropicalbirding.com/_files/ugd/1cfdff_19e75359738847f280785fa40bca694c.pdf

*ID's on individual images

Cheers,
Ben

14/08/2024

~ Ghana at Night ~

I think this time around I am going to be posting based on certain motifs...birds in flight, blue birds, night birds, etc. Just switching it up a little and keeping it interesting - haha 😂

My first offerings from Ghana are all of the shots I was able to get during our many night-time excursions. Ghana has some impressive night-time targets during the right seasons. This time of year the impressive Standard-winged Nightjar wasn't around but other great birds that we saw but I didn't get to photograph were Long-tailed Nightjar, Brown Nightjar and Plain Nightjar. We saw these mostly while driving and it's tough to shoot while in the back of the bus but we got some great looks. A big shoutout to one of the guests for the use of his impressive flashlights!

Working on finishing the trip report. Should be done in a day or so.

*ID's on individual images

Cheers,
Ben

07/08/2024

~ Arizona Photo Tour Day 13 ~

Alright, let's wrap it up! Day 13 is the last official day of this tour. The morning is spent doing whatever the guests want if I think we've nailed everything we really have a chance for. Since that was the case, I gave the guests the choice and rather predictably it was "what ever you want Ben!" - haha, love these guys! :)

So, I decided to give this guy another go. Sometimes called "cotton-top" the Scaled Quail is in my mind an iconic bird of the southwest, even though it dips it proverbial toe in the middle of the country. Its call is unique and unforgettable, its looks are classy in a sharp style sort of way and its charismatic personality makes it incredibly fun to watch and photograph.

Ghana will be wrapping up in a few days and then I'll be off home for a bit of rest before my next tour...maybe somewhere in Africa...maybe a new place...who knows👀

If you missed any AZ photos or just want to see them all in one place, you can have a look at my Flickr site here;
197504580@N07/albums" rel="ugc" target="_blank">https://www.flickr.com/photos/197504580@N07/albums

Cheers!
Ben

06/08/2024

~ Arizona Photo Tour Day 12 ~

Ah…the last full day of what was definitely tour to remember. One last morning and afternoon chasing birds the Chiricahua Mountains above Portal and I knew just where to go. Barfoot and Rustler Parks host a variety of excellent species. The group was still on a high from nailing a lot of species and requested another go at Olive Warbler. Even though this is not the best time of year to photograph them, we gave it a try. Unfortunately and rather predictably, we weren’t able to get that one but we were able to snap some great pics of Mexican Chickadee…a bird with easily one of the smallest ranges in the US. Very cool stuff!

I hope you all have enjoyed this more trip report style posting! I will post a single shot from the last morning of the tour to wrap it all up.

Oh by the way…I am currently in Ghana, finishing this tour up in about 4 days…get ready for those photos!

*ID’s on individual photos

Cheers,
Ben

01/08/2024

~ Arizona Photo Tour Day 11 ~

Today is an absolutely brilliant day for me. Just great fun as I usually combine some desert shooting in with more “canyon” shooting and wrap it all up with a night-time session. Couple that with a nice mid-day nap 😴 and you really have a heavenly combo...

We started the morning on the border with New Mexico, enjoying some sweet desert birds in the warm sunny glow. After a nice brunch and and reset, I moved the group up into the canyon amongst the juniper, agave, yucca, oaks and pines. Here we scored on pretty much all of our remaining targets. A great day was then wrapped up with our last night target down in Cave Creek. Whew…what a fun day!

*ID’s on individual photos

Cheers,
Ben

31/07/2024

~ Arizona Photo Tour Day 10 ~

The morning started off well as I lead the group in a nice photo session with the local (to Cave Creek Ranch) Blue-throated Mountain Gem. He likes a few perches right around the seed feeder area so it is really just a matter of time before you can get some fun images. I have loads of “front-lit” photos of this bird I am happy with so I went with a slightly different color palette by using a shaded perching area and a semi-lit background…looks somewhat interesting to my eye and I’m a sucker for an over the shoulder pose!

As we start to wind down the tour, we start targeting very specific birds…sometimes dedicating quite a bit of time. That was the story for almost the whole day. Since we had done really well so far and I really wasn’t worried about the major targets still to come, the group voted to dedicate quite a bit of time to a very special little hummingbird. Every year, usually in the Huachuca and Chiricahua Mountains, White-eared Hummingbirds tend to show up from Mexico to breed. This year luckily, was no exception. The George Walker house had been hosting a stunning male since May, so we opted to spend today (and a little bit on another day) trying to capture images of him. It was not easy as he was fairly unpredictable, skittish and the perching area he was using was anything but photo friendly. I am relatively pleased with my results from aur attempts!

The Black-chinned Hummingbird this year was also a bit tricky. Normally I have a few fairly reliable spots for cooperative males but this year they just seemed to be acting a bit differently than normal so the one pictured below is actually also from the George Walker House. I have never photographed one here before but I think it worked out quite well!

Just a few more days to go. Stay tuned if you want to see how the tour wraps up!👀

*ID’s on individual photos

Cheers,
Ben

Ben Knoot Photography