 The changing season has once again brought back millions of migratory birds to the Rio Grande Valley of Texas, and the upcoming RGV Birding Festival in Harlingen showcases the annual return with special tours, seminars and birding opportunities for those wanting to get outdoors to enjoy the mild weather the Valley has to offer.
The 15th Annual Rio Grande Valley Birding Festival promises to be as rewarding and memorable as ever with a full schedule of field trips, workshops, seminars, keynote lectures, children's programs, and a trade show -- a little something for everyone.
The programs and activities of the festival are designed to be insightful as well as informative say event organizers, offering the perfect opportunity to view many of the over 400 bird varieties that frequent the Valley this time of year - a real birder's paradise. Backyard, novice and veterans will all find something of interest. Birding expertise will be expanded for backyard, novice, and veteran birders alike.
One of the highlights of the festival is the comprehensive venfdor showcase where birders can find very specific gear targeted to the professional and novice birder alike. Looking for new optics? A field guide or nature artwork? This and so much more can be found at the Birder’s Bazaar. Vendors will be on hand to help you choose a gift for yourself or a friend or to pick up literature on activities and topics involving the avian world.
The number one reason to attend the event, of course, is the opportunity to bird world-renowned hotspots with some of the best leaders in the nation! The Festival’s checklist consistently sports over 220 sightings each year. Birding experts and dignitaries scheduled to appear at the festival this year include:
Parker Backstrom
A former member of the Minnesota Ornithological Records Committee, Parker moved to Tucson, Arizona in the 1995 to work for the birdwatching tour company WINGS, but relocated to central North Carolina in 2004. Aside from leading birding trips throughout the U.S., his professional birding background includes stints in the western Aleutian Islands, where he did research on seabird populations, in California's Sierra Nevada mountain range, where he conducted breeding bird surveys, and in Duluth, Minnesota, where he worked as hawk counter for Hawk Ridge Nature Reserve.
Paul Baicich
Bird-writer, editor, and consultant, Baicich is a former New Yorker, former American Birding Association board member and staffer, and former airline ramp serviceman. He is co-author (with the late Colin Harrison) of the popular Guide to Nest Eggs and Nestlings of North American Birds. His bird interests include shade-grown coffee, avian breeding biology, Alaskan birdlife, National Wildlife Refuges, bird education, and whatever might be his next North American lifer.
Gavin Bieber
Bieber developed a very early interest in birds, fish, amphibians and reptiles and has steadily pursued these interests while growing up in British Columbia, Virginia Beach, Great Britain and Denmark. Gavin graduated from the University of Victoria with a degree in Biology and a minor in Environmental Studies. He studied for one year at the University of Southern Mississippi where he collaborated with their Migratory Bird Study Group. Gavin has worked as a field assistant on a variety of ornithological research projects including studies of the wintering ecology of Henslow's Sparrows, the breeding biology of Interior Least Terns, and the stopover ecology of Swainson's Thrushes and Gray Catbirds. In addition he conducted point counts for the National Park Service in Arizona and New Mexico.
Jeff Bouton
Bouton has been active as a research biologist and professional tour leader for over 22 years. As a professional research biologist, Jeff worked across the country and finally landed in Alaska, where he guided professionally for 6 years.
Kevin T. Karlson
Karlson is an accomplished wildlife photographer whose credits include all major birding magazines and journals, several books, field guides, and CD ROMs. He is the founder and president of Jaegar Tours, Inc., a birding tour company based in New Jersey.
Michael Retter
Retter is a central Illinois native who works as a tour leader for Tropical Birding, specializing in tours to Mexico. He holds a B.A. in Biology from Illinois Wesleyan University, where he also studied classical voice. Birding since the age of six, his greatest areas of interest are taxonomy and distribution.
Dozens of other experienced birders will be on hand to serve as topic speakers, workshop leaders and field guides.
Field trips this year include excursions to Anzalduas County Park, Bentsen-Rio Grande State Park, River Pontoon Boat & Quinta Mazatlan, Brownsville's Resaca de las Palmas State Park, San Ygnacio & Zapata, Sabal Palms, Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge, Canoe the Rio Grande, South Padre Island,
Cruises of the Arroyo and Upper Rio Grande, Gulf of Mexico Pelagic Trip, Valley Salt Lakes and Edinburg Scenic Wetlands, King Ranch, an the Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge.
Over 100 workshops are also included in the festival schedule. For more information, visit rgvbirdfest.com.
|
Rio Grande Valley