admin :: Rio Grande Valley Birding Festival

Author Archive

Aug

BIRDING with BINnS TIPS

Posted by: admin | Comments (0)

MAKING the RIO GRANDE VALLEY BIRDING FESTIVAL YOUR BEST EXPERIENCE

by Adrian Binns,

Birding festivals offer wonderful, unexpected opportunities to be engaged, inspired and enlightened. The Rio Grande Valley Birding Festival (RGVBF) is among the best—combining specialty birds, excellent leaders and superior organizers all in one location. This year’s RGVBF guarantees an incredible experience at every level, from field trips to workshops to evening socials. TheRio GrandeValleyis one of the premier birding locations in the world, and if you can only attend one festival, this should be a top choice! Whether you are a brand new birder, or a seasoned lister, I invite you to register now for the 2011 Rio Grande Valley Birding Festival, November 9-13. Don’t miss out on one of the most delightful experiences in the birding community!

Following are tips that are guaranteed to enhance your experience at the RGVBF:

1) SIGN UP EARLY AND SIGN UP OFTEN, FOR AS MANY ACTIVITIES AS POSSIBLE.

The RGVBF offers an extraordinary number and diversity of field trips, workshops, programs and speakers. There is something for every skill level, pace, and interest. Knowledgeable, expert leaders guide field trips to all the local hotspots, knowing what to look for and how to find it. The indoor presentations and workshops provide valuable enhancement to the paramount field trips. A full day of activities leads to great satisfaction at the end of the festival. It’s no fun sitting in the hotel alone, with little to contribute at the end of the day when meeting-up to recap the day’s experiences over dinner. Sign-up to visit a new location, or learn something you know nothing about. And sign-up early, as popular events fill quickly!

2) BRING A FRIEND OR BIRDING BUDDY.

It’s fun to share new experiences with a friend, especially when it involves the opportunity to see the many specialties of theRio GrandeValley! Few people can relate to such excitement as birding buddies, and they make great roommates, traveling companions, and dinner mates throughout the festival.

3) PERUSE THE FIELD GUIDE IN ADVANCE.

The more you know about the birds before you arrive, the better prepared you will be to enjoy them in the field. Even if you are not inclined to serious study, you’ll find that spending a few hours perusing the field guide will give you a good idea of what to expect, including the unexpected! You may not be a hard core lister, but this location offers a good reason to consider making a list of target birds – like the resident, specialty Buff-bellied Hummingbird – since many species can only be found here in the Rio GrandeValleyregion of theU.S.

4) SAY HELLO TO A STRANGER.

Hospitality is big inTexas, like most everything else, and the Rio Grande Valley Birding Festival is no exception! RGVBF Festival organizers and leaders are extremely friendly people. They are fun, enthusiastic, and committed to making a top-notch birding experience for all the participants. Don’t be shy. Introduce yourself to leaders and other participants. You may click with someone who becomes a lifelong friend!

5) SUPPORT FESTIVAL VENDORS.

To round out your Rio Grande Valley Birding Festival experience, spend some time visiting the vendors in the trade show booths. Exhibitors from all backgrounds—birding gear suppliers, travel companies, optics dealers, booksellers, environmental conservation groups, clubs, photographers, and artists—will offer an interesting variety of the latest innovations, as well as some great sales deals! Pay attention to the sponsors listings—these companies care and deserve our support—and also, don’t forget the Silent Auction offerings—another place to score a great deal!

Whether he is leading birding trips around the globe or presenting programs to local clubs, Adrian brings passion, enthusiasm and humor to all experiences. Raised in Morocco and educated in England, Adrian’s diverse background and interests led him to southeastern Pennsylvania where he worked in ecological landscape design and began leading eco-tours for a variety of organizations. Now the Field Director for Wildside Nature Tours, Adrian leads groups to experience birds and other wildlife in many different countries. Adrian has served as past president of the Delaware Valley Ornithological Club (DVOC), one of the oldest bird clubs in the country, and was part of many winning Nikon/DVOC World Series of Birding Teams. He is currently a member of Nikon’s Birding ProStaff. Adrian is an accomplished avian illustrator and well-published photographer, as well as a popular speaker and field trip leader at birding festivals.

–For more great tips, visit Birding with BINnS

And stay tuned: closer to the November event, we’ll post Adrian’s terrific and timely in-the-field tips! Also: don’t miss Adrian’s sure-to-be-entertaining Friday 11Nov afternoon seminar, Tales with Tails.

all photos © adrian binns

Categories : Rio Grande Valley Birding Festival

Comments (0)

Jul

8 Reasons to Sign Up for Ruth Hoyt’s Photo Ops Trip:

Posted by: admin | Comments (1)

If you are a birder who believes a camera is as vital to carry as binoculars, Photo Ops Ranch Style with Ruth Hoyt is designed for you. Led by esteemed professional photographer Ruth Hoyt, a select group will enjoy the privilege of not only benefiting from her experience and knowledge, but also doing so at a premier private South Texas ranch dedicated to nature photography. This unique offering filled up immediately last year, so register now! Participants should come to the workshop knowing how their camera works, and how to make basic adjustment settings.

Writer/blogger/birder Laura Kammermeier took this field trip two years ago, and offers us eight reasons why Birders, in particular, should sign up for Ruth Hoyt’s Photo Ops, today.

1. You’ll tour one of the famed “Photography Ranches” that has made south Texas so popular with photographers. In the last decade Texas ranchers have found a new calling in repurposing their land for nature photographers. With dedicated stations set up with food and water to attract birds and professionally installed blinds (some dug right into the ground to put you at eye level to the birds), you will have a fantastic opportunity to get up close and personal to some fantastic southwestern wildlife.

2. You’ll sit still and let the birds come to you. Trip leaders will lead you to a comfortable blind in view of a long-established watering hole and feeding station. Numerous birds (a variety of species depending on the food types provided) come and go, which gives you plenty of time to test out manual controls in response to lighting conditions. The greatest gift will be the ego boost you’ll get after realizing that birding while taking photos is a better recipe for success than taking photos while birding.

3. You’ll finally have the guts to kick Auto out of your life while deepening your relationship with A and S. What good is your fancy-pants camera if you don’t take it off Automatic Mode once in awhile? Imagine having the stillness and presence of mind to sit in a blind, adjust ISO and White Balance to fit the natural light, then fiddle with Aperture and Shutter priority settings in an organized fashion. Adjusting F stops up and down in response to light will help you to REALLY understand what happens when you adjust Aperture opening. Take that knowledge with you next time you snap on the run and watch your Keeper:Garbage ratio climb.

4. You’ll get a Post-processing Redux. What you do with a photo AFTER you shoot a picture can be even more important than WHEN you shoot it (and did you know your post-processing karma depends entirely on HOW you shoot it—jpg or raw?). Ruth will show you her digital work flow—how she transfers, saves, modifies, and backs up images from a long day’s shoot. She’ll go over basic principles of photo editing using Adobe LightRoom so you can impress your friends and editors with quality digital photographs.

5. You’ll see and become familiar with interesting Southwest birds, such as sexy Pyrrhuloxia, coveys of Scaled Quail, sassy Northern Mockingbirds, hungry Crested Caracaras stripping a carcass of meat, and if you’re lucky, a Greater Roadrunner with a speed warrant. You will also enjoy oodles of time to properly expose that exquisite denizen of the Southwest, the Green Jay. Other great possible species include: Audubon’s and Altamira Orioles, Black and Turkey Vulture, White-tailed Hawk, White-wing Dove, Black-throated and Olive Sparrow, and more.

6. You’ll make a friend or two. Two or three people are assigned to each station, so you’ll have hours in the blind to whisper introductions, talk shop, and exchange advice on how to shoot what’s in front of you. Be respectful of your neighbors, however. Some people may prefer silence.

7. You’ll leave the day a better photographer. Honestly. Carve out this special one-on-one time with your camera, toss in an expert and sprinkle it with time, and you’ll have the makings of a digital epiphany.

8. Space for this popular tour is filling up. Reserve your spot on the Photo Ops Trip now.

Thanks to Laura Kammermeier for sharing this with us.

Visit her Blog and check out her RGVBF Photography Page!

Note from The Fest Chair: The RGVBF offers three opportunities to be with Ruth Hoyt in the field: two Photo Ops day trips, and also, the Photo Safari pre-Festival 3 night trip. See Field Trips for all listings.

Categories : RGVBF Field Trips

Comments (1)

Mar

RGVBF T-Shirt Announcement

Posted by: admin | Comments (1)

Do you remember the Odd Couple-styled muppets, Bert and Ernie from Sesame Street?

I loved that both Bert and Ernie were birdwatchers. Yes, they really were. Bert had a particular affinity for a certain family of birds–pigeons! He even had a pigeon dance he did…he called it, “Doing the Pigeon”.

I like to imagine that Bert was not only singing about the local Rock Pigeons of Sesame Street but that he was knowledgeable about the world’s many species of pigeons. I fantasize about him visiting the Lower Rio Grande Valley to come see our very own specialty pigeon, the Red-billed Pigeon!

Unlike city pigeons, the Red-billed Pigeons are always beautiful birds and never bothersome. They live in riparian habitats and can be wary and often hard to see. In fact, they are one of the less-frequently seen Valley specialties on our field trips. Still, there’s always a chance, and with their limited range in the USA, Red-billed Pigeons are one of the birds that makes the Rio Grande Valley such an intriguing destination for birdwatching. We at the RGV Birding Festival want the world to know they are here. “How will we do that?,” you ask.

Drum roll please…….

The 18th annual Rio Grande Valley Birding Festival T-shirt will feature a pair of red-billed pigeons surrounded by lovely anacua leaves and berries. This year’s art has been designed for us by the award-winning artist Debby Kaspari. Ta da!

Debby Kaspari draws and paints birds from life, traveling around the world with her sketchbooks and binoculars. Her illustrations are featured in the upcoming Field Guide to Birds of Trinidad and Tobago (Cornell University) and Drawing and Painting Birds (Crowood Press). Her paintings have been shown in the Woodson Museum’s Birds in Art and the Society of Animal Artist’s Art and the Animal and she is a long-time contributor to Birdwatcher’s Digest.

Debby lives in Norman, Oklahoma, with her husband, tropical ecologist and Oklahoma University professor Mike Kaspari. Her award-nominated blog can be found here: Drawing the Motmot

Join, Debby, Bert, and all of us at the Rio Grande Valley Birding Festival this year in “Doing the Pigeon”!

–Liz Gordon, Art and Souvenir Committee