Author Archive
Oct
07
The RGVBF and The Big Picture
Posted by: | CommentsWe’re one month away!
RGVBF Volunteers are scurrying like ants (but ones that don’t bite!). The President Danny Hoehne is toting boxes of t-shirts, meeting with city officials, lining up the morning bus loading volunteers. The Chair Marci Fuller is producing nametags, tweaking the poster, scheduling authors signings. The Secretary Norma Friedrich is calling uncommitted sponsors, gleaning great Silent Auction items, training new volunteers. The Field Trip Chair Mary Gustafson is in Mazatlan.
Wait…what?
Actually, she’s in Mazatlan working (in conjunction with her positions in the American Bird Conservancy and the Joint Venture, both of which do amazing work throughout Mexico and the Americas. She’ll be back soon, and then she’ll be deep into scheduling leaders, verifying trip site logistics, coordinating the eBird interface.
And all the other vital RGVBF volunteers are scurrying just as speedily.
Those of us that work the RGVBF love this Festival, and work our little tail feathers off year-round. Our first priority is our participants – so Jane from Iowa and Donald from Canada will have the best birding experience here in the Valley we can give them.
But we’re also aware that we’re an integral ingredient in a Big Picture. That the RGV Birding Festival is a fostering core of South Texas nature tourism, and that tourism brings in millions (yes, I said millions) annually into our economy, and those millions have hydra-headed positive effects on so many needy levels.
We’re talking 300 million per year. The study was just done, and the information is just out. Read for yourself:
Economic Impact of Nature Tourism on the Rio Grande Valley
The second part of this important two-part study by Texas A&M will be conducted during this year’s RGVBF. So if you’re joining us, you will be part of it all!
Oct
06
BEING GREEN at the RGVBF
Posted by: | CommentsIf you’re not familiar with it already, The Birding Community E-Bulletin, written by Paul Baicich and Wayne Peterson and sponsored by National Geographic, is a gem of a newsletter that drops into your email box monthly. A digest full of the latest birding world news, always interesting and informative. (To subscribe, drop Paul an e: paul.baicich@verizon.net)
Reprinting the below installment, with the conveyed message: The RGVBF is GREEN.
We took a big step last year, and will continue it this year, in that each registrant will receive one of these:
Refillable at the festival site and on trips.
Also, Birds and Beans generously provides the coffee served at the RGVBF, which will also be for sale on site. Check out this great, conscientious company:
It’s all about choices, right? So…choose to join us! Hey, you’ll get your own water bottle out of the deal. Oh, and eye-boggling views of Green Jays and Great Kiskadees and the Valley’s other avian singularities.
Sep
08
Right-brained at the RGVBF
Posted by: | Comments
Since man first picked up a burnt stick and scratched an image on the nearest rock, art depicting the natural world has been an extension of our existence.
In the depictions of animals and birds and flowers, Science and Art have merged through the ages in a wonderful way. Some of today’s finest bird and nature artists have produced the eighteen years of original artwork for the Rio Grande Valley Birding Festival.
This year, we noticed that a great concentration of artists would be joining us at the 2011 Festival, in various capacities. It sort of reminds me of this famous painting by Impressionist Henri Fantin-Latour, a group portrait of a bunch of famous artists of his day:
Let’s update that, and makes it ours:
Who are these gathered artists? Well, there’s Debby Kaspari, this year’s festival artist featuring a stunning Red-billed Pigeons, illustrator of the Birds of Trinidad and Tobago and author of Drawing the Mot-Mot:
There’s Sophie Webb, illustrator of the Birds of Mexico and Northern Central America and Marine Mammals of the Pacific Coast and a line of children’s books, too:
And there’s F.P. Tony Bennett, the Valley’s own painter of tropical birds, hummingbird expert for the Birds of Peru:
Also, Michael O’Brien, esteemed contributor to the Peterson Field Guide series and author of a number of landmark books:
Last, but not least, Louise Zemaitis, artist for Birdwatcher’s Digest and Birding, International Migratory Bird Day, plus a variety of books and wearable art:
Why am I telling you all this? Because all these artists and more will be gathered in an innovative new seminar during the November event – the Artists Panel. Moderated by Louise Zemaitis, this will be a fascinating peek into the right-brain-side of these creative people. A rare opportunity.
Offered for only $7 on Thursday, 10 November at 1:30p in the Harlingen Municipal Auditorium, festival headquarters.
Aug
29
Those Wonderful Whoopers
Posted by: | CommentsI’ve been thinking about Whoopers lately.
It’s the Operation Migration cam that’s got me going.
If you haven’t seen it yet, check in out around 7a Central time, when the training flights are being conducted. There’s something thrilling and lofty about it, something that makes your insides lift up and fly right along with those lovely snowy creatures.
Even though these birds are headed to Florida, most of the remaining world’s population of wild Whooping Cranes winter in Texas, a few hours drive north of the Rio GrandeValley in and around Aransas NWR. I looked up the numbers—interesting stuff. There are four categories of Grus americana, and here’s the rundown:
Aransas/WoodBuffaloNP Wild Population
2002 174
2010 263
WisconsinMigratory Population
2002 5
2010 119
FloridaNon-Migratory Population
2010 25
Captive Populations (Zoos and Foundations)
2010 167
Yes, low numbers. But hopeful when you realize that at one time there were only 15 birds left, in 1941. In general, the Aransas Population—the truly wild group—increase at the rate of 7 to 20 individuals each year.
There are two things about Whooping Cranes that I understand from being on a couple African safaris. One is sheer size. We’ve all seen countless East African documentaries, but the first time I saw a live hyena my jaw dropped. No dog-like animal, this. All those photographs, video—pfft. You just can’t get the scale from a screen, the larger-than-life feel. Same with the cranes. And the second thing is also what I like best about Whooping Cranes—watching them walk. Whoopers and giraffes—it’s all about that undulating, fluid stride.
Getting to see these cranes is a privilege—a privilege that I hope, in the future, is not one. I can wish the rare factor gone, but I know that the amazement factor will never be gone. Imagine flocks of Whoopers in concentrations like Sandhills. We can only hope. And help.
Join the RGVBF and get your chance to see the wonderful Whoopers—our 3 day post-Festival trip, led by leaders extraordinaire Louise Zemaitis and Michael O’Brien.
Aug
03
The Valley That Isn’t
Posted by: | Comments
There’s the state of Texas, and then there’s the Valley.
Say ‘The Valley’ and most birders will know just what you’re talking about: The Rio Grande Valley of deep South Texas. The Valley conjures up blood-pumping, soul-stirring, feet-itchin’ images of Zone-tailed Hawks and winter rarities and sabal palms and South Padre Island and Tex-Mex plates and tropical butterflies and (dare we hope?) a world-famous birding festival.
Funny thing, though, it’s not really a valley—it’s a delta. Here, the 1,896 mile long Rio Grande (or El Rio Bravo, if you’re on the Mexican side of the border, facing north and speaking Spanish) meets the sea. (Word to the wise: Don’t say Rio Grande River. Redundant, and makes the locals wince).
The Valley is separated from the rest of Texas by miles and miles of empty land (empty of humans, but filled with waterfowl, raptors, cattle, mesquite, legends) that’s owned by the fabled big ranch families of Kenedy and Kleberg counties. It’s also separate in feel.
But what I really want to talk about right now is another way in which the Valley is separate and different—drought, or more accurately, lack thereof.Texas as a state is getting a lot of press about the current severe dry conditions, and we at the RGV Birding Festival have gotten inquiries. But we’ve been spared. Tropical moisture has come in off the Gulf several times this summer (thanks Arlene and Don!) and blessed the tip o’Tex. So let me go on record to say that at this point the Valley is lush and green. And here are the pix to prove it (so fresh my memory card is still warm):
While I was outside snagging these images, I also took some of the cotton field across the street. Three crops rule this agricultural delta: Sorghum, sugar cane, and cotton. The 2011 Valley cotton crop is expected to be bumper. Sure looks that way in these shots:
The Valley is an interesting place—unique in the United States for its ecology, economy, geography,
culture, and feel. Hey, where else can you lay in a hammock in November, feeling sun warming your bones and soul, listening to rustling palms and distant Tejano music, considering a dinner-time drive to the Island for shrimp or redfish, and raising your binocs for views of Buff-bellied Hummingbirds and Chachalacas and Jays so vivid they shock your eyes?
Jun
23
As Smooth as RBPI Feathers
Posted by: | Comments–that’s how our first days of Registration are going. Record early numbers are filling up the special trips.
Which trips are special? All of them! Hey, it’s THE Valley! It’s the place where Green Jays gangs shout from mesquites, where Caracaras mix with the TV’s, where Buffies (Buff-bellied Hummingbirds) lord over the yard feeders and beds of native Turk’s Cap.
Photo Credits: Laura Kammermeier, Kevin Karlson, Richard Crossley. Thanks guys!
If you haven’t birded the Valley before, the birds here are all the incentive one needs. If you have been before, there are plenty reasons to return! Come back and catch those birds you’ve missed. Attend one of the most famous festivals of its kind. Take a field trip with a leader that wrote that favorite dog-eared guide of yours. Enjoy the unique keynotes. Revel in our sun and palms and affordable Tex-mex hospitality.
For suggestions on RGVBF trips to take for those that have been before, and also for suggestions for beginners or those that need less walking or other categories, visit the website’s Field Trip Page and scroll down.
It’s all too great to miss. And easy. Fly right into Harlingen’s airport, 15 minutes from the Festival site, on Southwest or Continental. And there’s some good airfares out there right now…just sayin’…
Apr
15
THE GREAT PALM-RAISING SAGA
Posted by: | CommentsCast: RGV Birding Festival, Arroyo Colorado Audubon Society, Red-crowned Parrots, Green Parakeets. Supporting cast: Golden-fronted Woodpeckers.
The RGVBF has a long history of Giving Back. It was instrumental in the preservation and acquisition of forty acres of native thornscrub within the Harlingen city limits, called The Thicket, which is now in the parks system with a conservation easement upon it.
These days, our focus has been on Red-crowned Parrots and Green Parakeets. The Valley has the only accepted established and countable wild populations of these immensely entertaining species. With our February Freeze and our overeager development, the parrots and parakeets are losing their roosting, nesting, and feeding trees at an alarming rate.
So a plan was hatched, but then the hatchling quickly grew three large and important heads: 1) increase nesting sites 2) foster an ordinance protecting these species and 3) conduct surveys to better understand distribution, populations, and behavior. The ordinance is currently being drafted (grass roots government involvement! Way to go Fest President Danny Hoehne!) and the survey is being implemented (Citizen Science! Headed up by get-‘er-done Fest Secretary and ACAS President Norma Friedrich, with the helpful guidance of ornithologists-biologists Tim Brush and Mark Conway).
But the exciting, visible, tangible product of our efforts was our first installation of a dead palm bundle – a “psittacidae condo”. The site was offered by a sympathetic landowner, the trunks were salvaged and stockpiled, and supplies, equipment, and support came from various directions. Here’s the process in pix:
First trunk going up alongside the cemented support post.
Hooking up the second trunk.
Trunk Number Two up. Rope was used temporarily, then stainless steel banding secured all the trunks and support post together.
At any good barn or palm-raisin’, the womenfolk provide vittles. Time for a break. Thanks Sue Griffin, Trade Show Chair and Joyce Hamilton, Fest volunteer and ACAS Secretary.
Four trunks. Five trunks complete the job. One even already has a hole in it. The woodpeckers will start the holes (they were nearby ready to swoop in) and the parrots will then enlarge them to their own liking. That morning, a Red-crowned sat squawking at us from a nearby tree. An anxious condo-dweller, we hope. The process and science of providing parrot and parakeet homes is a bit of an experiment, with some unknowns and assumptions. However, we believe we’re on the right track and plan on more installations around Harlingen. There’s much to be learned from this project. And we predict that the people of the community will gain awareness and become more proprietorial about their avian neighbors.
Here’s the landowners, the Harveys. A big thanks to you.
And here’s the workforce – all RGVBF volunteers and all great, giving folks. Special hat tips to Billy Snider and his palm trunk salvaging skills, Bob Binney and his trusty bucket truck, plus Stan Sterba and his on-the-spot photo journaling prowess.
SQUAWK SQUAWK SQUAWK (That’s ‘THANKS’ in psittacidae).
Feb
22
RGV BIRDING FESTIVAL IS JALAPENO-HOT!
Posted by: | CommentsWhat goes on with the red-shirted RGVBF Staff folk in between Novembers? We do stuff. We have Giving Back projects (like wild parrot/parakeet habitat). We have meetings (currently fine-tuning the upcoming event). And we have fun.
Heres a dose of our fun. The Jalapeno 100 bike ride is held in the Harlingen vicinity every February the 21st annual this year. Hundreds of bikers from everywhere participate, and a number of rest/water stops are set up along the routes. The RGVBF has a great history of getting involved, sponsoring one of the stops.
And O Happy Day! This year the date of the bike ride coincided with the Great Backyard Bird Count, so our staffers could be seen adroitly handing out muffins and protein balls and Gatorade whilst yelling out, 4 Least Grebes! 12 Neotropical Cormorants! 3 Kiskadees! (Rest Stop #4 was serendipitously situated near a marshy resaca). Heres the spread (before the bikers descended!) and in the background bird counters Norma and Joyce and Sue working the marsh.
But then our reason-for-being kicked in. The first bikers, the out-in-front-of-the-pack ones, got personal service:
And then the hordes reached us. Eek! Just like a flock of red-wings, cleaning us out:
If youre familiar with the Festival historically, then you know or know of Father Tom Pincelli, RGVBF President for its first fifteen years. Whats he doing these days? Well, hes still a priest, and a biker. Here he is, awaiting one of Rest Stop #4s amenities (the one on the right):
Overall, a fun and fruitful day biker-wise and bird-wise. Heres the hard-working gang, left to right:
Gene Hanvy, Trade Show / Marci Fuller, Chair / Sue Griffin, Trade Show Chair / Erny Colunga, Technical Chair / Fran Wolpin, Sponsorships / Norma Friedrich, Secretary and Silent Auction Chair / Joyce Hamilton, Education / Lupita Lucio, Souvenir Chair and Kiskadee Kordial / Stan Sterba, Trade Show / Susan Hoehne, Education Chair/ Danny Hoehne, President / Billy Snider, Stage Decoration / David Schibi, Transportation Chair. Not pictured: Bob Binney, Field Trips, and one of the main Jal100 organizers, and Kenny Salazar, Website Chair and Chronicler.
Thank you all! You are one sizzlin great group!
–Marci Fuller, Chair
Jan
19
TESTIMONIALS from RGVBF 2010 PARTICIPANTS
Posted by: | CommentsHeaded from Florida for my first trip out to the Texas Rio Grande Valley Birding Festival. Wow what a trip! The festival had some excellent field trips which kept me birding from sun up to sun down. Over the course of five days, I was blessed to add 40 new birds to my life list and saw well over 110 species. It was an awesome time with pictures to share with friends and family when I got back home. Can’t wait to go back again.
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Best organized Festival Ive been to. Terrific job by everyone!
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It was the best bird festival I have ever attended. King Ranch was great, Jon Dunn was great, boat trip was great, raptor banding was great. The field trips could not have been better.
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Look forward to attending every year!
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Some key finds were the Eastern Screech Owl, Ferruginous Pygmy Owl, Green Jay, Greater Roadrunner, Clay-Colored Thrush, Northern Beardless Tyrannulet, Golden Fronted Woodpecker, Buff-bellied Hummingbird, Green Kingfisher, Altamira Oriole, Vermilion Flycatcher and two very unusual visitors to the area, the Crimson-collared Grosbeak and the Ruddy ground-Dove, to name a few. If I have to pick a favorite or two I would say it was the Greater Roadrunner and Green Jay. If you have never been to the Rio Grande Valley Birding Festival it’s a must do trip. Hope to see you there next year!
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Congrats for putting on yet another great festival. It’s hard to describe how much I enjoyed it, but if my post-festival disorientation is any indication, it was a rockin’ fest.
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Awsome fest. Absolutely ace. MASSIVE CHEERS to the entire gang that puts together RGVBF in brilliant fashion. Had a load of fun and incredible birds on the tours and at the convention hall. Hands down the single best bird fest experience in the states. My second year and definitely not the last.
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Wonderful Festival!! Many thanks for all the hard work you all did. See you next year!
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This was my first RGV Festival and I could not have been more impressed. You did a great job with trips and leaders.
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Great festival…tallied at least 20+ species of dragonflies, 40+ species of butterflies, three lifebirds and a great look at bobcat. Thank you organizers and volunteers!
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Had a wonderful time.43 life birds.
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Great trip leaders. Good birding. Gave me a nice intro to the area.
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We didn’t leave until the following week, and I didn’t want to leave at all. Your festival is by far my favorite! This year we brought friends with us and I hope to do the same in 2011. I think every birder needs to see the Rio Grande Valley and the BEST way to do it is during the Rio Grande Valley Birding Festival — fantastic field trips to incomparable destinations with the best leaders!
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I tell everyone its the BEST birding festival. Everyone I met was full of information and goodwill. The Game Show night was FUN. Keep it going!
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I have attended this Festival many times and will be returning for many years to come.
Dec
09
HIGHLIGHTING THE 2010 RGVBF
Posted by: | CommentsLetting pictures tell the story…
Registration opens. Meet Sally, Kasey, Marci, Kenny, Norma – all staffers:
Find the right van or bus, and meet the Fest President Danny Hoehne:
Field trips to famous places with topnotch leaders:
Great birds seen – Valley specialties and rare visitors: Kiskadee during Banding Demonstration trip, plus Ruddy Ground-Dove at Estero Llano Grande and Crimson-collared Grosbeak at Frontera Audubon:
The New Butterfly trips had everyone going buggy:
Back at the Festival site – lots to do! Shopping at the Birder’s Bazaar:
Got birds? The Raptor Project is on-site:
A wealth of talks and workshops by movers and shakers:
Reaching our youth for nearly two decades:
The Student Art Contest:
And the crowning highlight – Eagle Optics’ Saturday night Keynote Quiz Show with Jeff Gordon:
Going home with smiles (and larger lifelists!)
