Stephen Ingraham (who?)
the unofficial site for birders and digiscopers using Zeiss equipment.
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Rio Grande Valley Birding Festival
And, if you are among those who have never birded the Valley, there is no way to really explain what you are missing...it is a birding experience like few others. The number of unique birds, the number of birds overall, the accessablity of the sites, the helpfulness of the locals and the abundant birder friendly accomidations make the Valley something special. Over the past few years birding has become big business here. World Birding Centers are springing up all over to supliment the already abundant nature centers, wildlife refuges, and santuaries. You can barely visit all the sites in a week of solid birding...you can't really...and many are so rich with birds that you will want to make more than one visit. And beyond the birds, the Valley has among the richest variety of butterflies, moths, and dragonflies anywhere north of Mexico. The images below will give you an idea of just how rich the area is. As usual, clicking on a bird, bug, or lizard will get you an enlarged image.
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The Rio Grande Festival is one of the oldest festivals in the country, and is certainly among the best: they have the organization, the people, and the birds to make each year a real treat for those who make the trek down to Harlingen. The Festival is largely responsible for making birding in the Rio Grande valley as popular as it is today. Thousands of birders over the years have had their first taste of the Valley under the tutalige of the excellent professional and semi-professional tour leaders at the RGVBF. They learned the birds, the sites, and the routes on field trips. They may not come to the festival year after year, but they are here in the Valley birding, putting to use what they have learned.
