Laredo Birding Festival 2010

 

Photo: Joshua Anderson
Land: Rancho Lucero

The Laredo Birding Festival (LBF) 2010 attendees will experience a broad range of field trips, a birding track set up with the efficacy and mobility that lends itself to small birding groups and an exciting new set of nature photography excursions with some of the best known bird photographers in the country. All come with the exclusive opportunity to see and immortalize south Texas fowl, flora and fauna like never before!

In addition to top notch photo-leaders, local experts that know their stuff can assist outdoor enthusiasts catch a glimpse of those “south Texas specialties,” like the White-collared seedeater, the Green parakeet, the Least Grebe, White-tipped Dove, Groovebilled Ani, and the Green Jay. Close to 100 species may be seen during the event set from March 25-27, 2010.

Each day begins with an outdoor sight visit and ends with a class-room seminar in the afternoon. Festival attendees will get to take in local public parks and trails such as Las Palmas nature trail, the new Slaughter park and river vega trails, and Father McNaboe Park. Other locations that show off the regional assets of the area include private ranches set to take in trekkers seeking the thrill of a sighting. The LBF is made possible through the partnership and participation of the Monte Mucho Audubon Society.

This partnership allows for local experienced birders and enthusiasts to be paired with visitors and first time birders for a maximum field experience. A new partnership with ICF will allow birders to interface with photographers and landowners, sharing the common bond of admiration for nature’s beauty and the excitement of discovery.

 

 

2010 Pro Tour of Nature Photography:

Texas Borderlands of Laredo Competition

Photo: Tom J. Urban / Land: Pierce Ranch

 

As the premier home town host, Laredo readies for what will be one of the most exciting new endeavors in nature tourism that is all the rage. In April, 20 professional photographers from across the globe will compete for $180,000 in prize money and capture Webb and its neighboring counties in all their natural glory for the 2010 Pro Tour of Nature Photography: Texas Borderlands of Laredo Competition.

This southwest Texas region is home to thousands of species of flora and fauna and extremely important to migratory birds, mammals and insects. The Pro-Tour photographers will be creating a visual inventory that will educate the public and participating landowners about the plants and animals that share the land. Landowners participating in the event include those with property in Webb, Maverick, Dimmit, La Salle, McMullen, Duval, Jim Hogg and Zapata counties.  

Twenty photographer-landowner teams will be matched at random for a one-month competition at a special event schedule for March 27, 2010 and will share the illustrious purse. Each prize is split 50/50 by the team members. The landowner-photographer symposium is set to take place at Texas A&M International University and at the end of the day, a random drawing ensues to match up and make teams. The competition begins on April 1 and continues for 30 days until April 30 at midnight. Each team will submit a final 70-image portfolio for judging.  Five divisions will exhibit the region's biodiversity: Birds; Mammals; Reptiles, Amphibians & Fish; Invertebrates (Insects & Arachnids); Landscapes, Plants & Flowers.

Visitors are invited to share in the passion and challenge of admiring wildlife in and around Laredo! This can be done on public and private ranchlands, some that have never before been birded or photographed!

 

These are some of the species found in this area:

• Orioles- Altamira, Audubon’s, Hooded
• Jays- Green and Brown
• Hawks, Kites & Falcons- Common Black, Caracara, Hook-billed Kite, Harris’
• Anis and Cuckoos- Yellow-billed & Greater Roadrunner
• Parrots & Parakeets- Red-crowned and Green
• Thrashers- Long and Curve-billed
• Kingfishers- Belted, Green and Ringed (in Feb. 2010 the Amazon Kingfisher)
• Sparrows & Towhees- Clay-colored, Rufous-crowned, Olive, Green-tailed
• Others- White-collared Seedeater, Scaled Quail, Plain Chachalaca, Buff-bellied Hummingbird, Golden-fronted Woodpecker, Black Phoebe, Chihuahuan Raven, Red-billed Pigeon, Muscovy Duck

Female Amazon Kingfisher photographed at the mouth of Zacate Creek and the Rio Grande River this past February.