This trip to a private ranch is so popular we offer it twice, pre-festival and post-festival.  Don’t miss the chance to begin or end your FeatherFest adventure at Hall’s Bayou Ranch!

Clear Creek winds its way from Clear Lake through Galveston County on the mainland, providing beneficial freshwater riparian edge habitat to a wide variety of bird species and other wildlife. Location:  This pre-festival trip explores two of the hidden gems in the Clear Lake Loop of the Upper Texas Coast – Great Texas Coastal Birding Trail, Challenger Seven Memorial Park and Heritage Park. What to Expect:  We will begin at the beautiful Challenger Seven Memorial Park. We will hike along…

In northeast Harris County, Lake Houston dams the confluence of the two forks of the San Jacinto River, Luce Bayou and Cypress Creek. The mighty San Jac watershed bottomlands hold a bounty of flora and fauna along its courses. Beaver and river otter share Lake Houston with alligator and banded water snakes to name a few. Overhead gulls, pelican and waterbirds move in groups plying the water of the lake for fish. In the spring, the dawn song from the forest is large and loud.

Located on the Great Texas Coastal Birding Trail, the Baytown Nature Center (BNC) is a 450-acre peninsula surrounded by three brackish bays. Renowned for its rich bird life, over 350 species have been recorded throughout its existence. Location:  BNC is equipped with trails and observation platforms throughout the center, providing close views of wading birds and shorebirds. Huge utility towers across Burnet Bay often attract migrants as they travel through the area, with brown boobies becoming a fairly common site…

Come join us for a day in Brazoria County, birding some lesser-known hotspots (although that does not make them any less birdy!)  Local birders enjoy these sites year-round and especially during spring migration. What to Expect:  We will stay flexible with our route depending on weather, bird activity, and other considerations, but we will likely begin by birding the marsh along Crab Road in Surfside.  This tidal salt marsh habitat is ever-changing, attracting a different variety of species depending on…

Kick off your FeatherFest experience with a guided visit to Exploration Green, a 200-acre urban nature preserve that blends innovative stormwater design with thriving native habitat in the Clear Lake area. Approximately 30 minutes from Galveston, this restored landscape offers an inland counterpoint to the coast, with wetlands, open water, and prairie edges that support impressive biodiversity and year-round birdlife.  This is the first trip FeatherFest will be making to Exploration Green.  You don’t want to miss your chance to be a part of it!

The City of Pearland has a mission, “To protect, manage, and enhance the City’s natural resources, provide citizens with outdoor recreation opportunities, and to further the public’s understanding and appreciation of its natural resources through education and hands-on experiences.” This trip highlights how Pearland is taking that mission to the next level. From 50 acres of constructed storm water wetlands to 140 acres of parkland managed entirely for nature and wildlife, the concept of bringing nature to everyone comes home.

Follett’s Island is just across the San Luis Pass toll bridge from Galveston Island, yet few people are familiar with its name. This pre-festival trip will introduce you to the importance of this ecologically sensitive and narrow barrier island as we explore some of the best birding hotspots along the Bluewater Highway. What to Expect:  We will begin at San Luis Pass County Park on the Brazoria County side of the bridge, which hugs the shoreline of the pass and…

Two of the most iconic birds in North America visit Armand Bayou every winter and spring. The American bald eagle and osprey spend November through April hunting and fishing the productive waters of the bayou. Once threatened by the use of pesticides, the recovery of these species is a great testament to the value of clean water and habitat preservation. It’s hard to believe you’re in Houston’s backyard when enjoying this incredible viewing opportunity.

Two of the most iconic birds in North America visit Armand Bayou every winter and spring. The American bald eagle and osprey spend November through April hunting and fishing the productive waters of the bayou. Once threatened by the use of pesticides, the recovery of these species is a great testament to the value of clean water and habitat preservation. It’s hard to believe you’re in Houston’s backyard when enjoying this incredible viewing opportunity.

Galveston is a Gulf coastal island renowned for its many habitats. Explore the entire island with our local leaders. They know the birding spots well, and will consider the weather, tides, and what they have seen just prior to or during the festival, to decide what to view and where to go. In that regard, the tour is not fixed rigidly in advance, but is more a birding adventure. You’ll go where the birds are!

Join Greg Miller and Wyatt Egelhoff at what is called “one of the finest migratory locations in North America” – the southern end of the Bolivar Peninsula. Shorebirds, terns, herons, egrets, and other water birds will give participants an unforgettable field experience.

Join Richard Gibbons, Director of Conservation for Audubon Texas, on a trip to one of the finest migratory locations in North America – the western end of the Bolivar Peninsula.  Richard has worked as an ornithologist for more than two decades on the Gulf Coast and throughout the Americas.  This trip will take you to Boy Scout Woods, Smith Oaks, The Rookery, and more!

This Nature Conservancy preserve is 2,303 acres of coastal prairie at the intersection of urban expanse and rural beauty. The coastal grasslands found here are vital to the natural resilience of the Gulf Coast—prairies and marshlands act as a natural buffer during storms and hurricanes, absorbing and dispersing water from storm surges and floods. Normally, only 40 acres of this preserve are open to the public. With the permission of preserve staff, we will bird through grassland prairie and wetlands, on to the large dike that protects Texas City.

This trip will focus on gaining a deeper understanding of bird identification. Our approach is to observe differences in body structure, behavior, habitat preferences, and feeding styles of various species of birds. This trip allows us time to observe and discover the distinct characteristics of each species as opposed to generating a list of a larger number of species that we know little about. Notebooks are encouraged!

Get ready to see the full avian diversity Galveston Island has to offer with guides who bird the Island regularly! This trip promises to be a fun-filled way to begin the festival, with destinations possible anywhere along the full length of the island. To see the maximum number of birds, the itinerary will be decided on the fly, based on scouting expeditions in the days prior.

Focusing on discovering migrating songbirds on Galveston’s West End, this trip will feature warblers, vireos, tanagers, orioles, grosbeaks, and buntings. Located at the intersection of two important migratory flyways, Galveston Island provides critical resources and cover for birds as they journey northward. During stormy weather, fallout events are common, as birds seek shelter and much-needed rest at the first sight of land.

This is your opportunity to explore “the other side” of Galveston Bay. We head over the causeway to explore birding areas on the mainland, including the Tiki Island, Texas City, and La Marque areas. One of our best kept secrets and most under-explored areas, participants will be surprised at the number and variety of birds seen on this outing.

Have you ever wanted to practice nature journaling, but found it difficult to know how to start? Or maybe you already love drawing, but want to learn some new tips and tricks to enhance your practice? This nature journaling outdoor workshop is designed to break through the trepidation of the “white page” and get you journaling right away.

Galveston’s West End has drawn birders from all over the world for nearly 100 years. In addition to estuarial saltwater marsh, it contains freshwater ponds, pockets of scrubland, mudflats, and sandy beach habitat. This combination attracts a wide variety of shorebirds, waterfowl, raptors, songbirds, and more. What to Expect:  We will begin the trip by viewing tidal pools on the Gulf of Mexico side and work our way to the estuaries on the edge of West Bay, stopping at freshwater…

This trip is targeted to catch any lingering migrants and catch afternoon arrivals. We plan to visit three HAS and Texas Ornithological Society sites. Watch for the afternoon drop of dozens of neotropic migrants along with local and resident waterfowl, raptors, seabirds, shorebirds, and passerines. April weather fronts can produce 30 or more species of songbirds in a single day!

On this meet-at-site walking field trip, you’ll be birding prairies, woodlots, and marshes of Artist Boat’s Coastal Heritage Preserve with Karla Klay. We’ll top off the evening with a homemade pizza dinner made on the spot! What to Expect: Join Karla for a birding adventure at Artist Boat’s Coastal Heritage Preserve. Walk and explore the marshes, prairies, and oak motts across the Preserve.

This trip is led by two SCENIC GALVESTON, Inc. birders who are also past Great Texas Birding Classic (GTBC) competition winners. The trip will duplicate portions of their winning GTBC Dawn to Noon run, but at a much slower pace. During this field trip we will have the opportunity to visit some areas not normally publicly accessible.

Bird banding allows the Gulf Coast Bird Observatory to obtain information about the physical condition of migrants at this intermediate location between the coast and the bottomland forests lying well inland. Both coastal woodlots and inland bottomland forests are known to be extremely important stopover habitats for neotropical migrants that move through the Gulf of Mexico region. Birds that are captured for banding can provide valuable information about their relative physical condition. What a unique opportunity….and that is just the start of this exciting field trip!

Join us on this trip to Boy Scout Woods, Smith Oaks, the Rookery, and more! We plan to visit three HAS and Texas Ornithological Society (TOS) sites at High Island. Expect the annual arrival of dozens of neotropic migrants along with local and resident waterfowl, raptors, seabirds, shorebirds, and passerines. April weather fronts can produce 30 or more species of songbirds in a single day!

Join Richard Gibbons, Director of Conservation for Audubon Texas, on a trip to one of the finest migratory locations in North America – the western end of the Bolivar Peninsula.  Richard has worked as an ornithologist for more than two decades on the Gulf Coast and throughout the Americas. This trip will explore the Houston Audubon Horseshoe Marsh and Bolivar Flats bird sanctuaries. This combination of salt marsh, mud flats and beachfront hold the highest rated designation in the birding world as a Globally Important Bird Area and is an International Site in the Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network.

Greg is so much fun to bird with that we have added a trip focused on just Galveston Island! Get ready to see the diversity Galveston Island has to offer with one of the most fun trip leaders in the country! On this trip, we will let Greg decide where he wants to go depending on what he’s scouted out before the festival.

This trip will focus on gaining a deeper understanding of bird identification. Our approach is to observe differences in body structure, behavior, habitat preferences, and feeding styles of various species of birds. This trip allows us time to observe and discover the distinct characteristics of each species as opposed to generating a list of a larger number of species that we know little about. Notebooks are encouraged! What to Expect:  We will proceed from the meeting site down Boddecker Rd…

Focusing on discovering migrating songbirds on Galveston’s West End, this trip will feature warblers, vireos, tanagers, orioles, grosbeaks, and buntings. Located at the intersection of two important migratory flyways, Galveston Island provides critical resources and cover for birds as they journey northward. During stormy weather, fallout events are common, as birds seek shelter and much-needed rest at the first sight of land.

This adventure in Galveston Island State Park provides a delightful, natural experience. Enjoy paddling in a provided kayak while slowly exploring the open lagoons and marshes of Galveston Island State Park, one of the area’s premier ecological jewels.

Join Clayton Leopold on a guided tour of the birds of Moody Gardens. This unique combination field trip will include a guided tour through the canopy level of the Tropical Rainforest exhibit as well as a viewing of the Penguins in the Aquarium Pyramid. You then step outside to the birdiest areas of the 240-acre Moody Gardens complex showcasing a diverse array of habitat and species variety.

Galveston’s West End has drawn birders from all over the world for nearly 100 years. In addition to estuarial saltwater marsh, it contains freshwater ponds, pockets of scrubland, mudflats, and sandy beach habitat. This combination attracts a wide variety of shorebirds, waterfowl, raptors, songbirds, and more. What to Expect:  We will begin the trip by viewing tidal pools on the Gulf of Mexico side and work our way to the estuaries on the edge of West Bay, stopping at freshwater…

Galveston Island has all the habitats associated with a barrier island – beach, uplands, fresh water ponds, brackish lagoons and wetlands. Join local father and son team, Allen and Michael Hardee, on this “birdy” trip as you learn to identify Black Skimmers, gulls, terns, sandpipers, plovers, herons, egrets, ibis, spoonbills, ducks and much more.

In one of our most popular trips, you will be guided by one of our most experienced birders and all-around nature lover, Glenn Olsen. Glenn leads nature tours in the US and overseas but he calls the upper Texas coast home. His extensive knowledge of local birding areas is sure to yield excellent views of migrating warblers as they move through our area on their way to nesting habitat. As a bonus, Glenn is also a Texas Master Naturalist and has served as the president of the Native Plant Society of Texas. His knowledge in these areas should greatly enhance your trip experience.

We offer this trip to those who would like a slower paced trip to Houston Audubon’s two world famous sanctuaries, Smith Oaks, and Boy Scout Woods. Location:  From under an ancient sea, a salt dome emerged. After a few thousand years the dome reached 38 feet above a pancake-flat coastal plain; the highest point-of-land on the immediate coast from Mobile Bay to the Yucatan Peninsula. This is High Island, which is now a wooded beacon amongst the coastal marshland providing…

Join author Jennifer Bristol on an exploration of the historic cemeteries of Galveston. These unexpected birding spaces offer easy walking and quality bird watching, while diving deep into the human history of the island. What to Expect:  Participants will explore three cemeteries on this outing, each offering a variety of habitats attractive to birds and birders alike. There is no better time to explore these spaces than spring when the bold colors of the wildflowers showcase the stark white and…

On this meet-at-site walking field trip, you’ll be birding prairies, woodlots, and marshes of Artist Boat’s Coastal Heritage Preserve with Karla Klay. We’ll top off the evening with a homemade pizza dinner made on the spot! What to Expect: Join Karla for a birding adventure at Artist Boat’s Coastal Heritage Preserve. Walk and explore the marshes, prairies, and oak motts across the Preserve.

Don’t miss this popular field trip to the Brazoria National Wildlife Refuge, which is designated an Internationally Significant Shorebird site and contains more water than land within its 44,000+ acres. We’ll leave dark and early on our bus trip to the refuge, crossing San Luis Pass at sunrise. As we continue westward along the Bluewater Highway, we’ll keep an eye out over the wetlands for raptors.

The estuaries of Jocelyn Nungaray National Wildlife Refuge (formerly Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge) are an important nursery for the fish and shellfish species found in the Gulf of Mexico. Beyond the estuaries, the saltwater marshes ease inland. Fresh water from an occasional storm and the inflow from rivers and creeks helps to keep saltwater out of the freshwater marshes, as well as providing nutrients and sediments. This is a great trip for anyone working on their Texas Ornithological Society Century Club lists. You could rack up a good number of birds for Chambers County on this field trip!

Bolivar Peninsula stretches east of the confluence of the Galveston Bay system and the Gulf of Mexico. This barrier peninsula is the result of natural processes and human activity. Its natural features pull in fisherman, beach combers, shell collectors and birders. Thousands of Houstonians seek out Bolivar’s beaches every weekend but the birds far outnumber the humans on any given day. The peninsula holds habitat zones that drift between brackish and briny depending on the tides. These habitats serve as…

Join Greg and local birder David Hanson on a trip guaranteed to expose you to many island habitats and what ought to be a significant variety of species! Well known by the locals, these less familiar hot spots have proved fruitful time and again.

Galveston is a Gulf coastal island renowned for its many habitats. Explore the entire island with our local leaders. They know the birding spots well, and will consider the weather, tides, and what they have seen just prior to or during the festival, to decide what to view and where to go. In that regard, the tour is not fixed rigidly in advance, but is more a birding adventure. You’ll go where the birds are!

Focusing on discovering migrating songbirds on Galveston’s West End, this trip will feature warblers, vireos, tanagers, orioles, grosbeaks, and buntings. Located at the intersection of two important migratory flyways, Galveston Island provides critical resources and cover for birds as they journey northward. During stormy weather, fallout events are common, as birds seek shelter and much-needed rest at the first sight of land.

The spectacle of a water bird nesting rookery is a birder “must see.” North Deer Island has 1.7 miles of protected shoreline which supports nesting habitat for the threatened Reddish Egret and 16 other bird species. The true highlight of the boat trip is the ceaseless activity including mating display, nest building, incubation and the endless feeding of partners and nestlings.

This adventure in Galveston Island State Park provides a delightful, natural experience. Enjoy paddling in a provided kayak while slowly exploring the open lagoons and marshes of Galveston Island State Park, one of the area’s premier ecological jewels.

Join author Jennifer Bristol on an exploration of the historic cemeteries of Galveston. These unexpected birding spaces offer easy walking and quality bird watching, while diving deep into the human history of the island. What to Expect:  Participants will explore three cemeteries on this outing, each offering a variety of habitats attractive to birds and birders alike. There is no better time to explore these spaces than spring when the bold colors of the wildflowers showcase the stark white and…

This is your opportunity to explore “the other side” of Galveston Bay. We head over the causeway to explore birding areas on the mainland, including the Tiki Island, Texas City, and La Marque areas. One of our best kept secrets and most under-explored areas, participants will be surprised at the number and variety of birds seen on this outing. What to Expect:  Birding locations may include some privately-owned land with freshwater ponds that provide easy observation of migrating shorebirds and…

Galveston’s West End has drawn birders from all over the world for nearly 100 years. In addition to estuarial saltwater marsh, it contains freshwater ponds, pockets of scrubland, mudflats, and sandy beach habitat. This combination attracts a wide variety of shorebirds, waterfowl, raptors, songbirds, and more. What to Expect:  We will begin the trip by viewing tidal pools on the Gulf of Mexico side and work our way to the estuaries on the edge of West Bay, stopping at freshwater…

Bird Galveston’s East End with one of the world’s most famous birders! In 1998, Greg zig-zagged 130,000 miles across the USA hoping to reach at least 700 species of birds in one calendar year.

This trip is targeted to catch any lingering migrants and catch afternoon arrivals. We plan to visit three HAS and Texas Ornithological Society sites. Watch for the afternoon drop of dozens of neotropic migrants along with local and resident waterfowl, raptors, seabirds, shorebirds, and passerines. April weather fronts can produce 30 or more species of songbirds in a single day!

This trip takes you to a private property owned by the Galveston Bay Foundation (GBF) and not generally open to the public. Your trip will start at Sweetwater’s viewing platform overlooking brackish ponds, mud flats and West Galveston Bay. From there you will move to the property’s freshwater ponds and work your way past woodlots and grasslands as you bird your way to Sweetwater Lake. Expect to see a wide variety of birds including late wintering waterfowl, egrets, herons, rails, shorebirds, gulls, terns, hawks, and grassland species.

Come join us for a day in Brazoria County, birding some lesser-known hotspots (although that does not make them any less birdy!) Local birders enjoy these sites year-round and especially during spring migration. We will stay flexible with our route depending on weather and bird activity.

In one of our most popular trips, you will be guided by one of our most experienced birders and all-around nature lover, Glenn Olsen. Glenn leads nature tours in the US and overseas but he calls the upper Texas coast home. His extensive knowledge of local birding areas is sure to yield excellent views of migrating warblers as they move through our area on their way to nesting habitat. As a bonus, Glenn is also a Texas Master Naturalist and has served as the president of the Native Plant Society of Texas. His knowledge in these areas should greatly enhance your trip experience.

Galveston is a Gulf coastal island renowned for its many habitats. Explore the entire island with our local leaders. They know the birding spots well, and will consider the weather, tides, and what they have seen just prior to or during the festival, to decide what to view and where to go. In that regard, the tour is not fixed rigidly in advance, but is more a birding adventure. You’ll go where the birds are!

Brazos Bend can be the perfect ending to your FeatherFest experience! This beautiful state park is 4,897 acres along the Brazos River in Needville, Texas, and has land in the Brazos River Floodplain with magnificent moss-covered and vine-draped live oak woodlands. The flat uplands of the property are tall grass prairie. This diverse habitat is a haven for migratory waterfowl, wading birds, songbirds and raptors.

Galveston Island State Park protects 2,000 acres of upper Gulf Coast barrier island ecosystem. Barrier islands like Galveston move and change constantly with the action of waves, wind, and tides to support a mosaic of coastal habitats, including beaches, prairies and wetlands. These habitats host a surprising variety of wildlife. Join Kyle O’Haver Park Superintendent, on a trip that will cover his favorite areas of the park.

This is your opportunity to explore “the other side” of Galveston Bay. We head over the causeway to explore birding areas on the mainland, including the Tiki Island, Texas City, and La Marque areas. One of our best kept secrets and most under-explored areas, participants will be surprised at the number and variety of birds seen on this outing.

This trip is an easy 3-hour drive around the 270-acre course by golf cart. If you are looking for a unique birding experience, this might just be the trip for you! We will stop and take closer looks at some of the habitats that historically have attracted more birds, but there will be very little walking on this activity.