Galveston Birding and Nature Photo Festival
Birding Workshops
Birders will find this workshop/field trip combo the perfect introduction to coastal birding. During the workshop, your guides will give a brief discussion about the diversity of species, as well as various techniques to identify birds on the Upper Texas Coast. We will then board our bus and proceed to the East End Lagoon Nature Preserve beach area where you’ll see Black Skimmer, American Avocet, Black-necked Stilt, and many species of shorebirds, gulls, terns, sandpipers, plovers, and more. Stops along the way will highlight birds preferring marsh habitat.
Find out more »Learning the various species of shorebirds can be a daunting task. Knowing how to look at them is part of the challenge. More is not necessarily better, says Jon Dunn, co-author of the National Geographic Society’s Field Guide to the Birds of North America, and Peterson Field Guides to Warblers and Gulls of the Americas. We'll take the time to review just a few species of shorebirds, focusing on a few small species (the ‘peeps’) in the genus ‘Calidris’. We'll focus…
Find out more »Upper Texas Coast (UTC) birders begin their birding life chasing showy warblers; THE group of birds most responsible for turning casual nature lovers into birders. Annually, UTC birders find about three dozen or so warbler species each Spring; sometimes 25+ in a day. Though warblers can be accessible in numbers, they’re restless subjects that are hard to keep in a binocular view. Though colorfully plumed, it is daunting to tease them apart. It’s the finding and teasing apart of the warblers that makes for better and lifelong birders. Yep! Warblers can teach you birding skills.
Find out more »Birding by Ear
Ever chase a bird song in the canopy of tall oaks then chase it until the bird stops singing? Ever sit in your backyard and hear a strange bird song in the distance? In both cases you had no chance to see the bird. In both cases you wondered what it was. All birds vocalize and for songbirds’ song is necessary for species survival. A unique biology found only in birds lies behind bird song and communication. The genetics that drive bird vocalizations are not very different than humans.
Find out more »Are you having trouble identifying plovers, terns, gulls, peeps and other shorebirds? Help is on the way! Local birding guide and FeatherFest favorite, Allen Hardee, will share some basic field ID approaches and specialty tips for identifying the shorebirds of Galveston Island. To enhance your experience with this workshop, sign up for the Shorebirds, Gulls & Terns on Galveston Island Field Trip also on Friday.
Find out more »Traveling in the 2020’s is different but the same. Everyone is offering you the trip or workshop of a lifetime. How do you select the right travel opportunity? Everywhere we have to deal with Covid but once we worried about colds and the flu. Pickpockets are still around so we have to be smarter and more alert. The crowds have grown so new ways of thinking are needed. Join Kathy Adams Clark for this fun program on the trials and…
Find out more »Calling all neighbors! Pollinators, birds, and other wildlife face many challenges to their survival, and they need our help. The good news is that we can take simple steps to help them―right here, right now, right in our own gardens. In this workshop, Lauren Simpson introduces our pollinators and—using a local garden as a classroom—shares simple techniques for transforming our own garden into a beautiful, native-plant paradise―one that supports wildlife and pleases neighbors!
Find out more »We love birds for so many reasons: their beautiful songs, their fascinating behaviors, their incredible life histories. And, of course, their gorgeous plumage! This watercolor workshop will focus on capturing the amazing colors and patterns of birds in an expressive, splashy watercolor painting style that is simple to use and requires basic, easy to obtain materials. The class will focus on letting go of anatomical perfection to examine instead a combination of emotion, energy, and color that portrays a bird…
Find out more »Calling all neighbors! Pollinators, birds, and other wildlife face many challenges to their survival, and they need our help. The good news is that we can take simple steps to help them―right here, right now, right in our own gardens. In this workshop, Lauren Simpson introduces our pollinators and—using a local garden as a classroom—shares simple techniques for transforming our own garden into a beautiful, native-plant paradise―one that supports wildlife and pleases neighbors!
Find out more »