Annual birding fest descends on Valley

HARLINGEN — The 24th Annual Rio Grande Birding Festival is in full s’wing,’ with around 600 registered participants scouring the thickets, thorn scrub and beaches for some of our unique species, adding a few notches to their life lists.

For Dylan Beyer of San Diego this is his second RGV birding festival, his previous visit coming in 2007.

Conditions at his tour at the King Ranch yesterday were tough — misty, cool and a little windy. They heard, but did not see, a ferruginous pygmy owl and a northern beardless tyrannulet.

In the birding world, identifying a species by its song or call counts, too.

“I added to my Texas state list for myself, at least at the ranch,” he said. “I think we saw about 40 birds, 40 different species today.

“It was a little chilly,” he added. “A little chillier than I thought I’d find in Texas. I guess anything’s chilly compared to Cali-fornia right now.”

Today Beyer is heading to Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge, where his hopes lie in sighting an aplomado falcon.

Beyer is one of 600 registrants at the RGV birding festival, which continues to expand. Around 3,500 people participate when one includes the vendors, volunteers, bird guides and photography experts and curious local residents, event organiz-ers say.

“Our five-day economic impact from last year we figured up was almost $2 million,” said Sue Griffin, who is in her fourth year as chair of a festival which is based in Harlingen but which in practice extends from the gulf coast to Laredo.

“These unique birds cannot be found any place else in the United States, and we have almost 30 species of them,” Griffin said. “Birds are constantly changing ranges so we get new ones coming up from Mexico and making this their home.”

One of those birds is the featured Valley species this year — the red-crowned parrot.

Most of us would recognize these as the bubbling, cheery green parrots we see and definitely hear returning to the city in small flocks to roost after a day of foraging.

“One of the birds that has expanded its range is the red-crowned parrot,” Griffin said. “It is known to have a very limited range historically, and that range was the Tamaulipan thorn forest of northern Mexico.

“So it was across the border from us and it always came and foraged in this area, but when the destruction of that thorn for-est in Mexico started back in the 1980s and we had those terrific freezes, the red-crowned parrot seemed to expand its range,” she added. “We think now we may have more birds in the Rio Grande Valley than they have in northern Mexico.”

The headquarters for the birding festival is located Municipal Auditorium Complex on Fair Park Boulevard, where each af-ternoon of the festival more than 60 vendors set up their booths.

Their wares are as varied as the bird species festival-goers are hunting, ranging from thousands of dollars’ worth of top glass in the form of binoculars or spotting scopes, to artwork and T-shirts and more.

A significant cadre among the vendors is selling adventures of the expedition variety, including birding trips to places like Uganda, Honduras, Belize, Peru, Chile and Patagonia, and Ethiopia. In all, some 14 foreign countries are represented.

Mike Miller is selling his wife Elisa Baker’s work, which is produced closer to home. It’s best described by its Italian form of sfumato, or smoke. Miller says he devised a computer software program that allows his wife to create dreamy, wave-like art-work from photographs she has taken of birds and other natural subjects.

“We bought the equipment, and we make all our own mugs, we do it on glass, on the clothing, sandstone, slate and alumi-num,” Miller said. “We just got started in July so she’s just starting to get her work out there.”

Baker’s work can be seen at galleries such as House of Frames in Harlingen and the Kingfisher Gallery on South Padre Is-land.

But in the end, the festival at its core is all about finding birds. The more elusive they are the better.

For Tammy McQuade of Fort Myers, Florida, being out in the field with a bird guide and a pair of binoculars is certainly a commitment.

“My husband and I are working on a semi-big year,” McQuade said. “We have, I think, 625 birds in the U.S. this year, so we’re trying to add some more numbers.”

As McQuade and other birders know so well, there’s always another species to be discovered tomorrow, just around the next turn in the trail.

“We are actually heading over to Laredo to see if we can get the white-collared seedeater,” McQuade said.

Activities and Events

TEXAS TWO-STEP — Free, open to the public. Saturday from 5 to 9 p.m., social night at Lon C. Hill Park across from festival headquarters. “Blues on the Hill” will feature the Bart Crow Band with special guest Del Castillo. A dancing area will be set up and catering trucks will be selling food. Beer will be served.

BIG SIT — Free, open to the public. Birders or novices are invited to participate in a 12-hour project to record all bird sightings within a 17-foot circle outside the festival HQ at the Municipal Auditorium Complex at 1204 Fair Park Blvd. Participants will be led by experienced birders and guides and may come and go from the circle at any time.

BIRDERS BAZAAR TRADE SHOW — Free, open to the public. More than 60 vendors are represented inside the Municipal Auditorium Complex. Hours are noon to 6 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and noon to 4 p.m. on Sunday.

RAPTOR PROJECT — Free, open to the public. Jonathan Wood puts his collection of hawks, owls, eagles and falcons on dis-play at the trade show at The Municipal Auditorium Complex at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. today through Sunday.

SILENT AUCTION — Place your bid during trade show hours. Bidding closes at 5 p.m. Saturday.