Birding the Border

Are you new to birding and looking to take your skills to the next level? You should consider a birding festival, and I have just the one to recommend! I took my first official birding trip this past weekend, and was not disappointed! My husband and I drove the three hours from San Antonio to Del Rio, Texas to join the Birding the Border event hosted by Texas A&M Agrilife Extension.

It turns out the Texas border hosts an incredibly diverse amount of bird species, especially during migration season. Birders from across Texas and the United States come to this event. In fact, many have come back several times since Birding the Border started in 2017!

Birding the Border was one of the most intimate and well-run events I’ve ever attended! As birding newbies, we joined the Beginner Track. Limited to 10 participants, our beginner group ended up with only four of us due to a few last minute cancellations. We were paired with a birding guide and a birding buddy to lead us over the three days. Talk about a special experience!

Beginner Track with the Best Guide!

Our guide, Mark McDermott, was a true gem! Originally from the UK, Mark has resided in Texas the past 13 years and works at Texas A&M. It was clear right away that Mark has a true passion for birds and an incredible “birding ear”. His sole goal for the weekend was getting us a chance to see as many birds as possible.

He was the best beginner guide – making us feel comfortable and taking the time to help us hear the different songs of the birds. He regularly pulled out his digital Sibley Guide app on his phone to show us drawings of the birds and to point out their unique characteristics and help us identify them better.

Mark made birding accessible, non-intimidating, and fun! It seemed like all the Birding the Border guides were top notch. In addition to the Beginner Track, you could do a Photography Track or a select any one of the 12 unique locations to bird for the day.

Each group was small, which made for a totally intimate, personal experience. I don’t think there were more than 40 birders attending Birding the Border in total, and the organizers keep it small for a reason.

The Early Bird Catches the Worm

Our mornings started early – with coffee and pastries at 5:30 and boarding the vans at 6:00am to get to our destination by sunrise – the best time of the day to see birds! As Mark said when we exited from our van on the first morning, “It sounds quite birdy out there!”

At one location we spent nearly two hours in the parking lot observing close to 40 different species of birds before we even started out on our hike! That’s a LOT of birds in one area.

Unique Birding Locations

We got to visit private ranches not accessible to the public – Zuberbueler Ranch located in the Chihuahua Desert, Las Ciénegas, an oasis known as “The Duck Pond” right in Del Rio, and Dobbs Run Ranch on the far western edge of the Texas Hill Country. They were all unique and beautiful in their own way.

Top Birds from Birding the Border

Over the course of the weekend, we saw 113 bird species. That is A LOT! Our guide provided us with an eBird checklist of the species we saw each day. Many of them were “lifers” for me, i.e., birds I saw for the very first time. That is a benefit of being a beginner – everything is exciting and new!

Here are just a few of the species I loved getting to see (and hear!) on the trip:

South Texas Birds — Pictured clockwise from top left: Black Capped Vireo, Yellow-Billed Cuckoo, Vermilion Flycather, Couch’s Kingbird, Pyrrhuloxia, Painted Bunting. Photo credit: Canva.com

Download the Free PDF: 10 Texas Backyard Birds

You don’t have to go on a birding trip to start birding, you can start in your own backyard! You might be amazed at the birds you’ll discover.

I created a handy one-page PDF for you to print and keep by your backyard window or patio. It includes a thumbnail photo of each bird along with some tips for identifying them. Get it here:

Get the FREE Texas Backyard Birds PDF

Birding the Border – My First Birding Trip!