Guiding Birding and Photography

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Guiding Birding and Photography *

HOW TO BOOK YOUR BIRDING TRIP
A good bet is to give me a call or text me at 310-487-3353 or shoot me an email at avitropic@sbcglobal.net. We can customize a plan. For a single or couple I charge $325 a day (8-10 hrs.) and $225 for half a day (4-6 hrs.); if I provide transportation, a 3rd person in vehicle adds $50. I provide a spotting scope and transportation (additional $25 fee if over 50 miles rt) . You can pack a lunch, but with so many famous barbecue and Tex-Mex restaurants, taco trucks and rural homestyle cafes around, I would be remiss in not recommending we stop for some Texas cuisine during the day. I can also recommend lodging (and to round out your visit, entertainment options!) in the Austin, Round Rock, or Georgetown areas (see below).

HOW TO BOOK YOUR BIRDING TRIP
A good bet is to give me a call or text me at 310-487-3353 or shoot me an email at avitropic@sbcglobal.net. We can customize a plan. For a single or couple I charge $325 a day (8-10 hrs.) and $225 for half a day (4-6 hrs.); if I provide transportation, a 3rd person in vehicle adds $50. I provide a spotting scope and transportation (additional $25 fee if over 50 miles rt) . You can pack a lunch, but with so many famous barbecue and Tex-Mex restaurants, taco trucks and rural homestyle cafes around, I would be remiss in not recommending we stop for some Texas cuisine during the day. I can also recommend lodging (and to round out your visit, entertainment options!) in the Austin, Round Rock, or Georgetown areas (see below).

Central Texas Bird Guide

SO, you are coming to Central Texas and you want to SEE and/or PHOTOGRAPH the remarkable birds (and other wildlife) of the Greater Austin/Georgetown area, where East meets West and Temperate meets Tropical!. Bioregions converge here. Spring, Fall, and Winter are all great times to visit. Bioregions converge here. Nearly 350 species inhabit the Hill Country, where in spring and early summer, you can see Golden-cheeked Warbler, Painted Bunting, Black-capped Vireo, Scissortail Flycatcher, Golden-fronted Woodpecker and many more. The Plains just east of here offer excellent birding, especially in winter and migration for northern, prairie, and migratory species including raptors, inland sandpipers and gulls, Dickcissels, Crested Caracara, Franklin's Gull and many more.

Resident species include Ladder-backed Woodpeckers; Woodhouse's Scrub-jay; Carolina and Bewick‘s Wrens, Black-backed Lesser Goldfinch, chickadees, titmice and many more.

Spring and fall can have remarkable fallouts of colorful neotropical migrant warblers, vireos, orioles, tanagers, and grosbeaks.

Summers can be a bit uncomfortable, but that can be a good time to see our many resident and lingering breeding species, and in the afternoons and evenings, find time to "keep it weird" exploring Austin culture.

Click Here for links for checklists for nearby Hill Country and eastern Williamson County, and HERE for the Sun City Georgetown Area, all of which are pretty accurate as far as the timing and likelihood of occurrence for each species in this and Travis Counties. And Here are my photo galleries of the birds you might see.

Types of Bird Guiding Trips in Central Texas

I can offer customized, guided excursions for individuals or groups, which can be tailored for birders and nature enthusiasts with any level of experience, and geared to any and all comfort levels (see above to book your visit)

Whether you are coming to the area specifically to bird, or want to get in some birding while visiting Austin for the food, music (Antone's, SXSW, ACL Live, etc.) Culture (Esther's Follies or Zach Theater) and Austin Weirdness --maybe even the millions of Mexican free-tailed bats or to see 250,000  Purple Martin swarm into a few trees at a spectacle in summer—any time of year can turn up some interesting avian (and human) activity. And depending on your personal interests, I can offer you not just a great birding trip, but suggestions on ways to optimize a memorable Austin experience!
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Are you interested in more than just the birds? I am. Sure we can bird, bird, bird ‘til it hurts .... but if you are interested in mammals, reptiles, butterflies, edible and often colorful native plants, or the karst geology with the caves and bats, well, I like sharing all of this too.