TEXAS BIRD PHOTO WORKSHOPS
- Galveston, Laguna Seca and the Rio Grande Valley
- May 5-10, 2026
- Whooping Cranes
- March 10-15, 2026
Laguna Seca Ranch and Rio Grande Valley Workshop: May 5-10, 2025: This workshop includes 3 full days at Laguna Seca Ranch photographing Green Jays, Caracaras, Painted Buntings, Golden-fronted Woodpeckers, Black-crested Titmice, Long-billed Thrashers and many other birds from blinds, and visits to several other Rio Grande Valley sites to photograph as many of the South Texas specialties as possible.
Maximum Participants: 5 participants. Leader is Ken Archer
Whooping Cranes and Ranch, March 10-15, 2026: This workshop includes 3 boat trips on a specialized photography boat. It also includes photographing cranes from blinds in the afternoon. In addition to the cranes many other species of birds are photographed on this workshop including Roseate Spoonbills, Reddish Egrets, Sandhill Cranes, Long-billed Curlews, American Oystercatchers and many other shorebirds and waterbirds. Then we will spend an afternoon and full day at a photo ranch which has Green Jays, Caracaras, Golden-fronted Woodpeckers and more.
Maximum Participants: 5, Leader is Ken Archer.
Cost and Logistics
Laguna Seca Texas Workshop – 3,650 with a $600 single supplement, $3,150 nonphotographer. Deposit to reserve your spot is $1,200. Cost includes all lodging, ranch and blind fees, entrance fees, instruction, local transportation and guiding. It does not include most meals or flights. Fly into out of McAllen, Texas.
Whooping Cranes – $3,150 with a $500 single supplement. Nonphotographer spouse/companion 2,950, deposit is $800. Cost includes all lodging, boat trips, blind usage and local transportation from Rockport, Texas to the photography locations. It does not include meals or transportation to get to and from Rockport.
Ultimate Texas Workshop Itinerary
May 5th – Arrival to McAllen, Texas. Transfer to the Alamo Inn
May 6th, 7th and 8th – 3 full days of bird photography at Laguna Seca Ranch. Green Jays, Long-billed Thrashers, Golden-fronted Woodpeckers, Black-crested Titmouse and other South Texas specialty species are in good plumage at this time of year. The Painted Buntings, Groove-billed Anis and other summer residents will be back, and we may get some nice migrants this time of year. Ken will set up beautiful perches for the birds to land on. Laguna Seca has the best raptor blind in South Texas often with dozens of Caracaras and it is also visited by Harris’s and White-tailed Hawks. Hotel: Alamo Inn
May 9th – We will spend the morning at the Edinburg Scenic Wetlands looking for Ringed and Green Kingfishers, Least Grebe and other species, then check out and head to our next hotel in Alamo. After checking in we will head to Estero Llano Grande State Park, which is a great spot to photograph Pauraque. The wetland can be very good for migrating shorebirds and Buff-bellied Hummingbird is often around the hummingbird feeders. In the late afternoon we will visit a park which is the roosting ground of hundreds of endangered Red-crowned Parrots Hotel: Alamo Inn.
May 10th – We will visit another valley location or perhaps repeat one of the previous days’ stops depending on current conditions and birds. You can schedule your return flight home for anytime after noon.
Whooping Cranes
March 10th – Afternoon arrival to Rockport, Texas. If you are flying, the Corpus Christi airport is closest. Late afternoon photography trip to a local park to photograph shorebirds which often include Long-billed Curlew, Ruddy Turnstones, Royal Terns, Great Blue Herons and many other species. Evening presentation on bird photography. Hotel: A nice hotel in Rockport.
March 11th and 12th – Each morning we will have a Whooping Crane photography boat trip where we will photograph Cranes in the sloughs and bayous of Aransas National Wildlife Refuge. The boat often allows for close approaches to these amazing birds. We will also visit offshore islands which harbor Roseate Spoonbills, Reddish Egrets and other birds. We will break for lunch and then each afternoon photograph Whooping and Sandhill Cranes, Black-bellied Whistling Ducks and other birds from blinds on private property. Hotel: A nice hotel in Rockport.
March 13th – One more morning boat trip to photograph the Whooping Cranes followed by return to the hotel and check out. Then we will head to Kingsville, Texas and check in to our next hotel. In the afternoon we will visit a local photo ranch which has sunken blinds. Golden-fronted Woodpeckers, Green Jays and Black-crested Titmouse are a few of the interesting birds which come to the blinds. Hotel: A nice hotel in Kingsville
March 14th – We will spend a full day at the ranch today. In the morning, we will be in the photo blind which attracts large numbers of Crested Caracaras, the Harris’s Hawks are fairly reliable here. In the afternoon we will photograph in either the songbird blinds again or at the wetland blind, which also attracts some nice deer for reflection shots in the afternoon. Hotel: A nice hotel in Kingsville
March 15th – We will check out and do a bit of shorebird photography in Corpus Christi in the morning, then we can drop you at the airport or if you drove you can head home.
