Birding Workshops.
Birding Skills Workshop at Ghost Ranch, NM
Join field ornithologist and professional birding tour leader Raymond VanBuskirk for an action packed and fun-filled workshop dedicated to all things birding.
New Mexico is one of the most biologically diverse states in the country and boasts an impressive bird list of over 550 species, ranking it as one of the best places to go birding in the USA. This is due in part to its incredible diversity of habitats across a steep elevational gradient, in combination with significant seasonal change over the course of a year.
New Mexico also boasts a rich and varied history of bird appreciation: from prominence in early indigenous traditions, to the formal scientific categorization of new species during the colonization period, to modern art, ornithology, photography, writing, and birdwatching. Today people appreciate birds in more ways than ever before, and during this workshop we will spend time experiencing the many different ways to enjoy and observe birds including a presentation on the birds of NM and how to identify them, field workshops, silent observation time, and lots and lots of birding, with over 200 species possible, including an evening of searching for owls.
RATES & FEES |
$1,626 Private Bath Lodging – private room with restroom, three meals a day, and all programming fees.
Visit the Ghost Ranch website HERE for more details and to register. I do not handle the bookings.
BRANT Tours ABQ Owling Workshop
May 20th
10:00am - 11:00am: Interactive Zoom meeting w/ questions
7:30pm - 11:30pm: Group Owling near Albuquerque, New Mexico
w/ Raymond VanBuskirk & Owen (formerly Michael) Hilchey.
Owls are regarded as one of the planet’s most successful nocturnal predators, which unfortunately for birders means that they’re very good at evading detection. In fact, some species of owls have such high-resolution vision and sharp hearing that they are able to detect the slightest movement of a rodent buried deep under a snow bank from a great distance away. Like a ghost in the night the owl takes flight never making a noise, and then falls from the sky, plunging talons-first into the snow, and onto their unsuspecting prey below. Impressive is an understatement. So how does one go about locating and then seeing a nocturnal predatory bird of such high caliber? Well, teaching you just that is the whole goal of this workshop.
The trees have eyes. Great Horned Owl. New Mexico
Raymond and Owen have been wandering through the woods at night looking for owls since before you were born (okay probably not, but they’ve been at it since they were kids) and they’ve developed quite a knack for locating these secretive creatures. This workshop consists of a one hour interactive zoom meeting in the morning, during which time they’ll teach you all their tips and tricks for finding and seeing owls. Later that evening we will gather in the woods to put our new skills to the test, with chances of encountering multiple species of owls that call Albuquerque, New Mexico and the surrounding wild lands their home. Not the least of which is the Flammulated Owl, a small and secretive species that breeds across much of the pine woodlands of the western US and Canada and then migrates to Mesoamerica where they spend the non-breeding season dodging deforestation. The Flammulated Owl seems to be on every birder's most wanted list, and we’ll do our very best to locate one for the group. Owls or no owls we promise to deliver a wonderful night of instructional owling under the stars and a welcoming and safe space for ALL birders to enjoy the great outdoors at night.
A Flammulated Owl peers down out of the forest at night. New Mexico
PS. Don’t forget your binoculars and cameras because we are very likely to see and hear owls. Many folks come away from the workshop with very nice pictures.
This workshop costs $250.00 per person for up to 15 people. If this workshop fills quickly we will consider running a second workshop on a nearby date.
