For enquiries & bookings, please following this link:  Birding Direct - United States

This tour is operated by High Lonesome BirdTours in partnership with BirdingDirect.
These are large group tours (up to 16 guests with multiple tour leaders), and will have guests from both Highlonesome as well as BirdingDirect.

South Texas is a birder's paradise at any time of the year, but especially during late winter when the spectacular array of resident birds in south Texas are joined by an abundance of wintering shorebirds and waterfowl. This 9day tour begins and ends in Corpus Christi with a leisurely swing through the birding hot spots of the lower Rio Grande Valley.

 

Top Birds

Whooping Crane; Roseate Spoonbill; Mottled Duck, Masked Duck (rare); Plain Chachalaca; Least Grebe; White-tipped Dove; Buff-bellied Hummingbird; Ringed & Green Kingfishers; Hook-billed Kite; Grey & Harris’s Hawks; Great Kiskadee; Tropical & Couch’s Kingbirds; Scissor-tailed Flycatcher; Green & Brown Jays; Clay-colored Thrush; Long-billed Thrasher, Olive Sparrow; Altamira & Audubon’s Orioles, many others including rare vagrants in the winter.

Top Mammals

Ocelot (rare), Eastern Cottontail, Eastern Fox Squirrel, White-tailed Deer​

Habitats Covered

Sub-tropical, seaside, marsh, lagood, desert

Expected Climate

Moderate to hot

Max Group Size

14 with 2 Tour Leaders

Tour Pace & Walking

Our days will begin anywhere from 5:00 to 7:00, depending upon the destination.

Accommodation

Very comfortable hotels & excellent Texas restaurants

Ease of Birding

mostly easy

Number of Species Expected

185

Photographic Opportunities

outstanding

What our clients say about us

Claudia Cavazos
MC, Colorado & Texas 2022

I would just like to say how much I enjoyed both the tours - I saw lots of new birds, and our guide Stephan Lorenz was fantastic - extremely knowledgeable, and very patient, and made sure we all saw the birds. His wife Claudia was also extremely helpful in so many ways. I certainly hope I will do another tour with them in the not too distant future. The groups on both tours were friendly and easy to get on with. It was cold in Colorado, but it is a beautiful part of the world!

Forrest Rowland
PJ, Montana

By selecting the northern part of the NP, we avoided most of the huge traffic jams and could focus on the wildlife; also well-planned were the days outside of the NP. Forrest Rowland is extraordinary: total mastery of the area from the daily routes to the trails and what is where when, to substantive knowledge about the ecology, public policies governing land and water use, all of which is seamlessly integrated throughout the course of the day and week. He's able to handle difficult situations, such as the approach of a bear, to tour members who could be distracting. Days were planned, integrating sufficient down time, and flexible to utilize unique opportunities that arose with the appearance of target species. Each day proved enjoyable, filled with cumulative knowledge gained through good views of species and time to absorb the environmental context.

Stephan Lorenz
JA, Texas 2021

Stephan was a great birding guide and tour manager. He knew his patch and worked tirelessly to find and ensure all participants had good birds views. He located all the key 'target' birds. He and his partner produced great al fresco dining and ensured all arrangement worked well, not easy in these COVID impacted times. As always with RJ, I had a most enjoyable trip and satisfied my birding wishes. Well done RJ and Stephan/Claudia. Than you all.

Claudia Cavazos
WW, Texas 2021

Stephan Lorenz is a fantastic leader. This is my second trip with him and the reason I booked this trip. His attention to details and relentless searching for sought after birds makes any trip with him well worth the time. He and his wife, Claudia work well together as a dynamic team solving any problem that arise. We missed our connections and were late for the first day and efforts were made and resolved for us to join the group quickly. Despite the stormy weather we were able to see the target birds. This trip was selected because of the shorter amount of days making it easier to fit into our schedule. During this pandemic we felt safe traveling with this group and with the conditions of lodging and take out meal dining. I look forward to my next trip with Stephan.

Claudia Cavazos
BS, Texas 2021

An excellent tour, and Stephan and Claudia were both very knowledgeable guides. I was also very grateful to them for so conscientiously researching the options for the Covid test I needed to travel back to the UK (following the UK Government’s announcement after I had already left for the tour) and ensuring I got the test. All in all a very enjoyable experience and with lots of good birds!

USA - Texas: Winter: Whooping Cranes and the Lower Rio Grande 2024

17 Feb 2024 - 25 Feb 2024 (9 days)

USD3,500 - Spaces Available

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Tour Leader: Local Leader

Tour price (Per person): USD3,500 * GBP2,883 * EUR3,314 * AUD5,484

Single Supplement: USD600 * GBP494 * EUR568 * AUD940

USA - Texas: Winter: Whooping Cranes and the Lower Rio Grande 2025

01 Feb 2025 - 09 Feb 2025 (9 days)

USD0 - No Spaces Available

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Tour Leader: Local Leader

Pricing notes : Please see BirdingDirect link for spaces and pricing.

Tour price (Per person): Price to be announced

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Tour Route Map

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