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| Scott's Oriole by Matthew York |
Mark your calendars now to attend the Gage Hotel’s inaugural
birding festival, ‘Birds and Butterflies of the Big Bend’, July 19th
through 22nd in Marathon, Texas. The Gage will kick off its first
year by hosting Kenn Kaufman, renowned birding expert, naturalist and author,
who will present a lecture at the Ritchey Building in Marathon on July 21st
at 4PM. Other notable guests include
Gerald Sneed, the well-known nature artist, who will be exhibiting his work on
birds of Texas.
Birds and
Butterflies of the Big Bend will feature a high caliber list of trip leaders:
• Kelly Bryan, a hummingbird biologist
focusing on the West Texas region
• Long time regional birder and guide,
Mark Flippo of Birding Big Bend
• Cameron Carver, President of the
Llano Estacado Audubon Society and prominent regional birder
• Steve Gross, President of the Texas
Ornithological Society
• Matt York, ornithologist and
co-author of the bigbendnature.com blog
• Heidi Trudell, researcher of human
impacts on birds, co-author of
bigbendnature.com blog
The Bird Watchers Package includes all meals, the
registration party, two birding workshops, Maravillas Tour, Kenn Kaufman
lecture as well as special room rates at the Gage. Guests purchasing the value package
will also receive a VIP badge, tote bag and t-shirt as part of their VIP
registration packet. Cost for the Birdwatchers Package is $350.00.
Events that can be purchased al a carte include the
Hummingbird banding workshop for $20 per person, Butterfly Walk for $10 per
person, Kaufman lecture $30 per person and Gage Gardens Dinner $75 per person
(wine, tax and gratuity included). The Maravillas ranch tour is restricted to
inclusive package members and spaces are limited.
The schedule for the event is as follows:
Thursday July 19th - registration at 5pm at
the White Buffalo Bar.
Friday July 20th – 10 am Hummingbird workshop
with Kelly Bryan at the Gage Gardens
- 10
am The Ritchey Building will be open to the public to view exhibits and visit with local vendors
and regional nature organizations.
- 2pm Butterfly
Walk at the Gage Gardens with Matthew York.
- 7pm Fiesta
Dinner and mixer with Kenn Kaufman at the Gage Hotel.
Saturday, July 21st – 7AM Birding tour of the
Maravillas Ranch, a privately owned ranch south of Marathon.
Participants will have access to private land with the opportunity to view the
abundance of bird species living outside the national park.
4pm - Kenn Kaufman will present his lecture at the Ritchey
Building. Mr. Kaufman is the author of
Kaufman Field Guides, A Field Guide to Advanced Birding, as well as his memoir,
Kingbird Highway. He is also the field editor of Audubon Magazine as well as
the editor of American Birding.
7pm - Dinner at the Gage Gardens
For more information on the event or to print out a registration
form, visit gagehotel.com. To register
for the all inclusive package call Michelle West at 432/ 386-4205 ext 263. To
book hotel reservation call the Gage Hotel at 432/386-4205.
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