We are planning a trip to the Santa Clara Ranch. A visit to this ranch is always a treat. There are lots of birds! They have four in-ground blinds overlooking a small pond with feeding stations and two elevated blinds to photograph raptors. All blinds are less than five minutes away from the guest house.

It's about an eight-hour drive (515 miles) from Dallas to the Ranch, including a lunch break plan on nine hours. The Ranch is about thirty miles NW of McAllen, Texas.

The weather is mild in the Rio Grand Valley this time of year. The soil is sandy with good drainage so no mosquitos. The property isn't large. We can hike to all the blinds. But we mostly drive to carry our equipment.

For camera equipment, most of the keepers were taken with a cropped sensor camera using a 70-200mm or a 100-400mm lens, sometimes with a 1.4x or 2.0x multiplier. Only 20% of the keepers were taken with a full-frame camera. There are macro and Night Sky photography opportunities. The moon sets in the early afternoon and doesn't rise until early morning. There is an opportunity for capturing the Milky Way and maybe some light painting before midnight.

Note: Registering for this event does NOT confirm your participation. Total attendance is limited. You will be contacted by the field trip coordinator to get further information and confirm your registration.

Camera Equipment:

• For the Birds

  • 70-200mm

  • 100-500mm

• For galaxy and scenic.

  • 15-35mm f / 2.8

• For chance opportunities during the day:

  • 100mm Macro

  • 35 mm Macro

• Tripod

  • tripod leveling base to brace the tripod next to the railing.

  • A tripod gimbal head

• Laptop, batteries, chargers, etc:

Cost:

The cost of the trip is $1,560/person.

What to wear:

• Hiking footwear; Sandals are not recommended—too many burrs.

• long pants if you want to avoid being stuck by a cactus.

• SPF rated shirt

• sun hat

• The days will be warm but you may feel a chill in the air at night so bring appropriate layers

• Headlamp for if we are hiking in the dark or to locate items dropped in the blind.

• Sunscreen, sunglasses, sun hat

• Water bottle.