PHOTOGRAPHER'S PERSPECTIVE ON LOCATION SERIES: TEXAS
RIO GRANDE VALLEY
MARTIN REFUGE – EDINBURG, TEXAS
Text and image copyright
Ashok Khosla, all rights reserved
ACCESS
The Martin Refuge consists of two private ranches located in the heart of the Rio Grande Valley in Edinburg, Texas. There are two sites available at the Martin Refuge – Homestead and Javelina. Homestead is the ranch where the Martins live; Javelina is a large ranch preserved in its native state. A hired guide is required for the Javelina. Cost is $125 a day (including guide). John and Audrey Martin are very pleasant hosts and work hard to ensure your time is productive. You may contact them at MartinRefuge@aol.com for reservations and exact directions. The Martins are also part of Lens and Land (www.lensandland.com) which lists additional ranches dedicated to serving bird/nature photographers. Since Texas is 95% privately owned, to get beyond the ranch gate to see or photograph wildlife, one will often need access to private land.
AREA LAYOUT
The Martins have built several 2- or 3-person blinds, partially submerged, so that you can sit all day in a lawn chair and shoot birds and other wildlife at eye-level. All the blinds are set up next to a pond. Blinds at the Homestead are generally for two people while the Javelina has some with room for three. Two new sunken settings at Javelina were made for long lenses. The Martins provide food year-round ensuring maximum opportunity for your trip. The birds were spectacular, the shooting even more so. You'll most likely want to bring a 70 to 200mm zoom lens. I found a second body with a 400mm to be also quite useful. If you only have one day to spend with the Martins, I'd recommend the Homestead in the morning and the Javelina ranch in the afternoon. You are free to wander around Homestead ranch. However, supervision is required on the Javelina - there are rattlesnakes, pesky cacti, scorpions, etc. - so you will need to hire one of their guides, whom I can't recommend enough.
WHAT
YOU WILL FIND
John and Audrey are dedicated to preserving their ranches in as wild a state as possible. They have worked hard at restoring the landscape with native trees, cacti, etc. At Homestead you'll have many close views of Plain Chachalacas, Green Jays, cardinals, vireos, frogs, the endangered Indigo Snake, Olive Sparrows, Cactus Wrens, Inca Dove, etc. Javelina provides close viewing of (of course) Javelina, Scaled Quail, cardinals, Green Jays, Bobwhite, Common Ground Dove, White-tipped Doves, thrashers (Long-billed and Curve-billed), Golden Fronted Woodpecker, Pyrrhuloxia, Greater Roadrunners, Crested Caracara, etc. You may see some of the pictures I took there at:
http://blog.seeingbirds.com/photos/mylocations/213
http://blog.seeingbirds.com/photos/mylocations/214.
LIGHT
My guide, Patty Raney, is an excellent photographer. She photographed with me at the Javelina. This proved invaluable – she knew the behaviors of the birds and what to expect – helping me to make the most of every opportunity. She will move you to the appropriate blind depending on time of day so that the sun will always be at your back. No flash is required. Fill flash at the very end of the day might be useful.
OTHER
CONSIDERATIONS
In addition to other Lens and Land properties (www.lensandland.com), other sites recommended by the Martin's staff were the World Birding Centers in Edinburg, Weslaco, and McAllen. I found these centers simply fantastic, especially the ones in Weslaco and Edinburg. You can spend a very productive day in Weslaco between Frontera Audubon and the Estero LLano Grande World Birding Center. Additional places where I had a lot of fun were Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge (especially the Visitor Center) and South Padre Island, which had a surprise everywhere I looked. Another useful introduction to the Rio Grande Valley, Ruth Hoyt's “Hot Spots of the Rio Grande Valley” may be found at:
http://www.naturescapes.net/032005/rh0305.htm.
The best place to set up lodging is the city of McAllen. It's centrally located and has great restaurants and hotels.
In Texas everything pokes, scratches, bites, or stings. Do your homework; treat your pants/shoes so as to repel chiggers, and keep your pants inside your socks to prevent fire ants out. (A friend decided after being bitten that being safe was better than not looking like a dork!)
Ashok Khosla is a software entrepreneur who wants to be a professional bird photographer when he grows up or retires – whichever comes first. He is also on the board of directors of Santa Clara Valley Audubon. You may view more of his work at http://www.seeingbirds.com.
Feel free to send your comments on this location review to the at NatureScapes.Net.
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