A sample of cool birding tours, simple to deluxe

Birding as a hobby has soared in recent years, leading to a variety of new tours.

There are trips for experts and amateurs, ranging from the deluxe to the inexpensive. Some take off from city parks and docks, others from the back of beyond.

While hunting and fishing are declining in popularity, birdwatching is hot; according to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, it is now a hobby of some 47.8 million Americans, with "wildlife watching" up 8 percent from 2000 to 2006. Birding offers a way to engage with nature without needing a lot of equipment, training or physical exertion, its fans say.

Many states have created birding trails, and outfitters and tourism concerns also have taken note.

Here's a sampling of some interesting offerings this season, which include trips to a huge Texas ranch, a New York island, an Arizona forest, the Four Corners area of the Southwest, and up the Mississippi River in St. Paul, Minn. These trips range in price from a $16 riverboat tour to a $3,670, multi-day adventure.

King Ranch, Kingsville, Texas

Groups of up to nine birders are taken in vans to explore sections of the 825,000-acre ranch, the largest in the United States. Among the 50 to 100 different birds usually identified on each trip are the ranch's signature species: the ferruginous pygmy owl, tropical parula, northern beardless tyrannulet and Audubon's oriole.

Carolyn Noble, a veteran birder and naturalist from Santa Ana, Calif., said she was thrilled recently on her first visit to the King Ranch to see the little pygmy owl.

"He pulls at your heartstrings," she said. "We went from place to place, and when we saw it, it was eating a tiny rodent of some sort."

The King Ranch spring tour costs $125, and includes lunch cooked by ranch hands.

Shelter Island, N.Y.

At this resort community on Long Island's East End, for $60 visitors can rent a kayak and get a guided tour along the 12-station Coecles Harbor Marine Water Trail.

Osprey, blue herons, brant, buffleheads, black ducks and Canada geese are among the birds and waterfowl frequently observed along the trail. White-tailed deer are common along the wooded shorelines, and diamondback terrapins are found in the marshes.

The water trail is a joint project of the Nature Conservancy, Shelter Island Kayak Inc. and the Town of Shelter Island. The island can be reached by car ferry.

Coronado National Forest, Ariz.