About Bryan Cotter

Bryan Cotter, Texas bird and nature photographer and guide

Bird & nature photographer · birding & bass guide

Howdy! I'm Bryan Cotter — a bird and nature photographer and professional guide based in the Austin, Texas area. Photography is my first love, but between guiding birding tours and a lifetime on the water chasing bass, I get endless chances to be outdoors and capture the birds, fish and wild places of Texas.

I've guided anglers for over 26 years, and on the birding side I became, in 2025, the 10th person in history to record 500 bird species in Texas — and I hold the Travis County (Austin) Big Year record. Along the way I've worked as a marine coordinator on TV and film sets and built software as a trained programmer.

26+ years guiding 500 Texas species · 10th ever Travis Co. Big Year record Film & TV marine coordinator

A few frames from the field

Photography is where it all started. A sample of the Texas birds I chase the light for.

Songbirds

Raptors

Shore Birds

Waterfowl

See the full portfolio →

What I Do

Different sides of the same outdoor life — here's where each one lives.

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Texas Hawgs

Guided single-day largemouth bass trips on the Central Texas Highland Lakes near Austin — half-day, full-day, family and trophy trips, all gear provided.

Visit Texas Hawgs →

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Texas Bass Adventures

All-inclusive, multi-day trophy bass packages on Texas's best lakes — Falcon, O.H. Ivie, Amistad and the Highland Lakes. Lodging, meals, guiding and gear included.

Visit Texas Bass Adventures →

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Birding Tours Texas

Guided birding tours from Austin — Hill Country endemics like the Golden-cheeked Warbler and Black-capped Vireo, the Gulf Coast, and the Rio Grande Valley.

Visit Birding Tours Texas →

More About My Work

Photography

I love being outdoors and enjoying all the wild things in this world and capturing those moments forever with my camera. You'll find my bird and nature work throughout this site — browse the galleries.

Birding Tours

Taking birders and wildlife enthusiasts to some of the best places in Texas for great looks at species you may not normally see — from a rare vagrant to a hard-to-find resident. That work lives at Birding Tours Texas.

Bass Fishing

I've been putting clients on bass for over 26 years — their first fish or their biggest. Single-day trips run through Texas Hawgs, and multi-day, all-inclusive trophy trips through Texas Bass Adventures.

Movies & Programming

I've been around movie and film sets since 1988, mostly behind the camera as a marine coordinator, and my college degree is in computer programming — I've built games, graphics tools and custom business software over the years.