Passport to Texas

Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife

While it’s not set in stone, International Migratory Bird Day in 2009 is May 9 in the US and Canada.

We encourage groups to host a program or an event when it works for them and the birds.

When celebrations actually occur depends on the arrival of migrants. Susan Bonfield, Executive Director of Environment for the Americas which coordinates this event, says the goal is for attendees to experience birds firsthand.

I want people to go to these programs and have one of their first opportunities to see a bird. To use binoculars, to use a field guide, to get excited about birds, and to want to become involved in bird conservation.

Find events at www.birdday.org.But if you can’t get to one, don’t fret.

You know, your backyard is just a great place to celebrate migratory bird day. I think that anything you do around your house to help conserve birds—we have information up on the website about threats to birds, and what you can do to minimize the threats at your home. Any improvement of habitat in your yard, cleaning your bird feeders. Any very basic and practical activities are a wonderful way to help conserve birds.

You can also just sit in a lawn chair in your yard with a beverage and binoculars and see who comes along.

That’s our show…with support from the Sport Fish and Wildlife Restoration Program…working to restore wildlife habitat in Texas.

For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

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Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife

In the early 1990s, scientists started noticing that some populations of migratory birds were declining.

There was a concern about what these causes were, and at the same time there was considerable interest in getting the public involved in learning more about birds and their conservation.

Susan Bonfield is Executive Director of Environment for the Americas. Her non-profit coordinates International Migratory Bird Day, an event created as a direct result of scientists’ concerns over declining avian populations.

Several researchers at the Smithsonian Migratory Bird center came up with the idea of hosting a public event to get communities involved in learning about birds. And that was the origins of International Migratory Bird Day.

It is the second Saturday of May for the US and Canada, and is intended to occur during peak migration. The idea is to give folks an opportunity to see these migrants.

That doesn’t work for everyone. So, for example, in some parts of Canada it may too early, and some parts of the United States, even, it’s a little bit too late—migratory birds have already passed over.

In Texas, for example, April often offers the best opportunities for viewing these migrating species. Tomorrow: how you can celebrate birds, whether you attend an event, or stay in your own backyard.

That’s our show…with support from the Sport Fish and Wildlife Restoration Program…working to restore wildlife habitat in Texas.

For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.
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Copy and paste www.birdday.org into your browser to go to the official International Migratory Bird Day website.

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Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife and the Wildlife Restoration Program

Biologists Billy and Bonnie McKinney’s reintroduce black bears to West Texas. TV Producer, Ron Kabele, tells us about a segment this month that highlights their work.

Parks and Wildlife a few years ago decided to try to reintroduce the black bear back into west Texas; and that’s what Billy and Bonnie have been working on the last few years.

You see a bear out here in this country and they’ve been gone so long, and then to have them back—it’s a pretty incredible deal.

Hopefully we can give him some help to go ahead and finish his expansion into historic range.

And it’s also putting back a part of Texas that we thought was gone forever.

And what was interesting in one case was one of them got a call from Alpine; it’s a small town that’s close by.

There’s a bear in a tree at Alpine, and I’ve got the drug kit with me. Bill is in route, and Don’s gone over to pick up the covert trap, so we are on the way.

Billy went up into the tree and tranquilized the bear.

Okay, y’all get back a little bit. We’re going to drop him down. We’re going to attempt to drop him down.

And then, the bear fell out of the tree—which is what they do—and then they took it back into the bear’s original habitat.

We really moved him for his protection, not for people’s protection.

See it for yourself this month on Texas Parks and Wildlife TV series.

That’s our show…with support from the Sport Fish and Wildlife Restoration Program… providing funding for black bear research and relocation.

For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

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Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife

While your mother may have many virtues, something she probably doesn’t have is three distinct ecosystems; but our mother does.

As you move from one ecosystem to the other, seeing the different plants and animals that live in each one of those ecosystems, just really shows you how varied the state of Texas is.

Leah Huth is Superintendent of Mother Neff SP. The ecosystems are a river bottom, where you can fish free along the banks of the Leon River, as well as a limestone escarpment and prairie.

We have over three miles of hiking trails that go up through a natural limestone escarpment; and the hiking trails take you through where the golden cheeked warbler likes to make their home. Then, if you take the trail all the way to the top of the park, which is over 250 acres, is a natural prairie. And right now the wildflowers are coming out, so spring is here and it’s just absolutely beautiful.

The park, in north Central Texas, is a one-stop family weekend vacation destination.

We have enough diversity here to where every member of the family could find something that they enjoy. There’s road biking, they could also do hiking, we have birding, we’ve got butterflies. Of course, there’s fishing in the Leon River. And if you desire just to put up a hammock, there’s opportunity to do that as well.

Learn more about this gem of a destination at passporttotexas.org.

For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

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Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife

Governor Pat Neff may have named the park for his mother, but Isabella Neff got the ball rolling by willing several acres of the family homestead to “the people.”

She put it in her will in 1916 that she wanted part of the homestead to be a park to the pubic for religious, educational, fraternal and political purposes.

Leah Huth is Mother Neff State Park Superintendent. Even before Neff’s passing, Huth says people living near Waco and Temple used the land.

The people in the area were used to going there and meeting up with all of their neighbors. And she wanted that tradition to continue after she passed away. So, she instructed her son Pat to erect a fence around the plot and to construct a substantial building in the nature of a pavilion, and wanted it to be called something like the Neff Park; and of course, they ended up calling it Mother Neff.

The Civilian Conservation Corps, which in the 1930s built several structures at the park still in use today, started a tradition of celebrating Mother’s Day there.

People from all over came. And we have pictures of all of the CCC boys lined up in a star around the flagpole. It was just a very special time. It was often that Mother’s Day was celebrated here at the park.

Take your mother to Mother Neff State Park. Learn more about it at passporttotexas.org.

For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.
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May 2009 — Mother Neff SP — Chautauqua Time — Every Saturday. Rich in natural and cultural features, exciting trails and an abundance of wildlife, the park has 259 acres just waiting to be explored. Link up with a Park Ranger each week to join the fun. The activities and topics change every week with the Ranger and the weather; however programs are conducted rain or shine! 10-11 a.m. (254) 853-2389.

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