Passport to Texas

This is Passport to Texas Outdoor Stories

Jim Blackburn—an environmental attorney and planner from Houston—shares one of the more memorable kayaking experiences he has had along the Texas coast.

We were out on Bolivar flats in our kayaks, and there were literally thousands of avocets, which are gorgeous black and white birds with sort of a brownish neck and sort of an upturned bill. They’re wading birds, probably about fourteen-sixteen inches in height. There were literally thousands of them, and they would sort of just rise and fall in a mass. Just the patterns that threes birds made, were just incredible to see. And I’ve just never seen that many avocets in one place.

When you’re on a kayak, says Blackburn, you can get closer to nature than you ever thought possible.

I oftentimes take my kayak to the rookery islands to see the large fish-eating birds – the herons… the egrets… going through their breeding rituals. And then later in the spring raising their young; those are really, really nice experiences.

Download a Canoeing and Kayaking resource guide from our revamped website, passporttotexas.org.

That’s our show… made possible by the Sport Fish and Wildlife Restoration Program… helping to fund the operations and management of more than 50 wildlife management areas.

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

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