Passport to Texas

This is Passport to Texas

Parks and Wildlife presents awards to landowners for excellence in habitat management and wildlife conservation on their lands. You’ll meet several winners this month on the Texas Parks and Wildlife PBS TV series; producer, Alan Fisher.

In January we’ll visit three Lone Star land Steward award winners from the Pineywoods to the Panhandle. One is actually a coalition of landowners in the Edwards Plateau who use the benefits of prescribed fire to restore their habitat.

I think sometimes people get the impression that conservation is a luxury. These land stewards can show us that managing for wildlife and making a living off the land are very compatible things.

Find a list of stations that broadcast the series on the Texas parks and Wildlife website.

That’s our show for today… For Texas Parks and Wildlife, I’m Cecilia Nasti.

TPW TV: Lone Star Land Stewards Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

This is Passport to Texas

You love the outdoors and think camping is great fun—but not when it’s miserably hot outside. You’re not alone. Cool weather camping is a popular activity in Texas.

Our State park Guide, Bryan Frazier, says while a sleeping bag made for winter camping is an important piece of gear…

Maybe more importantly you want a sleeping pad to go under you between you and the ground. The ground can actually rob you of heat during the night—it’s called radiant heat loss. And the pad will be a barrier between you and the cold ground and will make a dramatic difference keeping you nice and cozy in your tent, even thought it’s cool outside.

Better than nothing, but most of the pads, even if they’re foam, they’ll have some air trapped in there, and that dead air space will actually serve as a better insulation barrier.

Thanks, Bryan.

Reserve your campsite online when you log onto the Texas Parks and Wildlife Website.

That’s our show for today…with funding provided by Chevrolet…building dependable, reliable trucks for more than 90 years.

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

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This is Passport to Texas

The Christmas Bird count wrapped up this week and biologist, Marsha May, says volunteer counters add to scientists’ understanding of wintering species.

13—Well, this is a great way to look at the bird populations in the winter time—the wintering species. And we’re able to look at changes through time; this count’s been going on since 1900, so we’re looking at lot of good data there.

Don’t fret if you missed your chance to count wintering bird during this time around, Marsha says more opportunities are on the way.

33—There are other counts that look at spring birds, and then also at breeding birds in the summer. The North American Breeding Bird survey through USGS is another way of looking at breeding birds in the summertime. Then, local Audubon societies hold bird-a-thons in the spring, and that’s looking at all your migratory spring birds. So, there’s lots of things to do with birding, and we do have good birding information on our website. As well as information on the Birding Classic. So, if you really want to get competitive, I’d recommend you get out there and try the Great Texas Birding Classic.

Find videos about birding on the Texas Parks and Wildlife YouTube channel.

That’s our show for today… with support from the Sport Fish and Wildlife Restoration Program…supporting conservation in Texas.

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

Birding/Wildlife: Seasonal Bird Counts Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

This is Passport to Texas

The Christmas Bird count ends today. No need to get your feathers ruffled—there’s always next year.

The count is a project of the National Audubon Society where for three weeks around the Christmas holiday, volunteers count birds during a 24-hour period in a 15-mile diameter circle.

05—But there aren’t any on December 25th—you can’t compete with family time and ripping open presents.

Volunteers submit their observations to the lead person, called a compiler.

05—That compiler then crunches all the numbers and turns in—nationally—a count for the whole circle.

The count also has opportunities for folks who for whatever reason cannot get to a circle. They’re called feeder watchers.

23—That’s someone that just merely watches out their back window and looks at the birds coming to the feeder and just counting those things. It’s a really good niche for someone that’s not able to get out if it’s too cold, or you’re just not physically able to get out, or maybe you have a newborn at the house, These are people that might have their eyes open watching the feeder and can contribute.

There are additional feeder watch programs that go on during other times of the year. Find them at passporttotexas.org.

The Sport Fish and Wildlife Restoration Program… supports our series as well as conservation programs in Texas.

For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti

Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s Video on Feeder Watch Program

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This is Passport to Texas

More than a hundred years ago people participated in a time-honored Christmas tradition.

06—People would go out and do what was called a side hunt, and the winning group would come back with the biggest pile of dead critters.

How festive. The majority of critters in those piles were birds. Cliff Shackelford, a non-game ornithologist with Parks and Wildlife, says conservationists had a better idea.

05—Early conservationists thought that we ought to count birds and not try to collect birds.

Today we have the nationwide Christmas Bird Count. This season—between December 14 and January 5—groups of volunteers, armed with a bird list, head into the field and count birds over a 24-hour period.

15—What people do is they get into teams, and they have a defined 15 mile radius circle that they’re counting in, and that circle never moves. The hope is that you would count that circle for decades and decades and over time you would see trends.

Different groups pick different days within that three week period to count birds. Researchers then use the census information to assess the health of bird populations, and to guide conservation action.

It may be a little late to get involved this year, but there’s always next year.

05—They might need a full year’s heads up to chew on it and figure out, hey, I want to do this next year.

Go to Audubon.org for more information. The Sport fish and Wildlife Restoration Program supports our show. For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

Birding: Christmas Bird Count Play Now | Play in Popup | Download