Passport to Texas

Two Least Sandpipers, Image Creative Commons, Mike Baird

TPW Magazine: August / September Preview Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

It may be summer in Texas, but the August/September issue of Texas parks and Wildlife magazine is focused on fall. Editor, Louie Bond.

61— Well, you know, there’s that hint of fall in the air in August nights, and certainly in September, and I think our two features in this fall issue are so appropriate. The first is about two incredible birders. Now, I participated in my first Great Texas Birding Classic this year, and it was very exciting, but it was nowhere near the caliber of these two guys: David Shackelford and Phil Rostron, who have each seen over 8-thousand birds. They are both in the top 10 lists of birders. And Russell Roe, our managing editor, writes a very compelling look at these two very different birders who have achieved this great milestone. And then, our own Dyanne Frye Cortez has taken on what I like to do. I remember when I moved to the country I went out and picked dewberries until my hands were purple and my legs were bleeding scratched. So, she shares with us the best way to harvest agarita, prickly pear, dewberries and Texas persimmons, and all those great wild Texas fruits – and what to do with them after you’ve harvested them. So, I hope you’ll go on a little fall outing with us and read this issue.

Thanks, Louie.

The August/September issue of Texas parks and Wildlife magazine is available on newsstand or by subscription. Learn more at tpwmagazine.com.

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

Brown Striped Frog, Image Creative Commons, Brenda Starr

Conservation: The Rules of Frogging Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

This is Passport to Texas

[Chorus of frogs]

Have you ever been frogging?

06 — It’s what we call when you just get out at night and you start listening for frogs and see what’s living out there around you.

Lee Ann Linam coordinated Texas Amphibian Watch for Parks and Wildlife. Frogging involves volunteers who collect information on amphibian species they hear.

10 — When we suggest that folks do something kind of unusual like that, we like to give them some guidelines to keep them safe, and to keep the frogs safe, and to respect the rules around them. So, that’s what the rules of frogging are for.

Volunteers must obtain permission before accessing privately owned land. Of utmost importance is the safety of the amphibians.

23 — Amphibians are sensitive to things like insect repellents that contain deet, which many of them do. Things like sunscreen and other chemicals that might be on your hands. And so we always say to people, before handling frogs, make sure that you wash your hands, keep your hands moist. And then the other thing we say is to go ahead and wash up afterwards because some frogs have compounds on their skin that protect them from being eaten.

And those compounds can be irritants. We have a link to the complete rules of frogging at passporttotexas.org.

The Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration program supports our series… and provides funding for diverse conservation project throughout Texas.

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

Franklin Mountains State Park

TPW TV: Franklin Mountains Bike Trails Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Catch a segment on the Texas Parks and Wildlife PBS TV series that puts you in the seat of a mountain bike on the trails at Franklin Mountains State Park: Producer Abe Moore.

48 – I went out there, and didn’t know what to expect as far as Franklin Mountains. But it’s actually mountains with hardcore mountain biking trails right in the city limits of El Paso.

Yeah, it was definitely an adrenaline rush going in. Some of the guys that I talked to when I went out there. You could see they were big burly guys; the ladies, too, for that matter. They could handle their business when it comes to mountain biking.

Thanks, Abe.

This show airs the week of July 14 on PBS stations; check your local listings.

That’s our show for today…with funding provided by Chevrolet, supporting outdoor recreation in Texas; because there’s life to be done.

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

Kemp’s Ridley resting on Sargassum; Image © Joseph Scarola

Nature: The Value of Sargassum Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

The arrival of brown colored algae, called sargassum, to Texas beaches is nearly as predictable as the return of the swallows to Capistrano, but not as welcome.

07 – It shows up on the beach, late spring through early summer, and it can be a nuisance to your average partygoer.

Paul Hammerschmidt, with Coastal Fisheries, says tons of it washes up on the Texas coast from the North Atlantic, hindering beachgoer access to the water. Yet, sargassum is far from being a mere nuisance. It provides habitat for other living things.

13 – There are many animals that only live in the sargassum weed in the Sargasso Sea. It also is a nursery area for a whole lot of game fish like Mahi Mahi, Marlin, Sailfish, that type of thing.

On shore, Hammerschmidt says beachcombers discover shells and sea beans in the slimy tangle, as well as live animals. Cities and counties that obtain permits may move the seaweed to help rebuild sand dunes. If you get a hankering to bring home some Sargassum, it does make a good garden fertilizer – with one caveat.

07 – One thing you really do have to do is rinse the saltwater off of it. You don’t want that saltwater in your garden; that’s just not healthy for your garden.

The Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration program supports our series, and funds the work of saltwater fisheries in Texas.

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

Sargassum, Image © Texas Parks and Wildlife Department

Nature: What's up With the Sargassum? Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Every spring and summer, visitors to the Texas coast encounter piles of brown, wet, slimy vegetation lining Texas beaches.

02 – It’s a brown algae called sargassum.

Paul Hammerschmidt, with Coastal Fisheries, says sargassum may accumulate on tide lines for miles.

21 – It belongs to a whole group of plants that belong to the sargassum group. Most of those plants are attached to hard substrate – rocks, shells – that kind of thing. These particular species don’t attach to anything; they’re floating. They have little tiny gas bladders that help the plant float. So, periodically that breaks away and ends up on the Texas beach.

Sargassum originates in the Sargasso Sea, in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean.

16 –…in a big floating gyre; a gyre is a big eddy. And this particular sea has no shoreline at all – no land shoreline. It’s surrounded by four different ocean currents that keep that seaweed trapped in this one particular area.

Yet, tons of sargassum escape and end up on Texas shores.

13 – Changes in the currents; winds and storms can occur in the area, and sections of it actually break off and get into the main currents. Those main currents will bring them into the gulf and eventually onto the beaches.

Tomorrow: the value of sargassum.

The Wildlife and Sport Fish restoration program supports our series.

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