Passport to Texas

The Texas Aquatic Science teaches educators how to present the topic to their students.

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This is Passport to Texas

The Texas Aquatic Science curriculum covers a lot of ground, I mean, water. AmeriCorps Vista Volunteer, Colin Findley, coordinates the program for Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.

It’s getting people access to the outside world, and understanding the outside world in terms of water.

The program helps middle and high school teachers raise students’ awareness of the importance of water to life, aquatic ecosystems, and the effort necessary to conserve it all.

With Texas aquatic science, there’s the classroom capacity, and then there’s also what are called Texas Aquatic Science Certified field sites, which are state parks and other organizations that have access to water tied to the curriculum. So, you know, once an educator teaches the curriculum in the classroom, they can then go out and get full support from these aquatic science field sites.

Findley says Texas Aquatic Science is a full curriculum.

From sixth grade all the way up to twelfth. It’s TEKS (Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills) aligned. The greatest thing is that it’s completely free. So, the student textbooks online at texasaquaticscience.org, the teacher guides on the Texas Parks (and Wildlife) education page – it’s all there for any educator to have.

The program starts by identifying communities of greatest need, and then cultivates a core of facilitators.

That then teach workshops to spread the curriculum to educators throughout the state.

Find more information on the Texas Parks and Wildlife website.

The Sport Fish Restoration program supports our series.

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

Tossing a “ghost” through a ring is just one of the kid-friendly activities offered in the fright-free area at Halloween at the Hatchery.

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This is Passport to Texas

Get into the spirit of Halloween at a Texas state park.

Plan an overnight stay at a nearby park with family and friends. When night falls, build a campfire, huddle ‘round, and share scary stories while the fire pops and crackles.

Campfire s’more take on a whole new look at Halloween with ghost shaped marshmallow peeps! Toast your ghost over the flames and then squish it between graham crackers and chocolate. Now who’s scary?

Invite wildlife to your party; it’s easy when you use animal call apps on your smart phone. A raptor that’s usually spying on you anyway, is the screech owl. If you play its call and wait, chances are it will join you.

You don’t have to set up camp to enjoy Halloween in parks. Just come for a few hours. Some parks will have activities including Edible Creepy Crawlies, to Bat Themed crafts, to Trick-or-Treating in the park, to Zombie Apocalypse Hikes and more.

At Cleburne State Park, visitors 13 and older who wish to partake in trick or treating, the guided night hike, or the night sounds presentation, will have their entrance fee waived when they bring a can of food for the food bank.

Find parks, dates, and complete details on Halloween hijinks in State Parks at texasstateparks.org.

That’s our show for today… Funding provided in part by Ram Trucks. Guts. Glory. Ram

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

Wild Boar Chops

Wild Game for the Holidays Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

This time of year hunting seasons begin to overlap: quail….duck…deer…you get the picture.

As a result, hunters—and those of us who benefit from knowing hunters—end up with freezers full of game meat. There are worse problems to have.

With the holidays on the horizon, wouldn’t a dish featuring game be a nice addition to your feast? Heck, even the Great British Baking Show had their contestants bake festive game pies.

If you’re stumped when it comes to preparing wild proteins for the holiday table…perhaps a little hands-on cooking class can set you on the right course.

Texas Parks and Wildlife collaborates with Central Market Cooking Schools statewide to offer hands on wild game and fish cooking classes to the public. November’s class is all about dressing up game for the holidays.

Class participants will prepare: Grilled Quail with Red Chile Honey Glaze…Whiskey Spiced Duck with Swiss chard & celery root…and Venison Filet with Blueberry Pan Jus on Cheese Grits.

Tell me that doesn’t sound like a party waiting to happen. The next class is November 14, and takes place in Austin, San Antonio, Houston, Dallas, Fort Worth, Southlake, and Plano. All locations are currently accepting registrations.

Find more information at passporttotexas.org. That’s our show for today… Funding provided in part by Ram Trucks. Guts. Glory. Ram

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

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Find A Central Market Wild Game Class Near You

• Austin
• Dallas
• Fort Worth
• Houston
• Plano
• San Antonio
• Southlake

Hummingbirds are adaptable.

Helping Hummers After Hurricane Harvey Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

This is Passport to Texas

Rockport, hit hard by Hurricane Harvey, is famous as a fall/winter hummingbird migration stopover.

Hummingbirds are equipped to handle all kinds of environmental situations – [including] natural disasters. And, they are opportunistic: they look for opportunities in which to feed.

Urban wildlife biologist, Kelly Simon says residents are rightly focused on recovery, and may not hang nectar filled feeders this season.

Hummingbirds have endured natural disasters like this for as long as there have been hummingbirds. And so, while we’re focusing right now on human needs, the physical needs of hummingbirds will be met by the hummingbirds.

Folks along the migration path might consider hanging a few extra feeders, using a 3:1 ratio to increase energy content. However…

Hummingbirds don’t live by sugar water alone. They actually require spiders and mites that the find in native plants in order to gain the fats and proteins that will help fuel their journey. That may be a thing that’s hard for them to find. But, Corpus Christi is not that far away. And Corpus Christi has an abundance of flowers – they were not hit quite as hard. So, there’s a lot of natural food out there. It may not be in Rockport, but adding about 100 miles on top of the journey, when you’re looking at a 2-thousand mile journey, is probably not significant.

Hummingbirds, like those hit by Harvey, are survivors, but always appreciate help from their friends.

For Texas Parks and Wildlife, I’m Cecilia Nasti

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The following is from the TPWD publication about hummingbird gardens:

Food Resources for Hummingbirds
Remember, while sugar is important to these birds, it is not the only food resource. We need to provide for not only their energy needs, but vitamins, minerals, protein and other nutrients as well. This is done with a carefully planned and maintained garden. A good hummingbird garden will include:

• Nectar producing plants designed for hummingbird attraction
  – Plants with trumpet shaped flowers usually oriented horizontal or downward
• Insect attracting plants
  – Plants with large, flat flower heads usually oriented vertical or near so
  – These are generally yellow or blue in color Bloom season is important.

In Texas it is possible to have hummingbirds year-round, so you should aim to have plants in bloom as long as possible. In the northern reaches this becomes more difficult because of frost, but careful selection can extend the hummingbird season by weeks. Try to select plants with overlapping bloom periods so that there is always something in bloom.

Plant a food source: Nectar producers and insect attractors   

Shelter Trees and Shrubs

• Pecans
• Oaks
• Elms
• Cedar
• Pines
• Mountain laurel
• Prairie flame leaf sumac
• Evergreen sumac
• Possum haw
• Agarita Yaupon holly

Food Plants for Texas Hummingbirds

• Any native sage such as autumn sage (Salvia gregii)
• Trumpet vine
• Cross vine
• Coral honeysuckle
• Texas lantana (Lantana urticoides)
• Turk’s cap
• Yellow bells
• Flame acanthus
• Native hibiscus

Layout Tips

• Try to provide food at multiple levels of the garden
• Plant islands of color
•  Be sure to have plants s with overlapping bloom periods in each garden

Bracken ferns at Bastrop State park

Climate Change Lottery and its Affects Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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Texas wildlife has a stake in the climate change lottery.

Climate change is going to affect species that are found – and breed – in backyards here in Texas.

Former Texas Parks and Wildlife biologist, Cullen Hanks, says models that predict impacts of climate change on wildlife vary, so we need baseline information on each species.

To be able to document change, we need to know where things are before they change. And, this highlights the need of documenting the distribution of species that we have today in Texas. And, there aren’t enough biologists to do all of that. And so, what we do is we reach out to citizens. That’s exactly right! Texas is a big state with a lot of species, and the community of naturalists and citizens interested in wildlife in Texas can play a huge part in documenting wildlife in Texas.

Monitor backyard species, and then share your observations online.

ebird, a citizen science platform, created by the Cornell laboratory of Ornithology is a great way to maintain your checklist of birds. In addition, iNaturalist is a really useful platform for documenting your wildlife sightings of any species — not just birds.

Texas Parks and Wildlife has various projects on iNaturalist. Just go to the Texas Nature Trackers page on the Texas Parks and Wildlife website for details.

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