Passport to Texas

Black-capped Vireo

Great Texas Birding Classic Winners Fund Conservation Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Who would pay an entry fee to compete in a tournament in which the winners must agree to give away their prize money? Birders: that’s who. More specifically, teams of birders that take part in the Great Texas Birding Classic.

15-This year we raised $25,000 for conservation grants. And those will be given as a 10-thousand dollar grant, and three 5-thousand
dollar grants. So we’ll give four grants total throughout the state of Texas. And this is what teams are participating for: winning teams are who get to select what projects get funded.

Shelly Plante coordinates the event, and says it’s a win-win for birds and birders. Birding classic winners fund habitat projects that, in turn, create better birding opportunities for everyone.

04- That’s their privilege, that they’re vying for the chance to pick the project.

In the 19 years of the tournament, winning teams have donated more than eight hundred and forty-four thousand dollars to habitat projects throughout the state.

18- These grants have definitely gone to some well-known projects for birders. And if you go to birding hot spots throughout the state, you’ll see that birding classic money has been spent at many of these areas. From High Island Sanctuaries to Pakery Channel near Corpus Christi in the Coastal Bend, at Estero Llano Grande State Park.

Find out what birds the Great Texas Birding Classic teams saw this year, who won, and which projects the winners designated to receive grant money when you go to birdingclassic.org.

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

Great Texas Birding Classic

Great Texas Birding Classic Breaks Records Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

This is Passport to Texas

The Great Texas Birding Classic, which wrapped up on May 15 following a month of non-stop, statewide birding action, was a huge success, says Texas Parks and Wildlife nature tourism coordinator, Shelly Plante.

16-This year’s Great Texas Birding Classic was absolutely the best yet. We had a hundred teams for the first time ever, and with that we were able to raise more money than we’ve raised in a long time. So, we will donate $25,000 dollars in conservation grants this ear–which is a 40% increase over last year’s donation.

Grant money goes to projects that enhance or preserve native bird habitat statewide, and winning teams designate which projects receive the funds. Plante says while birders find it rewarding, she rewards birders that make her smile, with the Make My Day award.

13-While all of these teams are out in the field and having a really great time, a lot of my job is behind the desk, taking care of data entry. And so, if a team name crosses my desk that just made me laugh out loud, or giggle a little bit–I felt that I should reward that because they brightened my day.

Teams like the Double-Stuffed Orioles, Hot Wings, and the Bird Dogs–a team that actually brought their dogs with them–among others got this recognition from Shelly Plante.

Find a list of conservation projects that received grants at passporttotexas.org.

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

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

Lone Star Land Steward: Rancho ZunZun Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Roxanne and Elvis Hernandez live in Bastrop County and turned their 53 acre Rancho ZunZun into a thriving wildlife habitat with enhanced Houston Toad protection.

10-Roxanne and Elvis, they are so passionate about their land stewardship ont heir property for all wildlife species–not just the Houston Toad.

Their hard work earned them a Lone Star Land Steward Regional award for the Lost Pines ecosystem. Wildlife biologist, Meredith Longoria, provides the couple with technical assistance.

15-They have taken leaps and bounds since they started through the landowner Incentive Program, including: native grass plating, and pine reforestation, and prescribed burning. They’ve utilized just about every tool they’ve learned about on their property.

The Lone Star Land Steward awards honor landowners who preserve our natural heritage. The Hernandez’s bought their land in 2004, and began restoration work.

25– We planted 35-hundred trees the year right before the drought. Here, this whole area was filled with cedars–you couldn’t even walk through here–and we had that removed and cleared, and did the prescribed burn back in 2012. Yeah, you can still see all the burn scars on the trees. For our wildlife management, we provide supplemental shelter, which are the brush piles; we have five nest boxes, which are frequented by bluebirds. We have a bat box.

They said they’ve seen all wildlife populations on the ranch flourish. Learn more about the Lone Star Land Steward Program on the Texas Parks and Wildlife Website.

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

Paddlefish

Improving River Flows for Paddlefish and Beyond Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

This is Passport to Texas

The batteries in the radio transmitters used to track 47 paddlefish reintroduced to Caddo Lake more than a year ago are fading.

06—We’re still tracking some paddlefish, but we know this is about the time we’re not going to be able to track ‘em anymore.

Native to Caddo, paddlefish disappeared following construction of a dam upstream at Lake of the Pines in the late 1950s.

Tim Bister, with Inland Fisheries, says early data suggest changes Texas Parks and Wildlife and partners made to simulate natural river flows and spawning habitat, kept the rare fish in the Big Cyprus Bayou and Caddo Lake system.

21—Having the opportunity to restore a native fish into the system, is certainly a good idea. But, to tie it into more of these natural river flows, and the idea that not just paddlefish—but
many other species—need natural river flows and appropriate spawning habitat, it’s going to benefit those things for rivers in Texas.

Bister says while they’ll continue monitoring paddlefish, the ongoing work is more expansive.

12— We will always be trying to do something in the Big Cyprus Bayou / Caddo Lake system to maintain quality river flow and quality habitat, and to monitor the fish populations.

The Wildlife and Sportfish Restoration Program supports our series.

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

Paddlefish at hatchery, photo courtesy of US Fish and Wildlife Service

Revisiting Paddlefish in Big Cyprus Bayou Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Paddlefish, once abundant in the Big Cypress Bayou and Caddo Lake, started disappearing following construction of a dam at Lake of the Pines in the late 1950s.

07- So, basically, it took away the flows that the paddlefish need, and it took away their spawning substrate; eventually paddlefish just went away.

Inland fisheries’ Tim Bister says in spring 2014 a broad coalition of non-profits, landowners, and government agencies, reintroduced paddlefish into the system. But they first made improvements to benefit the rare species, including development of natural water releases upstream from Lake of the Pines, and gravel bar spawning areas.

14-We stocked 47 paddlefish, a year and a half old, between two and three feet long. And each were implanted with a radio transmitter, with a specific radio frequency that could be identified by a radio receiver.

Researchers tracked the paddlefish to see whether they would swim downstream over the spillway at Caddo Lake, and into Louisiana.

12-[If they did], they wouldn’t be able to swim back upstream because of that barrier. So, we wanted to make sure, by tracking these paddlefish, to see if they’re going to stay in the system. And after a year, I’m happy to say, that no fish were seen going over the spillway.

The radio transmitter batteries are fading, but the data collected so far is promising. Until the paddlefish reach reproductive maturity, we won’t know if we’ll see a self-sustaining population in Big Cypress Bayou and Caddo Lake.

The Wildlife and Sport Fish Supports our series.

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