Passport to Texas

Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife and the Sport Fish Restoration Program

Fishing the late shift is a feature you’ll see this month on the Texas Parks and Wildlife TV series. Producer, Alan Fisher.

Fishing is a favorite pastime, coastal and inland, but there’s this whole other little subculture out there; people who like to fish at night.

So, when you were talking to these nighttime fisher folk, what did they say the appeal was of doing their fishy business in the darkness.

Everybody seems to have their own reasons for fishing in the dark. I think for a lot of folks, in the summertime, there’s a good reason in Texas, it’s a little more pleasant to be on a pier or in a boat in August. But there are people who fish at night in the wintertime, too. So, it’s not just the weather.

But, also, it tends to calm down a little bit at night. Sometimes the heat causes a lot of wind, and maybe that’s not so good for fishing. At night you get the still waters, and sometimes its just a little more pleasant to be outside.

Thanks, Alan.

That’s our show…we receive support from the Sport Fish restoration program…For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.
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CLICK HERE for a list of stations that broadcast the Texas Parks & Wildlife Television Series

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Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife

The Great Texas Birding Classic is April 27 through May 4. Shelley Plante, nature tourism coordinator for Parks and Wildlife, says there is a tournament for every age group.

We have kids teams for thirteen and under; we call it the rough wings tournament. It’s always a lot of fun. Birders of that age group go out about eight hours during the day, so it’s not a huge, long day. And we have a teenager competition called the Gliders. We also have adults, and we have something called the Big Sit, which is like a big tailgate party for birders. And any age can compete, and those teams can have up to ten people on them, whereas the other teams are only three to five people—enough to fit in a car, basically.

The Energy Saver tournament is new this year.

Our concern was, we have all of these people that are driving around the Texas coast for habitat conservation, and they are burning fossil fuels in the process. So, why don’t we have more than just the Big Sit as something that people can do in a more stationary way. So, the Energy Saver tournament, people are required to go at least fifty miles, but they can just do fifty miles. And the winning team is the team that sees the most species per mile. And they are going to be eligible for a new ten thousand dollar grant project that they get to fund.

Money raised from the Birding Classic funds coastal conservation projects. Learn more at passporttotexas.org.

That’s our show… For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.
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CLICK HERE to read about past year’s highlights.

Great Texas Birding Classic, Part 2 of 2 Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife and the Wildlife Restoration Program

Spring migration brings out the birdwatcher in all of us. The twelfth Annual Great Texas Birding Classic offers birders from across North America a chance to spot species for a cause.

The birding classic is a great event to go out in the field and see as many birds as possible with your friends and families for a great cause, which is habitat conservation on the Texas coast.

Shelley Plante is nature tourism coordinator for Parks and Wildlife. This year’s Birding Classic is April 27 through May 4. Teams pay entry fees, which fund habitat conservation.

We’ve now donated five hundred and seventy eight thousand dollars to habitat conservation projects on the Texas coast. Acquisition and restoration are the things that people want to fund; the teams are the ones that get to pick which projects get funded every year, and they consistently pick restoration and acquisition projects, because that’s what we need for the birds that migrating. We need more habitat that is pristine and in its natural state, either by restoring habitat that is already owned, or by acquiring habitat that might do on to development.

While team registration is over, statewide nature-viewing opportunities are not.

We have a migration calendar of events that comes out every year in the May issue of Texas Parks and Wildlife magazine. And that lists activities from May of 2008 through May of 2009 that you can do statewide.

Learn more about the Classic at passporttotexas.org.

That’s our show… For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.
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MIGRATION EVENTS IN APRIL

April 3 — 6

FeatherFest 2008 — Galveston. A birding and general nature festival focusing on the birds of the Upper Texas Coast during early spring (late wintering birds, early spring trans-gulf migrants and many all season birds). Expert led seminars on many topics, field trips by bus, boat and kayak, activities for non-birding spouses and signature socials. Registration: $30/person; Cost varies for specific activities. 5 a.m. — 5 p.m. (409) 392-0841; www.galvestonfeatherfest.com.

April 12 — 14

19th Annual Spring Native Plant Sale — Heard Natural Science Museum & Wildlife Sanctuary, McKinney. Check out over 300 varieties of native Texas plants such as trees, shrubs, perennials, vines and grasses! All sales are tax-free. Free entry. Friday: 4 — 7 p.m. (members only); Saturday: 9 a.m. — 5 p.m.; Sunday: 1 — 5 p.m. (972) 562-5566; www.heardmuseum.org.

Great Texas Birding Classic, Part 1 of 2 Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife

Texas Amphibian Watch wants to make sure Texas always has healthy populations of frogs and toads.

Texas Amphibian Watch is one of our citizen science programs. That means that we are involving everyday Texas citizens in gathering data. And in this case we’re looking at amphibians, a group of species that are in a lot of trouble worldwide.

Lee Ann Linam coordinates the Texas Amphibian Watch program. It’s easy to get involved.

People can pick up a packet of monitoring materials that we offer for free, and they can purchase a CD of frog and toad calls. It has nearly all the frogs and toads in Texas, to learn your frog and toad calls. And then you can actually choose your own place that you want to monitor, and go out and begin recording data.

With a state as big as Texas, the program only has eighty volunteers, and needs more.

East Texas is an area that’s very rich in frog and toad species, yet, we don’t have too many volunteers from that area. South Texas is a place where Texas has some very interesting species that we share with Mexico, and we’d like to keep better track of what’s going on with them. And then, you have to be in the right place at the right time, but we certainly need more volunteers from West Texas.

We have links where you can download monitoring forms at passporttotexas.org.

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

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Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife

According to the Chinese horoscope, 2008 is the year of the rat. However, as far as the Association of Zoos and Aquaria is concerned, it’s the year of the frog.

That doesn’t appear on any zodiac calendars that you’ll look at. But it is a leap year. And so maybe it’s a good year for us to recognize what’s going on with amphibians around the world.

Lee Ann Linam coordinates the Texas Amphibian Watch program. According to a recent study, amphibian species are declining worldwide, with 122 species considered extinct.

And so, these zoos and aquaria are asking their bodies to get involved in terms of being ready to save some of these populations in zoos. And, we’re asking Texans to be involved by keeping an eye on what’s going on with amphibians around them, so that we’ll know if there are species that are in trouble, and if there are things that we should do to help before it gets to that point.

If you want to help amphibians, go to the zoo.

In this year of the frog, people might want to look at what their zoos are doing to create more awareness about amphibians. Many of them are actually fundraising so that a zoo can take on the captive breeding of some of these species that are about to disappear in the wild.

Help monitor the health of amphibians. Find out how at passporttotexas.org.

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

Leap Year: Year of the Frog Play Now | Play in Popup | Download