Passport to Texas

Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife

When Hurricane Humberto made landfall along the Texas coast last September, High Island, an important sanctuary for migratory birds, got hit hard. The April issue of TP&W Magazine follows the efforts of volunteers who brought the island back to life. Managing Editor, Louie Bond.

When you talk about damaging hurricanes, I think everybody thinks about Katrina and Rita. But actually, Hurricane Humberto was the fastest-growing hurricane in US history. And, unfortunately, the bull’s-eye hit High Island, which is a wonderful bird sanctuary. And, it’s an important stopover for neotropical birds who are coming north from Central and South America to their spring nesting places in North America. There’s marshland all around, and there’s just beautiful little secluded sanctuary where the birds can stop and rest and then continue on their way. And when Humberto came around, it uprooted centuries-old trees, tore up boardwalks, and just did incredible damage. But luckily, volunteers came on the weekends—members of the Houston Audubon Society—and they worked and worked and they cleaned up the debris and rebuilt the boardwalks. And now, I’m glad to say High Island has been totally restored and will be ready for the visiting birds this spring.

Thanks for the great news, Louie. Learn more about High Island at passporttotexas.org.

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

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Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife

Enchanted Rock State Natural Area, near Fredericksburg, is a haven for rock climbers in central Texas.

They can expect to see other folks doing the same thing they are, that are rock climbing.

Reynaldo Sierra is the Park Manager. The popularity of the park’s climbs has created a strong climbing community.

More than likely they expect to find someone who is climbing at their level, whether they are a beginning climber, an intermediate climber or an advanced climber and be able to climb with these individuals in certain areas.

The climbing community at Enchanted Rock is more than just a resource for other climbers.

Climbing has built a friendly respectful community at the park. One that assists with other areas, one that has assisted with volunteer projects and the upkeep of the trails scattered throughout the site. So it has provided Enchanted Rock a volunteer base that is a big resource to the site and that helps us tremendously with the day to day upkeep of our facilities.

Sierra encourages those with questions about climbing at Enchanted Rock to contact park staff for information.

More information about climbing, including maps of Enchanted Rock are available at passporttotexas.org.

That’s our show…with research and writing help from Kate Lipinski… For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

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Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife

Enchanted Rock is a rock climber’s wonderland.

The park is 1,640 acres. The rock itself makes up about 640 acres of that.

Reynaldo Sierra is the Park Manager at Enchanted Rock State Natural Area.

Based on the history of climbing in the park, modern climbing began during the 1930’s when some of the locals began to climb in this area. In the 1970’s, there was an expansion into climbing occurring during the park. Since that time, it has become and still is one of the more popular rock climbing areas in Texas and probably even the US.

There’s a route at Enchanted Rock for just about everybody.

Well the park has technical climbs, which are of course, the rope climbs, the face climbs and the crack climbs. And we also have bouldering, which is the free style climbing, an ample amount of it scattered throughout the park. Hundreds and hundreds for all age groups. There’s plenty of climbing available. It provides a little bit of everything to wet any climbing appetite.

More on climbing tomorrow.

More information at passporttotexas.org.

That’s our show…with research and writing help from Kate Lipinski… For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

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Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife

Until recently, I did not know hummingbirds ate insects.

Well, if you think about it, an animal that’s swinging it’s arms at 72 times a second, needs something to rebuild those muscles that it’s exercising in there. And, without protein, they’re not going to build muscle.

So, if you find insects, such as bees, snacking at your hummingbird feeder, Mark Klym says, don’t panic.

People get all excited when bees get around their hummingbird feeder. And, bees are a great food for hummingbirds. I’ve watched them take bees out of the air.

Klym coordinates the Texas Hummingbird Roundup, a citizen science project where folks like you help biologists take stock of hummers.

We ask people to have a look out in the backyard once a week, about fifteen, twenty minutes a week, and give us a count of what birds [hummingbirds] you’re seeing out there. How many? What Species? What are they using? And then, if you see anything unusual—you find a nest, you see mating behavior—we ask you to record it and let us know about it. Once a year we have these forms sent back in and right now we’re reviewing the data from the 2007 season.

Download an information packet about the roundup, and find out where you can purchase a hummingbird identification wheel 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

If you’ve never seen a hummingbird in your part of Texas, it’s not because they aren’t around.

There’s not a county in Texas where you won’t see at least two species of hummingbird. In fact, there’s not a state in the United States—with the exception of Hawaii—that doesn’t have at least two hummingbird species.

Okay, maybe that is not a lot of hummers, but they are out there. Mark Klym coordinates the Texas hummingbird Roundup. He says Texas has 18 species of hummingbirds, and one region boasts the most.

Certainly the greatest variety would be in the David Mountains area. The David Mountains and the Chisos Mountains—out in West Texas.

If you want to attract hummingbirds passing through the area, you could put up feeders, but Klym says there is a better way.

That feeder, even in a good garden, is nothing more than a fast food stop. You want to provide plants that these birds can go to for nectar. But also, you want to provide plants that will attract insects, because these birds are heavy insect eaters.

At passporttotexas.org, find links to hummingbird appropriate plants, as well as information on how you can participate in the Hummingbird Roundup.

That’s our show… For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.
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Find the top hummingbird plants as recommended by About.com: http://birding.about.com/library/weekly/aa053001a.htm

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