Passport to Texas

Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife

The mid-1990s saw the first wildlife trail completed along the Gulf Coast; today, with the help of detailed maps everyone can explore that first trail, as well as seven others that have followed it.

This summer we launched our final two Great Texas Wildlife Trail Birding maps. This brings the total of wildlife trail maps for the state of Texas to 8. We have 3 coastal birding trail maps, and then we (in 2004) launched 2 for the Heart of Texas, and one for the Panhandle. And now these final 2 are in the Pineywoods and the North Texas area of Dallas and Fort Worth. So we’re covering rural and urban areas state-wide.

Shelley Plant, Nature Tourism Coordinator.

The Great Texas Wildlife Trails are actually driving trails to sites along the road, so they’re things that you do in your car. They’re not a hiking or a walking trail. Texas was the first state that did birding and wildlife trails, and now many other states have followed that lead and there are wildlife trails throughout the entire nation now.

The trails provide economic incentive to landowners and communities to conserve habitat while providing ecotourism opportunities.

On the wildlife trail maps, there’s information about each site that tells you what time of year to go, what kind of habitat you’ll see, potential animals that you might run into while you’re at that site, and how to get there. Really this is the best way to discover everything that Texas has to offer in the outdoors.

Download or order your Texas Wildlife Trail map from the Texas Parks & Wildlife website.

That’s our show for today…with research and writing help from Loren Seeger.

For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti

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Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife

After a rough winter, spring is finally here! So, take this opportunity to discover the unique flora and fauna of Texas. Whether you travel to the Gulf Coast or the Panhandle, the following tips will enhance your experience.

Some of the best tips are to just wear camouflage colors. Wear natural, neutral colors, unscented lotions. Walk very, very softly- not snap twigs or trample the wildflowers. You want to be as invisible to the animals that you are trying to see as possible.

Shelley Plante, Nature Tourism Coordinator.

Dusk and dawn are the best times to go viewing. They’re wonderful for birds, as well as the dragonflies and butterflies. Although some animals you can see throughout the day. So even a picnic in the afternoon will take you to a great site for wildlife watching.

I bet you thought you would never hear this, but: DON’T SHARE! Sure, your lunch may be tasty, but don’t give it to any of the critters you see.

Let the animals also eat their natural foods. Don’t share any of your picnic with them. It’s great to help feed birds at your backyard- it’s a wonderful way to view wildlife, but when you’re out in the wilderness and actually take a hike or camping, clean up after yourself. Leave no trace. Do all those basic, good wildlife etiquette things that you should do while in the wild.

Find additional wildlife viewing tips on the Texas Parks & Wildlife website.

That’s our show for today…with research and writing help from Loren Seeger…For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti

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Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife

Next time you’re in the untamed outdoors, and want to attract native wildlife – kiss the palm of your hand.

[kissing sound] I can do that to a bobcat that’s sitting out there behind a bush at a hundred yards, and it’ll start him towards me almost immediately. It just sounds delicious.

Delicious like a rodent. Gerald Stewart is a consultant for Johnny Stewart wildlife calls. Gerald’s father, Johnny, created a business featuring recorded animal sounds.

Dad realized early on in the development of the business, that these sounds could be used by quite a wide variety of people. Photographers, nature lovers, bird watchers, hunters, researchers, or people that just want to simply show their grandkids [raccoon call] the eyes of a raccoon coming through the grass at night…just for the joy of being able to see something wild, literally a few feet away from them.

Screech owls are common in residential neighborhoods, and are a good animal to call when you’re with children.

[screech owl]

It’s easier to call screech owls with children around. Screech owls are a gregarious little bird, very social. And will put up with human presence. After a minute or two of being there, humans can just start talking and milling around and the little screech owl just sits in the tree.

Learn about native wildlife by logging onto the Texas Parks and Wildlife web site.

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

Texas boasts a bevy of birding hot spots. And in the May issue of Texas Parks and Wildlife Magazine…you’ll meet some of the fine feathered creatures that pass through our state. Associate publisher, Charles Lohrmann…

Well, May is our birding issue and it’s always popular. It’s a useful reference because we include a comprehensive calendar of birding events throughout the year.

We have amazing articles. This one, particularly interesting to me, is an article about migration by Noreen Damude. She describes migration patterns as a complex labyrinth of trails that overlap and interweave. And to illustrate, she describes the migrations of eight different birds.

Among them are long distance migrants like the Swainson’s Hawk; and one particularly interesting example is the Evening Grosbeak, which she describes as ‘irruptive, opportunistic wanderers,’ because their arrival is completely unpredictable.

Once you read this article, you’ll never think of migration as a simple north-south line again.

Thanks Charles.

You can find the May issue of Texas Parks and Wildlife Magazine on newsstands in mid-month. Or learn how you can subscribe when you visit passporttotexas.org.

That’s our show…Joel Block engineers our program in Austin at the Production Block studios…For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti

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Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife

You only have until Saturday, April seventh to register if you intend to participate in the Great Texas Birding Classic.

This year is the 11th annual Great Texas Birding Classic. We are consolidating the tournament to a single weekend to try to make one big weekend of birding on the Texas coast.

Shelley Plante is Nature Tourism Coordinator. Although the classic takes place April 15 – 22, the three main bird watching events at the- the upper, central and lower coasts – occur April 21 & 22.

People get together in teams of 3 to 5 people and they go out for 24 hours of birding to see as many species as they can in that period. Teams record all the species that they see in a single day and we have judges that look at these results and award prizes to the top 3 teams for each tournament. For the week long and sectional adult tournaments, we actually have conservation cash grand prizes. This is $50,000 of habitat conservation money that goes to projects of the
winning team’s choice.

Everybody is invited to the annual classic, regardless of age or experience.

You do not have to be a strong birder to be involved. The tournament will fit any level of birding expertise and all of these tournaments are raising money for habitat conservation on the Texas coast.

Register online. Find out how on passporttotexas.org.

That’s our show for today…with research and writing help from Loren Seeger…For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti

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