Passport to Texas

Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife

[chorus of frogs] Have you ever been frogging?

It’s what we call when you just get out at night and you start listening for frogs and see what’s living out there around you.

Lee Ann Linam coordinates the Texas Amphibian Watch program in which volunteers go frogging at night to collect information on amphibian species they hear. These citizen scientists follow rules while “on duty.”

When we suggest that folks do something kind of unusual like that, we like to give them some guidelines to keep them safe, and to keep the frogs safe, and to respect the rules around them. So, that’s what the rules of frogging are for.

Some rules include bringing a buddy along, and knowing the terrain and wildlife species in your monitoring area. Volunteers must also obtain permission before accessing privately owned land. Finally, consider the safety of the amphibians.

Amphibians are sensitive to things like insect repellents that contain Deet, which many of them do. Things like sunscreen and other chemicals that might be on your hands. And so we always say to people, before handling frogs, make sure that you wash your hands, keep your hands moist. And then the other thing we say is to go ahead and wash up afterwards because some frogs have compounds on their skin that protect them from being eaten.

And those compounds can be irritants. We have a link to the complete rules of frogging 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

The Texas Chapter of the Audubon Society unveiled its quail and grassland bird program in 2003.

Audubon became interested in getting involved in quail and quail management at the state level due to [the fact] grassland birds on the whole have been declining at an alarming rate range wide.

Kyle Brazil is leader of the Audubon Texas quail and grassland bird program, which helps landowners develop plans to manage quail habitat.

Quail like a mixture of woody, herbaceous, or grass cover—also mixed with forbs, or weeds, and bare ground. And they like that interspersed over the landscape. They like to have every component of their habitat within a stone’s throw.

For a long-term, sustainable quail population, Brazil says quail need 3 to 5thousand acres of quality habitat.

That being said, you have to work with what you have. And so managing as much area as possible for quail habitat is what you need to do. Specifically managing for nesting habitat, which is the major limiting factor across the range. Nesting habitat is made up of native bunch grasses. Here in Texas we typically think of little bluestem.

Landowners are vital to quail’s survival, and the reasons landowners have for preserving quail habitat varies.

The economic element is part of it. The other part being that quail, in Texas, are also very culturally important—it’s part of our history. And Texans, as you know, like to maintain their history.

Learn about quail management at passporttotexas.org.

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

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Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife

[Bobwhite quail call] The bobwhite quail population in Texas is decreasing due in part to habitat fragmentation caused by development.

What happens in habitat fragmentation is that you take large pieces of habitat and you cut them up into smaller and smaller pieces of habitat that are farther and farther apart.

Kyle Brazil, leader of the Audubon Texas quail and grassland bird program, helps us understand the issue of habitat fragmentation as it pertains to quail.

They don’t fly well, and they don’t move very far, in general. So, if you have one piece of habitat that is five miles away from the next nearest piece of habitat, there’s not going to be any movement between those piece of habitat. So, if you do have a quail population that goes extinct in one of those, it’s not going to be repopulated by birds from the other. In general, habitat fragmentation makes it harder for quail to persist.

Audubon Texas works with landowners to develop management strategies to preserve quail habitat in their care. Because, says Brazil, that habitat supports more than quail.

If you manage for quail, you’re also benefiting the whole suite of grassland birds and other grassland wildlife obligate species.

Learn about quail and Texas Audubon at passporttotexas.org.

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

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Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife

Located on the Bolivar Peninsula, High Island is migratory stopover habitat for neo-tropical birds.

I always tell people it’s kind of like you go on vacation and you have to stop and get gas and get food, and it you can’t stop you can’t get where you’re going. So, for these birds, stopover habitat like High Island is very important.

Winnie Burkett is sanctuaries manager for Houston Audubon, and says the habitat on High Island—which, by the way, isn’t an island—concentrates birds.

It’s called High Island because it’s the surface expression of a salt dome. High Island is 38 feet high, and it’s the highest point between Mobile Bay and the Yucatan Peninsula. And, high habitat is not common on the coast, so we have woods where all around High Island is salt marsh. And that really concentrates the woodland birds here at High Island.

Not only is High Island a great place for the birds, it’s a great place for birders.

If they want to see a lot of different species, High island is a really great place for them to come, because they’re all concentrated in one place. Where they’d have to travel all over, eastern north America to see the 28 varieties of warblers we get here. They can come here on a good day and see most of them.

We have more birding information at passporttotexas.org.

That’s our show… we had help today from Tom Harvey…For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

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

The key to healthy habitat and wildlife populations rests in the hands of landowners. In Texas, we honor their skillful management.

Lone Star Land Steward is an award program where we recognize those landowners in Texas who are doing an exemplary job of managing their habitats and their wildlife.

Linda Campbell oversees the state’s Private Lands and Public Hunting program.

We have all kinds of focus on these landowners. We have a great diversity of people. We have a regional award for each of the ten eco-regions. And then we have an overall award, the Leopold Conservation Award, for the overall statewide land steward.

Nominations for the awards opened June first, and will continue until the end of November.

Nominations can come from the landowners themselves, or those that assist them. We will take nominations from any member of the public. All of those nominations are evaluated, and we do site visited on those. We just want to make sure that we hold up those who are doing such an excellent job managing the resources of Texas.

Find a list of current winners and a link to nomination forms at passporttotexas.org.

That’s our show…with support from the Wildlife Restoration Program…funding the Private Lands and Public Hunting programs… For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

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