Passport to Texas

One of the many butterfly species you’ll find in the Texas Rio Grande Valley

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A diverse array of wildlife viewing opportunities can be had in Texas. Especially in the Rio Grande Valley, where visitors—like David Dauphin—travel to see butterflies.

You can see more species of butterflies than anywhere else in the United States. It’s just another aspect of the wildlife watching that’s so fantastic in the valley.

During the week of August 28, the Texas Parks and Wildlife TV Series on PBS airs a segment called Betting on Butterflies, which looks at this relatively recent wildlife viewing obsession.

Butterfly field guides didn’t really start coming out until the mid-90s, I guess. And like birding, you eventually start checking them off a list, and that sort of thing. Butterfliers are really birders that have gone over to the dark side. It’s just a progression.

Many people visit the valley to add new butterfly species to their list, yet, locals, like Kay Cunningham, find joy in an old favorite—the monarch—during its fall migration.

It’s always a big thrill when they start coming in. This part of Texas is kind of plain. But, there is a beauty in this country that you have to be patient and wait for. And the monarch are one of those.

Immerse yourself in the beauty of butterflies the week of August 28 with the Texas Parks and Wildlife TV Series on PBS, Check your local listings.

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

Hey! Outta my burrow, you skunk!

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This is Passport to Texas

Birds don’t get much cuter than the burrowing owl. And you won’t have to stay up past your bedtime to see one.

One of the great things about these owls is [unlike most owls] they’re out during the day; they’re active day and night.

The week of July 31, get to know this small sandy colored owl with long legs during a segment of the Texas Parks and Wildlife TV series on PBS. Alan Fisher produced a story that looks at how this species, threatened and endangered in some part of North America, survives its dwindling habitat in El Paso.

So, they’re a species of concern here because of habitat loss. Burrowing owls don’t tend to dig their own burrows from scratch. They will occupy burrows left from prairie dogs or ground squirrels or other burrowing animals. So, as those animals get pushed out burrowing owls lose their habitat as well.

Fisher also talks with Texas Parks and Wildlife biologist Lois Balin, who creates artificial owl nest borrows fitted with video surveillance systems.

Having the cameras underground, gives the biologists a lot of new tools. It’s pretty awesome.

Not surprisingly, says Fisher, the cameras are revealing much about the hidden lives of burrowing owls, from the number of eggs and nestlings, to prey items, and even visitors.

The skunk discovery is the rather astonishing discovery. Skunks are going into the burrows and occupying them, and in some cases preying on the owls.

To find out how the burrowing owls fare, tune into the Texas Parks and Wildlife TV series on PBS the week of July 31. Check your local listings.

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

Bison at Caprock Canyons State Park

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This is Passport to Texas

For the past 30 years, PBS viewers have experienced the Texas outdoors through Texas Parks and Wildlife’s television series. To celebrate, show producers, including Karen Loke who’s been with the series 24 years, share their favorite stories from the past.

And my favorite story is called Rescuing History. It’s about the capture and relocation of the last of the Southern Plains bison herd.

[Narrator Jim Swift] Doug is helping capture and relocate the last few descendants of the Southern Plains Bison. A pure, genetic strain of buffalo found nowhere else in the world.

[Doug Humphreys] But what makes this one different is that another buffalo has never been brought into this herd. There’s been no outside gene source introduced into this particular bison herd. So we’ve got a distinct genetic strain of buffalo that doesn’t exist anywhere else.

Producer Karen Loke said this touched her due to something rather unexpected that happened during filming. You can see for yourself when you tune into the Texas Parks and Wildlife television series on PBS the week of July 17.

[Roy Welch] To those of us involved in this project, it’s turned into be something quite more than just a simple matter of capturing a bison herd and relocating them over here to Caprock Canyons, in essence, we’re literally capturing a living piece of Texas history.

The award-winning Texas Parks and Wildlife Television series celebrates 30 years on PBS all season long. Check your local listings.

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

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This is Passport to Texas

Texas Game Wardens always hone their skills; and in a segment airing the week of July 3, the Texas Parks and Wildlife TV series on PBS takes you on their HUET training.

H-U-E-T. Stands for Helicopter Underwater Egress Training.

Producer, Bruce Biermann, says game wardens are not immune to the dangerous situations in which they often find themselves.

Our game wardens get into a lot of precarious situations whenever there’s flooding and they have to go out and rescue people. And part of their training is what to do if they, themselves, get in trouble. For example, the helicopter goes down over a body of water.

A controlled pool environment at NASA was the site of the training. Using multiple GoPro cameras, Biermann takes viewers into the helicopter-like structure, and under water with the game wardens.

I think I had six tiny little cameras on the game wardens’ helmets, all over the inside, on the outside. So, it really gave the viewer the effect of being in the water with them. So, when the unit flips upside down, you’re going upside down through the water with them. The audio…where it sounds like you’re above the water, and then gurgle…gurgle…when it goes underneath… So, it really takes the viewer deeper into what the game wardens are feeling when they’re training.

View this segment on the Texas Parks and Wildlife TV show the week of July 3. Check your local listings.

The Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation supports our series and helps keep Texas wild with the support of proud members across the state. Find out more at tpwf.org.

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

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This is Passport to Texas

It’s been 30 years since the Texas Parks and Wildlife television series hit the airwaves.

My name is Richard Roberts, and I was executive producer of the Texas Parks and Wildlife TV series from 1989 to 2013.

Producers past and present are returning to the series all year to talk about their favorite stories.

And one of my favorite stories I worked on was an early story I did with photographer Wyman Meinzer. And he just sort of invited me into his world and let me participate in that.

[Wyman]: In this part of Texas, I can sort of see what it used to be like. It’s my only touch. It’s my only connection with Texas 100 years ago. It’s almost like, in another life—I was there.

[Narrator]: As a young man, Wyman Meinzer began a search for that other life. In the early 1970s, he lived alone hunting and trapping. Making his living on the land. What he learned during that time, would serve him well in the years to come. [camera clicks] Today, Wyman Meinzer, makes his living with a camera. Specializing in the wildlife and landscapes of north Texas. [camera click]

View this vintage segment from the Texas Parks and Wildlife TV series on PBS the week of June 12. Check your local listings.

For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti