Passport to Texas

This is Passport to Texas

The April issue of Texas Parks and Wildlife magazine is sure to intrigue and delight with stories that take you from one side of the state to the other. Editor, Louie Bond.

55—One thing in particular we’re going to look at is the bighorn sheep relocation out in West Texas, that happened in December, which was a glorious project, and very exciting for everyone who participated as they literally air lifted sheep from one location to another. But, it’s a great restoration project that the agency’s been working on for a long time, and we’re very proud. And I know that people are going to be so excited to drive down the road and be able to see a bighorn sheep again. In fact, I already had a friend tell me, ‘I saw a bighorn sheep out there the other day.’ So, it’s a great success story for all of us. Another great success story are the paddling trails that are opening up all around the state, due in large part to our partnerships with lots of great people across the state who want these paddling trails in their areas, and we help them make these a reality. So, people are getting out on the water and seeing the sights in this quiet, peaceful way of travel. So, I hope whether you like land or water, you’ll get outside and enjoy the great things our agency’s done this month.

Thanks, Louie.

Find more information at www.tpwmagazine.com.

We receive support from the Sport Fish and Wildlife Restoration Program…providing funding for wildlife restoration and water access.

For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti

TPW Magazine--Big Horns & Paddling Trails Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

This is Passport to Texas

Long before humans made their mark on the land, the Rio Grande River was shaping Resaca de la Palma State Park in Brownsville.

07—Brownsville is growing so rapidly—it’s going to be so urbanized—this is going to be one of the few places they’re going to be able to enjoy the outdoors

Jaun Arias is a Park Ranger. He says ancient coils of river bed, known as resacas ebb and flow attracting wildlife when they fill with water. Today this area etched by the river is part of the World Birding Center.

05—The idea of the World Birding Center Complex is to create this wildlife corridor throughout the valley.

The center encompasses a series of nine unique areas in the Rio Grande Valley. Brownsville’s Resaca de la Palma boasts the largest tract of native habitat in network; and while birds are a big attraction.…

10—We have a healthy population of different animals. Each has established its own range, in the food, water, shelter. They’re happy, you know. And if they’re happy we’re happy. That’s the bottom line.

Resaca Park Ranger Claudia Tamez says you can start your visit to the site online.

12— We have a really cool way of keeping our visitors informed. So what we do is use Facebook. The visitors love it because they get to look at our photo album and see how much fun we have, what they can expect when they come here.

That’s our show… we record the series at Block House Studios in Austin…For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

Resaca de la Palma Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

This is Passport to Texas

Nobody faults you for wanting to be indoors when it’s cold outside. However, if you bundle up and brave winter’s chill, you could be in for a wild(life) surprise, as our State Park Guide, Bryan Frazier, explains.

50—Wildlife are a lot like us; they don’t like to move around a lot when it’s really cold. During the colder weather and months, you can regularly pattern their behavior a little bit better because they still do have to move around to find food and water and shelter. So, what you can do is, when it’s cold, you can set up strategic places—and if you’re patient—you can get a very predictable pattern of where to view wildlife. If you set up near a food source, or near the edge of tree lines—critters like edge. So, if you can be patient with that, a lot of times you can get glimpses and close ups and great photographs that you can get this time of year that you can’t get other times of year. In addition to that, this time of year, we have residents here—migratory birds, birds of prey—that aren’t here any other time. So, this is your only shot of getting a photograph, or a good view of some of those creatures that call Texas home for only part of the year.

Find downloadable maps of Texas Wildlife Trails on the Texas Parks and Wildlife website.

That’s our show for today…with funding provided by Chevrolet…building dependable, reliable trucks for more than 90 years.

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

Winter Wildlife Viewing Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

This is Passport to Texas

[SFX—bobwhite quail]

That’s a sound that stirs quail hunters’ souls. The season for the small bird with the lonesome song runs through February 27th.

09—This past winter we finally got some moisture. We got a spring, which sometimes we miss in Texas. We also had cool summer temperatures, When I say cool I mean less than a hundred degrees.

Robert Perez, upland game bird program leader at Texas Parks and Wildlife, says weather conditions affect success during quail season. Better weather means more food and better habitat.

19—We do a survey every year the first two weeks in August, which is called a roadside count. And out biologists across the state run surveys counting the number of birds they encounter. And these give us an average that we indicate whether or not you’re above or below that long term mean. And pretty much this year all areas are below their low term mean, but they’ve made a good comeback from where numbers were last year which was very low.

With that in mind, Perez is cautiously optimistic hunters will have a good season.

16—Be looking for places where you find quail food, the seeds that are available, whether it be dove weed, or sunflower, or ragweed. And go places where you’ve seen quail in the past. Consider the moisture. If you’re using bird dogs, it does help them to have scenting conditions. Those scenting conditions are important for them to be able to find those birds.

Find hunting information on the Texas Parks and Wildlife website.

The Sport Fish and Wildlife Restoration Program supports our series.

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

Habitat: What Quail Require Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

This is Passport to Texas

If you’re a waterfowler, wetlands and riparian areas are your hunting destinations…if you’re a bird hunter who prefers dry land, you’ll want to stick to the uplands.

04—The uplands are the grassland or savannah habitats that aren’t prone to being flooded.

Robert Perez is the upland game bird program leader at parks and wildlife.

06—The uplands are where you typically find some game birds like grouse, pheasant, quail—those sorts of species.

Among the birds just mentioned, quail attract the most attention in our state. Quail season started October 30th and runs through February 27th.

06—Texas is one of the few states where people flock to come and hunt quail, because we’ve got some of the last strongholds in our state.

Strongholds are areas where sufficient habitat with an abundance of bunch grasses exists.

20—So, the bunch grasses of south Texas and the rolling plains—typically blue stems, or Indian, or switch grass—what they call the big grasses of the great plains, and southern great plains from many years ago. Much of the habitat’s been replaced over time; we’ve lost a lot of the prairies and a lot of the savannahs, but where it still exists, and land use is compatible with that habitat type, we still have good numbers of quail.

Perez is cautiously optimistic about this quail season and we’ll talk about that tomorrow.

The Sport Fish and Wildlife Restoration Program supports our series. For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

Hunting: Quail Forecast Play Now | Play in Popup | Download