BIRDING AT HUECO TANKS: Experience a unique birding 
opportunity in the desert ... we'll tell you about it on 
Passport to Texas ... 
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Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife

In the desert - wherever you find water - you find life. 

"It's an oasis in the desert. There is water here, near 
about year 'round. Which is what attracts the animals 
and the wildlife and the birds."

Texas Parks and Wildlife's Marcia Fulton is talking about 
Hueco Tanks State Historic site in Big Bend Country -- a 
place known primarily for its prehistoric pictographs.

"These are ancient pictures that have been painted on our 
rock walls. Some of them being thousands of years old."

But on December 18, Hueco Tanks is all about birds, and 
offers visitors a chance to participate in a Sunday 
morning birding tour of the site.

"Just call up and request it, and then be our here at 
8 o'clock when our gates open, and the guide will be here
to take you out."

Fulton says more than 200 species of birds visit Hueco 
Tanks, including verdins, Pyrrhuloxia, and even some 
species you'd never expect.

"Right now we have lots of water in one of our pond areas 
behind our ranch house. And in that we've been seeing coots 
and great blue herons. So, it's amazing to see these water 
birds in the middle of the desert."

If you plan to attend, reserve your spot now, as the tour is 
limited to the first 25 people who call. You can find all the 
contact information on the Texas Parks and Wildlife Web 
site's vents calendar.

That's our show for today ... for Texas Parks and 
Wildlife ... I'm Cecilia Nasti.