Passport to Texas

Le Conte’s Sparrow, image by Greg Lavaty, from www.audubon.org

Birding: Finding a Christmas Bird Count Near You Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Counting birds at dawn during the Christmas Bird Count guarantees you’ll see lots of them. Yet, a big bunch of birds can lead to confusion.

04—Especially if you get into a big flock of robins or grackles; you just have to start estimating numbers. But, it’s really fun when you start getting big numbers of species. You know, you’ve only been out for an hour and you already have 30 species of birds; that’s really fun.

Cliff Shackelford is a non-game ornithologist with Texas Parks and Wildlife. This year’s count is December 14 through January 5.

07—There are over a hundred Christmas Bird Counts in Texas; so, chances are there’s one in existence in your area.

Counts take place inside 15-mile radius circles. Cliff says the best way to find a nearby count is online.

09—Search for Christmas Bird Counts in Texas, and figure out which one is nearest you. Also, you’ll see who the compiler is, and you can get phone number or email and start coordinating with that person.

Compilers act as “captains” of their circles, and relay data from the count back to Audubon, which analyzes it. Birders of all skill levels are welcome.

23—And what they’ll do [if you’re a novice] is stick you with some seasoned vets, and that’s really good because you learn a lot when you’re out in the field with someone whose been doing this awhile. So you go out with this team of observers and you basically beat the bushes and try to see as much as you can see. It’s a lot of fun.

The data volunteers collect help researchers better understand trends as they relate to our feathered friends.

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

Christmas Bird Count — the early years.

Birding: Making Birds Count Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

The name “Christmas Bird Count” is a bit of a misnomer.

04—It doesn’t happen on Christmas Day. It happens in a period around Christmas.

That period is December 14th through January 5th. And it’s when volunteers go into the field to count birds.

04— You just have to pick a day in that three week period to do the count.

Cliff Shackelford is a non-game ornithologist with Texas Parks and Wildlife. Volunteers count birds in teams within a 15-mile radius circle with oversight by a count compiler who rules the roost.

11—And those people [compilers] decide on a day, and they divvy up the pie of where these teams can go look for birds in this fixed radius circle, and you count birds within that circle.

The time-frame for the count is 24 hours – midnight to midnight. You might wonder “who” takes the early shift.

10—A lot of people want to know about owls [for example]; so, they get up early. Three A.M., maybe, and go listen for owls. And that’s pretty valuable. But, most people do just the daylight hours.

Cliff recommends the earliest daylight: dawn.

12—That’s when you get the best bird diversity at dawn. Everybody’s waking up: singing, calling and foraging and activity is the greatest right at dawn. Because, birds have slept all night and they’re hungry for something to eat.

Compilers collect the volunteer’s data and submit it to Audubon, which analyzes it.

Find more information about the Christmas Bird Count at passporttotexas.org.

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

Side Hunt participant, image from http://www.islandguardian.com

Birding: Evolution of the Christmas Bird Count Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

This is Passport to Texas

In the 1800s, an annual competition called The Side Hunt pitted teams of hunters against one another to see who could bag the most feathered and furry things. With growing conservation consciousness, the Side Hunt evolved into The Christmas Bird Census in 1900, and eventually into the Christmas Bird Count – where the only thing people kill nowadays is a thermos of coffee.

11—We’re now in the 115th year, which makes it the longest running citizen science project in the world. Which is pretty impressive, and it started right here in the US.

Cliff Shackelford is a non-game ornithologist with Texas Parks and Wildlife.

06—You go out into a fixed area and count birds. And the neat thing is, if you stick with that area like you should, and you do it for 10, 20, 30, 40 years…you start seeing trends.

Trend spotting is the true value of the bird count.

26—Those counts that are very old, that have forty plus years of data, we can start seeing things. And we are. We’re seeing things like the American Tree Sparrow is not coming down to Texas much anymore. I don’t think they’re rare, they just don’t need to come all the way south for –maybe –climate change. Maybe it’s not so cold up north; they don’t need to come down. That’s the beauty of the Christmas Bird Count – you can look at it continentally… and see where the changes are in the bird life.

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

2014 Texas State Park Christmas Ornaments

New State Park Christmas Ornaments Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

In 2002, Texas Parks and Wildlife released its first State Park holiday ornament.

06—Our original ornaments were done in metal; the last three years have been laser engraved wood.

Thomas Wilhelm is with state parks. When the ornaments were gold-plated metal, the agency released one per year that featured several iconic images. Since 2012, they’ve released three ornaments annually; each spotlights only one park. And this year:

20—We’re looking at the state bison herd at Caprock Canyons, Big Bend Ranch, and Independence Hall at Washington-on-the-Brazos. So, you’ll see an iconic image of each park that is featured. The front will have the image very clear, cut out – it also has the date – and then on the reverse side you’ll find a short interpretive message about what’s featured.

The collectible wooden ornaments have a rustic, nostalgic feel to them, and are available now.

21— The best way to get it is to call into our customer service center and just mention that you want to purchase the ornament. They’re sold individually, or by the set. We also have previous years ornaments for sale. I think they make a beautiful collection, and you’re supporting state parks while showing your love for the outdoors and Texas’ natural places.

Find pricing and ordering information about the Texas state park ornament at passporttotexas.org.

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

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During the month of December, ornaments are available for purchase over-the-phone by calling the Customer Service Center at 512-389-8900. Limited quantities of previous year’s ornaments are also available for purchase.

2014 Ornaments are $8.95 each, or $19.95 for the set of three. During the month of December, purchase a Texas State Park Gift card valued at $75 or more and receive a FREE 2014 ornament. Tax and shipping fees do apply.

All wooden ornaments measure roughly 3.5 by 4.75 inches, and due to their hand crafted nature, color and contrast will vary slightly so that every ornament is unique.

Chef Lou Lambert in the field with colleague.

Hunt | Food: Cook Venison Low and Slow Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Even if you hunt for trophies, there’s some good eating attached to those antlers.

Cooking venison can be intimidating, but Chef Lou Lambert, author of the Big Ranch, Big City Cookbook, is here to help.

60— I grew up hunting and fishing and still do today. But I think most of the lessons I learned about cooking game were more failures than things that worked out well when my mother was cooking. Because I had two brothers, father – we all hunted. So, we always had quail, dove, ducks and deer. And I remember my mother struggling to cook deer, because (and the biggest mistake she made) was not realizing because game is, if you will, grass-fed, all-natural – it does not have the fat content. And, because it is more in motion – the muscles tend to be a little bit tighter, which means tougher. So, lack of fat and more movement tells you that you have to do a slow, moist heat cooking method, unless you have it ground into sausage, or pounded for chicken fried [steaks], most of that deer – 80% — you need to either do a braise or a very slow barbeque smoke method.

Harvesting your own great tasting, sustainable protein is the best reason to hunt. Learn more on the TPW website, and find tasty wild game recipes while you’re there.

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