Passport to Texas

Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife

The Eleventh Annual Great Backyard Bird Count takes place February 15 through 18. It’s a citizen science project for birders of all ages, and Joshua Rose says it’s great for beginners.

And one of the reasons it was named the Backyard Bird Count is because that’s where most people start paying attention to birds. That’s where I started paying attention to birds—in my own backyard. And the interest grew and developed from there.

Rose is a natural resource specialist at Bentsen Rio Grand Valley State Park. The park is part of the World Birding Center. The four-day, national event creates a real-time snapshot of where the birds are across the continent. Rose says it’s not unusual for an amateur birder who participates in this event to teach the experts a thing or two. The Audubon’s Oriole is a good example.

The Sibley Guide to Birds, http://www.sibleyguides.com/sibleyguide.htm, shows the Audubon’s Oriole as being restricted mainly to the southern tip of Texas, down here where Bentsen SP is located. This person was well north of that area, and was reporting a number of Audubon’s Orioles, but they sent me photographs of it, and I wound up determining that the range of this oriole is actually much greater, and goes further north than is shown in the field guides. So, I certainly learned something new there, and I guess the folks who write the field guides have some things to learn, too.

With field guide, and bird list in hand, you, too can participate in this event. Participants can upload their findings to a special online database.

Find a link to more information, including the data forms at passporttotexas.org.

That’s our show… For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.
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Amarillo: Panhandle Bird Club
http://www.wtamu.edu/~rmatlack/panhandlebirdclub

Birds of the Upper Texas Coast
http://www.texasbirding.net/

BirdNet, by the Ornithological Council
http://www.nmnh.si.edu/BIRDNET/index.html

Corpus Christi: The South Texas Birding Forum
http://www.caller2.com/periodic/birdingindex.html

Galveston Island Birding Brochure
http://www.galveston.com/islandbirding/

Llano Estacado Audubon Society (LEAS)
http://www.leas.bizland.com/

Migrating Texas Animals
http://riceinfo.rice.edu/armadillo/Ftbend/texmig.html

Purple Martins in Texas
http://www.rice.edu/armadillo/Ftbend/pmartin.html

Refugio County Birding
http://www.refugiocountytx.org/Recreation/birding/

San Antonio, Birds of Texas
http://pages.sbcglobal.net/whbauer/tx_birds.htm

Texas Coast Birding Trail Map
http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/huntwild/wild/wildlife_trails/coastal/upper/

Texas Gulf Coast Birding and Naturalist Web
http://texasnaturalist.net/

Texas Ornithological Society
http://www.texasbirds.org/

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Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife

Valentine’s Day can be a let down for singles. However, if you’re an outdoor enthusiast, when you do connect with a kindred spirit…what happens after that…is up to nature.

There is a certain bond with people who appreciate a bird…or a fish… or a tree…or a flower…or the sky…or a river… or the mountains or the oceans that bring deepness to relationships.

Kathleen Menke, founder of the Outdoor Singles Network, http://www.akmk.com/osn/, says nature creates a powerful bond between two people.

It’s probably one of the strongest bonds I know of that bring people together and hold people together over a lifetime. If there is that common love and common shared activity, then that really helps to hold things together.

The Outdoors Singles Network is one of many organizations that serve as an online community where outdoor singles can find one another.

Nature feeds our souls. It is what we are made of, it’s what we’re connected to, and it brings to relationships a broader outlook… a strength and a sensitivity and a kind of tenderness and love that you might not find anywhere else.

For more links to outdoors organizations visit passporttotexas.org.

That’s our show…with research and writing help from Alanna Jones… For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.
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While the following websites are not strictly for singles, you are more likely to find a kindred spirit here than at your typical singles site:

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Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife

Calling all bird lovers. On February 15 through 18, you have a chance to participate in The Eleventh Annual Great Backyard Bird Count.

The Great Backyard bird count is a nationwide event coordinated by the National Audubon Society and the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology.

Joshua Rose is a natural resource specialist at Bentsen Rio Grande Valley State Park. The park is part of the World Birding Center.

The Backyard Bird Count started as a count where people just count on their own property, in their own backyard. But over the years they’ve gradually expanded it, and encouraged people to count birds not just in their backyards, but also to count in, say, local city parks and around their neighborhoods, and wherever they happen to spend time that weekend.

The Great Backyard Bird Count, says Rose, is one of the first steps many people take when first getting involved birding. All you need is a field guide and an internet connection.

The whole count works through an online data entry. The data is entered through a website, and so when a person reports bird sightings to the Great Backyard Bird Count, the website has blanks to fill in for where and when they counted the birds and for how long.

Find a link for the data forms 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

In a society that seems driven by money, technology, and material objects, a Valentine’s Day spent reconnecting with the one you love, in a natural setting, can put everything into perspective.

If a long road trip or camp out at a state park isn’t in the cards this year, consider a cozy confab in your own backyard. Weather permitting, instead of eating dinner inside, spread a big comfortable blanket on the lawn and enjoy dining alfresco. If you are feeling adventurous, pitch a tent under the stars and sleep outdoors—and see what the neighbors say the next morning.

If you’re able to get away, how about packing your bags, throwing away the itinerary, and hitting the road with the one you love for an extended weekend. Don’t hurry and don’t worry where you’re going. Remember—it’s all about the journey. Stop along the side of the road when the spirit moves you, and appreciate the Texas landscape and the wildlife that may cross your path.

If you’re not comfortable going with the flow, and feel a little more structure is in order, consider reserving a campsite at a nearby state park and explore what nature has to offer. As the sun begins to set and stars light the night sky, build a fire and warm yourselves while contemplating how life, and love, really is better outside.

That’s our show…with research and writing help from Alanna Jones… 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

From virtual sinkholes to setting fires with a purpose: The Texas Parks and Wildlife TV series offers a wide range of fascinating fare in February. Writer Producer Ron Kabele:

Don Cash worked on a really cool story. Devil’s Sinkhole is this sinkhole that’s out in Central Texas. The problem is, it’s relatively dangerous. So a bunch of people got together and they decided what they wanted to do is create this 3-D, virtual tour of the sinkhole—and they did it through this really new age-y thing called Lydar.

So, the objective of what we’re doing is we’re shooting a laser model to recreate this space digitally where we can show people what it’s like to be at the bottom of this hole without having drop down 150 foot on a piece of rope (laughs).

And finally, Prescription to Burn is all about prescribed burns.

Most of the ecosystems did evolve with fire. The plants are adapted to fire. In the absence of fire, the ecosystem gets out of balance.

I heard a biologist here say one time, that one of the worst things that ever happened to forests was the program started by Smokey the Bear.

Thanks, Ron.

That’s our show… with support from the Wildlife Restoration Program…providing funding for the Private Lands and Habitat Enhancement Program.

For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.
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To find a PBS station near you that air the Texas Parks and Wildlife Television Series, click here.

TPW TV February Highlights Play Now | Play in Popup | Download