TOP 10 BIRD SONGS | OLD YELLER | MONARCH MIGRATION WWW.TPWMAGAZINE.COM O AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2015 T h e O U T D O O R M A G A Z I N E o f T E XAS FOUR TALLEST TEXAS PEAKS IN ONE DAY a u g u s t / s e p t e m b e r 2 0 1 5 COVER STORY 30 Trekking Across the Top of Texas Conquering the four tallest Texas peaks in one day. By Russell Roe 42 4 Name That Tune The top 10 bird songs in Texas. By Cliff Shackelford O AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2015 Visit our online archive at www.tpwmagazine.com. Find us on Facebook. For the latest information on Texas’ parks and wildlife, visit the department’s ­website: www.tpwd.texas.gov TEXAS PARKS & WILDLIFE O 5 Departments 8 At Issue By Carter Smith 10 Foreword/Mail Call Our readers share their ideas. 12 Scout: Butterfly Banquet Texas becomes a key player in a three-nation effort to help critical pollinators survive. By Louie Bond 16 Park Pick: Beyond the River Guadalupe River State Park offers history, culture and abundant wildlife. By Craig Hensley 18 Flora Fact: Rolling Plains Rarity Dwarf broomspurge can be found in only two Texas counties. By Rick L. Hammer 20 Wild Thing: Night Creature A raccoon-striped tail and cat-sized body help identify the elusive, nocturnal ringtail. By Alayna Alvarez 22 Picture This: Do You Need a Filter? Filters help protect your lens and enable color correction, but they have drawbacks. By Earl Nottingham 24 Skill Builder: Patience, Practice, Persistence By Heidi Rao Three top tips for improving your shotgun skills. 26 Three Days in the Field: Cooling Your Heels Midway between Austin and San Antonio, San Marcos offers cool comfort and natural beauty. By Stephanie M. Salinas and Alayna Alvarez 50 Legend, Lore & Legacy: A Boy and His Dog Looking back at ‘Old Yeller’ and Texas author Fred Gipson. By Cynthia Pickens 58 Parting Shot 6 By Earl Nottingham O AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2015 Covers FRONT: Ky Harkey and Kelsey Harkey reach the saddle between Bartlett Peak, the state’s fourth-highest mountain, and Bush Mountain, the state’s second highest, in Guadalupe Mountains National Park. Photo © Laurence Parent BACK: Texas is a key stopover point for monarchs on their migrations in both spring and fall. A new initiative aims to help these pollinators. Photo © John T. Fowler PREVIOUS SPREAD: As the morning sun breaks, a park visitor cools his heels in the waters of the San Marcos River. Photo by Chase A. Fountain / TPWD THIS PAGE: A dickcissel belts out a song in South Texas. Photo © Todd Steele In the Field THE OUTDOOR MAGAZINE OF TEXAS A U G U S T / S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 5 , ­ V O L . 7 3 , N O. 7 GOVERNOR OF TEXAS Greg Abbott COMMISSION Dan Allen Hughes Jr., Chairman Beeville Ralph H. Duggins, Vice Chairman Fort Worth T. Dan Friedkin, Chairman-Emeritus Houston Lee M. Bass, Chairman-Emeritus Fort Worth S. Reed Morian Houston Bill Jones Austin James H. Lee Houston Margaret Martin Boerne Dick Scott Wimberley Executive Director Carter P. Smith Communications Director Josh M. Havens MAGAZINE STAFF: Randy Brudnicki Publisher Louie Bond Editor Russell Roe Managing Editor Nathan Adams Art Director Sonja Sommerfeld Photo Editor Earl Nottingham Chief Photographer Chase A. Fountain Photographer Traci Anderson Business Manager Erin Kedzie Editorial Intern Jonathan Vail, Catherine Groth Photography Interns CONTRIBUTING WRITERS: Steve Lightfoot, Larry D. Hodge, Dyanne Fry Cortez, Stephanie M. Salinas CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS: Laurence Parent, Alan Murphy, Rob Curtis EDITORIAL OFFICES: 4200 Smith School Road, Austin, Texas 78744 Phone: (512) 389-TPWD Fax: (512) 389-8397 E-mail: magazine@tpwd.texas.gov ADVERTISING SALES OFFICES: S tone W allace C ommunications , I nc . c/o TP&W magazine 4200 Smith School Road, Austin, Texas 78744 Jim Stone, Advertising Director (512) 799-1045 E-mail: jim.stone@tpwd.texas.gov SUBSCRIPTIONS: (800) 937-9393 Texas Parks & Wildlife magazine (ISSN 0040-4586) is published monthly with com- bined issues in January/February and August/September by Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, 4200 Smith School Rd., Austin, Texas 78744. The inclusion of adver- tising is considered a service to subscribers and is not an endorsement of products or concurrence with advertising claims. Copyright © 2015 by Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. No part of the contents of this magazine may be reproduced by any means without the permission of Texas Parks & Wildlife magazine. The magazine is not responsible for the return of unsolicited materials provided for editorial consideration. SUBSCRIPTION RATE: $18/year; foreign subscription rate: $27.95/year. POST­­MASTER: If undeliverable, please send notices by form 3579 to Texas Parks & Wildlife magazine, P.O. Box 421103, Palm Coast, FL 32142-1103. Periodicals Postage Paid at Austin, Texas, with additional mailing offices. SUBSCRIBER: If the Postal Service alerts us that your magazine is undeliverable, we have no further obliga- tion unless we receive a corrected address within one year. Texas Parks & Wildlife magazine is edited to inform readers and to stimulate their enjoyment of the Texas outdoors. It reflects the many viewpoints of contributing readers, writers, photographers and ­illustrators. Only articles written by agency employees will always ­represent policies of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. S U B S CRI BER SERV I C ES Subscription inquiries only, please. PHONE: (800) 937-9393 the LAURENCE PARENT was a has kid been growing hiking up in at Carlsbad Gua- dalupe Mountains since he Caverns National Park. He climbed the state’s four high- est peaks in a day years ago when he was in college and was pleased to find that he could still do the hike, although a little slower this time. He enjoys hiking and photographing all over the country. Remote places hold a particular appeal. Laurence has been photographing and writing full time for more than 20 years after spending six years as a petro- leum engineer. In addition to his work for magazines and calendars, Laurence has had more than 40 books published, including Death in Big Bend and the recently released third edition of Hiking Big Bend National Park. RUSSELL ROE is the managing editor of Texas Parks & Wild- life magazine and is an avid hiker, camper, paddler and climber. His favorite stories in Texas Parks & Wildlife have always been the tales of adventure, and he says he’s been fortunate to be able to go on a few adventures of his own for the magazine, such as hiking the four highest peaks in Texas in a day. He teamed up with photographer Laurence Parent and a handful of others to tackle the challenge, and he trained by doing many miles of trail running. One of the hardest moments of the hike came, he says, when the hikers, after celebrating their fourth peak and enjoying the sunset, realized they still had seven miles of hiking to do — in the dark — to get back to camp. CYNTHIA West PICKENS grew every up book in small she could towns get in her North and Texas, reading hands on. One of those books was Old Yeller, and it made a big impression on her. As a native Texan, she recognized many of the places and situations in the book. Today, Cyn- thia still loves to read, and also enjoys writing and editing. Now she gets to harness her love of words for the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department as the Web content planner for the State Parks Division. In this position, she writes Web content and helps park staff mem- bers publicize their parks and events. Occasionally, she gets to write an article for this magazine, too. When not working or reading, she likes to pur- sue her goal of visiting all 95 Texas state parks. TEXAS PARKS & WILDLIFE O 7 from the pen of carter p. smith They are called “National Geographic moments” for a reason — sights and sounds and settings of certain wildlife spectacles that are so memorable, so special and so singularly unique that they remain indelibly etched in our memories, just like the iconic pictures from the fabled magazine. I have been blessed to witness more than a few of those in recent years — peregrines dive-bombing redheads in the Laguna Madre; a pair of coyotes stalking and taking a pronghorn in the desert grasslands; the primal booming and mating ritual displayed by prairie-chickens in the Panhandle; kettles and kettles of migrating hawks sailing over Smith Point; and endless streams of Mexican free-tailed bats emerging from the granddaddy of all bat colonies, Bracken Cave. There may be one, however, that stands above them all. It was early October 2007, as I best recall it. A group of friends and I were making our way down the Devil’s River when the first little cool front of the year came through. It was more bark than bite, but it dropped a little rain and had enough wind to add a noticeable chill to the semi-desert air. By the next morning, the front had passed, the winds had calmed, and the dawn skies were bright blue. There was something else, however, that the front had left for us. The sycamores towering along the river’s edge were draped in some of Mother Nature’s Sunday finery. In fact, nary an inch of their limbs and leaves could be seen at all. The trees were covered with orange and black and brown and white spots. It was a monarch fall-out, and a spectacular one at that. Thousands upon thousands of monarch butterflies had sought refuge in the protective canopies of the big trees. As the dawn relinquished its grip on the morning, the butterflies began to gradually stir, raising and lowering their wings, shaking off their evening slumber. And then, just like that, they were off, lifting up from the trees in big, intermittent waves, headed south, down the river, to a destination where they would make their winter home. The 3,000-mile, biannual migratory journey of the monarchs is one of nature’s many wonders. And, come late September and early October, Texans from the Panhandle to the Rio Grande can expect to see the picturesque butterflies flittering through. We sit at a linchpin spot for this migration, serving as part of the fairway and the funnel for the Central Flyway population that comes down from Canada, through the Great Plains and across Texas before making its way to the oyamel fir forests of Michoacan for the winter. In the spring, they turn right back around and head north from whence they came. But, dare I ask, when was the last time you witnessed something more than a mere handful of monarchs in the fall or the spring? I’d wager it has been a while, even a long while. In the last two decades, monarchs have suffered a precipitous decline in numbers — as much as 90 percent, scientists estimate. There are a number of reasons posited for such — illegal harvesting of the fir trees on the wintering grounds; the unrelenting drought and other extreme weather events all along the flyway; changing agricultural practices in the Midwest cornfields; and a major decline in native milkweeds, the larval host plant for the migrating monarchs. Thankfully, Mexico, Canada and the U.S. have pledged to work together to bring back the beloved monarch, a conservation goal sure to inspire citizens of all ages and in all places. In Texas, we are front and center for that recovery. TPWD biologists are finalizing a major conservation plan that provides guidance to landowners and land managers on how best to restore and enhance native habitats (including larval and nectar-producing species) for monarchs and other pollinators. Research sponsored by the comptroller’s office will inventory spring and fall populations and evaluate the efficacy of specific practices to benefit monarchs. Groups like the National Wildlife Federation are engaging urban park managers and citizen naturalists up and down the Interstate 35 corridor to create butterfly oases all along their migratory path. Bringing back the stately monarchs is a job for all of us. From planting native milkweeds in our gardens to cultivating nectar- producing plants in the fall to supporting conservation groups, you can ensure that future generations enjoy the magic of monarch migrations. Thanks for caring about our wild things and wild places. They need you now more than ever. The 3,000-mile, biannual migratory journey of the monarchs is one of nature’s many wonders. executive director Texas Parks and Wildlife Department mission statement: To manage and conserve the natural and cultural resources of Texas and to provide hunting, fishing and outdoor recreation opportunities for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations. 8 O AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2015 Everything on a hunter’s wish list. picks, pans and probes from our readers FOREWORD LETTERS “The wren and the nightingale sound nothing alike, but think how dull the FAVORITE COVERS I world would be without the songs of both birds,” writes Kirby Larson in The Friendship thought the May 2015 cover (rufous Doll. In nature, as in life, the song is sweeter when sung in harmony. Who better hummingbird and purple coneflow- than birds to teach us that we all have parts to sing in the global chorus? er) was my favorite ever, but now the I often start my day quietly sitting on my garden bench with a cup of coffee, June 2015 issue has arrived and I’m not watching my little world wake up. As the sun shreds the softness of a rosy dawn, so sure. Both covers accurately predict piercing rays of light catch the trembling dewdrops hanging from petals and leaves, the quality, variety and creativity of the a shimmering dance set to the song of the morning. At my house, the early bird not articles contained within. Love the bal- only gets the worm, she also sings lead in the avian choir, and what a ance of history and nature, beautiful noise they all make together. and especially appreciate Sometimes I hear the Carolina chickadee with her four-note the focus on birding. whistle — fee-bee-fee-bay — or the sweet, high-pitched song of the Margaret Farese rainbow-hued painted buntings. The northern cardinal rises early, Houston its loud, clear whistle still the same as when those crimson beauties perched in the trees of my childhood home in Dallas long ago. THANKS FOR THE SNAKES A rare treat is the layzee dayzee call of the golden-cheeked warbler, any thanks to Michael surprisingly friendly despite its endangered status. When not vig- Smith for his article orously washing every feather in the birdbath, the Inca doves call “Venomous Vipers” (May to each other with a low and earthy coo-coo. As if they hold chairs in 2015). Our whole fami- an orchestra of tubas and pennywhistles, violins and double-bass- ly enjoyed this balanced es, the avian highs and lows combine to create an exquisite, often “Involve your children and portrayal of these beautiful unexpected, symphony in the sky. other family members in the creatures. Thanks to Smith, TPWD ornithologist Cliff Shackelford shares his Top Ten beauty and importance of we can stay safe while also chart of bird songs this month, accompanied by photos of these our state’s wildlife.” enjoying them! virtuosos and descriptions of their tunes. Much as we love creating My 3-year-old carries this MIKE ANDERSON art with ink and paper, these mediums leave everything to the issue around like any stuffed Kingwood imagination when it comes to music. Thanks to technological animal so he can marvel at advances, this issue comes with a soundtrack! Download our new their uniqueness and review app here (www.tpwmagazine.com/app) or go to our website (www.tpwmagazine.com) and his snake facts with anyone willing to lis- hear these lovely songs for yourself. Have a listen! ten. We love the emphasis on a respect Managing Editor Russell Roe has become our staff adventurer, and luckily for for our challenging Texas wildlife rather us, his vivid recounting of these spine-tinglers allows us to enjoy the danger without than a fear of it. breaking a sweat. This month, he pairs up with photographer Laurence Parent and a Emily Hoyt few hardy companions to climb the four tallest peaks in Texas in one day. In the past Joe Weber several years, Russell has hiked, biked, paddled and bouldered for Texas Parks & Wildlife Levon Weber magazine, always returning unscathed and full of vivid tales to share. Add gale-force Austin winds and rough terrain to this 17-hour, 15-mile, muscle-screaming endurance test, and he’s finally found his ultimate challenge. Until the next one. IT’S NOT ‘THIRD COAST’ Monarchs grace our back cover and are featured on Page 12 this month. Execu- take umbrage at your reference to our tive Director Carter Smith and TPWD are at the forefront of a national initiative beautiful Gulf Coast as the “Third to plant a pollination highway for these lovely migrants. Find out how you can help Coast” (“Delish Fish,” June 2015). Is it these incredible wild travelers by offering them food stops along their migration third in economic importance, beau- route. Together, we can make a difference. ty, ecological significance or historical importance? All these things can be mea- sured many different ways, and someone M I Louie Bond, Editor 10 O AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2015 MA I L CALL on the “Left Coast” or the “First Coast” might choose to relegate the Gulf Coast to third place, but we Texans know our coast is really No. 1. Why court confu- sion with other places, like the shores of the Great Lakes, that call themselves the “Third Coast”? If some moniker other than simply “Gulf Coast” is necessary, let’s stick to “South Coast.” It may be no less con- fusing, but at least it doesn’t belittle the Gulf Coast. If private businesses want to use this dismissive term, so be it, but we should all work against this designa- tion becoming “officialized.” Mardi Sale Kingsville WATCH OUT FOR TORTOISES T hanks for bringing attention to the plight of the Texas tortoise (“Tortoise Crossing,” May 2015). As a longtime lover of our Texas turtles/ tortoises, I am concerned that these wonderful creatures are, like so many others, on the decline. The most disturbing fact is that many, if not most, of the roadkills are caused by heartless drivers purposely running them over. Especially in the spring, when males are searching for females, these turtles are on the move, and, unfortunately, this involves crossing our roads and highways. Involve your children and other fam- ily members in the beauty and impor- tance of our state’s wildlife. Teach them preservation, not annihilation. Mike Anderson Kingwood KEEP PARK BATHROOMS CLEAN M y wife and I read with interest the June 2015 issue of Texas Parks & Wildlife magazine and wanted to com- ment on the letter to the editor com- plaining about restroom cleanliness in state parks. We volunteer at Pedernales Falls State Park cleaning restrooms. Our daily cleaning leaves those facilities clean and sanitary, more so than many people’s home facilities. We would ask the users of the park restrooms to help with the problem by being thoughtful in their personal actions and report- ing needed actions to the park staff or campground hosts. We feel that the state park staff does a wonderful job keeping up the park’s facilities. Tom and Emily Cheatham Thomaston Sound off for Mail Call Let us hear from you! Texas Parks & Wildlife magazine welcomes letters from our readers. Please include your name, address and daytime ­telephone number. Write to us at Texas Parks & Wildlife magazine, 4200 Smith School Road, Austin, TX 78744. Fax us at 512-389-8397 Email us at magazine@tpwd.texas.gov We reserve the right to edit letters for length and clarity. TEXAS PARKS & WILDLIFE O 11 NEWS AND VIEWS IN THE TEXAS OUTDOORS Texas becomes a key player in a three-nation effort to help critical pollinators survive. BUTTERFLY BANQUET Monarch Migration 12 O AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2015 Each year, in one of nature’s most PHOTO © ROB CURTIS/THE EARLY BIRDER astonishing displays of animal behavior, millions of monarchs travel 2,000 miles north from their wintering grounds in Mexico to Canada, then head back south in October, a single process that spans four generations of butterflies. Texas serves as a welcoming pit stop along the route, providing not only nourishment through native flora but also a nursery for monarch eggs laid by the orange-and-black travelers. In May, President Barack Obama announced a national strategy to make Interstate 35 a 1,500-mile “pollinator corridor” to bring back honeybees, monarchs and other pollinators. The U.S. Department of Transportation and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will help rehabilitate butterfly habitats along the federal highway that extends from the Texas-Mexico border to Duluth, Minn. Why is this initiative so important? These insects pollinate three-quarters of all plant life, a process critical to one of every three bites of our food. Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto hosted the North American Leaders Summit (sometimes referred to as the “Three Amigos Summit”) in Toluca, Mexico, in 2014 and asked Canada and the U.S. for help in restoring the monarch population that winters in Mexico. Each country formed a high-level working group to develop its own action plan. TPWD Executive Director Carter Smith is the only state wildlife agency representative serving on the U.S. group. “Texas is a pivotal U.S. state for monarch butterfly conservation,” says Michael Warriner, TPWD’s nongame animal program leader. “As they move northward, they need resources in the form of host plants for caterpillars and nectar from flowers. During fall migration southward, they need nectar from flowers to fuel their trip and fatten themselves for winter in the mountains of Mexico.” The bad news for monarchs: There’s far less to eat along the way now than ever before. The good news: You can help! “Texans across the state can make contributions to monarch conservation and support populations of native pollinators by simply providing Don’t Think It Could Happen? THINK AGAIN. CALL TO JOIN! Preserving the sport of hunting through education, conservation and the protection of hunters’ rights. W W W.HOUSTON SAFARICLUB .ORG · 713.623.8844 YOU R BIR DIN G HEA DQUART ERS IN SOU THE AST TEX AS Cattail Marsh Wetlands • Hillebrandt Bayou • Big Thicket National Preserve Sabine Woods • McFaddin National Wildlife Refuge • Sea Rim State Park Neches River Boat Tours • Beaumont Botanical Gardens • Sabine Pass Planning for The Great Texas Birding Classic? Visit BeaumontCVB.com/birding to check out Southeast Texas birding trail maps and hotel information. 1-800-392-4401 TEXAS PARKS & WILDLIFE O 13 visitpecos.com While on the hunt Swamp milkweed Scarlet milkweed include in your garden to keep all kinds of pollinators happy. Choose a diverse array of plants that flower at different times to attract butterflies throughout the growing season. Plants that bloom early help during spring migration; late bloomers like goldenrod, many asters and blazing stars are critical for the monarch’s long fall migration. (Learn more at tpwd.texas.gov/wildscapes.) Imagine the colorful, fluttering world of wonder we can all enjoy for years to come by just planting a few seeds now! —Louie Bond Monarchs feeding on asters . . . around pecos, texas DAVIS MOUNTAINS STATE PARK BLACK GAP WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT AREA ELEPHANT MOUNTAIN WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT AREA BIG BEND RANCH STATE PARK EXPLORE OUR NEW HOTELS, FAMOUS EATERIES AND GEAR SUPPLY SHOPS. Photo by Wyman Meinzer 14 O AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2015 PHOTOS (CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT) © ROB CURTIS/THE EARLY BIRDER; VISIONSPICTURES/MINDEN; INGO ARNDT / MINDEN good-quality, flowering native plants in their yards or on their ranches,” Warriner says. The monarchs can increase their weight almost 3,000 times in 10 to 15 days when milkweed and other native flowering plants are available to them. When you plant your own butterfly garden, you’ll get more than just the satisfaction of helping monarchs survive. Watch a variety of flowers bloom throughout warm months, and then sit back and enjoy the many creatures coming to visit — hummingbirds, bumblebees and a dazzling array of other winged beauties. And there’s still more you can do. Become a citizen scientist and assist vital research efforts by reporting on the monarch-friendly flora near you. The first step is to check in online at www.inaturalist.org/projects/ texas-milkweeds-and-monarchs and click on “add observations.” “We need to know what milkweed status is, what species are out there and where,” Warriner says. While the monarchs need milkweed, there are a variety of other plants you can 78 miles 102 miles 102 miles 191 miles Clear vision is critical when you’re on the water. That’s why Costa makes prescription lenses that have the same patented 580 lens technology as nonprescription Costas. Use the store locator at costadelmar.com to find an authorized Rx retailer near you. P Beyond H T I S the River Guadalupe River State Park offers history, culture and abundant wildlife. PHOTOS TOP TO BOTTOM BY STEVE S / TPWD, ELIZABETH HARRIS / TPWD, CHASE A. FOUNTAIN/TPWD Camping and river activities are big draws at Guadalupe River State Park. The Gulf meets the marsh at Sea Rim State Park. Thousands of acres of marshes and wetlands allow for exploration by boardwalk or boat and provide homes to animals such as the roseate spoonbill. Guadalupe River State Park Like butterflies to nectar, visitors by the tens of thousands are drawn to the pristine, cool water of the river that flows through the heart of Guadalupe River State Park. On any given weekend, the banks of the Guadalupe — and the river itself — are inundated with families and other visitors, cooling their feet or taking a dip in its clear water. Recently, the Guadalupe River demonstrated its raw power as spring rains led to a Memorial Day weekend flood that sent the river surging out of its banks. Thanks to a three-week effort of staff and volunteers after the flood, the day-use area has been 16 O AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2015 cleaned up and repairs made. While the Guadalupe River has returned to its channel and is certainly a primary attraction, visitors quickly discover there is much more to this state park. “Guadalupe River State Park is special because of the beautiful natural resources and rich cultural history on display here,” says Scott Taylor, park superintendent. “From the pristine Guadalupe River, diverse f lora and fauna and numerous historic houses that tell a tale of times past, there are numerous recreational opportunities for visitors in a unique Hill Country location, only minutes from San Antonio.” PHOTOS BY CHASE A. FOUNTAIN/TPWD The adjacent Honey Creek State Natural Area protects a spring- fed stream. For those looking for a hiking experience away from the crowds, consider heading to the 670-acre Bauer Unit. Located north of the river, this section of the park has six miles of trails that wind through fields and woodlands. The Bauer Trail leads to a less-visited stretch of the river. There, you can fish the deeper pools for bass or catfish, take a dip or rest on the roots of a towering bald cypress, watching the water flow over the rocks, carrying away the worries of the day. For bird-watchers, the Bauer Unit provides the best opportunity for hearing and seeing the endangered golden-cheeked warbler. Walking the trails from late March through mid- May, it’s not unusual to hear a chorus of males, their buzzy songs emanating from the oak trees nestled in old- growth ashe junipers. For a guided experience, join the weekly interpretive hike through the adjacent Honey Creek State Natural Area. Departing from the Rust House, this walk weaves together the cultural and natural history of the area. Along the way, you will descend to the banks of Honey Creek, a spring- fed stream nestled in a canyon where towering bald cypress and sycamore trees stretch to the sky. You will be treated to the crystal-clear water of this mile-long stream and the songs of birds intermingling with the occasional clicking of diminutive cricket frogs. To learn more about the birds, frogs and other wildlife of the park and Honey Creek, round out your visit with a trip to the Children’s Discovery Center, designed to encourage hands-on exploration. You and your children will find skins, skulls, skeletons and more among the thematic discovery boxes. Along the walls are exhibits where you will meet “eye-to-compound-eye” with close-up images of insects, discover what lives in the river and find out how our eyesight compares to that of a bee. The sound of a barred owl will draw you to the center’s nocturnal room, where you can discover the critters that come out after the sun goes down. Don’t forget to check out a backpack so that your children can continue their discoveries along the park’s trails. Guadalupe River State Park is located in Comal County, 13 miles east of Boerne and 20 miles west of New Braunfels, along Texas Highway 46. To learn more about the park, including information on camping, picnicking and the variety of interpretive programs offered, visit visit www.tpwd.texas.gov/guadaluperiver. —Craig Hensley stalker This guy gives a whole new meaning to the term ‘bird watching.’ The diverse habitat found around San Marcos creates a home for a variety of water, wetland and grassland prairie birds. From hill country trails to riverside paths, you’ll find plenty to explore in San Marcos, Texas. /TourSanMarcos www.TourSanMarcos.com | 512.393.5930 TEXAS PARKS & WILDLIFE O 17 P Rolling Plains T H I S Rarity Dwarf broomspurge can be found in only two Texas counties. TPWD lists dwarf broomspurge, a low-lying perennial, as a “species of greatest conservation need.” 18 O AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2015 to find additional locations. While I didn’t find new populations of dwarf broomspurge, I’ve been able to monitor and study the known populations in order to determine what conservation biologists call a threat assessment or general prognosis for the future. The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department lists dwarf broomspurge as one of the “species of greatest conservation need.” It’s no wonder, since in both Nolan and Mitchell counties, the plants are found along only three stretches of roadway, each less than a mile in length. That’s a pretty precarious situation for survival. While many native plants display showy flowers, dwarf broomspurge’s flowers are not very noticeable. Plants in the Euphorbiaceae family typically lack the familiar petals of most flowers. The male and female flower parts are grouped in a special cup or container called a cyathium, which has glands along its rim. To the untrained eye, the glands could be easily mistaken for petals. Flowers appear from mid- March through July. Dwarf broomspurge is a low- growing perennial, with opposite leaves on stems that lie close to the ground and spread out from the center of the plant. The tiny leaves are ovate (egg-shaped) or elliptical, about 4 to 6 millimeters long. The plants are always found growing on limestone outcrops or ridges. As a casual observer, you may never encounter dwarf broomspurge in the wild. However, all native plant enthusiasts can take pride in a species that can be found in only two small locations in Texas, making it a unique and wonderful part of our natural heritage and biodiversity. Future research, partially funded by TPWD’s Conservation License Plate Grant Program, will continue the search for new populations of this plant in Texas. — Rick L. Hammer PHOTO BY RICK HAMMER Most of the plants that you read about here are relatively common and often found throughout most of Texas. Dwarf broomspurge (Chamaesyce jejuna), sometimes called dwarf sandmat, is an exception. While not listed as a federally endangered plant species, it’s found only in Nolan and Mitchell counties in the Rolling Plains west of Abilene. Dwarf broomspurge is a Texas endemic, which means it does not occur anywhere outside of our state. As a botanist and conservation biologist, I’ve had the pleasure of conducting research on this species for the past two years, mainly trying Be One With The Flock TAKE YOUR BIRDING TO THE NEXT LEVEL FOR THE OUTDOOR ENTHUSIAST ULTRAVID COMPACT BINOCULARS LEADER IN PRECISION OPTICS Outfitting Texans since 1970 for Adventure, Travel & Fun! STORE LOCATIONS Austin • Dallas • Houston San Antonio • Southlake Night Creature P THIS A raccoon-striped tail and cat-sized body help identify the elusive, nocturnal ringtail. PHOTO BY TPWD Ringtails are expert climbers, capable of scaling trees and cliffs. As I saunter down a rocky hiking trail at San Marcos’ Purgatory Creek Natural Area, a swish of what looks like the long, bushy tail of a Madagascan ring-tailed lemur catches my eye from a bed of sand-colored rocks some 200 feet away, stopping me right in my tracks. “What is that?” I gasp, entirely convinced I have just discovered a lemur on the loose. As the black-and-white tail continues to flick, I search for what should be 20 O AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2015 the rest of the lemur’s gray body and signature yellow-orange eyes. But the suspected escapee suddenly lifts up its head and meets my bewildered gaze with gigantic but dark, round eyes. I notice its large, upright ears and tan, narrow body and realize this wickedly cute creature is not what I thought it was. One thing I am sure of, though: I know I’ve never seen it before. Most Texans haven’t, as it turns out. The few who have seen it may have also mistaken this critter for a lemur on the run, just as I did, or a funky-looking raccoon. Commonly known as a ringtail cat (Bassariscus astutus), this slender, cat-sized carnivore is surprisingly not a cat at all, but actually closely related to raccoons and coatis. The name “ringtail” comes from the seven or eight black rings on its tail. The animals are also referred to as miner’s cats (historically valued for hunting mice in mines), civet cats (because their musky secretion resembles the smell produced by African civet cats) and cacomistles (derived from an Aztec Nahuatl term that means “half mountain lion”). Weighing in at three or so pounds, with an acute sense of hearing and exceptional night vision, this Texas native’s commonly mistaken identity is due in large part to its predominantly nocturnal lifestyle and shy, elusive nature. Ringtails are also expert at climbing, capable of crawling into almost any cranny and crevice or clinging to a cliff, no matter how steep. They are also impressively quick at running, skilled at jumping and particularly acrobatic in trees. Despite their rare appearances, ringtails range throughout most of the state, more commonly so in their preferred rocky habitats, such as the Trans-Pecos, Edwards Plateau and Cross Timbers regions of western and Central Texas. Studies show that ringtails play an integral role in the Trans-Pecos ecosystem by providing food for large predators (such as owls or other raptors known to capture ringtails that rise too early or go to sleep too late), affecting arthropod and small mammal populations and aiding in seed dispersal by eating an omnivorous diet. “My” ringtail finished up its foraging and slipped away seamlessly into a dark, tucked-away den. As an Arizona newspaper once put it, sporting “Bette Davis eyes, Yoda ears and Greta Garbo’s aloofness,” ringtails exude features reminiscent of all sorts of creatures but manifest them into something that is entirely unique and rarely sighted. —Alayna Alvarez hermAnn sons frATernAl insurAnce Insuring a better future for Texans at all stages of life since 1861. • Whole life • Term life • AnnuiTies Hermann Sons Fraternal Insurance | Traditional ... http://www.texashermannsons.org/ Hermann Sons Youth Camp – A benefit for boys & girls ages 9-13 cAll ToDAY! 800-234-4124 www.hermannsons.org • Facebook http://kaywa.me/E5WAK Download the Kaywa QR Code Reader (App Store &Android Market) and scan your code! TEXAS PARKS & WILDLIFE O 21 P Do You Need a Filter? THIS Filters help protect your lens and enable color correction, but they have drawbacks. the transition from film to digital photography changes (and eliminates, in many situations) the need for filters in most shooting situations. So, do you need to be using a filter? Let’s start with a little background. Filters can be classified into two broad categories — those for protection and those for correction. Big Lake. Big Fun. Both await you in Conroe, TX H ome to 22,000 acre Lake Conroe with its 156 miles of shoreline, it is no wonder why Conroe is a premiere outdoors destination in Texas. But the fun doesn’t stop at the lake. Two hometown craft breweries, live music, great food, ten golf courses to choose from and more add to the charm and allure of Conroe. TXP&W-8/9-15 North Lake Conroe Paddling Co. provides concierge kayaking to suit all skill levels. Plan your late summer fun with our FREE Vacation Guide! 22 1-877-426-6763 Find more vacation ideas at: www.PlayInConroe.com O AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2015 VisitConroe (tx) For protection of the delicate (and expensive) front lens element, most camera salesmen will suggest a clear filter such as a UV or slightly tinted “skylight” filter. Those filters produce no or very little color shift in the photograph. It makes more sense to replace a broken or chipped inexpensive filter than an expensive lens if dropped, and it would seem to be a no-brainer to slap a clear filter on every lens in the bag. Correction filters, on the other hand, are all about changing the color of light being recorded. With traditional film (especially slides), it was common practice to use color correction filters to add warmth or coolness to a scene. Typically, warming (amber) filters such as the No. 81 series or the cooling (blue) No. 80 series were the mainstays of the filter arsenal. Other correction filters compensated for non-daylight light sources such as tungsten (blue filter) or fluorescent (magenta filter). Some filter makers offer creative names such as “Sunset” or “Tobacco” for more intense color modifiers. Although it is not a color correction filter per se, the popular polarizing filter can also be included. Its unique abilities to remove reflections on shiny surfaces such as water and glass, as well as intensify blue skies and green foliage, make it popular among landscape photographers. But while filters can be great tools for both protection of lenses and correction of the color aesthetics of a photo, they come with several downsides that raise the question — “Should I really be using a filter?” Regardless of the type of filter used (but especially for cheap UV filters), two issues arise that have the potential to degrade the quality of a photo. First, any filter placed in front of a lens will degrade the image to some degree. After all, you are putting an inexpensive piece of glass in front of PHOTO © MICHAEL LUDWIG / DREAMSTIME.COM you have a camera with interchangeable lenses, there is a good chance that the lens that is on it now has some type of filter attached to it — usually the screw-in type. We use photographic filters for a number of reasons, but their functions are often misunderstood, leading to unnecessary or improper use. Additionally, If PORT ARTHUR Play. Explore. Experience. “Flounder Capital of Texas!” PHOTO © NATALIA SUVOROVA / DREAMSTIME.COM — CHESTER MOORE, Outdoors Writer a well-designed optical instrument. The effects are often not noticeable, but filters can degrade sharpness and induce color aberrations, primarily around the edge of the image. Second, any filter sitting atop a lens (especially a dirty one) is susceptible to lens flare, especially when shooting in the general direction of the sun without a lens shade. The effect you see is much like driving a car with a dirty windshield toward the sunset — not good. Unless I am shooting in a very dusty or sandy environment, I rarely use a protection filter, opting to replace the plastic lens cap when done. A lens shade provides needed protection if the camera is dropped and is designed to soften impacts and break away before damage is done to the lens. (If you don’t have a lens shade, a good practice is to use your hand or a cap to shade the lens from the sun.) With digital cameras, color correction filters have pretty much become a thing of the past because the camera can automatically correct the color cast from differing light sources. Many of the saturated sky and foliage colors previously provided by the polarizer filter can be achieved with the “Vivid” or “Landscape” color profiles found in most cameras or by the camera’s HDR feature. The polarizer is still the go-to filter for controlling reflections. Filters do have their place when used judiciously, but be aware of their limitations and potential for ruining an otherwise great photo. — Earl Nottingham Please send questions and comments to Earl at earl.nottingham@tpwd.texas.gov. For more tips on outdoor photography, visit the magazine’s photography page at www.tpwmagazine.com/photography. Experience diverse fishing on Sabine Lake and offshore. Hear about our history at the Museum of the Gulf Coast and our historical homes. Explore our coastal environment and encounter wildlife up close. Stroll our boardwalks and beaches. Convention & Visitors Bureau • 800.235.7822 • visitPortArthurTx.com More Fish. More Fun. More food, festivals & fun. www.rockport-fulton.org Call 1-800-242-0071 @ visitrockportfulton Photo by Dawn Huff TEXAS PARKS & WILDLIFE O 23 SKILL BUILDER / Heidi Rao Day-time Color PATIENCE, PRACTICE, PERSISTENCE Three top tips for improving your shotgun skills. ALL PHOTOS BY CHASE A. FOUNTAIN / TPWD Night-time Color all the shooting sports, shotgunning may be one of the most difficult to master. Picking up a fast-moving target with your eyes and developing the proper lead and follow-through are skills that take a lot of patience, practice and persistence. Whether shooting a bright orange clay bird on a skeet, trap or sporting clays course or a real bird on opening day of dove season, your skills depend on practice. The good news is there is always room for improvement. The bad news is there are no shortcuts to shotgun shooting success. Gil and Vicki Ash of OSP Shooting School in Houston offer these tried- and-true tips that are being adopted by hunter education programs across the country and the National Shooting Sports Foundation. Of Zoom in, put Bandera in your sights! 830-796-3045 BanderaCowboyCapital.com 24 O AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2015 Tip #1: Get to know your shotgun. The best place to practice is at the shooting range (find a range at www.wheretoshoot.org). If you cannot get to the range regularly, continue to handle your shotgun as often as you can. After work or school, or whenever you are home, take your unloaded shotgun out of its case and handle it. (You must still follow all gun safety rules, of course. This rule surpasses all others: Keep the muzzle pointed in a safe direction.) Practice mounting your shotgun. Work on your stance, swing and follow-through. Move around in different positions with your unloaded shotgun, depending on how you expect to be shooting. If you are a waterfowl hunter using layout blinds, lie down and practice sitting up to take the shot. If you will be in a blind or in an open field, practice sitting in a chair with your unloaded shotgun, then stand up to take the shot. When shooting at a target, your shotgun becomes an extension of your arm. Finding and focusing on a target takes practice. Once you have mastered the skill of target location and focus, your shotgun should automatically locate the target because that is where you are looking — at the target. This reaction takes only a matter of seconds. If you have handled your shotgun frequently, this becomes automatic and instinctive. Tip #2: Practice your gun mount. A proper gun mount is critical to successful shotgun shooting. Practice often at home in a safe place, free of distraction and with plenty of room to move around. Mount your unloaded shotgun to your shoulder and cheek, over and over again. You’re trying to accomplish a fluid, smooth motion to the shoulder and cheek, with your eyes aligned naturally down the barrel, focused on the target without having to think about it. One helpful exercise is to focus on the seam of your wall where it meets the ceiling. Imagine the seam as the path a clay target or live bird travels from left to right, or right to left. Next, insert a small flashlight into the barrel end of your unloaded shotgun and turn it on. Beginning at one corner, intensely focus on the seam. As your eyes slowly travel across the seam, raise your unloaded shotgun to your shoulder and cheek as you continuously move your eyes to the opposite corner of the ceiling. Swing your shotgun, following the “target,” as your eyes travel the line. Continue this exercise slowly and with precision, so the movement of bringing your shotgun up to your shoulder and cheek embeds itself into muscle memory. This exercise is very revealing in showing how smooth — or not — your gun mount is. Tip #3: Focus on the target. Those four words seem so simple but are the main reason we miss. We lose focus on the target. When you identify a target and begin your gun mount, your brain has the remarkable ability to recognize the target you are seeing. Your brain judges its speed, flight path and distance, then predicts where it is going. If you let your brain do what it is supposed to do, as you continue to focus on your target and mount your shotgun, your chance of success is great. Any visual distraction away from the target interrupts the message your brain is receiving about the speed, path and distance of the target, and you miss. Looking at the barrel is the top culprit. Oftentimes, when shooters mount the shotgun, the movement of the shotgun barrel catches their eye and for that moment, they look away from the target, then quickly try to relocate the target, chasing it across the sky with their barrel. They miss every time. Here’s an exercise you can practice to not get distracted by the movement of the shotgun barrel. Place three targets (cups, balls, shotgun shells) on a ledge or counter about 8 to 10 inches apart. Stand with your unloaded shotgun and focus on the center target. Keeping your eyes on that center target, slowly raise your shotgun and mount it to the left target. Lower your shotgun. Continue to focus your eyes on the center target. Slowly mount your shotgun to the right target. Repeat often. This exercise forces you to “accept” your shotgun in your peripheral vision rather than taking your eyes off your target. ••• Know your shotgun, perfect your gun mount, focus on your target and let T your brain do the rest. SIGHTS & SOUNDS TEXAS PARKS & WILDLIFE TV AND RADIO T E L E V I S I O N LOOK FOR THESE STORIES IN THE COMING WEEKS July 26–Aug. 1: Legendary Ethel; Resaca de la Palma birds; working squir- rels; turning ships into reefs. Aug. 2–8: Saving sharks; Barton Springs; biking Big Bend Ranch; urban biologists. Aug. 9–15: Listening for frogs; Pronghorn CSI; Lake Tawakoni State Park; Palo Pinto Mountains. Aug. 16–22: McKittrick Creek leaves; crappie fishing and cooking; Austin’s Wildflower Center. Aug. 23–29: Ray Roberts Lake bike trails; hogs gone wild; the cannon man; tackle box tips. Aug. 30–Sept. 5: White bass fishing; biking Texans; shooter safety; Bastrop pool. Sept. 6–12: Texas paddling trails; Austin’s warblers; big views at Big Spring; musical bikers. Sept. 13–19: Fall at McKinney Falls; Garner State Park tra- ditions; canoe basics; birding beginners. Sept. 20–26: Sandhill cranes; bird hunting tips; Fort Boggy State Park; outdoor education in the city. Explore the Ray Roberts Lake State Park bike trails. Watch the week of Aug. 23-29. TEXAS PARKS & WILDLIFE Winner of 12 Emmy Awards, our ­television series is broadcast ­throughout Texas on local PBS ­affiliates. In stereo with closed captions. www.tpwd.state.tx.us/tv R A D I O YOUR RADIO GUIDE TO THE GREAT OUTDOORS Passport to Texas is your guide to the great Texas outdoors. Any time you tune in, you’ll remember why you love Texas. Go to www.passporttotexas.org to find a station near you that airs the series. EXAS PARKS & WILDLIFE O 25 Days in the Field By Stephanie M. Salinas & Alayna Alvarez DESTINATION: SAN MARCOS N T R A V E L T I M E F R O M : AUSTIN – 0.5 hours / DALLAS – 3.5 hours / EL PASO – 7.75 hours HOUSTON – 2.5 hours / SAN ANTONIO – 1 hour / LUBBOCK – 6 hours Cooling Your Heels Midway between Austin and San Antonio, San Marcos offers cool comfort and natural beauty. 26 O AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2015 Glass-bottom boats at the Meadows Center give visitors a close-up view of Spring Lake. Dallas Cowboys. We love the homey atmosphere of the mural-lined walls. The mouth-watering aroma drifting from the kitchen does not disappoint as we dive into enchiladas, tortilla soup and tacos. After a filling meal, we drive to the Meadows Center at the former Aquarena Springs for a glass-bottom boat tour. The Meadows Center headquarters is housed in a beautiful mid-1920s building gracing the edge of Spring Lake. The building, previously a hotel, has a history as unique as its location and once was the pinnacle of glamour. The Spring Lake Park Hotel hosted swimsuit beauty contests and swanky rooftop parties when it was in full swing in the 1930s. The first glass-bottom boat was launched in Texas on Spring Lake in 1945, and it opened visitors’ eyes to an entirely different world beneath the calm surface of the water. In 1951, the Submarine Theater show debuted, and during its existence, the theme park featured Aquamaids, Glurpo the Clown and crowd favorite Ralph the diving pig. In 1994, Texas State University purchased the park and restored it to a natural state, dedicated to projects like international watershed studies and underwater archeology, among others. During our late afternoon cruise, we learn that the lake’s diverse ecosystem is home to eight kinds of threatened and endangered species, including the San Marcos salamander, Texas wild rice and the Texas blind salamander, that are found nowhere else in the world beyond the Edwards Aquifer system. Spring Lake marks the beginning of the San Marcos River. “This water comes up through PHOTO BY JONATHAN VAIL / TPWD estled between two major Texas cities, San Marcos offers a bit of escape from the bustling metropolises of San Antonio and Austin. Located less than an hour’s drive from both cities, this college-centered Hays County seat boasts big-city attitude and small-town charm. Many Texans know little about San Marcos beyond the gargantuan outlet malls along the interstate at the southern edge of town. We decided to devote a weekend to discover more as we embarked on a quest to discover the natural beauty that makes San Marcos tick. Our first stop is the San Marcos Nature Center, where aquariums filled with aquatic animals native to the San Marcos area line the walls. Animals such as spotted gar, bluegill and snapping turtles call the nature center home. Crossing under an open doorway at the back under the words “What’s in your backyard?” we spot a dozen tanks containing snakes and other reptiles found in the San Marcos area. The Trans-Pecos rat snake, western coachwhip, Texas brown tarantula and desert king snake are just a few of the locals residing inside. For lunch, we walk across the street to Herbert’s Taco Hut, a regional hot spot for savory, authentic Mexican food. What Herbert Sr. and his wife, Dora, started as a small hut with five tables in 1976 has evolved into a much larger restaurant beloved by many, as evidenced by walls lined with endorsements from George Strait, Robert Earl Keen and various FOOD PHOTO BY JONATHAN VAIL / TPWD; RIVER BY CHASE A. FOUNTAIN / TPWD; NATURE CENTER PHOTO © BRIAN PAPKE natural springs and flows 260 miles to the Gulf of Mexico,” says our guide, a Texas State University student. “It meets the Guadalupe River about 130 miles downstream and continues into San Antonio Bay.” The lake is home to 40 different kinds of fish, five species of turtles and more than 160 varieties of plants. The hornwort plant, found in the lake, can grow up to 25 feet in length. A harvester boat mows the lake’s enthusiastic vegetation a couple of times a week to give the boat guides better visibility. Spring Lake has a few interesting tales of its own. Our guide positions the boat above one of the lake’s high- pressure springs and tells us it was named Weissmuller Spring after Johnny Weissmuller, the Tarzan actor and gold-medal Olympic swimmer. We are instantly intrigued. According to the legend, Weiss­ muller took a glass-bottom boat tour in 1965 and had a lot of fans hanging around waiting for him to do something wild, so he did. Weissmuller did his Tarzan yell, dove off the boat and swam about 22 feet to the natural spring, from which he tried to take a sip of water. Even though he was a gold medalist, he nearly drowned doing the stunt and had to be helped out of the water. As he was pulled from the water, Weissmuller said the spring had roughly the same pressure as a wide- open fire hydrant. “Weissmuller was not so ‘wise’ on this particular day,” says our tour guide. “If you try the same stunt today, we would not name any springs after you; instead, you would be in some trouble. There are big fines for swimming and fishing in Spring Lake.” The next day, we drive to the A.E. Wood Fish Hatchery, located along the banks of the San Marcos River. We aren’t quite sure what to expect. Since the hatchery is known for rearing freshwater sport fish and stocking more than 300 Texas reservoirs, we know at least this much: There will be fish. However, as soon as our private tour with Hugh Glenewinkel begins, he politely informs us there would be no fish to see inside the hatchery — in Herbert’s Taco Hut, above, is a local institu- tion for Mexican food. On the Luling Zedler Mill Paddling Trail, right, canoeists and kay- akers paddle through small rapids and clear, quiet pools on the San Marcos River. Animals, plants and education are the featured attrac- tions at the San Marcos Nature Center, below. fact, we had “just missed them.” After what must have been a failed attempt to mask our disappointment, he quickly assures us we can still check out the catfish in the outside ponds. Perking up, we look at each other and smile. Let the tour begin. The hatchery, originally built in 1949, underwent $14 million in renovations from 1984 to 1988 and reopened to the public as a state-of- the-art facility and one of the most modern fish hatcheries in the nation. Fish are kept inside the hatchery building’s raceways in the spring during spawning season and in the winter when rainbow trout are being raised. The rest of the year, brood fish are maintained and fingerlings are grown in outside ponds. Tours of the facility take visitors through the 33,000-square-foot Robert J. Kemp Fisheries Center as well as the hatchery grounds. The Kemp building houses intensive fish culture operations, including an incubation room and a laboratory capable of water quality testing, genetic identification, law enforcement forensic techniques and fish disease diagnosis and treatment. Millions of fish are raised at the hatchery each year for stocking in public waters. “We do a pretty good job of raising fish and getting them out there to the public,” says Glenewinkel, who has worked at the hatchery for more than 20 years. “That’s what we’re here for: to try to make fishing better for the state of Texas.” Outside the Kemp building — where we finally meet some hungry, whiskered fish friends — are 50 plastic- lined ponds, 45 of which are one acre in size. The water comes from the spring-fed San Marcos River, which flows at a fairly constant temperature year-round and serves as an ideal TEXAS PARKS & WILDLIFE O 27 source of water for rearing fish. “I get a really good feeling whenever I drain down a pond we’re working on and there’s a bunch of big fingerlings in there that we can take out and stock into the lake,” says Glenewinkel. “Our The 1-mile Ottine Swamp Trail at Palmetto State Park, left, winds through swamps and thick tropical foliage. Below, the A.E. Wood Fish TOP PHOTO © BRIAN PAPKE; BOTTOM PHOTO BY JONATHAN VAIL / TPWD Hatchery, operated by TPWD, specializes in raising fish for stocking into Texas lakes. Tours are offered Tuesdays and Fridays. work makes a big difference. The public is able to go out and have a good fishing experience — that’s what I really enjoy.” After an hourlong tour, we leave equipped with fresh fingerling facts and head toward a little slice of heaven a short drive away. Drive too quickly and you might just miss it, this 270-acre plot of palmetto- filled paradise just southeast of Luling. With our dogs Norma Jean and Ralfie in tow, we pull into Palmetto State Park. (The park suffered damage from this year’s Memorial Day weekend flooding and was closed for several weeks.) Undaunted by the scorching July heat, we start our hike, taking comfort in the cool, close presence of the San Marcos River, which flows through the park. Fortunately, we have plenty of trails to choose from — eight to be exact, ranging in hiking time from 15 minutes to 1.5 hours long. While we decide which trail to take, we check out several beautiful structures built by the Civilian Conservation Corps during the 1930s. We admire a dignified stone table and HUNTING q FISHING × Lic enses × BUY YOUR LICENSE FOR THE 2015-2016 SEASON • www.tpwd.texas.gov/buy • at hundreds of license retailers • call (800) 895-4248 ON SALE 100% fees cense o y f o ur li t hunting n or supp fishing i and exas. T 28 O AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2015 AUG. 15 grill, water tower and refectory, which originally had a thatched roof made from the indigenous palmetto plants. We choose the 1-mile Ottine Swamp Trail, which meanders alongside swamps and tropical foliage. After working up a good sweat, we all climb into the river to relax and refresh before hitting the road back home. On our walk back to the car, we are quiet, tired, happy and hungry, simply worn out from a full day. On our way back to San Marcos, we decide we must stop for Luling barbecue — not only because we are ravenous, but because it would be sinful not to. Luling is known, among a few other things, for its wickedly good barbecue. Sweaty and smelling like river water, we walk up to the counter of Luling Bar-B-Q and order brisket, sausage and the must- have sides: potato salad, white bread and pickles — and tons of barbecue sauce. Too tired to stay, we take our food to go and eat it back at home, our car filled with tempting smells emanating from the package. For our final day of fun, we decide to kayak the Luling Zedler Mill Paddling Trail on the San Marcos River. The T.G. Canoe Livery located on the outskirts of town hooks us up with a tandem, or two-person, kayak. Before we leave, the outfitters show us some photos of where our put-in spot is, what we would see on the trail, which direction we’d be traveling and where our take-out point would be. All set, we head out for our paddling adventure. We launch the boat from John J. Stokes Park and begin five miles of paddling in complete awe. The entire trail is canopied and cool. The sweet songs of the birds keep us company while we maneuver around a few fallen trees. The river is calm but flowing. The whole atmosphere makes us feel as if we are miles from the packed roads and bustle of San Marcos during a weekend of sunny weather. For the first section, we are shaded by towering trees and surrounded by scurrying squirrels, jumping fish, sun- bathing turtles and even a few sly water snakes gliding along the river. Then, BIG TIME TEXAS HUNTS L I F E ’ S S H O RT, H U N T B I G 9 $ per entry online* we come upon a dam where we have to carry our kayak down. With a little elbow grease and a bit of luck, we get it down and are treated to the sights and sounds of a refreshing waterfall. This kayaking trip is definitely a success. We are enchanted. On the way home, while stopped at a busy intersection, we notice Purgatory Creek Natural Area. With our faithful four-legged friends by our side, we head off on the Beatrice Trail, one of the beginner trails available at the park. The hikes vary in difficulty and include a 4.1-mile path called Dante’s Trail. Our dogs walk ahead of us with their noses in the air smelling the intoxicating aroma of flowers springing up in patches around us. Thankfully, our dogs don’t take a closer whiff, or they would have come across the skunk hiding under juniper trees in the late afternoon sun. As we take in the soft glow around the trees from the setting sun and finish up our final hike, we reminisce on T our fun-filled weekend. WIN THE HUNT OF A LIFETIME! Choose from 9 Exclusive Guided Hunt Packages – with chances to hunt bighorn sheep, whitetails, waterfowl, exotics, gators, wild hogs and more! Z And introducing the new Ultimate Mule Deer Hunt! ENTER BY OCTOBER 15 TO WIN www.tpwd.texas.gov/win * Entries are $10 at license retailers. There is a $5 fee for online transactions. Multiple items may be purchased in one transaction. btth2015_half-H-tpw.indd 1 29 6/30/15 5:40 PM EXAS PARKS & WILDLIFE O THE CONQUERING THE 30 O AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2015 ACROSS OF TEXAS TALLEST TEXAS PEAKS IN ONE DAY. By Russell Roe Photos by Laurence Parent 5 hikers 17 hours 15+ miles 5,500 feet elevation gain TEXAS PARKS & WILDLIFE O 31 The hikers make their way up Guadalupe Peak, the first of four summits planned for the day. 32 O AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2015 Fighting exhaustion, we stumbled into camp at midnight after a day of epic hiking, gale-force winds, shredded shins, sore muscles, million-dollar views and four summits to our credit. We had done it. We had hiked the four highest peaks in Texas in a day. After 17 hours of hiking, all we wanted to do was go to bed. GUADALUPE PEAK SHUMARD PEAK BARTLETT PEAK View from Bush Mountain It sounded like fun when photographer Laurence Parent told me he wanted to climb Guadalupe Peak, the highest mountain in Texas. And the three next highest peaks. In one day. The idea seemed ambitious but not impossible, adventurous but not death-defying. A walk across the top of Texas was an adventure I couldn’t pass up. By fate of geography and topography, Texas’ four highest peaks all reside in the Guadalupe Mountains of West Texas, a range straddling the Texas-New Mexico line. Guadalupe Peak, Bush Mountain and Shumard and Bartlett peaks line up in a neat curve around Pine Spring Canyon in Guadalupe Mountains National Park. The Guadalupes contain seven of the eight highest peaks in Texas. Mount Livermore in the Davis Mountains sneaks in at No. 5, and Big Bend’s landmark Emory Peak comes in as the ninth highest. Our route would cover 15-plus miles of unforgiving terrain with a total elevation gain of more than 5,000 feet, but at least we wouldn’t have to drive like mad between the Guadalupe Mountains, Big Bend and the Davis Mountains to bag peaks with the clock ticking away. Laurence actually hiked the four peaks in a day decades ago as a young man. The only other folks we had heard about who had done it were a couple of Guadalupe Mountains park rangers. In his Hiker’s Guide to Texas, Laurence’s description of the hike may explain why: “With no trail and many thousands of feet of elevation gain and loss, I recommend it only to masochists.” There’s hardly a more spectacular hike in Texas. The peaks of the Guadalupes rise a vertical mile above the salt flats to the west, providing a sudden and dramatic change in topography. Soaring cliffs rise 1,500 feet on the southern and western flanks of the mountains. Ridgelines connect the peaks, with sheer dropoffs on one side and terrain sloping down to Pine Spring Canyon on the other. Ponderosa pine, Douglas fir and southwestern white pine trees partly forest the mountainsides, unlike TEXAS PARKS & WILDLIFE O 33 Mary Baxter takes in a view of the backside of El Capitan from a spot near the top of Guadalupe Peak. 34 O AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2015 almost anywhere else in Texas. Yuccas, grasses, agaves and other desert vegetation blanket the mountain slopes. We picked a day in April and recruited some friends and colleagues to join us for the adventure: artist Mary Baxter of Marfa, Ky Harkey of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and Ky’s sister Kelsey Harkey, who was getting ready to spend the summer working at a Wyoming resort. We planned to start by ascending Guadalupe Peak, a feat thousands of hikers accomplish each year. The climb gains almost 3,000 feet of elevation, going from 5,800 feet above sea level at the campground to 8,749 feet at the summit. It’s steep, but a trail switchbacks its way up the mountain. Then we’d head north to Shumard Peak, the third- highest peak in the state at 8,615 feet. The good news: It’s only about a mile as the crow flies. The bad news: It’s cross-country, and we’d be losing about 1,000 feet of elevation and regaining about 900. We would repeat the process for the next peak, Bartlett, the state’s fourth highest at 8,508 feet. Then we’d descend again and ascend to the state’s second-highest peak, Bush Mountain, at 8,631 feet. The drops and distances between peaks looked to be less intense with each successive traverse. At Bush, we would reach a trail and hike it seven miles back to the trailhead. It would be a challenging day filled with hiking, climbing, route-finding and bushwhacking. And, it turns out, a good deal of curiously enjoyable stick tossing. GUADALUPE PEAK The hike up Guadalupe Peak is spectacular on its own and a highlight of any Guadalupe Mountains trip. We started at sunrise, the crunch of our boots on the rocky trail punctuating the quiet of the morning. The first mile and a half of the hike is probably the steepest, and we soon found ourselves breathing hard, stopping occasionally to rest and catch our breath. We passed some hikers who were already struggling up the trail, and were passed by others who seemed to be racing to the top. The views just got better the higher we climbed. At a spot called the Notch, the vegetation abruptly shifted. Pine and fir trees replaced the cactus that had been around us. Rounding the corner of the Notch’s limestone outcrop, we got slapped in the face with a blast of wind, a little taste of what was to come. In the week leading up to the trip, the forecast had changed daily — initially calling for high wind, then no wind, then wind again. I told the others it wouldn’t be a true Guadalupe Mountains trip without a little wind. Another set of switchbacks brought us to the final push to the summit. As we swept around the south side of the peak, we saw the backside of El Capitan, the signature formation of the Guadalupe Mountains. When you approach the park from the south, El Capitan’s TEXAS PARKS & WILDLIFE O 35 The hikers celebrate reaching the summit of Guadalupe Peak, the highest point in Texas. towering prow of limestone surges up from the desert NAMED PEAKS floor, standing loud and OVER 8,000 FEET proud to announce that you IN TEXAS: have arrived at the Guadalupe Mountains. Guadalupe Peak, GUADALUPE PEAK: 8,749 connected to El Capitan by Guadalupe Mountains a ridge, is the higher peak, BUSH MOUNTAIN: 8,631 but El Capitan is the one that Guadalupe Mountains demands notice, like a little SHUMARD PEAK: 8,615 brother jumping in front to Guadalupe Mountains insist that attention must BARTLETT PEAK: 8,508 be paid. Ky and I plotted Guadalupe Mountains paths along the ridge to the MOUNT LIVERMORE: 8,378 summit, scheming for a Davis Mountains future adventure. HUNTER PEAK: 8,368 We reached the summit Guadalupe Mountains in a final burst and stood at the highest point in Texas. EL CAPITAN: 8,085 Guadalupe Mountains A dozen or so hikers were already there, soaking up Source: Texas Almanac the views, taking photos and signing their names to the summit register, a notebook stored in an ammo box. The register summed up the accomplishments and feelings of those who had made it to the top: “I did it!” “Gorgeous view.” “Two thumbs way up!” “Hi, Mom.” We could see salt flats, sand dunes, foothills and distant mountains extending into the vast stretches before us. At the summit, Ky pulled a surprise for us out of his pack — what he called Secret Snack No. 1 — a box of caramel chocolate 36 O AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2015 truffles. It was already 11 a.m., later than we’d hoped. After enjoying some time on the summit, we figured it was time to move on. After all, this was only the beginning. SHUMARD PEAK We knew that the Guadalupe-to-Shumard traverse would be the longest and toughest of the day. The mountaineering website Summitpost.org calls Shumard “the hardest-won of the primary, named summits in the main section of the park.” It goes on to warn: “Any way chosen to the top of this mountain involves thrashing through prickly desert brush on rocky, trail-less terrain.” Sounded like a plan. Most hikers at the top of Guadalupe Peak turn around and head back down the way they came on the main trail. We stepped off the opposite, trail-less side, not knowing quite what lay ahead. “This is where the adventure begins,” Laurence said, capturing the spirit of the moment. It was a steep initial descent, down a loose, rocky slope with some bushwhacking required through trees and brush. Before long, we found ourselves in the middle of a pine and fir forest. The smell of pine needles made us feel as if we had been dropped into the middle of Colorado. Once out of the forest, we again waded through thick brush, which grabbed at our pants and tore at our legs with every step as we hiked. At the top of Guadalupe Peak, Ky and Kelsey had put on leg- protecting gaiters as a shield against the underbrush. Laurence had pointed out that the worst of the desert scrub — bad boys such as catclaw and prickly pear — wouldn’t be found at the higher elevations, and he dismissed the gaiter-wearing Harkeys as “pessimists.” Now, with our legs already scratched up, they looked more like visionaries. If the brush wasn’t enough, we encountered one of our most formidable challenges when we reached the bottom of the valley between the two mountains — the wind. Wind coming across the desert gets compressed when it reaches the mountains — there’s less room for the wind to pass through, and that increases the wind speed, a phenomenon known as the Venturi Effect. At certain points like the one we just reached, the wind gets further compressed as it is funneled between two peaks, thus increasing its speed even more. Bam! Double Venturi Effect, right in the face. If I had to guess, I’d say the wind reached 50-60 mph or more. It almost knocked us to the ground. Kelsey had mentioned that she had almost been blown off Guadalupe Peak as a Girl Scout, and it looked as though she was about to get a second chance to get knocked off the peak. We looked for ways to escape the wind but found none. The wind hit us hard, pushing us around and constantly threatening to blow our hats off. Wind takes a physical toll, but it takes a psychological toll as well. Everything seems more difficult. Emotions are raw. You try to curse the wind but get only halfway through before another gust stops you short. The uphill section on Shumard loomed directly ahead of us. Mary proposed taking a break behind a rock up ahead to get out of the wind, regroup and have something to eat and drink. As we approached the rock, we realized it wasn’t big enough to offer any respite from the wind. Disappointed, we took a break anyway. Things suddenly started to feel a little desperate. This was turning into an emotional low point for Team Four Peaks. The wind howled nonstop. The cross-country travel was going slower than expected. We were having to thrash through the underbrush. We had a big climb ahead of us. We worried about the time: It was already 1:30 p.m., and we had only one peak under our belts. Our prospects for finishing the hike seemed to be going downhill fast. And did I mention the wind? We started to consider an exit strategy. Descending to the bottom of Pine Spring Canyon was the obvious way out, but it looked as if it required an unpleasant thrash-fest to get through it. We decided our exit plan was to keep going. We pushed on. After an uphill slog, peppered with several “Why are we doing this?” moments, we reached the top of Shumard at 3 p.m., tired and relieved. The summit register showed that we were not alone in our struggles. One hiker had written: “I’ve never worked so hard in my life — exhausting. Quite the adventure. I pray to God I make it out OK.” Another said: “How exhausting. This will likely be my only trek to Shumard Peak.” From the top of Shumard, we could measure our progress from Guadalupe Peak and chart our course to Bartlett and Bush. The upcoming Shumard-to-Bartlett traverse looked easier than what we had just done, and Bartlett-to-Bush looked easier still. Across Pine Spring Canyon, we could see the trail we would be taking later in the day back to camp. Our whole day was spread out right in front of us. Ky lifted our spirits with Secret Snack No. 2 — mint honey tea. Shumard Peak, the state’s third-highest mountain, is the hikers’ next destination as they descend from Guadalupe Peak. TEXAS PARKS & WILDLIFE O 37 BARTLETT PEAK Then it was on to Bartlett. Along the way we found some relief from the wind. It even seemed calm in some places, a welcome change. As we followed the ridge, we realized that over the desert- side edge of the ridge, the wind was blasting up the cliff walls, blowing like a never-ending hurricane. But just a few steps away from the edge, the wind was much calmer, more of a steady, forceful breeze. Ky decided to see what would happen if he threw a stick off the edge into the howling wind. He tossed a small stick, and the wind caught it, thrusting it way up over our heads and carrying it a couple hundred feet away from the edge of the cliff. He tried a bigger stick. Same thing. He tried a big stick with multiple branches, and the wind carried it like a feather. All of a sudden we had a game on our hands. We took turns throwing stick after stick, watching the wind carry them up and over our heads and getting giddy with laughter. With this bit of entertainment, it now seemed as if we might be able to handle the wind after all. Whenever we got the chance on the rest of our hike, we’d look for a stick to toss just to see how far the wind would take it. Ky even took his chances and tossed his trekking pole, and sure enough, the wind swept it up. Ky then added to his mileage by having to retrieve it. Refreshed by laughter, I told myself: “Come on, fourth highest. Bring it on. No problem.” As we hiked, Kelsey pointed out fossils in the rocks along the way, a reminder that we were hiking on one of the oldest fossil reefs in the world, a mass of seashells and calcified algae formed more than 250 million years ago, when the continents were still pushed together in the mass known as Pangea. Once we got to the valley between the peaks, with the uphill ahead of us, suddenly Bartlett didn’t look any easier. “They usually say don’t look down, but maybe we shouldn’t look up either,” Mary said. The breaks from the wind were short-lived. It seemed as if our trek was 65 percent hiking and 35 percent holding on to our hats. Even if I got tired of holding onto my hat and wanted to throw it off the side of the cliff in a fit of frustration, I couldn’t. The wind would have caught it and thrown it back. Things got especially tense when our route led us right along the top of the cliff for several yards with a thousand-foot drop staring us in the face and the wind blasting us nonstop. Don’t look down, they usually say. On Bartlett, we picked our way up a perilous path — a steep, rocky, brushy slope with loose rocks rumbling beneath our feet — and reached the summit at 5:45 p.m. “We really are on top of the world up here,” Mary said, looking out over the seemingly endless foothills, desert and distant mountains. The summit register wasn’t as dire as it had been on Shumard. One hiker had written: “Epic day. Got up here late. No sign of Sasquatch. The hunt continues.” The end was in sight. Bush Mountain, our fourth peak, looked close, and most of the cross-country hiking was behind us. Ky popped out Secret Snack No. 3 for our third peak: chocolate chip cookies. “We might just survive this experience,” Laurence said around a mouthful of cookie. 38 O AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2015 Mary Baxter takes a break on the way up Bartlett Peak, the state’s fourth highest and the hikers’ third peak of the day; a notch (top right) offers a view to the west; the hikers make their way through brush and trees (bottom right) on the way to Bush Mountain, in background. TEXAS PARKS & WILDLIFE O 39 BUSH MOUNTAIN To get to Bush, we picked what we figured would be the path of least resistance across the valley. Again, it proved tougher than it looked. Our legs ached with fatigue, and our shoulders cried out from carrying packs all day. Mary deemed the ascent “steeper, rockier, windier and brushier” than the others. Drawing on our reserves, we finally made it to the top. Peak No. 4! We whooped it up and high-fived as we arrived just before sunset. Bush Mountain isn’t a classic mountain spire; instead, it has a flat, grassy top with trees dotting the broad summit. It’s hard to even determine where the true summit is. I searched … where was it? I wasn’t going to go to all that trouble and not stand on the real summit of the final peak. We finally found a plaque marking the spot. Looking south, we could see the three previous peaks we had scaled — Guadalupe, Shumard and Bartlett — lined up behind us. The sunset was stunning from our spot on the western escarpment. Seeing the cliffs, foothills and distant mountains bathed in golden light, we must have felt the same emotions as John Russell Bartlett, a U.S. boundary commissioner who eloquently chronicled his travels through the Guadalupes and for whom the fourth-highest peak is named. “No painter’s art could reproduce, or colors imitate, these gorgeous prismatic tints,” he wrote. After sunset, seven miles of hiking in the dark lay ahead of us. When we dragged into camp four hours later, headlamps illuminating our way on a moonless night, we checked the time: midnight. We did the math: 17 hours of hiking. We took an injury inventory: a good deal of scrapes, scratches and bumps. Along the way our dinner plan had devolved from making Southwestern chicken quesadillas to having no-cook chicken tacos to eating a granola bar and going straight to bed. It had been a long day, and my sleeping bag was calling my name. (And yeah, we probably could have made it back before midnight if we hadn’t spent so much time tossing sticks into the wind.) Conquering climbs, descents, wind, brush and darkness gave us the feeling of accomplishment that testing your limits in the outdoors can provide. It was challenging, full of emotional — and literal — ups and downs. And it was even fun, in an “only for masochists” kind of way. Mary summed it up for us: “It is definitely one to remember. And to remember not to ever attempt again!” 4 0 O AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2015 From the top of Bush Mountain, the state’s second-highest peak, the sunset casts a golden light across the desert. TEXAS PARKS & WILDLIFE O 41 PHOTOS CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: © JAN WEGENER/MINDEN, LEE HOY, ALAN MURPHY/MINDEN, ALAN MURPHY/MINDEN, ROLF NUSSBAUMER NAME TH The top 10 bird 42 O AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2015 Written and selected PHOTOS CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: © ALAN MURPHY/MINDEN, GREG LASLEY/KAC PROD, TOM VEZO/MINDEN, ALAN MURPHY/MINDEN, ALAN MURPHY/MINDEN AT T U N E songs in Texas. by Cliff Shackelford 43 TEXAS PARKS & WILDLIFE O I’m a rocker. While in college in the ’80s, I was a long-haired, head-banging rocker. I’m especially fond of power chords and intricate solos played on a six-string guitar, either electric or acoustic. That’s what I like — I guess I was born that way. My old rocker ears also enjoy the sounds of nature — whether from a frog, a katydid, wind blowing or water flowing — and my favorite nature sounds, by far, are bird vocalizations. Bird songs and bird calls are not synonymous terms. Their context is quite different. Bird song is complex, often seasonal and usually musical, and it involves advertising for a mate or maintaining a territory. Bird calls, however, are simple and usually not very musical. Chip notes are short calls given to announce food or just to stay in touch, and they’re used more commonly year-round. Within a given species of bird, we believe their songs and calls mean different things as they communicate. When humans communicate, air passes through a larynx, which creates simple sounds. When birds communicate, air passes through a syrinx or “voice box” and can produce something far sweeter. Guess which one is more specialized at producing a wider range of sounds? No offense to David Lee Roth or Mick Jagger, but it’s the one our feathered friends use. Some people use bird song ringtones on their cellphones — lovely, but they can cause problems. There’s nothing worse than leading a field trip for a group of folks, hearing a bird vocalization and pointing it out to the group, only to hear someone exclaim “Hello!” on a phone. Been there, done that. Just like in the movie theaters, nature walks and bird hikes should require the following rule: “Please silence [the bird song ringtones of] your cellphones.” Like humans, birds have different regional dialects. Someone from Wisconsin sure doesn’t sound the same as a Georgia native. The same can be true of many of our birds. If you want to hear a variety of songs (in addition to those we’re providing), there are several worthy websites, including the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s Macauley Library and the one we used for this article, www.xeno-canto.org. Arranged in random order, let’s “see” my Top Ten Bird Hits (and a few others), but be sure to “listen” to them as well. 44 O AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2015 TOP 10 BIRD BACHMAN’S SPARROW O ne of the sweetest songs and dearest to me, this sparrow sings the representative song of open pine forests that once occurred throughout the eastern third of Texas, where I live. Fire suppression and changes in forest management have nearly eliminated this bird from Texas airspace. Along with the whistles of bobwhite quail, theirs was once a dominant song ringing through longleaf or shortleaf pine savannas thick with a healthy grass-forb layer. The last stronghold of the species in Texas is the longleaf belt that includes the south end of the Angelina National Forest, south of Sam Rayburn Reservoir. To hear a Bachman’s sparrow, visit that forest from early March through September. This year-round resident is not vocal during fall and winter. SONGS IN TEXAS BROWN THRASHER T INTERNATIONAL POP STAR Want to know my global favorite bird song, outside of Texas? Without question, it goes to the Montezuma oropendola of Central America. They’re not only great to hear but also fun to watch as they vocalize. I’ve heard them in at least three countries, but the species does not range into Texas, so you’ll have to get your passport ready to find one. YELLOW-BILLED CUCKOO O ld-timers refer to the yellow-billed cuckoo as the “rain crow.” The reasoning behind that colloquial name has swirled around a bit and lost its meaning. While most birds often get very quiet during a rain shower, these dedicated songsters often continue to vocalize. Some lore incorrectly states that when their coos are heard, it is certainly going to rain, so get your umbrella ready. Sorry, this bird didn’t go to meteorological school and cannot predict the weather. Yellow-billed cuckoos are one of the last species to arrive at their breeding grounds in Texas after overwintering in the tropics, which makes them part of the caboose in the long train of migrating species. Listen for them in mature woodlands, where they’re fond of tent caterpillars. TEXAS PARKS & WILDLIFE O 45 PHOTOS CLOCKWISE: © DAVID WELLING/MINDEN, MELODY LYTLE, ALAN MURPHY/MINDEN, BILL BASTON/MINDEN his bird sings one of my backyard favorite songs. It’s soft, melodic and very pleasant. It’s also soothing on weekends while I’m reading or snoozing on the couch with the windows wide open. Other than splashing around in our birdbath, brown thrashers have severe stage fright, usually retreating to the shrubs except when they sit up, fairly conspicuously, to sing aloud. These mimics are related to our state bird, the northern mockingbird, but the thrashers imitate notes in duplicate and not triplicate like the mockingbird (or in singles like another relative, the gray catbird). Breeding thrashers live and sing in urban areas in the eastern two-thirds of the state. TOP 10 BIRD SONGS IN TEXAS YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT I BELL’S VIREO PHOTOS CLOCKWISE: © MELODY LYTLE, GREG LASLEY/KAC PROD, ALAN MURPHY/MINDEN, LARRY DITTO, ROB CURTIS/EARLY BIRDER T ’m tickled when I hear this bird. As the name may suggest, it sounds as if it’s having a chat or conversation with another. Short bursts of varying squeaks, chuckles, squawks or rattles are followed by short pauses as if the birds are listening for a response. Listen for yellow-breasted chats in the thickest shrubs. If you’re lucky, you’ll see one do his magnificent butterfly-like flight — he puffs up and continues to sing while flying from perch to perch, or straight up in the air as if showing off muscle and song all bundled into one fluffy yellow ball of a great bird. Caution is advised to biologists and landowners charged with surveying birds: This species does a great job mimicking vocalizations of other birds, especially crow caws, bobwhite whistles and pileated woodpecker clucks. They “chat” the most in old fields or regenerating clear-cuts in the eastern part of the state or thickets of scrub and streamside areas out west. he Bell's vireo lives in thick shrubs and brush in various parts of the state. Its song reminds me of an old man griping and whining about something upsetting. If you’re lucky enough to spot these thicket-loving birds, there’s not much to see, as their colors are subtle and drab. They make up for it, though, in a busy, hurried song played on repeat mode. These migrants, which leave us during the colder months for warmer climates to our south, return to thickets across various parts of our state with a vengeance, even though they are quite vulnerable to nest parasitism by cowbirds. This vireo reaches its mother lode in the shrubs along waterways in the Trans-Pecos, especially in the Devils River watershed. HONORABLE MENTIONS PILEATED WOODPECKER How can I leave off the bird that “hooked” me into birding when I was a kid growing up here in Texas? Every time I hear one, I’m forever appreciative of the door into nature that opened up for me. 46 O AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2015 BARRED OWL A romantic bout of owling from this bird was the soundtrack to one of my first dates with the woman who is now my wife. Who isn’t impressed when a super- charged and excited pair of these owls begins to emit their monkey-like calls? AUDUBON’S ORIOLE You might think you hear a human whistling away in the South Texas brush, but it might really be this yellow-and-black oriole. CANYON WREN T his is a bird of bluffs, cliffs, canyons and rocky outcrops in the western half of our state. You’ll need good luck to see one, but you can’t miss the incredible sounds of its remarkable descending song. Like me, this bird is a rocker! Canyon wrens hop around in search of insects, nest among the rocks and bob up and down while vocalizing from the top. And, like singers in rock bands, they often achieve great echoes while singing away through the canyons. The farthest east I’ve ever heard one is the Barton Creek greenbelt in Austin. DICKCISSEL T D his little wren might be the most versatile and complex songster of the bunch. The bird reminds me of the late Freddie Mercury, who sang an array of highs and lows for the band Queen. While the Bewick's wren is fairly drab, its song is absolutely wonderful and the one I miss most when leaving the western half of the state, where this bird can be found in thick vegetation. Be sure to pronounce its name correctly, like the Buick car. Spend some time listening to one as he changes things up after a spell, maybe in order to hold the attention of others. I know it works for me! ickcissels are often heard in grasslands of mostly native grasses and forbs, and many males together sound like a cacophony of high-frequency whistles and chips. Most of these highly migratory birds winter in the llanos (or plains) of Venezuela but return to grassy areas in Texas and much of the Great Plains to settle down and raise a family. As our larger grasslands get converted to other uses and whittled down in size, so die the sounds of so many grass- loving species, from prairie-chickens to several kinds of sparrows. In order to keep the buzzy sounds of dickcissels ringing aloud, conserve and protect the native grasses found on your property. TEXAS PARKS & WILDLIFE O 47 PHOTOS CLOCKWISE: ALAN MURPHY/MINDEN, BOB SMITH/BOB SMITH IMAGES, ALAN MURPHY/MINDEN BEWICK'S WREN TOP 10 BIRD SONGS IN TEXAS WOOD THRUSH T PHOTOS CLOCKWISE: © ALAN MURPHY/MINDEN, BARRY MANSELL/MINDEN, WILD LIGHT IMAGES, BILL DRAKER CASSIN'S SPARROW I wo words come to mind when describing the song of the Cassin's sparrow: bouncy and almost eerie. A challenge for Eddie Van Halen would be to transcribe this avian tune to guitar and perform it. The appearance of these sparrows is often cyclical due to rainfall and habitat conditions, but they typically reside in grassy areas mixed with shrubs. Shrubs are the stage from which the birds sing and, if you’re lucky, do a dance known as “skylarking,” or fluttering skyward while singing. Their colors aren’t jazzy, but their showmanship commands attention — you’ll be hoping for an encore. They can pop up almost anywhere, but the Cassin’s sparrow’s roots grow deeper the farther west you go in the Lone Star State. f you want to know which bird sits (or sings) at the top of my list, the wood thrush is it. I don’t admit to having one favorite rock singer, but in the Texas bird world the wood thrush rises to the absolute apex of sound. In graduate school, I rented a simple house tucked into the woods that, unbeknownst to me, included a singing male who never failed to perform each and every day during the breeding season. It’d almost be dusk in May and June and he’d still belt out those lovely ee-oh-lays that always took my breath away (rhymes like a song, eh?). LISTEN FOR YOURSELF Until recently, an article like this would have been composed just of words that tried to describe the birds’ songs. Lucky for us, we can now link to the recorded songs for your listening pleasure. To hear the bird songs, scan the QR code at right with your smartphone, visit tpwmagazine.com/birdsongs, or download the app version of this issue from the App Store (iOS only). 48 O AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2015 STOP THAT SCREECHING! I’m sorry to report that there are some songsters that annoy me, even if I love them. In short, I’m a little bit like Goldilocks: I like sounds that are “just right” and not too loud, not too incessant and, like the latest hit song, not overplayed on the radio. In an urban setting, incessant white-winged dove cooing really drowns out all other sounds. Trying to conduct a bird survey under a tufted titmouse’s loud "Peter, Peter, Peter" song is tricky. Turn down the volume, Mr. Northern Mockingbird. Enough said! Massive roosts or nesting colonies of great-tailed grackles will fill your ears with some rather cacophonous sounds. NIGHTTIME SOLOISTS While most bird song occurs during daylight hours, some avian rock stars sleep late and get on stage in the midnight hour. Here are two that sing while you sleep. EASTERN SCREECH-OWL T his bird of the night reminds me of when I lived part of my adult life in Austin. Sleeping with the bedroom windows open during cool winter or spring nights often allowed for pleasant sound bites of this owl. One day, a woman called me and asked if I could tell her what sounded like a “pony in her tree.” I chuckled and, without hesitation, knew precisely what was delivering those “whinny” notes! I’m unsure what early ornithologists were thinking when they named the eastern screech-owl, but the modifier “screech” is definitely not applicable. Oak woodlands and oak savannas of the Hill Country are where I’ve heard them most. HUCK-WILL'S-WIDOW C No other night bird in Texas is more misidentified than this one, thanks to various literary works that mention the night sounds of the eastern whip-poor-will, a species that only migrates through Texas. Despite what Grandpa taught you, the bird you hear in the eastern half of Texas during the hot summer months is the “Chuck” and not a “Whip.” Pleasant when heard farther off, this song is representative of dark skies and denser forests. The bird “says” its name, but don’t expect to hear the first note, the “chuck,” if it's far away. Often all that registers is the wills widow, wills widow over and over again. Find a remote forested area without many lights in order to get closer so you can hear that sharp first note. TEXAS PARKS & WILDLIFE O 49 PHOTOS CLOCKWISE: © ALAN MURPHY/MINDEN, MELODY LYTLE, TONY NORTHRUP | DREAMSTIME.COM, ALAN MURPHY/MINDEN, GLENN BARTLEY/MINDEN, ALAN MURPHY/MINDEN, MELODY LYTLE While sleeping in a tent at dawn, I found that a group of raucous plain chachalacas was worse than any alarm clock. Great sound, but not while you’re asleep! Legend, Lore & Legacy PHOTO COURTESY OF MASON MEMORIAL LIBRARY A Boy and His Dog by Cynthia Pickens Looking back at ‘Old Yeller’ and Texas author Fred Gipson. I VIVIDLY REMEMBER reading Old Yeller by Fred Gipson as a 10- or 12-year-old. Gipson’s descriptions of killer javelinas and wild hogs instilled a fear that has never subsided. The thought of rabid animals veering through my yard sent shivers up my spine. I nodded my head in understanding at Travis’ irritation with his pesky younger sibling. And while I did not have a dog, I could appreciate the strong bond between Travis and Old Yeller. But the final scene, when Travis was forced to make a terrible decision to keep his family safe, left me in tears 50 O AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2015 and awe. As a kid, could I make such a heart-wrenching decision, and then follow through with it? In my heart, I was pretty sure I would fall short at such a moment. With an avid 12-year-old reader in my house now, I have been exploring young adult fiction in the past few years. I decided to reread Old Yeller. Forty years later, these elements of the story still stand out, but the book’s setting and details make the story more remarkable for me now. Gipson fills every page with facts and descriptions of the Texas Hill Country. Set in the years following the PHOTOS BY EARL NOTTINGHAM / TPWD Civil War, the book portrays a beautiful and bountiful countryside filled with danger and challenges to overcome. As a lifelong nature observer, Gipson paints pictures with his words that must have come from personal experience. In one scene, Travis sits under a tree while deer hunting, enthralled by two squirrels playing chase. Travis’ reaction when he spots the doe echoes my husband’s hunting stories: “She kept doing me that way [stepping toward him] till finally my heart was flopping around inside my chest like a catfish in a wet sack,” Gipson writes. “I could feel my muscles tightening up all over. I knew then that I couldn’t wait any longer. It was either shoot or bust wide open, so I whipped my gun up to my shoulder.” Travis then reflects on the ethics of shooting and injuring a creature. Descriptions of bat caves, prickly pear flats, raccoons stealing corn, herons nesting in trees while catfish lurk in pools underneath, and the intricacies of cow, dog and hog behavior can have been written only by someone who had spent many hours hunting, fishing, exploring and observing. A native Texan born in 1908 and raised on a ranch near Mason, Gipson helped his parents and siblings bring in crops and put food on the table, according to his biography, Fred Gipson, Texas Storyteller, by Mike Cox. Often in the evenings, the family sat on the front porch telling stories about hunting, fishing and animals. It should come as no surprise that Gipson had dogs growing up, including one called Old Misery, who seemed to have one character trait in common with Old Yeller, according to Cox: a penchant for stealing food. Gipson took his dogs so seriously that his mother was concerned that he would grow up to be just “a hound-dog man.” She needn’t have worried. Some of Gipson’s outdoor education came from trailing after a bachelor neighbor named Charlie Sanders, who was the inspiration for his first novel, Hound-Dog Man. Gipson hunted raccoons and deer, and spent a great deal of time fishing. After graduation from high school, Gipson worked as a cowboy, a bookkeeper, a mule-skinner and a road construction worker. With the advent of the Depression, it became increasingly difficult to make a living. After seven years of scraping by, Gipson decided to enroll at the University of Texas at Austin, where his younger brother was a student. In his freshman English class, he began putting his country stories down on paper with some success. The next year, he enrolled in journalism courses, and in 1935, his first published story appeared in the UT student newspaper, the Daily Texan. He left UT in 1937 for a job with the Corpus Christi Caller- Times, and spent the next three years traveling Texas, observing and writing about its people and ways for the Harte-Hanks newspaper chain. Along the way he met and married a San Angelo girl named Tommie Wynn. Shortly after their honeymoon, and with his wife already pregnant, Gipson was fired. Instead of tracking down another job, he decided to embark on a freelance writing Dogs were always a part of Hill Country native Fred Gipson’s life (opposite page); Gipson’s book Old Yeller (above) became a classic; a statue of Old Yeller and Travis sits outside the Mason library. TEXAS PARKS & WILDLIFE O 51 career. The couple retreated to his family’s ranch near Mason. Before too long, he began selling Western stories to magazines, able to bring authenticity to the stories by drawing on his knowledge of Texas history and culture. Gipson’s first book was published in 1946, a biography of Col. Zack Miller. Several novels followed, including Hound- Dog Man. His first children’s book, The Trail-Driving Rooster, came out in 1955. But it was his second children’s book that sealed Gipson’s place in literary history. In the fall of 1955, Gipson sent a query letter to his publisher pitching a book about a boy and his dog, based on a story told to him by his grandfather, Cox says. Gipson felt that most children’s books of the time were too sweet, and needed a dose of realism. His story would “show life as it was and not as people thought it should be,” Cox writes. Gipson received the go-ahead. The book, originally titled Big Yeller Dog, took three months to complete and was received enthusiastically by both his agent and publisher. Disney bought movie rights before the book had even hit the bookstores, and on-paper profits were over $100,000. Gipson was 48 years old. The Disney folks hired Gipson to help write the script for the movie, his first screenwriting gig. He flew out to California to work, but was homesick, in ill health and unhappy there. He couldn’t wait to get back home to Mason. 5 Disney studio staff tried to make changes to the story, most notably to the ending. They thought it was too harsh. Walt Disney, who had been monitoring the progress of the script, decreed that the movie would end like the book. According to Gipson’s notes on the screenwriting experience, he added a runaway mule scene to replace the book’s bull-fighting scene, which would be too difficult to film. Old Yeller was played by a dog named Spike, who was found at the Humane Society. A close viewing of the movie reveals pine trees where there shouldn’t be any; the movie was filmed primarily in California, before the days of the Texas film industry. While the movie brought Gipson’s story to a wider audience, the book paints the truest portrait of a time and place. (But then, I always think the book is better than its movie incarnation.) All told, Gipson published 12 books (some posthumously), 150 magazine stories and many newspaper columns, along with book reviews, screenplays and television scripts. Everything he wrote reflected his roots in the Texas Hill Country. His was a unique gift: the ability to accurately and humorously portray the feel of a place and its people. People all over the world saw an accurate picture of rural life in Central Texas after the Civil War through his telling of a simple and universal story — the story of a boy and his dog. Help Ensure a Healthy Red Snapper Fishery! load Down app the y! toda REPORTING IS FAST AND EASY. Download the free app at www.iSnapper.org Or report online at iSnapperonline.org 2 O AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2015 Report Your Red Snapper Landings Your catch counts! The data you provide is critical to better management of red snapper populations off of Texas shores. Report your landings at the end of each trip (except if you’re fishing on a party boat, as the captain will report for you.) 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