To allow more youth the opportunity to get outdoors and experience Texas wildlife, the Texas Wildlife Association (TWA) will host a Land, Water and Wildlife Expedition Nov. 19-20 in Wimberley.
The event is open to youth ages 11-17 and a parent or guardian and will focus on birding.
“We’ll get on the property the morning of Nov. 19, which is a Saturday, set up camp, get everybody acclimated, get to know each other a little bit, and then really dive into the birding experience,” Chad Timmons, TWA Conservation Education specialist, said. “We’ll be working with mentors from our program, along with some master birders from the local Audubon Society chapter, to teach participants how to do things like operate binoculars and how to incorporate some citizen science apps.”
Participants will also learn about birding practices, bird habitats and how citizen science apps can keep track of their observations while also contributing valuable data to others in the birding community.
The expedition is an opportunity for youth who are interested in primitive or near-primitive camping.
“We will have access to electricity and water but really no facilities. We’ll be tent camping and have our outdoor kitchen,” Timmons said in an interview with the Texas Farm Bureau Radio Network. “We’ll have all the equipment necessary to make everybody’s stay comfortable. It’s a good bridge into true primitive camping.”
Cost is $100 for a youth/adult pair. Meals and snacks are provided.
Camping and birding gear are available for those who need it.
“We were able to get some teaching sets of binoculars, and we’ll also have some iPads available with all the systems and citizen science apps already on them,” Timmons said. “If they just voice their needs as they start to apply, we can make sure we can accommodate them accordingly.”
The goal of the program, according to Timmons, is to allow youth the opportunity to experience the outdoors and Texas wildlife.
“We, at TWA, have had the Texas Youth Hunting Program (TYHP) for quite some time. This is just a program to piggyback on that and just provide some additional outdoor experiences,” Timmons said. “TYHP does a really great job introducing Texans to not only the recreation of hunting but how it fits into the conservation model. So, this program’s doing something similar just with other forms of recreation like birding, fishing, photography and that type of thing.”
Space is limited.
Youth may apply here.