White-winged Dove Banding Project (May-July)
Sponsor: Texas Parks and Wildlife Department
Sponsor Contact:
Project Leader: Volunteer Director
Time: To be determined by those working on the project
Location: Various sites in Fort Bend, Waller, and Wharton Counties
Description: Texas Parks and Wildlife Department is conducting a white-winged dove Banding Project in an effort to track their territory expansion and movements. In 2009, members assisted TPWD. In 2010, members, in effect, ran this project in Fort Bend County with continued training assistance from TPWD. In 2011, sites were added in Waller County; over 150 doves were banded in the two counties. Application to be placed on the birding permit is required. Training Session to be schedule for late April/early May.
Banding will take place on Master Naturalists’ property or other properties used in past years and additional properties identified as part of the project. Pre-baiting begins in mid-May; banding (weekly or bi-weekly) begins late May, runs through late July-early August.
# of Volunteers Needed: No limit. To participate in the actual banding process (i.e. handling birds), you must be trained either by TPWD staff or trained TMNs and be included on the bird banding permit issued for the project. Permitting occurs in April.
Supplies Needed: Banding supplies (including seed feed, traps, bands, etc.) will be provided by TPWD. Dress for the outdoors and weather, including wearing closed-toe shoes. Remember sun-screen and water and insect repellent.
Difficulty Rating: 2
Maximum VSP hours: Time spent
Ranching and Wildlife Expo (Assist at TPWD Booth)
Sponsor: Texas Parks and Wildlife Department
Sponsor Contact:
TMNCPC Contact: Volunteer Director
Status: Annual, Early March
Time: Variable
Location: Reliant Arena at One Reliant Park, Houston, TX 77054
Description: Assist Texas Parks and Wildlife Department Biologists staff the TPWD booth at the Ranching & Wildlife Expo. Help distribute print material to booth visitors. Answer questions about wildlife and habitats, if comfortable doing so. It’s a great opportunity to lend a helping hand and receive on-the-job training from TPWD biologists from around the region. Volunteers will not be on their own in the booth; they will always be accompanied by a Texas Parks and Wildlife Department representative.
Great opportunity to earn volunteer service hours and attend the associated Ranching and Wildlife Expo lectures approved for advanced training credit on certain event days (See Calendar).
Parking permit to be provided. No admission fee.
# of Volunteers Needed: 1-3 per shift
Supplies Needed: Prepare to purchase or bring your own meals or snacks. Wear comfortable shoes.
Difficulty Rating: 2
Maximum VSP hours: Time spent
Brazos Bend State Park Outreach Volunteering
Sponsor: Texas Parks and Wildlife
Sponsor Contact: Brazos Bend State Park Volunteer Coordinator
TMNCPC Contact: Volunteer Director
Status: Active, Daily
Time: Variable
Location: Brazos Bend State Park
Description: Brazos Bend State Park has 35 miles of trails and 5,000 acres of protected land, including fragments of intact coastal prairie, and is one of our chapter’s main partners. It offers a wide array of volunteer opportunities, any of which can be applied to TMN service. Most will require that you also complete the park’s own volunteer training program prior to participation, a 3-week course (Saturdays only), offered in September and February. (See Brazos Bend Volunteer Organization for details.) Several members are also active BBSP volunteers and earn TMN hours there. Volunteer opportunities requiring BBSP training include: leading formal (park scheduled) hikes, trail interpretation and patrol, and nature center staffing. Master Naturalists can give interpretative talks, guide hikes, and interpret informally along trails provided you contact Volunteer Coordinator in advance.
Not all projects there require BBSP training, however. You can help with trail maintenance, summer season water delivery to dry points in the park, and wood yard work. For other projects that do not require BBSP training, see Eco-Explorers, Pond Life Presentation, Fire Ant Treatment, and Chinese Tallow Treatment on this page. New Texas Master Naturalist projects are welcomed by Park management.
# of Volunteers Needed: The Park always needs enthusiastic volunteers
Supplies Needed: Depends on the activity
Maximum VSP hours: Time spent
Eco-Explorers at Brazos Bend State Park
Sponsor: Brazos Bend State Park
Sponsor Contact: President BBSP Volunteer Organization
TMNCPC Contact: VSP Director
Status: Active, annual event during the summer
Time: 9:30 AM to 11:30 AM
Location: Brazos Bend State Park near the Nature Center
Description: Summer program that teaches children about the wonders of nature in beautiful Brazos Bend State Park. Attracts children from age 4 through 12. Each week’s program revolves around a different theme and incorporates an indoor lesson (30 minutes), an outdoor activity (30 minutes), a related game (15 minutes), a craft (20-30 minutes) and refreshments! Help Needed: Do you have a particular interest or hobby that you could share? Do you have a collection you could share? Do you know of a game that has a nature theme? Do you know of a craft that we could do about nature? Do you have any ideas for activities? Program themes that would fit nicely include butterflies, insects, reptiles, native animals, flowers, plants, and trees, to name a few. Eco-Explorers would be greatly enriched if different Master Naturalists would be involved each week. If you can make a contribution to this summer’s Eco-Explorers program, please contact Carrie Sample. Once she knows more about what you can contribute, she will work with you to schedule your involvement and round-out the day’s activities.
# of Volunteers Needed: 8-16
Supplies Needed: All will be provided
Difficulty Rating: 2
Maximum VSP hours: 2 hours per day’s event, plus time spent preparing a presentation or activity, set-up, and take-down time
Pond Life Presentation at Brazos Bend State Park
Sponsor: Brazos Bend State Park
Sponsor Contact: BBSP Volunteer Coordinator
TMNCPC Contact: Volunteer Director
Status: Active, Periodic (3-4 per year)
Time: Generally 9:30 AM – 3:30 PM
Location: Brazos Bend State Park Nature Center
Description: Designed for all visitors to the park, especially kids, this popular program presented at the Brazos Bend State Park Nature Center can draw more than 100 participants. Volunteers may assist park staff and/or BBSP volunteers with specimen collection and ID, room or booth set-up (if the event is held outside), explanation of the specimens to the visitors, and clean-up afterward. This project offers volunteers an excellent opportunity to learn about aquatic wildlife.
# of Volunteers Needed: 2-3
Supplies Needed: None. Everything will be supplied by the Park; knowledge base: moderate
Difficulty Rating: 2 (some standing) unless you collect from the pond, then 3
Maximum VSP hours: 6-7 hours
Fire Ant Control Treatments at Brazos Bend State Park
Sponsor: Brazos Bend State Park
Sponsor Contact: BBSP Staff
TMNCPC Contact: Volunteer Director
Status: Active, twice a year, around April 1 and September 1, depending on weather, over a several day period (See Calendar)
Time: To be determined (See Calendar)
Location: Meet at Brazos Bend State Park, Nature Center
Description: The goal of this project is to control fire ants at Brazos Bend Park in the areas that are most frequented by visitors so that those visitors will continue to come to the park, learn about natural history, and support our state parks. Fire ants are easily the most notorious invasive insect in the United States. Wildlife biologists in Texas believe them to be widely destructive of our natives, including rodents, reptiles, ground-dwelling birds such as the Attwater’s Prairie Chicken and the Northern Bobwhite. There’s even evidence that they are deadly to fish when ingested. In addition, fire ants can make life miserable for people, too. They are well known for their painful stings and aggressive behavior. The primary treatment method is to broadcast a bait. The worker ants take the bait back to the colony and feed it to the larvae workers and the queen. Broadcast baits are easy to apply. They require no mixing, little measuring or weighing, and one rapid pass over the area to be treated. Application is made with a spreader mounted on a four wheeled all terrain vehicle (ATV). Two volunteers staff the vehicle, one as a driver, the other as navigator/operator of the bait spreader. The bait material is non-toxic and is not harmful to plants or animals, affecting only the fire ants. For immediate treatment, mounds are treated by hand with an insecticide that kills the affected ants but does not kill the queen. This project offers an excellent opportunity to learn about the park and its wildlife.
# of Volunteers Needed: 2 per area of the Park. There are 19 distinct Park areas to be surveyed and treated.
Supplies Needed: Lunch, clothes and gear appropriate for all kinds of weather (long pants, long shirt, hiking boots/sturdy shoes, hat, sunscreen, insect repellant, water)
Difficulty Rating: 2 (navigator/mound treatment) & 3 (Setup/Driver)
Maximum VSP hours: Time spent in accordance with BBSP-VOL schedule