[texbirds] Re: How in the hell does one bird Kenedy County?
- From: Jay Packer <jay@xxxxxx>
- To: Texbirds <texbirds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 30 Dec 2012 14:37:58 -0600
I thought I would post a follow up with some thoughts on paying for access.
I'm not at all opposed to paying and trying to help give some incentive for
landowners to both conserve habitat and open access to birders. The issue
to me is the cost and pricing structure. I would be happy to pay something
like $40 to $60 dollars the first day, and then have free access for the
remainder of the week. Or perhaps $100 for an entire year... These prices
are still a little steep for me, but they are reasonable in a county that
lacks virtually all public access. It seems to me that a price structure
like this wouldn't cut the profits of the ranch either but would increase
access to those wanting to bird it. Other prices for bed and breakfasts and
possibly photography could remain high, under the assumption that those
wanting to do these activities typically have more money to do so.
There's also one other thing that's been bothering me. Most of these
ranches heavily advertise one special bird: Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl. This is
the reason to pay a hefty entry fee. The problem with this is that the
moment a pygmy-owl shows up elsewhere, especially if its publicly
accessible like a state park, then the reason to visit these ranches and
pay their fee disappears. I would like to see more of an emphasis on
birding wonderful places that have entire ecosystems conserved rather than
a single bird, however cool it may be. It seems like the way to promote
this is through a more flexible payment fee, possibly one that costs a
little less and especially one conducive for extended birding.
A couple of other strategies also have come to my mind for birding Kenedy
County. First, I noticed yesterday that one can see across the Laguna
Salada into Kenedy County from Kleberg County. We took FM 628 east (the
turn off from Hwy 77 is just north of Riviera) and ended up on CR 1120 when
we hit the Laguna Salada. We were able to look into Kenedy County, so this
might be a way to find some ducks, shorebirds, and other water birds. I
guess this kind of depends on your rules for counting county birds. Do you
have to be in the county too or just the birds?
The second idea I had was doing the LRGV birding festival in November and
signing up for every trip you can in Kenedy County. This will get you
access to places like the King Ranch and El Canelo, probably at a lower
cost.
Anyway, these are just a few of my thoughts. My wife and I just finished up
Kleberg County (two Anhinga soaring above the Santa Gertrudis wetland put
us over the 100 species mark), so we're headed to Kenedy now.
Thanks for all the replies.
--
Jay Packer
(sent from my phone)
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