- NARRATOR: The Texas Parks and Wildlife Television Series is supported in part by Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation -- conserving the wild things and wild places of Texas, thanks to members across the state.

Additional funding provided by the Toyota Tundra.

Your local Toyota dealers are proud to support outdoor recreation and conservation in Texas.

Adventure-- it's what we share.

Funding also provided by Academy Sports and Outdoors.

Helping hunters, anglers, and outdoor enthusiasts of all ages get outside.

Out here, fun can't lose.

[theme music] - ANNOUNCER: Coming up on Texas Parks & Wildlife... - That's the hardest part of the tower construction is just to be on top of the ladder with a big old section up there.

- I think that the app is a great way to engage with nature.

It's also a way to engage with other people.

Are you Jada?

Hi Jada, Sam!

- We look at it and ultimately answer the question, does this make a good state park?

What can people do there?

There's a lot of things that need to come together.

[theme music] - ANNOUNCER: Texas Parks & Wildlife , a television series for all outdoors.

♪ ♪ [upbeat music] - NARRATOR: In the growing city of Lakeway, intermixed within these houses, there's a preserve of sorts called Chaetura Canyon.

- GEORGEAN KYLE: Just watch your footing.

- We can see the swifts a little bit, but it's a little closed in here.

We'll get to see some good swift activity at the house tonight.

- NARRATOR: And here, there's a patio party about to get underway.

- We work hard all week, and then when we have folks out like this.

This is what we do for fun.

So, appreciate you coming out.

- NARRATOR: This is Paul... - There's a mated pair.

- NARRATOR: ...and Georgean's place.

- They'll crisscross.

- NARRATOR: And these folks are here to see some chimney swifts.

- PAUL: Their numbers are declining dramatically, they're down by probably 50, 60% since the 60s here in the United States, and Canada, they are on the threatened and endangered list, they've lost 90% of their chimney swift population.

- GEORGEAN: This is now our standard chimney swift structure.

- NARRATOR: For these two the birds are more than a fleeting hobby, they've been their life's passion.

- The swifts need all the help they can get.

- They do!

- NARRATOR: They're swift saviors.

- They are very unique, very beneficial and they are in very serious decline, mainly because of loss of habitat.

- NARRATOR: It was back in the 80's when these two met their first Chimney swifts.

- GEORGEAN: We have pretty much dedicated our lives to the little black birds that stole our heart.

We had no idea what a chimney swift was until we were presented one in a rehabilitation situation.

[hatchling chirps] He's two days of age.

A lady found him crawling across her carpet.

- PAUL: We had incubators, and interim housing, and then flight conditioning cages and what not.

And we took care of over 1,200 baby chimney swifts over the 19 years that we did wildlife rehabilitation.

There's something in your heart that makes you want to help one when you see it injured or get a call from someone that has an injured bird.

I suppose the big payoff is when you take a bird, take it outside and open up your hands, it fly's off.

It's like magic.

- NARRATOR: Chimney swifts are quite unique, unable to perch or stand upright, they rely on a certain type of habitat that's disappearing rapidly.

- GEORGEAN: Historically, they roosted in large hollow trees, and those are not allowed to stand anymore.

They then moved into brick chimney's, but now most of those are aging and many are being capped or torn down.

[saw whirs] So we went on a journey [saw whirs] attempting to create habitat for these birds.

- NARRATOR: The habitat, their own take on a swift-friendly chimney.

[drill hammers] - So, what we do is we cut these two by two-inch treated wood cleats.

Then we've got a nice, almost two-inch-wide piece, so we can attach the top or the bottom to.

You want to make sure that you really line it up.

[drill hammers] Taking the time to design one that was relatively easy to build and kind of a kit form.

It has worked out very well.

- NARRATOR: And these two seem to work well together too.

- Ah, we've been married for forty- forty-nine years believe it or not.

- Yeah, we're a good team.

Georgean really knows where to step in when I need an extra hand.

[drill hammers] Last one.

[drill hammers] It just fits in there like a tongue and groove.

Coming down, coming down, great!

The perfect home for chimney swifts, it's a nice rough surface, little grooves for them to hold on to, attach their nest.

Ya, basically anybody that can use a few power tools and read a tape measure can build one of these chimney swift towers and just one structure can make a real big difference in the breeding success of the birds.

- GEORGEAN: I think all three of these have nestlings in them.

- PAUL: I think so too!

- NARRATOR: These two have been working on swift towers for quite some time.

- Ah yes, every year we learn something new.

- We figured if we could come up with something that homeowners could build, then we could increase the habitat.

And so we tried one thing and then another, different materials.

- NARRATOR: And this is their final design.

- GEORGEAN: The outside is a hardy plank that's smooth, so no predators can climb it.

The vent up there allows air to circulate through the outside of the tower keeping it even cooler.

There's babies in there.

We are so happy we were able to come up with a structure that actually benefits the species and that other people are really jumping on the bandwagon to help, help the birds.

- PAUL: We need to dig a little more out of this corner.

- Square this up a little bit.

That might be ok, Andy.

- NARRATOR: Landowner and conservationist, Andy Sansom... - PAUL: Stand her up!

- NARRATOR: ...is all in on chimney swift towers.

- GEORGEAN: We're a good team!

- We just keep building towers so we can get them out here.

- NARRATOR: This will be the third on his property.

- ANDY: With each of the projects, we have become more and more involved in the actual construction.

- PAUL: This little wire twister cuts a lot of time out!

Crank it like that.

- ANDY: Oh!

- PAUL: There you go!

That's it, that's the idea.

- ANDY: I feel privileged that they've increasingly trusted me enough to let me participate in the project itself.

Come on man!

[grunting] There we go!

I learned a new skill today or at least half learned.

- PAUL: Yeah, lots more water!

[scraping] - PAUL: I think that's gonna do it.

- ANDY: Yeah!

- NARRATOR: They're halfway home, humans helping out their feathered friends.

It's worked before.

- PAUL: People can actually be credited with the recovery and the return of bluebirds.

It's not unreasonable to think that if enough chimney swift towers are built, that the chimney swift towers themselves could be just like the bluebird houses or the purple martin gourds that people put up.

Just a real full court press in conservation on behalf of this particular species.

- GEORGEAN: OK!

- PAUL: That's the hardest part of the tower's construction, just being on top of the ladder with that big ol' section up there.

[wood scrapes] - GEORGEAN: Paul and I have built so many towers together, we very seldom even speak while were constructing.

Kind of a dance.

- That's it, we're in!

Always so glad when that's over.

But now it's a piece of cake, everything's pre-cut, ready to put up.

From this point forward it will go pretty quick.

Keep going up with the insulation on top of where Georgean's been.

- GEORGEAN: It helps, it's to keep it cooler.

Yah, that looks good!

- PAUL: Great!

We've kinda lost track of how many of these we've done, we've done so many it's over 100 and probably close to 200.

- ANDY: I don't know that you could identify any individuals who have done so much for an individual species than Paul and Georgean.

And I'm talking about across the board in wildlife conservation.

[drill hammers] - ANDY: So, it was really special.

- PAUL: That's it.

Done!

- ANDY: We're already beginning to think about where we are going to put the next one.

[chimney swift calls] - NARRATOR: Back at Chaetura Canyon... - They're circling around and faking us out!

- NARRATOR: ...the patio party is in full swing!

- GEORGEAN: So, when we have folks come out in the evenings to watch the swifts go into the towers, oh, it's so exciting!

- AMANDA: Oh, here we go!

- There's a mated pair.

I think they are feeding.

- PAUL: The food they eat is insects, mosquito's, gnats, flies, all of the things we swat at and don't want to have around, that's a delicacy to them, that's what they survive on.

- ISAAC: Very cool!

- AMANDA: Here we go, oh!

There it is!

- GEORGEAN: It's hard to get someone interested in something that's so ephemeral and in the sky all day, - Oh, beautiful!

- GEORGEAN: Until they actually see them, - BIRDER: Wow, look at that!

Wow!

- GEORGEAN: So, education is the key!

- I didn't know, I really didn't know much about chimney swifts before tonight!

We have purple martins in our front yard, but I wasn't really aware that chimney swifts are very similar in that way.

So, um, see if maybe we can get a chimney out in our backyard too!

- PAUL: This is another design!

- NARRATOR: So, for these Swift Saviors, mission accomplished.

- PAUL: We love the birds so much, we want everybody else to care about them the way we do, so that we can have them protected, the more people that care about them, the better off they are gonna be!

And the better their chances in the future.

[chimney swifts chirping] [wind blowing] [birds chirping] - JJ: I hear some birds.

I hear some leaves moving in the wind.

If I move just slightly, hear crunch of some post oak leaves, maybe some gravel.

Don't hear that highway.

I don't hear a plane flying over.

I don't hear other people.

- NARRATOR: Quiet.

It can be difficult to find.

- JJ: Those urban environments where most of us live, [traffic noises] It's hard to get away from the noise.

It's hard to get into nature and hear those things.

[wind blowing] [birds chirping] It's just hard to find these special places.

[bright music] - NARRATOR: Texas state parks are one of those often sought after places where people find quiet.

- Our parks are so in demand that people sometimes can't get a reservation unless they think about it six months ahead of time.

There's just such an obvious need from the public to be outside.

- JJ: In Texas, it's commonly known that it's like 95% private land, and so there's just not a lot of public land in Texas.

- NARRATOR: If you add up all of the acreage of Texas state parks, it's around 650,000 acres, half of which is in the western part of the state.

- JJ: And that is the size of Travis County.

So that's why the Centennial Fund is so needed to get parks to the people.

- NARRATOR: The Centennial Parks Fund is a pool of money gifted by Texas voters to create new state parks, and it's already underway in the Central Texas Hill Country.

- We are at a future state park, called Post Oak Ridge State Park in Lampasas county.

- CHRISTY: So that.

- JJ: That's a historic cabin.

- CHRISTY: It's historic.

- NARRATOR: Sitting just across the river from Colorado Bend State Park is the first new parkland to be developed by centennial dollars.

- JJ: We looked at it and ultimately answer the question, does this make a good state park?

What can people do there?

Why would people want to go there?

There's a lot of things that need to come together to answer that question of, can this be a state park?

- NARRATOR: A team of people, from biologists to real estate specialists, all have a say in picking new park land.

- CHRISTY: So you need all those voices.

It's pretty fun to hear them.

It's pretty fun to hear the discussions.

- So there's a little research on the land conservation side to see if that's a property that's even viable.

- CHRISTY: You don't always arrive at a consensus that everyone agrees on, but you wanna have everyone be heard, and then that makes the thing better as a result.

- So it's not likely anytime soon.

- NARRATOR: And all these people had a hand in picking Post Oak Ridge.

[bright music] - JJ: Picnic area, could have a play scape, could have ADA trail, you know, pretty flat.

- I love looking around and thinking, what will this be like two years from now, four years from now?

Now, all that you see is the ground.

Like, where will the trail be?

Where will I set my tent up?

What will it be like when I wake up in the morning and I'm underneath this post oak?

- We have to think about utilities, wastewater, electric, radio, and we have to think about the buildings that people will go in, the trails.

- NARRATOR: As the team solidifies their final plans for this new park, they have plenty of inspiration to turn to.

- JJ: Where do you see features that look like this?

It looks out of this world, you know?

I think I've heard the word alien, spaceship.

Do you see a lion's mane?

Do you see a face?

So it's kind of fun to just look at it and explore, almost like looking at the night sky in a way and seeing the pieces that you put together - CHRISTY: To be in the quiet and to hear all the things that are not human, so the birds, the wind.

- JJ: What an honor and privilege to be able to look at what some folks will say untouched land before it becomes a park.

[bright music] [net whooshes] [net whooshes] - My name is Sam Kieschnick.

Um, as a little kiddo, they called me Sam the Bug Man.

Look at that, isn't that a beautiful spider?

Just beautiful.

I am an urban wildlife biologist, so I work with people.

I work with the people that interact with nature.

We've got a bunch of them, a bunch of different species here.

This one's a really interesting one.

Look at this.

- Oh!

- Yeah, this is one that you gotta get a picture of.

How's your camera skills with your cell phone?

[camera clicks] Sweet, sweet.

- A little bit blurry.

- Sweet, but that's all right.

This is an interesting one.

Whoa, that's actually a really cool catch.

Look at that, the black saddlebags.

[camera clicks] Gonna be perfect in your collection.

I am bonkers about this tool.

I'm a bonkers about iNaturalist.

For me, I get so much personal enjoyment out of it.

I've been using it every time I go outside.

I have over 100,000 observations.

I've been using this tool for a little while.

I've identified about 600,000 observations for other folks around the world.

So I just have so much fun using this tool daily.

It's a database.

It's a social network.

It's kind of a way of life.

I'll see an organism, I'll pop out my phone, I'll get out my camera.

I'll take a picture of that organism, whatever it might be.

And then I'll click on the what did I see?

View suggestions.

And this part is just mind blowing to me.

It compares it to millions of other pictures.

And it gives me a suggestion of the common name, prairie tea, or croton monanthogynus.

I'm gonna select it.

I'll save it and now I'll upload it.

And this is what happens.

Look at science.

Science is happening right now.

[bird chirping] And the beauty of this tool is when I post it, it allows other people to see that picture, see that data point, and they can help me with the identification.

That's one of my favorite things.

I will be at home, you know, sitting in bed in my onesie, looking at the different pictures of bugs from Abilene to Albuquerque, from New Mexico to New Zealand.

All over the world, I will be looking at the various engagements that people are having with nature.

And I think that this one is a dusky grasshopper, encoptolophus costalis.

I don't really know how to say that word, but it's kind of fun to try.

Do you wanna go look for bugs?

There are so many different things all around us.

And once we learn their names, it changes the relationship.

[leaves crunching] And there's the fungus robergea albicedrae, is the name of this.

A fungus that's found just on ash juniper.

Isn't that cool?

[camera clicks] I'll take a picture of it.

Yes, snow on the prairie.

Isn't that big.

Isn't that a whopper?

And this is bombus pensylvanicus, or the American bumblebee.

Once we start seeing nature, we find that it's abundant.

It's all around, all over the place.

I'm flipping over some of these, oh-ho.

There's so many opportunities all around us to be engaged with nature.

[camera clicks] So by using this tool, I learn the names of these critters and I start to see them all over the place.

And I learn my neighbors, my natural neighbors.

So by using the app, it's a teaching tool and it's a learning tool as well.

[playful music] So do you know the tarantula killers?

- Yeah.

- Yeah, exactly.

This is one of the spider wasps.

So it's in that same group Pompilidae.

- Way to go.

Way to, good call.

Sarah, perfect, perfect.

Sarah, that's awesome.

I think that the app is a great way to engage with nature.

It's also a way to engage with other people, other naturalists.

Are you Jayda?

Hi, Jayda.

Sam.

- Hi.

- Nice to meet you, nice to meet you.

On iNaturalist got your thousandth not long ago.

That's great.

And I think it's just that repetition, like it's just the repetition works, repetition works, repetition works.

- Yeah so, I'm in Insight Biology right now.

- SAM: But there are millions of users, millions of users around the planet that are using this tool to engage with nature.

So good.

So the best way that I hold these guys- - JAYDA: Is by the upper wing.

- Yeah, so I'll get just my two little fingers like this.

- Like that?

Like that, like that.

- Oh, nice.

- There you go.

There you go.

You got it.

Look at that, Jayda.

You're a rockstar.

You're a rockstar.

Without even trying, you're a rockstar.

But look at this, the nose of it.

I mean, it's just incredible.

Right there.

There's some concern that technology will keep us away from nature.

It distracts us from nature.

I don't know if the next generation of naturalists will get paper cuts on field guides like we may have.

I think they're gonna be using a tool like this.

So this tool that I use with my phone, rather than being fearful of this device, I use this as a hook.

This can be a hook to get people outside, engaged with nature.

We're using this tool to do that.

[waves crashing] - WELDON: This is the Packery Channel.

We're on the North side.

It's my favorite spot.

[waves crashing] To me, this was one of the most natural places I can be, you know, in the ocean, in the water at the beach.

[waves crashing] I feel like this is such a luxury.

I don't know how many times I just give thanks.

[waves crashing] - SHAWN: It's like a small surf community out here.

It's a place you can come and just kind of relax and just get away from everyday, struggles or problems that you might deal with.

You can come out here and be yourself.

It's a real friendly crowd.

[waves crashing] It's good for any age.

There's people out here that are 70 years old and all the way from kids out here that are, five years old.

And you just come out here and, have some fun and catch some waves.

[waves crashing] - LEAH: For me surfing is, is a way that I connect with nature.

and with myself.

It's really important to connect body mind spirit.

There's something about surfing that really does that for me.

And I think for a lot of people.

[waves crashing] - Out here, we're all equal.

We're all doing the same thing.

We're after the same goals.

There's nothing, it's you and nature and, and your freedom.

And it doesn't matter what color you are or how much money is in your bank account or anything.

You're out here with people of all walks of life.

Just killing it.

[waves crashing] [waves crashing] - WELDON: This is my escape into nature and to connect and you leave all your baggage at the beach.

And you just let that stuff go.

[waves crashing] It's kind of like a Texas Point Break.

[laughing] - NARRATOR: Next time on Texas Parks & Wildlife... - We have over 650 different species of birds that fly through Texas.

- Lake Casa Blanca, I think, has a little bit of everything.

It's just a little oasis here in the city of Laredo.

- Yeah, there we go!

- When we gather around something we caught, that's a really cool feeling.

- Came out so good!

- NARRATOR: That's next time on Texas Parks & Wildlife.

[insects chirping] [insects chirping] [insects chirping] [gentle wind blowing] [insects chirping] [insects chirping] [ducks quacking] [insects chirping] [ducks quacking] [wind blowing] [insects chirping] [water flowing] [water flowing] [water flowing] [wind blowing] [wind blowing] [wind blowing] [insects chirping] [insects chirping] - NARRATOR: The Texas Parks and Wildlife Television Series is supported in part by Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation -- conserving the wild things and wild places of Texas, thanks to members across the state.

Additional funding provided by the Toyota Tundra.

Your local Toyota dealers are proud to support outdoor recreation and conservation in Texas.

Adventure-- it's what we share.

Funding also provided by Academy Sports and Outdoors.

Helping hunters, anglers, and outdoor enthusiasts of all ages get outside.

Out here, fun can't lose.