Wild Bird Wednesday: Birds of South Llano River State Park

I spent a lot of time at the blinds at South Llano State Park.  It attracts both seed eaters and birds that want a drink or a bath.  Here are a few of my favorite birds.

Black-throated sparrow

Bathing Nashville warbler

Bathing spotted towee

Chipping sparrow

Female summer tanager

Field sparrow looking yellow in the morning light

Male painted bunting - never saw the two tone green female

Lark sparrows were everywhere

Chats were migrating through 

Bell's vireos sang incessantly 

Caught this summer tanager in his bath

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Favorite Places Revisited: South Llano River State Park

Since distances in Texas are so vast and since I was going to the Hill Country to visit my daughter's family, then had a week off before going to Three Rivers, between Corpus Christi and San Antonio,  I decided to spend a week camping, rather than running a few hundred miles back and forth.  The weather had other ideas and winter, which had been laying around lackadaisically, all it's due six weeks,  chased our Texas Spring, which usually arrives mid February, right off the planet, and commenced blowing cold, wet air on us. So I lived mostly in a week of cold drizzle with one lovely break at South Llano River State Park.

I whimped out of camping for the planned two days at Pedernales Falls State Park and spent the night in a motel in Junction so I could arrive at the park at sunrise.

Sunrise portends iffy weather, but it was good for this day

South Llano has everything I love; birds and a beautiful river with several paddling opportunities, and lots of hiking trails.  The river usually remains paddle able, even in dry times and birds usually abound.  Volunteers who loved birds, came here after Benton Rio Grande State Park, where they lived and volunteered,  removed all the camping sites, including those for volunteers,  and became a World Birding Center. They worked to build up the bird enjoyment here and made three more observation blinds, for a total of four blinds with natural feeders and water features.  The park is adjacent to a state wildlife refuge and visitors are allowed to use the trails in there, as well as trails in the park.

The park also hosts a huge turkey roost,  with over 500 wild turkeys wintering there each winter. The entire day use area used to be closed all all winter, until April, but now I think you are allowed to be there from 10:00 A to 3:00 P, when the turkeys are scattered out foraging.

As I have been finding wherever I bird, bird numbers and species are way down. Here, I normally run into several groups of turkeys, but only saw one group too far away to photograph. There were low numbers of birds at the blinds and almost no birds on the trails. I missed most of the wrens, most hawks, ravens, western scrub jays, and some of the sparrows normally there.

American Goldfinch  and Pine Siskin

Pine siskins and American goldfinch

Bath time for American goldfinch and house finches

Greater Roadrunner hunting

Field Sparrow

Chipping sparrow

Another chipping sparrow with eyebrow turning white

Spotted towhee

Black-crested titmouse at waterfall

White-crowned sparrow

White-winged dove

Feeding green-winged teal at the wastewater plant ponds

Sunset from the  Scenic Overlook

But there were still enough birds there to keep me busy.  I also finally went to the wastewater treatment plant and Texas Tech University at Junction.  Both were great sites and yielded added species. The only phoebe I saw was on the university site.  The university now has four blinds and is working on making the area more attractive to birds.  I should be full of migratory birds in April and early May.

There were a lot of eastern bluebirds at the university

Sleeping porcupine at the university

Here is the link to the birding loop I was following from the Great Texas Birding Trail.

I stopped birding around noon and ran back to camp to eat lunch and pack up my gear.  Then I drove under cloudy skies to Choke Canyon State Park where I met up with friends.

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Annual Paddle on South Llano River, Texas

I can't remember when I first started going to South Llano River State Park on a regular basis. My first visit there was amazing. A friend and I camped there among many birds I'd never seen, along with displaying turkeys. And the river looked like it could provide a fun paddle.

Then I remember a weekend paddling different stretches of it with the Houston Canoe Club. After that, it begins to be a blur of memories. But at some point, in the last several years, I started going over there the first weekend in May and invited friends to go with me. This grew into an annual activity. After I started traveling, my friend Winnie took over several of my annual trips, including this one.

I was so glad to be back, both to see the river and meet friends from Del Rio, Corpus Christi, Houston, and Austin. I rode down with my friend, Bruce.  We didn't get there until suppertime, so we set up camp, ate supper, visited a little while, and went to bed. I woke up around 5 A.M to answer the call of nature. The stars were so fantastic I lingered outside to enjoy them. The entire milky way was visible as was the north star.  I could find the few constellations I recognize.  I could even see the north star.  The crescent moon had already set and Venus shone brightly in the eastern sky.  I tried to take a picture but couldn't succeed.  Next time, I'll have to remember to bring a tripod.

All too soon the sky began to brighten and the stars fade. Birds started calling, led by a chuck-will's widow. Soon the hundreds of bells vireos were chiming in along with Inca doves, morning doves, and white-winged doves, cardinals and other birds.  I quickly got dressed and grabbed coffee and cereal, then picked up my water back, binoculars and camera and went off for a day of birding with Helen, Monica, and Linda.  (I'll share those pictures later.) The rest of the group did a long paddle on the Sough Llano and I didn't see any of them until about 4:00 P.M.

We first birded a trail from the campsite to the river, then down to the day use area and back to headquarters. Then we birded the four blinds. Finally, about 3:30 P. M. we stopped because the other birders were going back to Austin and I had a date with my hammock.  The day had started cool enough for a jacket until mid-morning but around noon, I'd had to zip off my pants legs.

I had to move my hammock twice to keep it in the shade and enjoyed watching a few birds still active in the mid afternoon while reading and swinging in my hammock.

Then it was time for showers and fixing supper. Since I have no room for an ice chest, I decided to just take sausages and put them in in a crock pot with grape jelly and barbeque sauce. I had it ready by the time the hungry paddlers arrived back at camp so it made a good appetizer for them.  We then shared chilli, several salads, watermelon, and desserts.

All  but four of our group 

Bruce and I after a big meal

The next day I got up early and had my camp packed up by the time Winnie and Bruce got up.  I had a couple of hours available to go birding so checked out two of the blinds near the camping area.  Then I found Bruce had put all the paddling gear in the front seat and Winnie had her front seat full, so I just walked down to the put-in.  We were putting our boats in a the low water bridge in the park and then paddling to the next bridge, a distance of about five and a half miles.

Winnie's picture of us at the start

By the time I got there, Ann had arrived and was getting her stuff out, while Bruce and Winnie had all our stuff ready to go. (Winnie has my white water kayak and loaned it  back to me for this paddle. ) I sat with the boats and read while they ran the shuttle.  We finally got started about 11:00 A.M. The day was getting hot but the water was cool and a breeze added its coolness.

Bruce getting underway, supervised by Ann

Winnie helping Ann get started

Looking back at Winnie coming around the first turn. 

Heading downstream

Winnie's picture of me 

The river is spring fed by over 100 springs, but I'm not sure if all the springs are all still running.  It was at low as it was a couple of years ago when I paddled it, which is about the lowest level at which it can still be paddled.  I think all of us had to slide across rocks a few times by pushing with our hands and paddles and a couple of us had to get out and pull boats over really low places.

Winnie in front of the mountain that is across the street from the park

In places, the creek is cutting a wider swath through high banks

Bruce got way ahead of us, then stopped to watch a ringed kingfisher.  We only got a quick look at it before it flew around a bend and disappeared. This was the first time I'd seen this species here. Other birds we saw were northern, barn, and cliff swallows, white-winged and mourning doves, a little green kingfisher, and a great blue heron.  We heard summer tanagers and bell's vireos. 

While in other places it looks like a small, harmless creek

Usually any fallen trees have been cut to keep the channel open for paddlers

Winnie takes more pictures than I do

Winnie and Ann trying to make it through a boney spot

This is view from a high bank where Bruce and I waited on Winnie and Ann

In another pool

Another high bank - good for swallows and kingfishers

Fun all done

We rode back to the parking lot at the put-in and moved Bruce's boat and our paddling stuff from Ann's car to ours and started back home.  The weekend was way too short - no time to hike or bike or find the black-capped vireo or golden-cheeked warbler, two rare endemic species.

Stream Data:  The stream was running at 45 cubic feet/second the entire time we were this.  This is the lowest flow you want to paddle and 50 cubic feet/second would be much better.  Gage information is here: http://waterdata.usgs.gov/tx/nwis/uv/site_no=08150000&PARAmeter_cd=00065,00060

On the personal front, I'm still in Galveston. I have been getting referrals from my original doctors. I now have had two MRI's - one on my right shoulder, and one on my upper back.  I hope to get four surgeries this fall - two on my wrists and two on my rotator cuffs.  Just got the right shoulder diagnosed and had the left shoulder diagnosed last year.  My back is deteriorating but I'm hoping to stabilize it with exercise.  I have an appointment for physical therapy next week.

I'll go visit my children in the Texas Hill Country next weekend, then start my trip up north.

Farewell Paddle on the South Llano River

I ended my stay in Texas with a farewell trip to South Llano River State Park.  I birded, hiked, visited and finally paddled with various friends of a group of sixteen.  I've blogged about that trip here.  I birded all the way to the put-in and then had to wait on the rest of the group to arrive.

Summer tanager

Red-eyed vireo "preaching"

Eastern Wood Peewee singing

 Bob, Ann and I were the only ones paddling. The rest were either leaving, or birding. Natalie came to watch us take off and then planed to pack up and go to Austin to visit her daughter on the way home. Bill came to run the shuttle for us.  He followed Bob down to the take-out and then brought him back. Then he went back to pack up and wait for me.  He planned to stuff my things in the car for me.  (What a guy!)Finally, around 10:00 A.M., we were ready to do this short paddle -  I think it's about five miles.

Bob helping Ann at the put-in at the low water bridge in the park

We wound through the first chute and then pulled out so Ann could get her foot braces fixed.  After that we were able to paddle for over an hour before we needed a pit stop. We were also stopped several times by low water - the river was the lowest I've ever seen it.  This must be due the the on-going drought in the area.  But we still finished our paddle in about two hours.

River View

Winnie took this picture of me from a high bank near the start of the trip

Bob and view

Low water

Ann by cut bank

Bob struggling across a shallow spot

Some lingering blue-winged teal

Ann gets a drag from Bob

Finding a devil's trumpet along the riverside was a surprise

 But even low, the river was beautiful and we were a little sad to see the bridge.  I was surprised to see a new bridge that we could paddle under and the new parking area for paddlers.   I'm glad to see that more and more rivers are getting paddling trails with more amenities for paddlers.

Ann coming under the new bridge

At the take-out

I didn't take my canoe with me to Bison Range because there is hardly any paddling I can do by myself without running a shuttle.  There are a few lakes but I don't really like lake paddling. So this memory will have to last me until I go on a Boundary Waters Trip in September.