Birding South Llano River
Junction, Texas (April 2025)
Fishing in the morning and birding in the afternoon. That's how my days rolled when we visited South Llano River State Park in April 2025. Before I got to bed each night, I prepared my fly fishing and birding gear so that all I had to do when I woke was grab and go. I also readied the coffee maker, so my only task was to hit the on button each morning.
I cast my first fly at sunrise each day and fished for about two hours before heading back to camp for a quick breakfast with Tammy, followed by a long day of birding.
There are four bird blinds at South Llano River State Park: Lora's, Acorn, Juniper, and Agarita, but you can see birds anywhere along the trails, even at your campsite. Once, a Vermilion Flycatcher flew in and perched on a branch directly before us. I wanted to take a picture, but a cold beverage was parked where my camera should have been.
We visited Lora's Blind the first afternoon after we set up camp at site 41. It was warm in the blind that day, too warm for April, but it didn't affect the birding. We saw and heard a White-eyed Vireo, along with what birders refer to as the "usual suspects," such as Northern Cardinals, House Finches, White-winged Doves, and Lessor Goldfinches, to name just a few. We met a cordial gentleman from Indiana who had traveled two days to catch the South Texas bird migration.
The next morning, after catching a Guadalupe Bass and a Channel Cat in the South Llano River, we visited the Acorn Blind first since it was the closest to our campsite. Along with the usuals, we saw a Clay-colored Sparrow, a Nashville Warbler, a Lincoln's Sparrow, and an Audubon Warbler.
After lunch, we moved to the Juniper Blind. There were many birders, standing room only; still, everyone, including Indiana, sitting at the far end of the front-row bench, had a joyous time identifying all the birds that came through: a Spotted Towhee, a Western Scrub Jay, a Brown Thrasher, Summer Tanagers, and a White-throated Sparrow, among many White-crowned Sparrows.
Tammy was the first to see the rattlesnake. It stayed in the brush for a while, then slowly slithered through the middle of the bird feeding area.
A Brown Thrasher seemed to taunt the snake, but it might have just been trying to scare it away. Good luck with that, Mr. Thrasher. The Diamondback Rattler passed through the blind that day without dining on any birds.
After another early morning at the South Llano River, where I caught five sunfish and another Guadalupe Bass, we gathered our cameras and binoculars and headed for the Agarita Blind. There were several birders in the blind when we arrived, but birding was slow; most of them left shortly afterward. Indiana, the fellow we met at Lora's Blind, stayed a bit longer but eventually felt it worthwhile to use the slow time to rest, so he gathered up his gear and left. We sat for a while, quiet and alone in the Agarita Blind, contented, patiently waiting for that rare bird to drop in.
We heard footsteps on the trail leading to the blind. A young retired couple from Leakey had just come from Fort Davis and stopped by South Llano River for last-minute birding on their way home. We chatted for a few minutes when suddenly something flew into the brush; the colors were there, but I couldn't tell; yes, it was a Black-capped Vireo! I almost dropped my camera. I already had a picture of one from last season but aspired to replace it with a better one on this trip. I snapped many photos of the elusive Vireo, but only one stood out.
Within about a half-hour, two more unexpected birds dropped in: a Hooded Oriole and a Lazuli Bunting. We were ecstatic.
"Thanks for bringing in these birds from West Texas," I said with a big smile.
"Any time," she said blissfully. "however, we must get home now to feed the chickens."
"Are you sure?" I asked. "You may have brought more birds we haven't seen yet."
"I know," he said. "It's a tough choice."
There may have been some relevance to my bird lore - after The Leakeys left, so did the birds.
Shortly, a lone woman carrying a camera with a considerable telephoto lens arrived. She was from Amarillo. The three of us chatted for over an hour without any new birds dropping in. I passed the slow time by trying to photograph the iridescent colors of the Black-throated Hummingbirds; it was an ambitious but tiring effort that I was pleased to defer to another time. I was content, however, to have captured the Black-capped Vireo on my camera that day and was ready for dinner. We said goodbye to Amarillo around four o'clock and returned to our campsite.
Rather than cooking for ourselves that evening, we drove four miles into town and had brisket and sausage at Lum's BBQ. Afterward, while letting our food settle, we cruised the empty streets of downtown Junction, studying the dilapidated remnants of another small town with a once-flourishing past.
The next morning, after fly fishing another stretch of river, we chose to skip the bird blinds and hike one of the trails along the South Llano. A rafter of turkey hens headed for cover as we neared the end of the Buck Lake Trail leading into the River Trail.
Summer Tanagers are plentiful in the Spring and Summer months at South Llano River State Park. We saw and heard them throughout.
After lunch, we hiked the Interpretive Trail from the Camping Area to the parking area where the Frontera Trail intersects. After exploring the river below, we hiked along the road to where I parked to fish each morning, then hiked the River Trail back to Campsite 41, where we relaxed for the afternoon and made hamburger steaks for dinner.
On Thursday morning, a rainshower moved through, thus canceling my run of morning fishing trips. Instead, we made potato and egg tacos for breakfast and then prepared our rig for road travel.
When we visit South Llano River State Park each year, we always plan to visit the Acorn Blind one last time. You never know what you will see. When we arrived, Amarillo was already there, seated at an open window at the far end of the front row.
"Have you seen anything interesting yet?" I asked.
"Nope, but I just got here," she replied. "Wait! Look what just dropped in."
Many years, we see a new migrating bird we hadn't seen all week. In 2025, it was the Blue Grosbeak.
Among our feathered friends, one of these guys always seems to make an appearance.
See you on the trails!
~ Matt
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