Wildlife Watching at South Llano River State Park - Mon., March 23, 2105, Part 2

Upon entering South Llano River State Park, I know to look for birds and wildlife. My first find is a great blue heron who I scared up from the river next to the road.

The state park office had already closed, so I filled out paperwork to put in my windshield, then headed for a bird blind to see what was around. Many male and female cardinals, mourning doves, and black-throated sparrows were about. The cardinals were particularly happy in the water.

Black-throated sparrow

Female pyrrhuloxia or female cardinal???

Cardinal bathing

Having a great old time in the water!

Huh? You lookin' at me?

Well, check this out. I can almost hide.

After such a fun bird bath and no more exotic-type birds, I opted to drive around the campground, then go to another bird blind. Good choice. On my way to the campground, I saw five turkeys near the road. At this time of year, part of the park is closed off due to turkeys nesting, but hey, if the turkeys are next to the road, they're fair game for photos, right?

Wild turkeys

I drove the circle around the campground and just as I was almost out of the circle, my eye caught movement. Could it be? Yes! It's an armadillo! This is the first and only time I've seen a live armadillo in Texas. The only other time we saw one in the wild was in Costa Rica in the middle of the night.

Yes, it is an armadillo! Cool.

Feeling pretty thrilled by the armadillo sighting, I headed on to another bird blind. Three people were just leaving so I had the place to myself. My find at this bird blind was a black-crested titmouse. This is a bird I've never seen before. It flits around a lot, so it was hard to get a decent photo.

Black-crested titmouse

Black-crested titmouse

Black-crested titmouse

After hanging around watching these birds, I took a walk around the old barn next door. The sun on the old wood was awesome.

Beautiful colors in the setting sun

The ubiquitous Texas windmill

To cap off my wildlife viewing experience in South Llano River State Park, on my way out I saw two more forms of wildlife and one I had seen on the way into the park.

In a field to the south of the park road were two black bucks. I could only get photos of one due to the existing light. Exquisite.

Female black buck

Female black buck

Female black buck

I was not quick enough to get a photo of the other animal, a skunk. It ran across the road in front of me. By the time I would have stopped and grabbed the camera, it was in the brush on the other side of the road. This skunk is not like skunks in Oregon. This skunk had long white fur on its back. It looked like the following drawing, only its tail was down and the white fur flowed on both sides of its back to the ground. It looked awesome.

Hooded skunk

 As I drove out of the park, the great blue heron was still fishing by the road.

Great blue heron

Intently fishing

Great blue heron with a small fish in its beak

Majestic bird!

And that, folks, was the end of my day exploring Junction, Texas. The last rays of the sun were behind me as I headed home, arriving around 9:30 pm.

Travel Bug out.