We just returned from a multi-day swing through the Hill Country. Although we enjoy birds, we are not birdwatchers per se. However, one of the highlights of the trip was the 15-20 minutes we spent watching the "Llano Eagles". We had seen them mentioned in a news story here in the Dallas area, so we made a special effort to seek them out.
What is it? There is a large eagle's nest visible from Texas Highway 29 between Llano and Burnet. There are several adult eagles that return to this nest each year. The actual location is on the south side of the road, approximately seven miles east of Llano. (If you have a
gps, the coordinates are N30 46.326 W98 33.055). There is plenty of room for parking along the side of the road. The state has installed extra warning signs suggesting that traffic slow down, but I would still exercise extreme caution exiting and entering the roadway. The road seemed to have a lot of traffic on Wednesday morning when we were there.
The state has installed an extra fence to keep people from going near the nest and has also added some informational signs about eagles in Texas. The nest, which is probably a 100 yards (?) from the road, and the adult birds sitting in the tree were easily visible with the naked eye from the road. With binoculars, we could see another adult bird feeding the babies in the nest. If you are in the area while the birds are still in the area (possibly for another month?) I would definitely suggest a stop. It was a real thrill to see these gigantic birds.
Alchemist2000
P.S. We were not expecting to see any wildflowers yet, but we saw lots of bluebonnets on the north side of
TX-29 immediately west of Burnet. With some additional sun, I suspect more will be blooming soon.