We're Headed to Llano to check out the Eagles!

[dihoekstra]

My husband and I've decided to do an impromptu road trip this weekend and go check out the Eagles in Llano. Anything special I need to know?

[Maestro]

My husband and I've decided to do an impromptu road trip this weekend and go check out the Eagles in Llano. Anything special I need to know?

Nope. Enjoy the trip. I need to get back there myself since the last time I was there it was raining. Have fun.

[dihoekstra]

Well, this is not how I envisioned this trip at all. Traffic was so heavy on I35, we decided to break off and take the back roads. We were on Hwy 190 just west of Copperas Cove. It was about 10:00 PM. A deer ran out in front of us and, with no time to react, we hit it dead on. Scared the @#*& out of us and totally crunched the car. Hopefully not totaled, but not drive-able. Apparently the local sheriff saw the whole thing and came to our rescue. He has dropped us off at a hotel in Copperas Cove. In the morning, we will have to get the car to a body shop and rent something. Then, we will still try to get over to see the eagles. After all, we've invested quite a bit in this trip now. :o (My husband is not sharing my sense of humor). But in the big scheme of things, the important thing is no one was injured (well, except the deer)...just some inconvenience and we're out some money. Such is life.

[Maestro]

Well, this is not how I envisioned this trip at all. Traffic was so heavy on I35, we decided to break off and take the back roads. We were on Hwy 190 just west of Copperas Cove. It was about 10:00 PM. A deer ran out in front of us and, with no time to react, we hit it dead on. Scared the @#*& out of us and totally crunched the car. Hopefully not totaled, but not drive-able. Apparently the local sheriff saw the whole thing and came to our rescue. He has dropped us off at a hotel in Copperas Cove. In the morning, we will have to get the car to a body shop and rent something. Then, we will still try to get over to see the eagles. After all, we've invested quite a bit in this trip now. :o (My husband is not sharing my sense of humor). But in the big scheme of things, the important thing is no one was injured (well, except the deer)...just some inconvenience and we're out some money. Such is life.


I am so sorry for this. I hope everything turns out well in the end. I am glad no one was hurt.

In the future, and to avoid that bottleneck that is I35, take HW 67 South to Glen Rose. Just past Glen Rose, and soon after Fossil Rim Park and Chalk Mountain, you will see a cut-off, HW 220, I think. Take that road to Hico. In Hico, turn south on HW 281. This will take you to Hamilton, Lampasas, and Burnett. In Burnett, take HW 29 West. About 20 miles later you will see the eagles. It's a much better drive from the Dallas area.

Again, I hope the car situation is fixed promptly and you are not out too much money.

[dihoekstra]

Good morning. Well, our insurance company has set us up with a rental car so we will get in touch with them when they open here in a few minutes, get the car and go see some eagles!!! After all, we've come this far.

[betsy]

Ouch, Di! Glad to hear that you and your hubby escaped injury, tho.

Regarding the alternate route suggested by Maestro, I should mention that one year when a canoeing friend and I left Dallas around 6:00 p.m. for a state park & campground on the Llano river, we encountered slews of deer after Lampasas. It was about the same time of night (10:00 p.m., or possibly earlier) that we started seeing them, too. We drove very slowly after seeing the first ones -- counted 126 deer from the time we started counting until we parked at the campground. It could be that any hill country or relatively rural route is loaded with hoofed projectiles at night, so I'd recommend caution at that time whatever route you take out there.

Hope you get a good look at the eagles after all this!

[lei]

Sorry to hear the accident. Hope everythings are ok.

[dihoekstra]

Wow, what a great day! The eagles were fantastic! We had to drag ourselves away around 4:00 for the drive home (before dark!). Jess and Peggy were there from cottonwoodphotography.com. We really enjoyed them as well. They know their eagles! Very nice people. When we got there, there was just one eagle at the nest. After about an hour the other one soared in on the wind performing acrobatics like the fighter jets in Top Gun. He rotated into at least two 360 degree turns. I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me, but one of the regulars had him in his binoculars and saw the same thing too. Peggy caught him in a vertical flight and put that up on their site. The eglet is doing great...poked his head out a couple of times.

We also drove by the "accident" site this morning to make peace with hte deer. He had company! There were two others only a few feet away that had been hit as well. Must be a busy area right there.

Anyway, here's a couple of pics of the eagles...

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/178/371441182_23b7d59537.jpg

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/147/371441187_0dad8b9833.jpg

[Maestro]

Wow, what a great day! The eagles were fantastic! We had to drag ourselves away around 4:00 for the drive home (before dark!). Jess and Peggy were there from cottonwoodphotography.com. We really enjoyed them as well. They know their eagles! Very nice people. When we got there, there was just one eagle at the nest. After about an hour the other one soared in on the wind performing acrobatics like the fighter jets in Top Gun. He rotated into at least two 360 degree turns. I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me, but one of the regulars had him in his binoculars and saw the same thing too. Peggy caught him in a vertical flight and put that up on their site. The eglet is doing great...poked his head out a couple of times.

We also drove by the "accident" site this morning to make peace with hte deer. He had company! There were two others only a few feet away that had been hit as well. Must be a busy area right there.

Anyway, here's a couple of pics of the eagles...

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/178/371441182_23b7d59537.jpg

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/147/371441187_0dad8b9833.jpg

Very nice! I am glad everything turned out okay.

[One Strange Bird]

My husband and I've decided to do an impromptu road trip this weekend and go check out the Eagles in Llano. Anything special I need to know?
Yes. Watch out for deer! :D (so sorry :( )

[butterflydigital]

there is a much better nest to observe eagles. it is near lake palestine west of tyler. currently the eagles are nesting approximately 50ft off the road.
you can find directions and info at:
http://eagles.butterflydigital.com/lakepalestine.htm

[betsy]

Whoo! Nifty website! Thanks for posting a link to it, and alerting us to the Lake Palestine nest site. First pleasant weekend, I think I'll go have a look.

[Vern]

Thanks from me too for the site.

Have not made it to Lake Palestine yet, but I have seen Eagles at Lake Fork in several different locations and have a few photos, but most are too far out.

[dihoekstra]

I went down to Copperas Cove to pick up my car from the body shop and then on down to Lake Buchanan to check out the eagles. It was really a beautiful day!

The eaglet is really growing.

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/128/397047527_15a5a5f292.jpg

The eaglet and both adults:

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/162/397047529_5ada622103.jpg

Showing off one more picture. I appreciated this guy just sitting in the sun for an hour or so for pictures. Great view with the scope! Could see the pupils of his eyes! It was fantastic!

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/184/397047521_6b8bcd44f1.jpg

[Maestro]

Cool pics. I really want to get down there again before they leave for the summer.

[Vern]

Nice shots of the Eagles and nest. I suppose it gets pretty crowded there at times?

[dihoekstra]

Not crowded at all on Monday. People were constantly stopping to take a look but usually only stayed a few minutes. I parked on the east side of the make shift parking lot, so it was nice. (Best view in my opinion, also) The last time we went was on a Saturday and more people would stop, but again, never seemed too congested. That day we stayed from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM. Jess and Peggy from Cottonwoodphotography.com were there and were so fun to hang out with. They really understand these birds. I learned a lot. Very southern, friendly people. In their book they say the second thing they enjoy the most about the nest other than the majestic eagles is meeting and visiting with the people that stop by.

Just to note: Jess said that once the eaglet learns to fly, they will all leave the nest regularly and fly up and down the river, so you might miss them if you drop by. Best to go before the end of March. You might be able to guage it by watching the pictures they post on their website as to when the eaglet begins to learn to fly. Jess thought that this year, that would probably be mid March.

[Vern]

I have made many trips right by there over the years but the last one was before they started nesting there.

There is a ranch I visit from time to time south of there and was hoping to get back down in the area pretty soon. Thanks for the info.

[danator]

Some tragic happened down Llano eagle site.

http://www.highlandernews.com/main.asp?SectionID=4&SubSectionID=2&ArticleID=9773&TM=79466.37

[dihoekstra]

That is just tragic! It's a miracle more people weren't injured. We were there the weekend before this accident and there were so many people stopped to see the eagles. I also thought it was odd that the last post on cottonwoodphotography was March 12. May or may not be related. Thanks for the report.