Initial Description - South Llano River S.P. Blind #3

I had the good fortune to visit South Llano River State park on April 17th and followed-up with a 2nd visit on May 8th. As was the case the first time, park staff & volunteers were very friendly.

This is the 3rd of 4 entries on this park to go with the 4 blinds that are in the park.

Location: South Llano River State Park is located about 5 miles south of the city of Junction off of US Route 377. It is approximately 120 miles west of San Antonio or 295 miles southwest of Dallas. Inside the park, Blind #3 is located at the south end of the camping area, adjacent to the walk-in primitive camping spaces.

Setup: Blind #3 is much like the first two, but with some significant differences. Of most note on the similar side to photographers is that there was no chair at the one glassless spot in the blind.

Perches/Attractants: The word for this blind is distance. As in, there's huge distances from where the birds are going to perch and where the people sit. There is a water feature and feeders, but this is long lens territory.

AM/PM: This is probably better as an afternoon blind. As logistics would have it, I again was there in the morning and got some workable shots. It may have even been more workable as the morning went on, but I only spent about an hour at this blind because I was in search of the elusive blind #4. But late afternoon would probably be better.

Species: Most of the species I saw here were sparrows, Northern Cardinals, and White-Winged Doves. Again, a full species list for the park and surrounding area can be found here.

Lens Requirements: 300mm was not long enough for this blind. At least a 400mm is my recommendation and it is likely that a teleconverter will still be required.

Other Photo Ops: As noted, the Walter Buck Wildlife Management Area adjoins the park. In all reality, it dwarfs the park in terms of overall size. Miles of hiking trails are available in the WMA. Three additional blinds are located in the park as well as a number of hiking trails near the South Llano River and Buck lake. Outside of the park there are additional wildlife viewing possibilities are listed on the Great Texas Trails - Llano Loop page from TWPD.

Image: Lark Sparrow, South Llano River S.P., (c) 2008 Jim Miller