Kimble County is becoming known as an excellent area for bird-watching and is literally getting on the map for Texas birding.
Kimble County locations are now listed on the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s newly compiled Heart of Texas Wildlife Trail West.
A map of the trail, which will be similar to the Great Texas Coastal Birding Trail maps, is to be published in May and June and available by early summer, according to Nature Tourism Coordinator Linda Campbell of TP&W’s Wildlife Diversity Program.
Sites on the trail and map are nominated by the public, visited by the program’s assessment team and evaluated for inclusion on the map.
Among the locations on the trail’s Llano Loop are the Junction Wastewater Treatment Ponds, Schreiner City Park, Texas Tech University at Junction, the South Llano River State Park and the adjoining Walter Buck Wildlife Management Area, Fox Hollow Cabins and Mansfield Ranch.
Kimble County’s location just west and a bit south of what is known as the Balcones Canyonlands makes it an excellent bird watching area, and the word is spreading. The county has numerous streams and is known for its scenic ruggedness and biological diversity.
There are 622 species of birds in Texas. Ann Lemon, a local resident and avid birder, said many of those are likely to come through the Junction area at one time or another.
“More and more rare birds will be moving through the area,” she said. “Birds from Mexico and from the (Rio Grande) Valley are moving this way,” she said, as their habitats deteriorate in their native lands.
Hill Country specialties are the Green Kingfisher, and the much sought-after Black-capped Vireo and Golden-cheeked Warbler.
Other specialties are the Painted Bunting, Black-throated Sparrow, Black Phoebe, Yellow-throated Vireo and Pyrrhuloxia.
Bill and Rosita Shane, volunteers at South Llano River State Park, had already spotted more than 50 species there as of April 1, and many more are expected as the weather warms.
The Shanes have been instrumental in building two wildlife observation blinds there and said the park is getting well known as an excellent place for birding.
“They are attracting a lot of people,” Rosita said of the blinds. The first was built in 2000 and the second one last fall with the assistance of volunteers, Friends of the Park and park staff.
Visitors don’t have to be seasoned birders to enjoy the blinds — anyone can sit in peace and enjoy the serenity, scenic beauty and antics of the birds.
Birders also will be rewarded walking the many trails of South Llano River State Park, where Wild Turkeys, a Vermilion Flycatcher, or Eastern Phoebe may be encountered. A number of varieties of sparrows, finches, buntings, flycatchers and birds of prey make the park their home, either all year around or when migrating.
Along the banks of the South Llano River at Schreiner City Park, visitors might want to stop and see the Ross’s goose that decided Junction is a better place to live than the Arctic tundra where the rest of his relatives have headed. There are other water fowl there, too.
Another good spot for “birding” is the Texas Tech University-Junction campus where Green and Belted Kingfishers display their fishing skills diving along the river. A Bald Eagle and Great Horned Owl have been seen there this spring.
Check in at the Texas Tech administration building before driving through the campus; the staff is very helpful.
Water fowl congregate by the hundreds at their winter haven, otherwise known as Junction’s Waste Water Treatment Plant. Located off Interstate 10 on County Road 2169 (past Metco Building Supplies), the sewage ponds are a common place for birders to view water fowl such as the Green-winged Teal, the Northern Shoveler, the Cinnamon Teal and American Wigeon, to list a few.
Bird watching is a fun hobby that is growing rapidly in popularity. All that is required is a pair of binoculars and a field guide of birds.
Lemon notes that birders spend $155 million a year in Texas — traveling, in local stores, motels and restaurants — so promoting the birding hobby is good business, too.
Lemon is willing to help visitors who have questions about the local bird-watching scene.
She can be phoned at 446-4007 or e-mailed at msmagpie@ctesc.net.
“A magpie is described as a noisy or gregarious bird, so that’s a good one for me,” she said of her e-mail moniker. “They also say they’ll eat anything, and that’s me too.”
