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Day or Night, Nature Waits to be Explored at Canyon of the Eagles

By Katie McElveen

“Close your eyes!” 

The warning thundered through the darkness, and we immediately stopped what we were doing and heeded the call.  Seconds later, when the call came that coast was clear, we opened them and continued our way from the parking lot.  Thanks to our unseen friend, we had retained the night vision we would need to find our way through the near-total darkness of the remote Texas hilltop to the Eagle Eye Observatory. 

The Eagle Eye Observatory is just one of the nature-based programs available to visitors to the Canyon of the Eagles Lodge and Nature Park, a 940-acre resort located about an hour from Austin in the Texas Hill Country.

The monthly “Star Parties”, which are sponsored by Canyon of the Eagles and the Austin Astronomical Society, bring more than a hundred people out into the night to see the stars, the moon and usually a planet or two through the massive Ealing and Harlan Smith telescopes that are the observatory’s centerpieces.  The volunteer astronomers are helpful and knowledgeable, naming nearly every glowing orb in the sky while pointing out constellations and sharing their stories.  They turn the night sky from an unorganized mass of tiny shards of light into tales of warriors and gods that are worth staying up late to hear.

We stay up late the next night too, this time in search of the owls and other nocturnal creatures that populate the park.  The night hikes, guided tours that focus on the sounds of nature (not to mention the occasionally sighting), are a popular activity at Canyon of the Eagles.  The naturalists, storytellers at heart, help us identify individual sounds within the cacophony that surrounds us and are quick with interesting facts and anecdotes about the animals and birds that live deep in these fields.

Daytime at Canyon of the Eagles is just as busy as nighttime.  Down a short rocky trail from the rooms there’s a sandy beach, kayaks and canoes and other water activities.  Twelve miles of hiking trails wind through the property’s wildflower meadows, shady forests and riverfront.  There’s a native stone pool with a waterfall and the views, of the lake, the river or just miles of open field, are magnificent

Although the resort comprises 940 acres, only a tiny percentage of it has been developed.  There’s a 64-room lodge that sits on a bluff overlooking massive Lake Buchanan and places to camp.  Lucky for visitors, most of the rest has been set aside as a nature preserve.  Although the park teems with all types of wildlife—armadillos, road runners, rabbits and raccoons make regular appearances--it’s the birds that steal the show.

Winter brings the resort’s namesake bald eagles to the region, and with them, hundreds of visitors hoping to catch a glimpse of the majestic birds.  One of the best ways to see the eagles is by taking the Vanishing Texas River Cruise, a guided tour of the river that departs from Canyon of the Eagles.  It’s a beautiful ride:  the river cutting a path through green hills, which soon give way to red rock walls that rise straight up from the water.  Waterfalls shoot over the cliffs with such force that kayakers can paddle behind them.  Birds swoop in lazy circles and wild goats cling precariously to the cliffs in search of sweet grass.

During spring and summer, when the Eagles head to other locales, songbirds, some quite rare, make their homes in the fields, trees and meadows within the park.  It’s not just luck, though, that brings these birds to Canyon of the Eagles.  By carefully preserving habitats that specifically support species such as black-capped vireos and golden-cheeked warblers, the park’s naturalists have seen evidence that the number of these endangered birds is beginning to increase.

The Guided Birding Program, a highly exclusive program which accesses restricted zones within the preserve during the nesting season of several endangered species, is one of the park’s highlights.  Limited to fifteen participants for each of the four sessions, each two-day session takes birders deep into the park.

By noon on the first day of our search for black-capped vireos and golden-cheeked warblers, we’re hot, tired (we met at dawn for an orientation) and a little disappointed.  Not only have we not seen the birds we came to see, but we’ve missed several opportunities to see painted buntings, the striking red, blue, yellow and green birds that we’d heard are as common to the area as Texas bluebells.  We’re amazed that something so colorful can be so difficult to spot, but, somehow, these little birds blend into the trees nearly perfectly. 

With a wave of her hand, our guide, Beth, stops and silences us.  Trained to find birds by identifying their songs, Beth thinks she’s heard a warbler.  Suddenly, a tiny flash of gold streaks by and lights gently on a branch.  The birdwatchers among us are amazed.  This petite bird, a golden-cheeked warbler, usually so shy, is standing at attention.  He poses for a second, then, with a quick nod, is gone, as fast as he had come.  Surprisingly, within just a few minutes of hiking, we come across the distinctive nest of our other quarry, the black-capped vireo.  Like the warbler, the vireo gives us a once over, and is soon just a black dot zig-zagging back into the trees.  Beth, at this point, is almost speechless.  “They are so rare, we’re lucky to see one or the other,” she exclaims. 

Activities aren’t limited to what’s offered inside Canyon of the Eagles.  There’s shopping in nearby Marble Falls, wine tasting at Fall Creek Vineyards and even spelunking in Longhorn Caverns State Park.  All that’s lacking, it seems, is time to sleep.

Reprinted with permission from AAA Go Magazine.

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