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At the junction of the North and South Llano Rivers,
where the Hill Country meets west Texas,
sits the town of Junction.
And just a few miles south of town,
past trees and hills and flowing water,
you'll find South Llano River State Park.
This park is generally very quiet.
You hear the sounds of nature.
And sometimes the sounds of people enjoying nature.
Whoooa! Woo-hoo!
The crystal clear river is good for tubing and swimming
and canoeing and things.
The winter months, I would say
it's more for hiking and wildlife observation,
although people do that all year round
so there's a little bit for everybody here.
And human travelers aren't the only ones
drawn to the South Llano River.
These Monarch butterflies are roosting.
They're on their annual migration into Mexico,
and this South Llano River bottom is an area where
a real concentration of these butterflies show up each year.
Turkeys I guess is one of the main attractions of the park
and in the winter months we may have 600 or 800 birds
that come in and spend their winter on the roost.
The roosting area closes in October through April
during the time when it's so important to protect them.
You can break up the roost pretty easily.
By closing that and not having people down there
at that time,
the birds have continued to come back
just like they have for a long time.
But even with a good portion of the park
closed much of the year,
there are plenty of opportunities to see wildlife.
We have 3 bird blinds that we've set up
to really get a pretty good close look at a lot of birds.
And turkey watching in particular
can be pretty entertaining.
They're really funny sometimes, the things that they do.
They can entertain you for a full day.
[music: tukey tango]
They put on a show for you.
With the protected area of the park
and the adjoining Walter Buck Wildlife Management Area,
it's a show that should continue for years to come.
And that would have made Walter Buck very happy.
In 1977 Walter Buck donated this property,
and basically he wanted to be sure
that it was preserved for future generations.
But he wanted people to be able to enjoy the things
that he'd enjoyed all those years
that he lived here on the ranch.
His main interests were his turkeys.
But he also loved his deer and his fish
and his pecan trees.
I think he'd be pleased.
I think he'd be very surprised at how many people
have the opportunity to enjoy all those things.
[music]
For more information on Texas state parks and historic sites,
visit our website or call 1-800-792-1112.