Eagles don’t discriminate when it comes to food. They love turtles and fish, which could explain part of the reason they chose their lookout love nest over the Llano River. But they’ll also take small mammals and birds, especially waterfowl.

All of which left me kind of shocked at their current living arrangements. They are testament to the unexplainable and amazing adaptability of animals to their surroundings.

Butterfly Digital has more information about the eagles here, and Cottonwood Photography has a gallery of eagle photos.

November

December

Wish I had my own photos , but of course the turtles were gone by the time I returned with my camera – the 1st one I saw was down under the pecans near the cactus. I spotted him while I was picking up sticks in the yard, turned by back on him for a few minutes, and he was gone! I thought turtles were slow moving, but he must have found a red bull somewhere!

The other turtle was on the hillside just east of the pine trees. The same thing happened – I ran to get my camera and he was gone by the time I got back.

The turtles are most commonly seen across from our boat ramp and swimming area sunning on rocks. After looking up turtles on google, I still can’t tell what kind they were. One turtle shell was pretty flat and had lots of red coloring. The other turtle’s shell was very rounded and had a pretty distinct pattern with lots of yellow. Maybe a slider and a river cooter?

(The photo above, found online, will give you an idea what I was seeing.)

We just got the following message from Scott Joslove, President and CEO of the Texas Hotel and Lodging Association. This has no impact on our rates - we rent directly, so we never “wholesale” rentals. However we thought this was interesting as it points to the significance of the tax revenues collected.

Here’s what he says:

We
want to report that a jury in San Antonio recently reached a verdict
awarding 173 cities in Texas $20 million in a suit against online
booking entities such as Expedia.com, Travelocity.com, and
Priceline.com.  It is the first of these cases to go to trial.  The
lawsuit was centered on a dispute over the amount of hotel occupancy
tax paid to cities in Texas by the online booking entities.  The cities
urged that the hotel tax was due on the entire amount paid by the
consumer for their hotel stay.  Conversely, the online booking entities
argued that the hotel tax was only due on the wholesale price that the
hotel received from the booking entity.  The jury in San Antonio sided
with the cities and found that the online booking entities owed hotel
tax for the total room rate actually paid by the guest.  If upheld on
appeal, this will provide a large influx of hotel tax revenues,
penalties, and interest to the involved cities. 

October

December

For more information, contact:
Highland Lakes Golf Club
INKS LAKE STATE PARK
512-793-2859
inksgolf@gmail.com