Early Bird

Hill Country nature park crows over first bald eagle sighting of the season

The first eagle sighting came early this year.

Photo by Sylvia Flannery

There’s no other way to put it, folks: The eagle has landed.

Canyon of the Eagles Nature Park & Resort, located in the Highland Lakes region along Lake Buchanan near the Hill Country community of Burnet, is reporting it had its first sighting of the season of a mature American bald eagle on August 1.

The sighting, which comes months earlier than the normal first sighting of the season, was noted after an eagle-eyed resort staffer spotted the bird, a species that usually returns to the area October through March for the nesting season. That’s when birdwatchers and nature lovers flock to the park and surrounding areas in hopes of spotting the majestic American bald eagle.

The birds — who mate for life and typically do so only once a year, often laying only one to three eggs — create nests that are reused and added to each year. An eagle’s nest, the largest of any North American bird, can be 4 to 5 feet wide and 2 to 4 feet deep, though the park’s experts say some can be as big as 10 feet wide and weigh 1,000 pounds.

The American bald eagle, a species that has long been the national emblem of the U.S., was placed on the endangered species list in 1967, but thanks to conservation efforts, it was removed from the list in 2007.

Bald eagles thrive in the cliffs of the Colorado River and Lake Buchanan because it’s a bountiful area for their meals of choice: fish and waterfowl. Immature eagles — those without the white head and tail feathers — sometimes stay in the area year-round until they reach their breeding age at 4 or 5 years. Their average life span, according to the park, is about 15 to 20 years when living in the wild.

Fun fact: Bald eagles aren’t actually bald. The name derives from an outdated reference to the phrase “white-headed,” and male and female adults look roughly the same, though females are about 25 percent larger than males.

The U.S. boasts some 60 million birdwatchers, including plenty in the Central Texas area. Birdwatchers looking to spread their wings with an eagle sighting can visit the 940-acre nature park year-round. The park fee includes access to 14 miles of nature trails, 3 miles of private lakefront, and food or drinks at the resort restaurant and park store.

Overnight stays are also available, and the resort features 61 lodge-style guest rooms, as well as RV and camping sites. Guest rooms start at $159-179 per night, and overnight guests have access to additional amenities, including the Eagle Eye Observatory, a two-hour guided boat cruise, and a variety of nature programs.

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Light it up, y'all!

Sensational Texas holiday display battles on TV's Christmas Light Fight

Mach Christmas Display, Ennis, Great Christmas Light Fight

Photo courtesy of Patrick Mach

The Austin section has guacamole and music tributes.

Patrick Mach harbored a Texas-sized dream to compete on ABC’s The Great Christmas Light Fight. When he finally got the call, he built Texas.

The Mach Christmas Display — a massive walk-through attraction in the North Texas town of Ennis — will compete on the hit reality competition on Thursday, December 19. They’ll battle against three other families around the country for $50,000, a trophy, and serious bragging rights.

“It’s a bucket-list item to be on the show,” Mach says. “I’ve always wanted to be on since season one.” (The show is now in season 12.)

The Mach family — Patrick and wife Natasha and their four kids, Natalie (17), Ethan (16), Noelle (12), and Brandon (11) — all pitched in to create the display and will appear on the show.

The family lives on a “mini-ranch” in the Ennis-Alma area, about 40 minutes south of Dallas. (Ennis is famous for its Bluebonnet Trails each spring). Three-and-a-half acres of their 10-acre property are taken over by their Christmas lights extravaganza each holiday season. It even has its own electrical meter.

“Texas” uses half-a-million lights, 200 inflatables, and custom-built pieces to depict 40 cities and towns across the Lone Star State (though not actually in the shape of Texas). Each is marked with a green city-limits sign and has a vignette that represents the city.

“Live Music Capital” Austin has a guitar with strings that “play.” (A custom Texas Capitol building will be constructed for next year’s display.) San Antonio has a giant, 8-foot-tall Alamo outlined in lights and a River Walk bridge crossing a blue river. “Space City” Houston has rockets and Buzz Lightyear.

Mach Christmas Display, Great Christmas Light Fight, Dog Ridge The Dog Ridge, Texas section, of course, features dogs.Photo courtesy of ABC

Fort Worth gets longhorns and a Texas Motor Speedway-inspired racetrack, complete with “Lightning McQueen” and “Tow Mater” Disney/Pixar characters. Dallas features a custom wireframe outline of the skyline, plus Dallas Cowboys inflatables and a whole section devoted to the State Fair.

The smaller Texas town displays are just as creative: Glen Rose has dinosaurs, College Station has Texas A&M-inspired military drummers, New Braunfels has a polar bear floating the river, and Ennis, of course, has bluebonnets.

Mach Christmas Display, Ennis, Great Christmas Light Fight The Glen Rose section has dinosaurs.Photo courtesy of ABC

In a nod toThe Great Christmas Light Fight host Carter Oosterhouse, they added Carter, Texas — yes, an actual town in Parker County — just for the show. It included a mural of Oosterhouse riding a bull. The host, Mach says, was impressed.

Love of Christmas
The Machs’ drive to light up a Texas-sized spectacle comes from their deep love of Christmas. Patrick and Natasha met on a dating app when she “hearted” his Christmas-y photo. On one of their first dates, during the pandemic, they watched a Great Christmas Light Fight marathon. He proposed to her on his Christmas lights display at home. They married in a Christmas-themed wedding three years ago, and Santa even showed up.

Patrick Mach had grown up loving Christmas and putting up displays with his father, from whom he learned carpentry. His dad gifted him an old-fashioned blow-mold nativity scene in 2004; he then passed away on December 30, 2006.

“So since he passed so close to Christmas, every year I did a little more to keep mind off what happened … then it just became so big,” Mach says.

In fact, Mach had been nominated for the Light Fightevery year since 2019. He never thought he was ready.

“It took a few years to commit,” he says, “then 2023 came around and we said, ‘Let’s go.’”

The family found out they’d made the show in September 2023. Filming would take place around Thanksgiving. Each member of the family, plus an army of friends, worked from a “battle plan” to design and build the display, which would be greatly expanded for the show.

“From 2022 to 2023, we doubled the display,” he says. “It was all hands on deck. We were still working on it the day they showed up (to film).”

The shoot lasted a few days and was an “awesome experience,” Mach says. The crew became like family.

“Behind the scenes we were always cutting up, laughing, the kids made friends with the producers,” he says. “We still text message with the producers every so often, and one camera guy brought us a Christmas display item that he doesn’t use and wanted to go to a good family.”

Two things that surprised him behind the scenes: how strict they were about using copyrighted characters and images (no Grinches allowed) and how tiring the filming was.

“After we filmed, I slept the best I'd slept in months,” he jokes.

Mach Christmas Display, Ennis, Great Christmas Light Fight The Mach family with Great Christmas Light Fight host Carter Oosterhouse.Photo courtesy of Patrick Mach

He remains tight-lipped about the outcome of the show. But if the family does win, he’d like to put the $50,000 toward a well-deserved vacation. They're the fourth Texas contenders on this season of Light Fight; so far, none has been victorious.

Gift to the community
Win or lose, the Mach Christmas Display will remain on for the public to walk through and enjoy on select nights through the holidays. (Watch their Facebook page for the schedule.) There’s no charge to see it, but they do collect donations for local charities such as Toys for Tots, Helping Hands of Ennis, and the SPCA.

It can be a little tricky to find, and GPS doesn’t always route to the right place, so they advise visitors to use the pin they’ve dropped on Google Maps.

Although the Machs have attracted visitors from several hours away, they remain focused on sharing their love of Christmas with their community.

“Ennis is a smaller town, and this is our way of giving back to the community,” Mach says, “of giving families something to do around the holidays because there’s nothing around here like this.”

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The Machs’ episode of The Great Christmas Light Fight will air at 7 pm Thursday, December 19 on ABC and will be available to stream on Hulu the next day. The Mach Christmas Display is open on select nights through the holiday season; follow their Facebook page for the schedule and more information. The address is 171 FM1183, Ennis, 75119. Follow the directions at the pin on Google Maps. For lists of Fort Worth's best Christmas lights, go here and here.

Photo courtesy of Patrick Mach

The Austin section has guacamole and music tributes.

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