The San Antonio River, Museum Reach

Today's Photos:

To finish this week on the San Antonio River theme, I returned to the Museum reach where this project began just over a month ago. Starting at the Pearl Brewery landing, I walked between Josephine St and Brooklyn Ave.

When I was looking for some information about prickly pear cactus to set up yesterday's post, I happened across a photo that was captioned "captive prickly pear." The cactus was growing in the center of a tire that had been placed flat on the ground to be used as a planter. For some reason, calling the cactus "captive" struck me as odd, but I guess it was accurate in the sense that the cactus wasn't growing in the wild.

In a similar sense, I guess, the Museum Reach of the San Antonio River could be called "captive." The river is highly channeled for both flood control and recreational use. The plants growing on the banks are for the most part native plants specifically planted to enhance the quality of the environment. Despite the captive condition of the river, it still supports a wide variety of wildlife as can be seen in today's photos.

Prickly Pear Cactus; The Ultimate Drought Survivor

Severe droughts are nothing new to South Texas. As a matter of fact the weather in this part of the country has aptly been characterized as perpetual drought periodically broken by torrential rain. It may seem like an eternity, but eventually we will be inundated with a deluge thoroughly saturating the soil, flooding low water crossings and refilling reservoirs.

The prickly pear cactus is perhaps the ultimate symbol of drought survival. Its thick skin retains the water within its pads and its daunting thorns protect it from being eaten by the thirsty creatures that share its ecosystem. In times past (and perhaps even today, I'm not sure), ranchers would take torches into large patches of prickly pear during times of drought to burn off the thorns and give their cattle a food source filled with water.

With our modern technology insulating us from the natural environment, most people living here have long forgotten just how rugged and unforgiving the South Texas environment really is. The prickly pear is a prolific native to South Texas. It is perfectly suited to these rugged conditions:

The San Antonio River, Mission Reach 1

Here are today's photos:

Perhaps I should have titled this blog: "Herons and Egrets and Ducks, Oh My! (And Cormorants and Hawks, Too)" I am definitely getting a plethora of pictures of birds.

Fortunately there is enough diversity of wildlife to post a variety of photographs. Given the number of photos I took today, I will probably use many of them for the Tuesday and Thursday posts next week.

The first phase of the Mission Reach goes from Lone Star Blvd to Mitchell St. I was going to walk the second phase of the trail on Friday, but signs are posted that the section from Mitchell St to Mission Rd is still closed for construction. The grand opening of the first two phases isn't until June 25th.

Tomorrow's post is a tribute to a drought survivor. By Friday, I'll have come up with an alternative trail to walk. I still have many, many miles of trail left to walk around San Antonio.

The Mockingbird: State Bird of Texas

While I've posted a fair number of photographs of birds, I really haven't had a specific goal of looking for birds when I go on my walks. They are, however, one of the few animals that tend to be active in the late morning when I manage to stumble out the door and head to the trail.

This past Friday on the Oak Loop Trail in Hardberger Park, I happened across this mockingbird that apparently had found insects to feast on under the fallen leaves. He (or she) spent several minutes hopping around, turning up the leaves on the ground giving me long enough to take a series of photos.

The mockingbird is the official bird of the state of Texas. In 1927, the Texas State Legislature proclaimed:

"[The mockingbird] is found in all parts of the State, in winter and in summer, in the city and in the country, on the prairie and in the woods and hills... [It] is a singer of distinctive type, a fighter for the protection of his home, falling, if need be, in its defense, like any true Texan..."

So, in honor of the State Bird of Texas, I present:

The San Antonio River, Eagleland Reach

With the continuing drought and heat, I was drawn back to the water for my walk today:

I haven't included much indication of the human presence in my posts so far, but the silos at the Blue Star Arts Complex have become something of a symbol for this section of the river. The Eagleland Reach of the river runs from S Alamo St at the Blue Star Complex to Lone Star Blvd passing behind Brackenridge High School. The three doves were sitting on the fence behind the school.

The San Antonio River Improvements Project is making a concerted effort to restore the banks of the river south of S Alamo Street to native vegetation. One thing that strikes me as rather ironic about this is that the only reason there is a significant amount of water in the river now with the drought is that the city maintains the flow with recycled water. The ecosystem restoration does appear to be working fairly well. As can be seen in the photos, a diversity of wildlife is thriving in the area.