North Salado Creek Greenway, Voelcker Lane Trailhead North

Today's photos:

This section of the Salado Creek Greenway goes from Blanco Road at Voelker Lane north to Huebner Road. The entire distance is about two miles one way. I managed to walk about half way to Huebner Road today.

Unfortunately, there isn't a trailhead with parking at Huebner Road so I'm still trying to figure out a way to walk the second half. I can handle two miles fairly comfortably. The four mile round trip of the entire trail may be pushing the limit. But then, that is a problem for another day.

One thing I should point out is that this area of San Antonio has a fairly large population of white tail deer. A doe and a large fawn bound across the trail just a few yards in front of me as I was walking along.

It has always amazed me how deer can run at a breakneck speed through fairly dense brush without making a sound. I didn't hear them coming and was quite honestly startled as they leapt across the trail so close in front of me. Needless to say, I didn't have time to raise the camera, much less take a photo.

I had some expectation of seeing deer Wednesday evening when I walked the Water Loop Trail. I wasn't expecting to see them today on the run in the middle of the day. One thing I have learned over the years is to always expect the unexpected. But there are always some photos that get away.

The Slightest of Movements, Water Loop Trail, Hardberger Park

It had been a long day. I pushed myself to walk the Water Loop Trail at Hardberger Park yesterday evening. It would have been easy to make excuses and head home.

Once I was on the trail, my awareness quickly shifted to my surroundings. I was in the moment. The play of the evening light on the landscape was amazing.

Then, something moved in the underbrush well off the trail to my right. Or did it? Maybe I just imagined I saw something move. I stopped and looked more intently in the direction I thought I saw the motion.

Yes, something did move, ever so slightly, like the subtle twitch of a rabbit's ear:

Hardberger Park, Water Loop Trail, An Evening Walk

This evening's photos:

Today was a very busy day and I didn't get to go on my walk until the evening. One thing about photographing in the evening in South Texas is that the quality of light is unique. More than any other time of day, the evening light itself can become the main subject of a photograph.

I might add that the Water Loop Trail in Hardberger Park is a gem of a nature trail. In wetter years, there are intermittent streams that flow into Salado Creek and this area of the park features a fairly large wetland area.

Hawk Soaring: Wonder and Awe and Delight

I'm fairly certain this is a juvenile red-shouldered hawk, but neither its age nor its species are relevant here. As I have written so often, "the photographs in this project are about the sky, the earth, the plants and animals, and about the experience of being in their presence, the experience of their spirit, the experience of wonder and awe and delight."

The hawk flew out of the woods next to the trail along the river and circled low over my head several times before it soared off upstream. It was as obviously aware of my presence as I was of it. There was, for a few brief moments, a connection between us.

About the time I start thinking, "This is what it's all about. It doesn't get any better than this!" it gets better: