Friday, March 9, 2012
Today's photos:
This was one of those days when it was highly tempting just to stay in bed all day. The temperature stayed in the mid-40s (F) all day. There was a brisk north wind. I managed to get the walk in during a brief break in the rain that ranged from a heavy mist to heavy showers all day. It was a reminder that we are still in the winter season. Apparently, quite a few of the ducks had decided it really was a good day to sleep in.
My walk today was my first since beginning this blog along the stretch of river just south of downtown where it goes through the King William Historic District. In the river management scheme of things, this section is maintained by the city's Parks and Recreation Department. It is similar to the Museum Reach north of downtown in that the river flows through a concrete lined channel. But the banks of the river here are generally much wider than in the Museum Reach and are maintained more or less as manicured parkland.
Thursday, March 8, 2012
There were a great many Red Admiral butterflies along the Yanaguana Nature Trail. They are the butterflies in the photos I posted yesterday. However, near the end of my walk, I was delighted to happen across a Pipevine Swallowtail, or at least that is what I am fairly certain it is.
There are several butterflies that closely mimic the pipevine swallowtail. Like the monarch butterfly, the pipevine swallowtail are toxic to their predators. Other butterfly species that are not toxic mimic the appearance of the toxic ones to avoid predators. From everything I can determine, this is in fact a pipevine swallowtail.
This magnificent butterfly was feasting on the nectar of the abundant mountain laurel flowers:
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
Today's photos:
Yesterday, I was looking through the list of places I have walked since beginning this blog and realized I had only walked the Yanaguana Nature Trail once, on Monday, July 4. I was long overdue for a return visit. The photos above are only a small sample of what I took during this walk. There will be at least two and possibly more posts of photos from the walk.
