Saturday, April 28, 2012

Thursday, April 26, 2012

Cactus Flowers and a Ladybug

Thursday, April 26, 2012

The prickly pear cactus are beginning to bloom profusely here in South Texas. These flowers begin as red-orange buds. They turn yellow as they open. The blossoms glow brightly in the sunlight.

While I was photographing one of the cactus flowers on my walk yesterday, I saw a ladybug on a needle right next to the flower. The ladybug proceeded to walk across the cactus pad. In the last two photos of the series where it appears the ladybug is suspended in space, it was actually climbing a very fine, barely visible spider web without getting caught on the web:









Small Wonders

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Hardberger Park, Water Loop Trail, Geology Loop Trail

Today's photos:















There are a myriad of small wonders to be seen when walking nature trails. Experiencing them is no less important than experiencing the vast wonders which do not take a great deal of effort to see. As a matter of fact, I would say that witnessing the small wonders is what makes the entire experience worthwhile.

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Snow in San Antone (in April)

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

I guess that title will get some attention. We do get snow here in San Antonio on occasion, about every seven years on average and usually barely measurable. Although, we did set a record of 13.5 inches of snow in January 1985.

The point I am trying to make is that it seems more than a bit odd to associate anything with "snowy" in its name with San Antonio. But, as has been shown previously on this blog, snowy egrets are quite common along the San Antonio River Greenway.

The following photos were taken on my vibrant walk this past Wednesday, April 17:





















Since I related the opening of this post to weather, I will also close it with a comment on the same topic. We had above average rainfall for four months in a row prior to this month (April), putting a major dent in the drought of last year. So far this month, we have only had 0.03 inches of rain; barely a drop in the bucket.

Many ground cover plants in the natural areas are already beginning to show stress from the lack of rain. There is a chance, relatively low at the moment, for rain Sunday and Monday. We need a good soaking rain, but at this point, any rain will be welcome.

The weather pattern is beginning to look like it did for the year of the drought. May is generally one of the wettest months of the year. We are all hoping the rain returns... soon.