The Little Things Often Overlooked, Part 2

Friday, October 5, 2012

This is the third of four sets of photos from my walk in the Olmos Basin this past Wednesday, October 3, and is a continuation of the theme from yesterday's post. The fourth set of photos have a somewhat different theme and will be published sometime this coming week.

I probably should mention, the mockingbird in the first photo isn't exactly a "little thing often overlooked." They generally aren't the least bit shy (sometimes downright aggressive) and are very easy to see. This particular mockingbird was very well fed, feasting on the abundance of little things in the open field:

The Little Things Often Overlooked

Thursday, October 4, 2012

This is another set of photos from my walk in the Olmos Basin yesterday. All of these are relatively small. The Live Oak acorn, the Grey Hairstreak and the Reakirt's Blue butterflies are maybe an inch (2.54 cm) across, if that big. The flowers are only slightly larger.

These are only a few of the little things people can't see driving past a field in a car, or even riding a bicycle for that matter. The casual observer will likely come to the conclusion there is nothing worth seeing as they pass by. It takes a much closer examination to realize "that empty lot" is teaming with the beauty of nature:

Empty fields are only empty to those who do not look close enough.

A Major Milestone Achieved

Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Olmos Basin, Along the northwest perimeter of Olmos Basin Golf Course next to
Basin Dr and around the ball field at the north end of the golf course

Today's photos:

I set out from my house today to see what was possible and what my current limits are. As I have pointed out in a few other posts, living in the Olmos Basin, I really don't need to leave my yard to take nature photographs. So my front yard was the beginning and end of my walk today. The mama fox squirrel in the first photo lives in the pecan tree in my yard. She is about as tame as a wild squirrel can get.

I walked for about an hour and a half. I knew that wouldn't be a problem. What I didn't know was if, or how, I'd be able to take photos along the way carrying the dSLR without the tripod. I ended up taking as many photos as I would normally have taken on a photographically prolific walk along the San Antonio River. In other words, way more than I can publish in a single post.

With my right arm still recovering from the break, I still have no active range of motion in my upper arm at the shoulder joint and can support very little extra weight. From the elbow through my right hand, the movement is near normal with just a little stiffness.

What I found is, if I support the weight of the camera and lens, about 3.5 pounds worth, with my left hand under the camera body and back of the lens, I can reach and manipulate the controls and shutter release with my right hand by fully flexing my elbow… within limits. Anything from my feet to about a 45º angle is relatively easy. From 45º to eye level is possible, but the higher the angle the more difficult it becomes.

I managed a few frames a little bit above eye level, but it required some major contortions to accomplish. They really weren't worth the effort, so there won't be any "bird in the tree" or "birds flying" photos for a while.

When all is said and done, it was a truly amazing and delightful experience to once again be back out interacting with the nature I love so much. There are many more photos yet to be published from this walk today.

The Curious Gaze of a Scissor-tailed Flycatcher

Tuesday, October 2, 2012

There really is no way I'll pass up a chance to photograph a scissor-tailed flycatcher. They are quite simply beautiful. This particular bird took a moment to watch what I was doing before flying down above the river to consume a few more insects:

This series of photos was taken on my walk along the San Antonio River on Wednesday, June 20.

A Little More Dragon Lore

Monday, October 1, 2012

“To have dragons one must have change; that is the first principle of dragon lore.”  -   Loren Eiseley

To be honest, my copy of Loren Eiseley's book, The Night Country, is currently in storage and it has been years since I read it. I can't remember, as hard as I've tried, the context of this quote. Based on the general theme of the book, I suspect Eiseley may have been referring to dragons of the mythological type.

But it got me to thinking. Dragonflies are one of the oldest surviving orders of insects, dating back somewhere around 300 million years, give or take 50 million years or so. In all those millions upon millions of years, they have undergone very little fundamental change. On the other hand, the Earth has undergone profound changes: in the movement of continents, in climate changes, in the appearance and extinction of countless species of all sorts of plants and animals.

So, here we are today, in South Texas along the banks of the San Antonio River. A dragonfly perches at the top of a tall plant high above the river: 

This set of photos was taken on my walk along the San Antonio River on Wednesday, July 4. This dragonfly was perched at the top of the tallest plant, two or three feet above my head, in a newly created, beautifully designed formal garden at the northeast corner of Mission County Park. At the time of my walk, this was the end of the completed section of the Mission Reach of the San Antonio River Greenway just south of the VFW Blvd bridge.

Meditation on a Morning Glory, A Sunday Special Edition

Sunday, September 30, 2012

Meditation on a Morning Glory

“The journey is difficult, immense. We will travel as far as we can, but we cannot in one lifetime see all that we would like to see or to learn all that we hunger to know.”  -  Loren Eiseley

There are over 1,000 species of flowering plants in the morning glory family (Convolvulaceae). The best I can determine the ones in this set of photos are Ipomoea cordatotriloba Dennst, also known as tievine.

These photos were taken using my "hybrid" technique in my backyard in the Olmos Basin on Tuesday, September 25.