An Evening Among the Oaks

Friday, February 22, 2013

Hardberger Park, Oak Loop Trail

Today's photos:

I arrived at Hardberger Park fairly late in the afternoon. As so often happens at this time of the day, the quality of the light helped set the mood. The woods acquire something of a magical aura as the sun lowers towards the horizon.

• The first two photos are an American Crow. The distinctive "caw, caw, caw" the crow cried out attracted my attention before I actually saw the bird emerge from above the woods.
• The third and fourth photos are a White-winged Dove that was keeping close watch over the trail.
• The fifth photo is an Agarita shrub in full bloom. The agarita were the only flowers I saw blooming along the trail.
• The sixth photo is a Christmas Cactus also known as the Christmas cholla and tasajillo. Along with the numerous prickly pear clusters, the Christmas cactus grows in abundance in this area of the park.
• The seventh and eighth photos are Live Oak trees from which the Oak Loop Trail gets its name. The woods in this area is dominated by the live oaks. There are also some Ashe Juniper growing in the area. As can be seen in the eighth photo, the Texas Persimmon provides much of the lower understory growth, As a matter of fact, there is so much Texas persimmon growing along the trail, this could just as well be called the "Persimmon Loop Trail," but I guess that doesn't quite have the same appeal to it.
• The ninth photo is a close up of a Texas Persimmon trunk with its distinctive smooth bark.
• The tenth photo is a family of White-tailed Deer that were walking along the tree line along the edge of the recently cleared savannah restoration area. The PVC pipes are the irrigation system for the restoration project. This spring the newly planted prairie grasses will grow tall enough to hide the irrigation system from view.
• The eleventh, twelfth and thirteenth photos are a Turkey Vulture soaring through the evening sky above the savannah restoration area.
• The moon is the most obvious object in the fourteenth photo. Somewhat less obvious, but equally important, are the thin, wispy cirrus clouds being blown along in the jet stream high overhead.
• The fifteenth photo is another close up of a Texas Persimmon.