Quite Simply Complex

Wednesday, April 10, 2013

San Antonio River, Mission Reach, Mission Rd Trailhead upstream

Today's photos:

As I had anticipated, this week is giving me a total immersion in the River experience. It is going to take some time for me to get my head around it all. This set of photos is a very small sample of all the photos I have from the walk today:

• The first photo is Pink Evening Primrose, Purple Threeawn Grass and Lanceleaf Coreopsis all growing in close proximity to each other.
• The second photo is a flower in the genus Coreopsis. It appears to be in the Golden-wave group of species, but I have no idea which one it might be.
• The third photo is Water Hemlock. This plant is extremely toxic (think Socrates). Physical contact with the plant should be avoided. There are dense clusters of the plants growing along the river bank in various locations.
• The fourth photo is a Huisache Daisy flower.
• The fifth photo is a slider turtle and a Neotropic Cormorant.
• The sixth photo is a Lesser Yellowlegs with breeding plumage.
• The seventh photo is Mealy Blue Sage.
• The eighth photo is a Texas Dandelion flower. I think I mentioned in a previous post, this flower can be used to make a burnt orange colored dye.
• The ninth photo is an American Basket Flower flower bud.
• The tenth photo is a Cliff Swallow flying low over the river. There were numerous Cliff Swallows out catching insects today. Note: Updated April 15, 2013, 10:15 AM: When I originally posted this photo, I misidentified this bird as a Barn Swallow. Cliff swallows and barn swallows look very similar in flight except their tails have different shapes. The swallow in this photo appears to have the forked tail typical of the barn swallow. Looking very close at the photo, however, I realized what appears to be part of its tail is actually a ripple on the water. The tail on this bird is very difficult to see, but looking at other photos in the series, I realized all the swallows flying over the River at this time were cliff swallows.
• The eleventh photo is a hillside covered with Pink Evening Primrose.
• The twelfth photo is a Spotted Sandpiper.