A Beauty That Never Grows Old

Knowing winter was forecast to arrive Thursday morning and we would be in its firm grip at least through the weekend, I spent a couple hours Wednesday walking along the Mission Reach. As I anticipated, I took enough photos to keep publishing for another week or so. I can always rely on the San Antonio River to provide the magic of its dynamic, visually rich environment.

Witnessing the sheer beauty of the large birds in flight never grows old:

I realized while watching this Great Egret take flight that they typically circle the river channel a couple times to gain altitude if they are going to fly more than a short distance. This egret was on its second circle over the river before flying off downstream. The egret I posted in "Grace" had taken off and circled a couple times the same way this one did.

One of the things that really amazes me about many of these large birds is how lightweight they are. A typical adult Great Egret with a wingspan of about four feet weighs a little less than two pounds.

This set of photographs was taken along the Mission Reach of the San Antonio River at the confluence with San Pedro Creek on Wednesday, December 4, 2013.