A Painted Lady, A Queen and So Much More Along Mud Creek

Friday, February 15, 2013

Stone Oak Park, North Loop Trail, the short loop

Today's photos:

Stone Oak Park (pdf map) is the next flood control retention basin upstream from Mud Creek Park. It is also a critical Edwards Aquifer recharge site, as it is the location of two caves, Bear Cave and Cub Cave, that serve as major aquifer recharge intake features. This is the first time I have walked at Stone Oak Park.

• The first and second photos are of a Turkey Vulture. There were numerous turkey vultures soaring above the park.
• The third photo is a Dainty Sulphur.
• The fourth photo is an Orange Sulphur.
• The fifth photo is an American Snout.
• The sixth, seventh and eighth photos are of a Painted Lady.
• The ninth photo is of another American Snout. The American snout appeared to be the most numerous of the many butterfly species that were active today.
• The tenth photo is a Prairie Verbena.
• The eleventh photo is a very ragged Red Admiral.
• The twelfth and thirteenth photos are of a Phaon Crescent.
• The fourteenth photo is the ragged Red Admiral again, but this time there is also a Spotless Lady Beetle.
• The fifteenth photo are more Prairie Verbena.
• The sixteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth photos are of a Queen.
• The nineteenth through the twenty-second photos are of Goldeneye Phlox. In the twentieth photo, there is a tiny green sider* on the edge of the petal on the right side of the flower and in the twenty-first photo there is a small insect* from the order Hymenoptera gathering nectar from the flower.
• The twenty-third photo is of a Prairie Verbena growing from a crack in a limestone slab.
• The twenty-fourth photo is of a plant* growing on a limestone outcropping.

* If I am able to more specifically identify the spider, insect and plant, I will update this post.

Oh, Deer

Thursday, February 14, 2013

This set of photos of a white-tailed deer was taken on my walk at McAllister Park yesterday (Wednesday, February 13, 2013). The doe clearly saw that I was nearby, but obviously didn't feel threatened to the point where she was in any hurry to interrupt her foraging:

The Essence of an Urban Forest

Wednesday, February 13, 2013

McAllister Park, natural surface trail beside Mud Creek
downstream from Buckhorn Rd

Today's photos:

While the natural areas of McAllister Park suffer from even more of the stress that is common to most urban natural areas due to the fact that over the years the park has become a multi-use facility, it is still a prime example in San Antonio of a dynamic urban forest:

• The first photo is looking face to face at a red admiral butterfly. It was at the entrance to the trail and I had a strange feeling this butterfly was watching over the comings and goings on the trail.
• The second photo is a detail of a portion of a very large, decaying trunk of a fallen live oak tree. This trunk has been lying on the forest floor for at least a couple of years. Even though the tree is no longer living, its decaying trunk still plays a critical role in the ongoing life of the forest's biotic community.
• The third, fourth and fifth photo are of the berries remaining on a possumhaw bush. While its berries are a beautiful sight, it left me wondering why the frugivores haven't devoured them yet.
• The sixth photo is of a very large bluewood condalia bush. This one, by my estimate, is a good ten to twelve feet tall.
• The seventh photo is the top of one of the numerous very large and impressive live oaks that are growing in McAllister Park.
• The eighth and ninth photo are of a grey hairstreak (or one of its close hairstreak cousins) butterfly drinking nectar from agarita flowers.
• The tenth and eleventh photo are close ups of agarita flowers.
• The twelfth photo, like the seventh photo, is another live oak tree.
• The thirteenth, fourteenth and fifteenth photos are of a backlit American snout butterfly.
• The sixteenth and seventeenth photos are of a ruby-crowned kinglet. These birds do not sit still for more than a couple seconds at a time and are constantly flitting around a tree. This kinglet was finding plenty to eat in a hackberry thicket. The density of the tree branches and the way they intertwine made it even more difficult to get even a couple photos of this beautiful little bird.
• The eighteenth, nineteenth and twentieth photos are of another red admiral butterfly sunning itself on a fallen live oak limb. When this limb had fallen, it took part of a large grapevine with it.