Relaxing in the Shade

I first saw the small herd of four or five White-tailed Deer from about a quarter mile away as they made their way slowly down the slope on the other side of the creek. By the time I was directly across from them, they had found a depression filled with tall grass and were lying down in the shade of a tree, so all I could see from where I was standing were their heads:

This set of photographs was taken along the SSG Morningstar Boardwalk on the Salado Creek Greenway Trail on Monday, November 11, 2013.

Those Bright Red Berries

One of the questions I am frequently asked when I am leading a nature hike along one of the wooded trails here in Bexar County is: "What are those bright red berries and are they edible?"

This plant is most commonly called Pigeonberry (Rivina humilis), but it has a long list of additional common names: Rouge Plant, Baby Peppers, Bloodberry, Coralito and probably more. And NO the berries are not edible, at least not by mammals, but many birds are highly attracted to them. It is a very common, low-growing understory plant in South Texas woodlands, especially where the soil tends to remain moist.

Pigeonberry is in the Phytolaccaceae (Pokeweed) Family and contain the same phytotoxins as Pokeweed berries. As with the Pokeweed berries, the Pigeonberries have been used for making dyes and ink.

This set of photographs was taken along the Salado Creek Greenway Trail near the Lady Bird Johnson Park Trailhead on Monday, November 11, 2013.

The Tiny Blue Gem

The Ceraunus Blue is definitely not among the large spectacular butterflies that attract most of the attention. As a matter of fact, if it weren't for their fluttering motion as they fly from flower to flower, they would probably remain completely unnoticed. With their wings folded, as they are in this set of photographs, they are all of about a half inch (12.5 mm) from their body to the top of their forewing:

These truly are the tiny blue gems of the Order Lepidoptera. They can use many of the legumes as larval host plants, including the Honey Mesquite. The adults feed on nectar from a wide variety of plants. I haven't had time to even begin to figure out what the flower is in the first two photographs, but the leaves look very intriguing. The flowers in the last three photographs are a Polygonum sp.* other than P. lapathifolium (Curlytop Knotweed).

This set of photographs was taken along the SSG Morningstar Boardwalk on the Salado Creek Greenway Trail on Monday, November 11, 2013.

* When I began to try to identify the particular species of this flower, I was surprised to learn how many species there are in the Genus Polygonum.

Look Again

When I first came around a curve in the trail and saw this butterfly on the flowers I was certain it was a Pearl Crescent on White Boneset (Eupatorium serotinum). It wasn't until I got close enough to begin taking the photographs that I realized it is actually a Phaon Crescent on White Mistflower (Ageratina havanensis):

The differences between the two crescent butterflies and between the two plants are obvious on close inspection, but if I had casually walked by, they are similar enough I would not have realized what I had actually seen.

The larval host plant for the Phaon Crescent is Frogfruit.

This set of photographs was taken on the Salado Creek Greenway trail at the Lady Bird Johnson Park Trailhead on Monday, November 11, 2013.

Even A Bit Closer

When I was photographing this Snowy Egret, I thought it might be the same bird I photographed on September 13th. Both sets of photographs were taken from about the same location, but the river was running higher this day due to rain earlier in the morning. This egret was even closer than the one I had photographed in September:

As I have mentioned previously, the river birds are fairly territorial and generally stay relatively close to their nesting sites for extended periods of time. After looking closely at both sets of photographs, however, I'm fairly certain this is a different bird from the one I had previously photographed.

This set of photographs was taken along the Mission Reach of the San Antonio River near the Roosevelt Park Trailhead on Thursday, October 31, 2013.

Not Just Any Old Grass

The four primary grasses in the Tallgrass Prairie are Big Bluestem, Little Bluestem, Indiangrass and Switchgrass. A number of grasses could be considered primary riparian grasses. An excellent riparian grass must grow well in shade or partial sun, have deep, strong root systems capable of stabilizing the soil, thus preventing erosion, and be capable of growing in the moist soil of stream banks and in the overbank zone.

I would include Switchgrass, Inland Sea Oats and Eastern Gamagrass among the top candidates as primary riparian grasses. Each of these three grasses have their own unique characteristics.

Eastern Gamagrass (Tripsacum dactyloides) is a bunch grass that is a close relative of corn. Like corn, it is monoecious, meaning it has separate male and female flowers on the same plant. Unlike corn, the male and female flowers are on one continuous spike with the male flowers at the distal (outer) end of the spike.

The female flowers, located immediately below the male flowers on the spike, produce stacked yellow kernels that closely resemble corn kernels when ripe.

In addition to being an excellent soil stabilizer, Eastern Gamagrass is an important food source for both birds and mammals.

This set of photographs was taken along the Mission Reach of the San Antonio River near the Roosevelt Park Trailhead on Thursday, October 31, 2013.

Basking on a Rock

The slider turtles were unusually skittish as I walked along beside the river. They slid into the water faster than I could aim and focus the camera:

Then I happened upon this Guadalupe Spiny Softshell (Apalone spinifera guadalupensis). Judging from its size, it looks like this one is old enough to have seen just about everything that could happen around its aquatic habitat. It continued basking on its rock while I captured its image from the opposite bank:

This set of photographs was taken along the Mission Reach of the San Antonio River near the Roosevelt Park Trailhead on Thursday, October 31, 2013.