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.

The "Flame" of Autumn

The Prairie Flameleaf Sumac was in full "flame" along Leon Creek on Tuesday:

The arctic blast arrived with full force a few hours before it was forecast early yesterday morning, so it felt appropriate to post a series of visual "flames" to at least warm the spirit a bit.

There are several trees, such as the Western Soapberry, that have pinnately compound leaves that closely resemble the Flameleaf Sumac leaves. I realized a few months ago there is a very easy way to distinguish this sumac leaf from all the other similar leaves.

The Flameleaf Sumac has what is called a winged rachis, meaning the central leaf petiole has a narrow leaf membrane between the leaflets. The winged rachis is clearly visible in most of these photographs, but is especially apparent in the last photo of the series.

This set of photographs was taken along the Leon Creek Greenway at the junction with the Leon Vista Park Connector trail on Tuesday, December 3, 2013. 

"Berries"

Off the top of my head, I can't think of any other native Texas plant that incites a more intense, emotional debate regarding its ecological value, even its right to continued existence than the Ashe Juniper, aka Mountain Cedar. In the interest of full disclosure, I do not suffer from "cedar fever" allergy. I personally consider the Ashe Juniper as having a vital ecological role, but in our human altered environment, it needs to be properly managed.

That is a debate for another venue. What this post is really about are the Ashe Juniper "berries" that technically are fleshy gymnosperm cones:

As Matt Warnock Turner points out in Remarkable Plants of Texas, "… German immigrants used Ashe Juniper berries very sparingly (one or two berries to a pot) to flavor sauerkraut, sauces and stews, and current suggestions include crushing a few berries on salmon just before grilling." I have spoken with several people here in South Texas that routinely use the berries when they cook stew.

Numerous birds and small mammals relish the Ashe Juniper berries. Several species of Hairstreak butterflies and the American Snout are particularly attracted to the ripe berries. The Ashe Juniper is the larval host plant for the Juniper Hairstreak butterfly.

This set of photographs was taken along the Leon Creek Greenway, Leon Vista Connector Trail on Tuesday, December 3, 2013.

A Reflection on Leon Creek

Today's theme is a continuation of "Autumn Leaves." This Texas Red Oak stood out vividly from its surroundings along Leon Creek:

This set of photographs was taken along the Leon Creek Greenway not very far upstream from the Mainland Trailhead on Tuesday, December 3, 2013.

Autumn Leaves, 2013

The second major arctic cold front of this season is forecast to arrive here in South Texas on Thursday bringing another winter preview. In the meantime, the Texas Red Oak in Brackenridge Park are turning red and most of the Cedar Elm have already dropped their leaves, but some still have a mix of green and golden-yellow leaves:

This set of photographs was taken in Brackenridge Park along Red Oak Dr on Monday, December 2, 2013.

Birds at Elmendorf Lake, Autumn 2013, Part 3, Settling In For Winter

The second most numerous birds at Elmendorf Lake ten days ago were the Northern Shovelers. These ducks spend their summers from northern New Mexico all the way north to Alaska. It was good to see them back for the winter in large numbers:

One of the more interesting behaviors of the Northern Shoveler is described very well on Whatbird.com: "Socially, they occasionally work together in groups while feeding, rotating like a pin-wheel, stirring up the surface water and skimming it for food particles." That is what they were doing in the first three photos.

Another thing I found interesting was the males clearly outnumbered the females by a very large percentage. The last two photos are of a female Northern Shoveler.

This set of photographs was taken at Elmendorf Lake Park on Thursday, November 21, 2013.

Part 1
Part 2