Monday, March 11, 2013
Salado Creek Greenway, Oakwell Trailhead downstream
Today's photos:
The primary reason I walked this section of the Salado Creek Greenway today was to see how much, if any, water was flowing in the creek following Saturday night's rain. As can be seen in the series of photos of the Great Egret, the water in the creek isn't particularly deep, but there is something of a substantial flow remaining about a day and a half after the rain.
I have only included two photos of the Dewberry flowers here, but that isn't a fair representation of how abundant dewberry is in the ground cover along this section of the creek. I had noticed some patches of dewberry here on previous walks, but now that it is blooming, it is obvious the dewberry is one of the more prevalent plants. There are white dewberry flowers everywhere along the creek right now.
- The first two photos are the Dewberry flowers. There is a Honey Bee on one of the flowers in the first photo. The honey bees were almost as abundant as the flowers. Dewberry is in the Rose Family. The thorns (more correctly referred to as prickles) can be seen on the stems below the flowers in the first photo.
- The third photo is Baby Blue-eyes. They are one of the most common wildflowers blooming here right now.
- The fourth through ninth photos are a Great Egret that has been attracted to the creek by the flowing water.
- The tenth photo is a Phaon Crescent butterfly.
Monday, January 21, 2013
Salado Creek Greenway, Oakwell Trailhead upstream
Today's photos:
Amid winter trees…
The temperature rose to a high of 72ยบ (F) today, while a week ago the highs were in the upper 40s. The high temperatures for the next few days are forecast to be in the mid to upper 70s. This is South Texas, after all.
Milkweed pods ripen and go to seed propagating more milkweed vine. Milkweed is the host plant for monarch butterfly caterpillars and the preferred source of nectar for adult monarchs. Put very simply: if there's no milkweed vine, there will be no monarchs. Period.
A black vulture soars high above.
A rock squirrel scampers through the underbrush along the bank of the creek.
A small amount of water flows through the creek. There is enough water from the rain a couple weeks ago remaining in the water table to continue the flow a few more days. Even when we get too much rain too fast, we always need more rain in South Texas.
White-winged doves were very active flying from tree to tree.
Live oak trees remain evergreen.
Friday, December 21, 2012
Salado Creek Greenway, Oakwell Trailhead downstream
Today's photos:
If sunflowers are an effective symbol of the summer solstice, then bare tree limbs are probably as effective a symbol for the winter solstice that one will encounter in South Texas. With that in mind, I drove to the Oakwell Trailhead on the Salado Creek Greenway knowing I would find an abundance of photogenic bare trees.
As I began to walk along the trail, the winter sky quickly attracted my attention. It drew me ever deeper into its embrace, guiding me along as I slowly began to realize where it was leading me.
A mourning dove, a red-shouldered hawk and a crested caracara (a.k.a. Mexican eagle) watched intently as the sky tightened its grip on my attention.
I was astonished to find, in the end, the sky had drawn me all the way to the moon…
Monday, September 3, 2012
Salado Creek Greenway, Oakwell Trailhead, downstream
Today's photos:
This weekend was the Labor Day holiday, the last holiday weekend of summer. It marks the unofficial end of summer. However, all of us who have lived in South Texas for any length of time know it isn't time to get out the autumn wardrobe just yet.
It is time, though, to begin watching for the fall migratory birds and butterflies. It won't be long before some of the early migratory creatures begin to make an appearance in Bexar County.
