A Leap Day Stroll Along Salado Creek

Tuesday, March 8, 2016

About the only flowers blooming along the Salado Creek wetland on Leap Day this February were the Huisache fully covered with their fragrant yellow blossoms. Fortunately, there were more than enough birds and a few turtles to photograph. The Northern Shovelers, a pair of Black Vultures, Mallards with what suspiciously appears to be a Ruddy Duck mingling amid the flock, Red-eared Slider Turtles and a flock of Gadwalls had no idea it was Leap Day and could have cared less:

And while they are not the best photos of birds soaring I have taken, I thought these two were worth including here just to show more of the avian diversity present along Salado Creek this time of year. The first is a Caracara and the second one flying into the frame is a Red-shouldered Hawk:

These photographs were taken along the Salado Creek Greenway trail between Lady Bird Johnson Park and the end of the boardwalk near Wetmore Rd on Monday, February 29, 2016.

Thanksgiving 2013

Happy Thanksgiving

give thanks always for the precious gift of life

This Thanksgiving Day I would like to offer a special word of thanks to all those in the U.S. Armed Forces and to all the health care professionals on duty, away from their families during this holiday. Your service and your sacrifice is greatly appreciated.

This set of photographs of a young White-tailed Deer was taken along the Ssg Morningstar Boardwalk on the Salado Creek Greenway on Veterans Day, Monday, November 11, 2013.

An Abundance of Familiar Damsels

Countless Familiar Bluet (Enallagma civile) damselflies flew about over the shallow water of the Salado Creek wetland. Their gossamer wings would periodically catch the sun at just the right angle, appearing as small, bright flashes above the water's surface. These bluets are among the smallest of the damselflies. I had to watch intently to see where they momentarily perched:

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

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.