Yanaguana Nature Trail, Mission San Juan Capistrano, San Antonio Missions National Historical Park

Today's photos:

Poison ivy is common in South Texas and is frequently found in the vicinity of nature trails.

The Yanaguana Nature Trail is between the Mission San Juan Capistrano chapel and the San Antonio River about a quarter mile to the west. It is along part of the river that has never been channelized. Over the past few decades, this section of land has been allowed to return to a typical South Texas riparian brush country ecosystem.

Since this is the 4th of July, it seemed appropriate to walk a trail today at a National Historical Park. I have long had an attraction to Mission San Juan versus the other San Antonio Missions. Here are a few additional photos of the chapel with detail photos of the structure:

The San Antonio River, Mission Reach Phase 2, Part 2

Between Concepción Park on E Theo Ave and Mission Rd

Today's photos:

The San Antonio River restoration is proceeding from north to south. The initial restoration of the river banks is relatively complete between Alamo St and E Theo Ave. The trail is complete south to Mission Rd, but the river banks south of E Theo Ave are still a work in progress. That is the primary reason the photos in this series do not show much of the river banks.

In spite of the ongoing work, it is already an area that has a wealth of natural beauty. I had the opportunity today to briefly chat with two of the young men doing the restoration landscaping. They were rightfully proud of the work they have accomplished thus far. What has been for decades essentially a drainage channel, is undergoing a remarkable transformation.

Once again I took so many photos, there will be a couple more posts next week from this series.

The Little Blue Heron

The highlight of my walk yesterday was when I happened on a little blue heron as I was not far from completing the walk. It is called a little blue heron even though it is actually fairly large as birds go. The little blue heron is, however, smaller than the great blue heron:

As you can see, the little blue heron was minding its own business. One of the things I have noticed about the larger river birds is that they tend to be territorial at least to some extent, staking out their own section of the river. I had lowered my camera preparing to continue my walk when an egret about thirty yards upstream took flight heading straight for the little blue egret:

The egret aggressively chased the heron, but the heron seemed unfazed as it walked into the cattail growing along the river bank. The egret backed off its attack.

The San Antonio River, Mission Reach Phase 2, Part 1

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Between Confluence Park on Mitchell St
                    and Concepción Park on E Theo Ave

I only made it half way along the phase 2 stretch of the Mission Reach this morning, so this is part 1. If all goes according to plan, I'll walk the second half from Theo Ave south to Mission Rd on Friday. Today's photos:

The confluence of San Pedro Creek on the left and the San Antonio River

The twin bell towers of Mission Conceción as seen from a newly constructed lookout in Concepción Park