South Salado Creek Greenway, South Side Lions Park Trailhead, A September Sequel

Friday, September 9, 2011

Today's photos:

I have been curious for a while how the Salado Creek area on the south side has been doing since my first walks there on June 1 and 3. More specifically, are the springs still flowing? As it turned out, my schedule today made it easier to return to Salado Creek than to drive across town to Leon Creek.

The above photos show a remarkable situation of contrasts. The upland area in South Side Lions Park is as dry and drought stressed as any in Bexar County. However the two springs just north of Roland Ave are still flowing, if at a somewhat slower rate than they were in June. 

The area immediately along the creek is doing fairly well with the presence of the water source. The springs are a few feet below 600 feet elevation and are likely to continue flowing throughout the drought. The Edwards Aquifer level is highly unlikely to fall below that level.

Possibly the best way I can illustrate the effect of the drought is to post these two photos, both taken from about the same place on the bridge over the creek at the trailhead:

Salado Creek
June 3, 2011

Salado Creek
September 9, 2011

There are a couple things I didn't discover until I set the photos up for publication. The bird on the wire was a bit more than 200 yards from where I was standing when I took the photo. I thought it was a mockingbird. It wasn't until I saw the photo that I realized it is actually a loggerhead shrike. Also, I didn't see that the lizard was molting until I saw the photos.

As has been the case on most of my recent walks, there are three more sets of photos from today that I will publish in upcoming posts.

An Update on the Ongoing Wildfire Danger:

Since Labor Day the San Antonio Fire Department has responded to at least 124 grass and brush fires. Yesterday, a grass fire in far south Bexar County burned four homes. That fire was started by some idiot illegally burning trash. Today a brush fire in far west Bexar County near Potranco Rd and Texas 211 that county officials thought would be easy to contain quickly spread from about 25 acres to over 200 acres. In the past week the Texas Forest Service has responded to 186 fires statewide that have burned more than 156,000 acres. It is a tragic situation that, unfortunately, is only going to get worse.

The Austin American Statesman has an excellent article, "Final environmental toll yet to be reckoned for Central Texas wildfires," on the environmental / ecological impact of the wildfires.

Update Sunday, September 11, 2011:

mysanantonio.com has an excellent article online today about Texas' fire culture and the necessity for reintroducing controlled burns to manage ecosystem balance: "Burning needed to limit fires."

statesman.com has another relevant article: "Texas was warned about risk of building in backcountry."

The Eastern Phoebe

Quite frequently I only get a fleeting glance at a creature before it vanishes out of sight. With these, I don't have time to raise the camera, much less get a photograph. Often enough though, one will hang around long enough for me to get one or two photos. Then there are the rarer times when one will stick around long enough for me to get a series of photos. Some of these even seem to be curious about what I am doing.

On my walk this past Monday on the Medina River Greenway, what appears to me to be an Eastern Phoebe gave me one of those rare opportunities that I cherish so much. My only hesitation in saying this is an Eastern Phoebe, even though it looks all the world to me like one, is that the Medina River Natural Area bird checklist indicates that Eastern Phoebes aren't present in the area during the summer.

But then, maybe this one didn't get the memo. As will be seen in some upcoming posts, there are birds that apparently haven't read what has been written about them.

I really have a feeling this little one was showing off for the camera from the first time it saw me until it dove to catch an insect. (They are in the flycatcher family.):

Smoke Altered Plans

I live in the upper Olmos Basin right next to the Olmos Basin Golf Course. I was concerned about my plans for my walk as soon as I went outside this morning. There was only a slight, intermittent breeze.  It was very apparent a layer of light smoke from the many South Central Texas wildfires had settled into the basin.

My plan was to drive out to the Leon Creek Greenway, Fox Park trailhead and walk north towards UTSA Blvd. The further I drove northwest on IH 10, the thicker the smoke became. Even inside the car with the A/C running, my eyes were becoming irritated and I was getting a headache. My medical condition makes me sensitive to very low levels of smoke.

Undaunted, I exited the freeway at Callaghan and headed over to U. S. 281 to drive south thinking the smoke might be less of a problem on the south side of the county. By the time I reached U. S. 90, I realized the smoke was covering the entire Bexar County area.

There is an air quality alert for San Antonio today for high levels of ozone, but there is no mention of smoke that I can find anywhere on the web. The air quality people and the news people need to go outside, open their eyes, and take a deep breath.

On my way home, I stopped at Alamo Stadium with its perfect view of the downtown skyline and took the photos posted below. If that isn't smoke causing the haze, I would like to know what it is. I left the tops of the SAISD school buses in the one photo to show that the air looks clear relatively close-up even with a fair amount of smoke in the air.

Much closer than downtown to Alamo Stadium to the southeast is Fort Sam Houston. These two photos are of the post with the historic tower in the Ft Sam quadrangle. The smoke appears much thicker in this direction.

As long as the wind remains much below 10 mph and the inversion layer persists, the smoke will linger. Hopefully, there will be enough of a breeze to clear it out soon. There are two things that I now know will keep me from my nature walks: jury duty and atmospheric smoke.

Remember, even with the light wind, there is an extreme danger of wildfires. Be careful outside.

Late evening update:

The photos above were taken at about noon today. By 3 pm the smoke seemed to be clearing out a bit as the inversion layer broke down and the wind picked up a bit. I began to think I might be able to do an evening walk.

Shortly after 4 pm the Camp Bullis wildfire from yesterday reignited and the local media began wall to wall coverage. Smoke began to pour skyward from the fire and drift south over the city. While the fire was largely contained by 8 pm, here is a photo I took with my cell camera from one of my second floor windows of the sun setting through the smoke from the fire.

The local news media is finally acknowledging that the smokey haze over the city is a potential health hazard. It will likely be a problem for at least several days. The extreme wildfire danger will persist and likely get worse until we get some rain.

Update 11:18 am, Thursday, Sep. 8, 2011:

The reason the smoke was a major problem yesterday morning was because of the light to calm wind and especially the atmospheric inversion. An inversion occurs when there is cooler air at ground level with a layer of warmer air above it. Smoke particles get trapped in the lower cooler level and are unable to disburse into the higher layer.

If an inversion layer formed this morning, it dissipated before I was outside. The wind was also stronger this morning at 10 to 15 mph. While there is still smoke in the air giving the sky a brownish grey cast, the smoke at ground level is tolerable (at least for me medically speaking). The disadvantage to the higher wind speed, though, is that it increases the fire danger.

If tomorrow morning is similar to this morning and no new wildfires occur in or immediately upwind of Bexar County, I will be back out on the trail again. My biggest concern these days, obviously, isn't being caught on a trail in a flash flood. It's being caught in a remote section of a natural area in a wildfire. I can't overstate how exceedingly vulnerable the grass and woodland is to fire now.

Eco-balance, Biodiversity and the Wasps of Bamberger Nature Park

There are signs at the greenway trails and nature parks that remind people that they may encounter wildlife, listing all sorts of species, not the least of which are stinging insects. While it seems obvious to me and probably most of my readers that one would encounter wildlife on nature trails, as a society, we have become way too disconnected from the environment in which we live.

All too many children are kept indoors for extended periods of time and can only venture outdoors under strict supervision. It is now recognized that our society suffers from a nature deficit disorder. When one ventures out onto a nature trail, one is not visiting a zoo. As one experienced visitor to Yosemite National Park was quoted as saying in a recent New York Times article, "This is not Disneyland."

Wasps are among the stinging insects one might encounter. Very few species of wasps are aggressive and will only sting if provoked. I'm convinced that wasps are among the most misunderstood and maligned of creatures.

I fully understand that for people who are sensitive to wasp stings, a sting can precipitate a medical emergency. But wasps play an important role in maintaining a balance in the environment within which they (and we) live. For example, some wasps prey on destructive pests such as webworms. Other wasps, such as the two species illustrated here, act as pollinators.

These photos are from my Wednesday, August 24 walk from the Bamberger Nature Park, Leon Creek Greenway Trailhead: