Friday, June 8, 2012
San Antonio River, Mission Reach, Roosevelt Park Trailhead
Today's photos:
I drove to the Roosevelt Park Trailhead on the San Antonio River Greenway today fully intent on a relatively short walk to take just a few photos to post this evening. Then the magic happened… again.
You see, today is my thirty-eighth wedding anniversary, so I just needed five, maybe as many as eight, photos to post tonight. I knew I wouldn't have much time to get the photos edited and prepped for publication.
But then the magic happened as it always does along the river. All sorts of creatures began showing up in front of the camera. Yes, I am to the point where I can pass up the mallards, cormorants, sunflowers, firewheels (except when there are butterflies perched on them) and any number of other creatures.
Have you ever tried to walk by a yellow-crowned night heron, or a snowy egret, or a killdeer, or a damselfly and not take a picture? Okay, maybe I'll pass by an egret or two, but never a raptor, or a scissor-tailed flycatcher. I dread the consequence if I walked away from one without taking a photo.
All of this is just a long way of saying there are a whole lot more photos, several posts worth as a matter of fact, to be published from today's walk. Consider this an introductory overview. And as an anniversary gift to my wife, Lorraine.
Thursday, June 7, 2012
This is the third part of a four part extended visual poem of photos taken on my walk this past Monday, June 4 on the Leon Creek Greenway. The series began Monday with Prelude. The second part was The Song of the Green Herons. If all goes as planned, the fourth part, The Song of the Butterflies, will be published on Tuesday, June 12.
Today is The Song of the Turtles:
I might point out, most of these photos were taken around the ox bow pond on Leon Creek not far south of Babcock Rd. It is good to see the pond at bank full with all the rain we have had this year.
The turtles are red-eared sliders, by far the most common turtle native to Bexar County. Also, thanks to a very cooperative and photogenic golden-fronted woodpecker, I consider naming this section The Song of the Woodpecker, but the turtles won out.
Wednesday, June 6, 2012
Salado Creek Greenway, Robert Tobin Park Trailhead, south
Today's photos:
The summer solstice is still two weeks away, but it has been feeling a lot like summer here in South Texas for a while now. During my walk today the temperature was in the low 90s (F) and the dew point in the 60's. In other words, it was hot and humid.
That is merely a statement of fact, not a complaint. It is actually normal for this time of year. The hot, humid weather is the last thing on my mind, especially when I am greeted at the trailhead by a cardinal and then have a red-shouldered hawk fly over further along the trail.
Tuesday, June 5, 2012
As anyone who has followed this blog already knows, I have had countless extraordinary encounters with wildlife on my walks. Yesterday was no exception.
The photos from the walk are both compelling enough and extensive enough to be published as an extended visual poem in four parts. Yesterday's opening of the series, Prelude, presented a general overview of what I encountered along the walk and, as I wrote yesterday, set the tone for the remainder of the series.
Today is The Song of the Green Herons:
I should point out, the green herons that appear at the end of this post are fairly common in South Texas, particularly in the summer, but this is the first time I have encountered them, or at least remember having encountered them, on my walks.
The next post in the series is tentatively titled The Song of the Turtles, and the final post The Song of the Butterflies. Each title is based on a creature that has a dominant presence in the photos of that particular section, although as can be seen here, many other creatures are present along with the dominant one.
