Additional Miles of Trail to Walk

Friday, January 11, 2013

Leon Creek Greenway South, Arvil Ave Trailhead downstream
and a short segment on the east end of the upland loop trail

Today's photos:

On December 7, 2012, The San Antonio Parks and Recreation Department had the grand opening of the newest segment of the Leon Creek South Greenway. This new section adds an additional 2.6 miles to the Howard W. Peak Greenway Trail System, bringing the trail system to a total of 41 miles. On my walk today, I covered about three quarters of a mile of this new trail

The new section of trail has trailheads in Levi Strauss Park and at Rodriguez County Park. Access to the Arvil Ave trailhead is actually off of Rodriguez Rd at the entrance to the county park, not by way of Arvil Ave, as the low water crossing over the creek on Arvil Ave has been permanently closed.

Included in this set of photos are: a fox squirrel, an Eastern bluebird, a Great egret, a female Northern cardinal and a very active Northern mockingbird. The photographs also show a very healthy riparian ecosystem along this section of Leon Creek.

As I have mentioned; the more I learn, the more I see and the more I photograph. That was very true, once again, on this foggy Friday morning walk along Leon Creek. I have more photos from the walk remaining to be published in a future post.

This next week I have a very busy schedule planned. I will be in a class at the San Antonio Botanical Garden all week (learning even more). I don't foresee having time for my walks during the week. So, as something of a heads up, I will be posting as many photos from my recent walks as I can throughout the week.

Birds at Elmendorf Lake, Part 1

Thursday, January 10, 2013

I have barely begun to edit all the photos of birds that I took on my walk at Elmendorf Lake on Monday (January 7). This is definitely going to be a multi-part series.

The first five photos below are of Northern Shovelers (Anas clypeata). This was by far the most abundant bird at the lake Monday. There will be more photos of them in upcoming posts:

The second set of five photos are of Lesser Scaups (Aythya affinis):

The next post in this series will be the Sunday Special Edition (January 13).

Encountering Turbulence

Wednesday, January 9, 2013

San Antonio River, Mission Reach, Confluence Park Trailhead
from the top of the Mitchell St bridge downstream
to the San Pedro Creek confluence

Today's photos:

I never know with any certainty what I will encounter when I go out on my walks. However, what I did know with a great deal of certainty when I headed to the River today was that I would encounter high, turbulent water.

Over the past two days, a tad more than 2.5 inches of rain fell in San Antonio. If I was surprised by anything in particular, it was the relatively lower flow of water in San Pedro Creek which conveys the water from the westside creeks as it merges with the San Antonio River.

The swift flow and turbulence didn't phase the cormorants at all. One even managed to catch a fish in the turbid water. These birds are powerful swimmers capable of negotiating the rough currents. Meanwhile, mallards found refuge in quieter side pools.

Once again, there are at least a couple more posts of photos from this walk for future publication.

A Brief Eternity Ago

Tuesday, January 8, 2013

Perhaps retirement has much to do with it, but my perception of time has been changing. My walk along the Mission Reach of the San Antonio River this past Friday (January 4) already feels like it was a very long time ago even though only four days have passed.

It is very tempting to post more photos from yesterday's walk at Elmendorf Lake this evening, but I really need to wrap up posting the remaining photos from Friday's walk first.

This series begins with a great blue heron (Ardea herodias) flying by. The remainder of the photos are of two great egrets (Ardea alba). The egret in the last two photos is the same bird that is standing on top of the weir in the previous three photos: