Birds of Elmendorf Lake, The March Edition

Thursday, April 18, 2013

This set of photos was taken on my walk at Elmendorf Lake Park on Friday, March 22, 2013. As I mentioned in that post, this walk was a few days after the San Antonio River Authority and the City of San Antonio presented a conceptual design workshop regarding future improvements for the park.

Elmendorf Lake is an excellent location for birding. In the post dated Tuesday, April 16, 2013, I presented a series of photos of a Ruddy Duck that I had photographed on this walk. Today's post is the second of three posts of the birds I photographed on March 22:

• The first three photos are American Coots.
• The fourth photo is a Great Blue Heron "hiding" high up in one of the numerous Bald Cypress  in the park.
• The fifth through eighth photos are a Little Blue Heron with the typical non-breeding plumage.
• The ninth and tenth photos are a Little Blue Heron with breeding plumage. The birds swimming in the Lake in these two photos are a pair of Northern Shovelers.
• The eleventh through thirteenth photos are Great Egrets.
• The fourteenth and fifteenth photos are a Snowy Egret.

Adventures in an Urban Riparian Woodland

Wednesday, April 17, 2013

San Antonio River, Brackenridge Park Segment (along Avenue A)

Today's photos:

As I have mentioned in previous posts, the section of the San Antonio River from Tuleta Dr in Brackenridge Park downstream to U.S. 281 has never been channelized for flood control. The urbanization of the surrounding area has definitely had a major impact on the ecosystem along this section of the channel, but the woodland vegetation and the tree canopy arching over the water has remained intact. 

• The first photo is a Parachytas decisus fly in the family Tachinidae. Identifying this large fly was not particularly difficult, but I haven't been able to find much specific information about it online.  Based on my own observations, this is a fairly common fly in Bexar County. This one is on a flower cluster of a Rough-leaf Dogwood.
• The second and third photos are a pair of Black-bellied Whistling Ducks.
• The fourth photo is a cluster of Red Oak leaves. Based primarily on where this oak is growing, I assume it is a Southern Red Oak, Quercus shumardii Buckl., but it could also be a Texas Red Oak, Quercus buckleyi Nixon & Dorr, or it could just as well be a hybrid of the two.
• The fifth and sixth photos are a Common Grass Spider, Agelenopsis spp.
• The seventh and eighth photos are an Inca Dove. This dove knew how to find a perfect location and pose for a photo.
• The ninth and tenth photos are a Gulf Fritillary butterfly on Canadian Wildrye grass.
• The eleventh and twelfth photos are a slider turtle. Who said turtles can't climb trees?
• The thirteenth photo is a slider turtle swimming in the river that surfaced to get some air.
• The fourteenth photo is an overview of the river looking upstream showing how the tree canopy shades the water. The shade helps to cool the aquatic habitat.
• The fifteenth through the seventeenth photos are two slider turtles sharing opposite ends of a small log. The turtle on the left is a Red-eared Slider. The one on the right doesn't have the red "ear" stripes. One of these days I will get a positive species identification for these turtles. From what I have seen, they are more common in Bexar County than the Red-eared Sliders.
• The eighteenth and nineteenth photos are a Northern Cardinal.

The Ruddy Duck on Elmendorf Lake

Tuesday, April 16, 2013

The San Antonio River Authority and City of San Antonio is presenting their second Elmendorf Lake Park Improvements Public Workshop this evening. This reminded me I have numerous photos of the wide range of birds I encountered on my walk at Elmendorf Lake Park on Friday, March 22, 2013 I have yet to post.

Most of the birds I photographed during this walk are common to the Lake. I will present those photos as a single set in Thursday's post. However, there was a small flock of Ruddy Ducks swimming on the Lake. This is a rather distinctive looking bird that I think deserves its own post: