When Subject and Setting Come Together Perfectly

This Great Egret had been standing on the bank of the island in Elmendorf Lake. I was walking toward it to try to get a better angle for a photograph, but it decided I was getting too close. The egret flew across the lake and landed in a Bald Cypress on the opposite bank:

This set of photographs was taken at Elmendorf Lake Park on Thursday, November 21, 2013.

Late Autumn at the Lake

Last Thursday, the day before the arrival of our first major arctic cold front, I spent some time at Elmendorf Lake Park including a walk on the island. The Bald Cypress are well on their way to turning the beautiful rust-red for which they are well known late in autumn:

Bald Cypress (Taxodium distichum) are called "bald" because they are deciduous, thus having "bald" branches through the winter. This is a beautiful tree native to Texas Hill Country stream banks and wetland areas.

The wood is extremely decay resistant. It is such a desirable wood for construction and other purposes, it was very heavily harvested by the early settlers. There are now very few Bald Cypress remaining here that are more than 130 years old.

This set of photographs was taken on the island at Elmendorf Lake Park on Thursday, November 21, 2013.

"Bird Island"; Birds at Elmendorf Lake, Part 4

Tuesday, January 22, 2013

There are two islands in Elmendorf Lake. The main island is a fairly large, thin island. While I didn't walk over to this island, it is accessible by a pedestrian footbridge.

The second island is relatively small by comparison and is inaccessible. This smaller island is a short distance east of the SW 24th St bridge.

I don't know if this smaller island has a name, but if it doesn't, it undoubtably should be named "Bird Island." In this first photo, the "bird island" is in the foreground, the large island in the background and just to the right of center in the distance is the Tower of the Americas, a major San Antonio landmark located in downtown to the southeast of the lake:

A large number of cormorants, primarily double-crested but with a few neotropic mixed in, nest in the trees on this island. Numerous great egrets and black-bellied whistling ducks can be seen on the ground under the trees.

This set of photos was taken on my walk around Elmendorf Lake on Monday, January 7, 2013. Here are links to additional posts from this walk: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 and the Vermillion Flycatcher. There will be at least one more additional post in this series.

Something to Brighten a Dreary, Grey Day

Thursday, December 27, 2012

Here in San Antonio, today has been a grey, overcast day, much cooler than forecast. As a matter of fact, the high temperature was about five degrees cooler today than yesterday.

Monday (December 24), when I walked the Eagleland Reach of the San Antonio River, the cold front had not yet arrived. It was a bright, sunny, warm afternoon. This is the remainder of the photos from that walk.

The mockingbird tried to steal the show (as mockingbirds frequently try to do), but it's difficult to upstage a great egret: