Friday, July 5, 2013
San Antonio River, Mission Reach, Confluence Park Trailhead downstream
to the 3.6 mile marker*
Today's photos:
On this long 4th of July holiday weekend, here is a set of photographs to celebrate life:
- The first photo is an Alamo Vine flower.
- The second photo is a Snowy Egret searching for food at the top of a riffle.
- The third photo is an inflorescence of Sideoats Grama (the State Grass of Texas). A tiny caterpillar of some sort has woven itself inside a web pulling the spike of the inflorescence into an oval. I would have liked to have seen how the caterpillar accomplished this.
- The fourth and fifth photos are of a Little Yellow butterfly on Orange Milkweed flowers. These milkweed blossoms were attracting numerous butterflies. Another common name for this plant is Butterfly-Weed, for obvious reasons.
- The sixth photo is a Bordered Patch butterfly on the Orange Milkweed.
- The seventh photo is a Bordered Patch butterfly on a Maximilian Sunflower. The Common Sunflowers have been in bloom for a couple of months, but the Maximilian Sunflowers are just beginning to flower.
- The eighth and ninth photos are of a Yellow-crowned Night-Heron.
- The tenth photo is a Killdeer.
- The eleventh photo is a Neotropic Cormorant.
- The twelfth photo is a Blue-fronted Dancer (Argia apicalis) damselfly I managed to photograph inflight. This damselfly was being very cooperative while I took its photo as it hovered in more or less the same location until I turned away.
- The thirteenth photo is a slider turtle sunning itself on the recently exposed bedrock along the riverbank. From this distance the rock appears to be a relatively soft limestone aggregate. This section of the bank on the west side of the River just south of the Theo Ave bridge was severely eroded by the May 25th flood, but it revealed this fascinating rock formation.
- The fourteenth through sixteenth photos are of Partridge Pea flowers.
- The seventeenth photo is a Standing Cypress that is still in bloom.
* Along the San Antonio River Greenway Trails, there are small, roughly three inch diameter circular bronze insets with a number embedded in the center of the trail generally every two-tenths of a mile. These numbers indicate the distance in miles from the center of Main Plaza downtown. So, the 3.6 marker on the east bank trail south of Theo Ave. is 3.6 miles along the trail from Main Plaza.
The mile markers, beginning with zero, also are located north of Main Plaza. If one started at the 2.4 marker north of downtown and walked downstream to the 3.6 marker south of Theo, the total distance walked would be six miles (2.4 miles + 3.6 miles).
Friday, March 8, 2013
San Antonio River, Mission Reach, Confluence Park Trailhead downstream
Today's photos:
I was anticipating Spring while I was on this walk. I suspect nature was anticipating the impending change in the weather with another approaching cold front. There had already been enough sprinkles to get things damp earlier in the day. The forecast was for heavier rain later in the weekend.
- Photo one is a Texas Thistle.
- Photos two and three are Pink Evening Primrose with a few rain drops remaining on their petals from the sprinkles earlier in the day.
- Photos four and five are Huisache flowers.
- Photo six is a Mealy Blue Sage.
- Photo seven is a Little Blue Heron flying upstream, apparently with somewhere to go. It will reappear momentarily.
- Photos eight through eleven are a Loggerhead Shrike. It was keeping a watch over the river and finding lots of flying insects to eat.
- Photos twelve and thirteen are two Red-winged Blackbirds perched in a Sycamore tree. The sycamores are beginning to set their leaves.
- Photos fourteen through sixteen are The Three Amigos: (l. to r.) a Great Blue Heron, a Snowy Egret and the Little Blue Heron. These birds are typically very competitive when it comes to territory, so I was surprised to see them standing this close together.
- Photo seventeen is a close up of the Great Blue Heron.
- Photos eighteen through twenty are a Killdeer. He was on a rock not very far downstream from the three amigos, but far enough away that it didn't appear to be part of the group.
- Photo twenty-one is a White Prickly Poppy.
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.
