Wednesday, May 9, 2012
Comanche Lookout Park, Library > Comanche > Tower Loop Trails
Today's photos:
The rain held off for today, so it was a perfect day for a walk to the top of the hill at Comanche Lookout Park. As I have mentioned in previous posts about this park, the peak of this hill is the fourth highest elevation in Bexar County.
For those not familiar with San Antonio, the last photo in this series is looking from the top of the hill toward downtown with the Tower of the Americas in the center of the photo. Since this park is northeast of downtown, this is not the typical skyline view that is usually featured in Chamber of Commerce photos. From this angle, one looks across Ft Sam Houston, so the building that appears to the left of the Tower is the old Brooke Army Medical Center (BAMC) main hospital building.
I included the cloud photos here, because they are indicative of the current weather. Very heavy rain is forecast to return in the morning and continue through Friday.
Once again, this is only a small sample of the photos I have from today's walk. I will be posting more in at least one more publication.
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
More rain fell today and it will likely continue with varying degrees of intensity until the end of the week.
I was recently asked why there is an abundance of butterflies this year. The answer is fairly simple and it all begins with the abundance of winter rain. The rain produced a lush growth of vegetation which is the food source for both the adult butterflies and their caterpillars. Of course, this vegetation is also the food source for a wide variety of birds and other wildlife as well as butterflies.
These photos are a continuation of the series from yesterday's walk:
I have to admit that, more often than not, it is difficult to convince myself it is time to turn around and head back to the car to go home. I am very well aware there is always something waiting around the next bend or over the next hill to be discovered (and photographed). My walk yesterday was one of these walks. So, this is part two of a three part series. The final installment is currently scheduled to be published on Thursday.
Monday, May 7, 2012
Leon Creek Greenway, Between Mainland Trailhead and Leon Vista Trailhead
Today's photos:
The total rainfall in San Antonio in all of April was 0.03 inches, barely enough to moisten the bottom of a bucket. It appeared the weather pattern was reverting to the same as during last year's exceptional drought. Vegetation was beginning to dry out along with the soil.
Finally, early Sunday morning the clouds opened up dropping 1.73 inches of rain, more or less, across Bexar County. Another storm rolled through this evening as I was preparing this post for publication with an additional 0.61 inches of rain with considerably more on the west and south sides of the county. This week is forecast to continue with more rain.
On my walk today, all of nature was celebrating the return of the rain. There was so much to photograph, this is the first of a three part series.
