A Distinctive Bark

The Sugar Hackberry is easily identified solely by the appearance of its bark. There is no other tree that I'm aware of with a knobby bark that looks anything like the Hackberry:

Unfortunately, the Sugar Hackberry has acquired the reputation of being a weed tree, especially in urban landscaping. They reseed easily. The ground along a chain link fence is prime territory for Hackberry seedlings that spring up from seeds in bird droppings. The branches tend to be weak and break off with relative ease, so they are definitely not desirable close to houses or driveways.

On the other hand, the Sugar Hackberry is one of the most valuable trees for wildlife in the United States. Over 200 species of animals depend on the Hackberry. The Hackberry is the larval host for at least four species of butterflies. Migratory birds rely on the Hackberry fruit as a primary source of energy for their fall and winter migration as the fruit and seeds are high in essential oils.

This pair of photographs was taken along the Hondondo Creek Nature Trail in Alamo Heights on Monday, September 9, 2013.

Never Overlook the Small Stuff

While I was leading the nature photography hike along the Oak Loop Trail in Hardberger Park on June 22nd, I asked the participants to please be aware of where they were stepping along the edge of the natural surface trail. I had noticed a rather nondescript plant called Tube-tongue with its very small lavender-pink flowers growing abundantly along the edge of the trail:

The Tube-tongue's flowers are easily overlooked. They are only about a quarter inch or so wide. I was concerned about them being trampled. I pointed the flowers out to the group and without giving it much thought said these flowers served an important ecological function. Of course, I was immediately asked what important function Tube-tongue serves in the woodland ecology.

With only slightly more thought than I gave the initial statement, I replied that any flower, even the very small ones, blooming during a drought are critical to the survival of pollinator insects. In all honesty, I had no idea at the time if any insects were actually attracted to the Tube-tongue blossoms. It seemed intuitive that they would be. I could just as well have replied with great certainty that the Tube-tongue plants stabilize the soil along the edge of the woods where they tend to grow.

It wasn't until I walked the Nogales Trail at Medina River Natural Area over a month later on July 31st that I saw first hand how true my statement about pollinator survival actually is. July was a very dry month. The only flowers blooming along the Nogales Trail on the 31st were Turkscap, Alamo Vine and Tube-tongue. Numerous insect pollinators of all kinds were particularly attracted to the Tube-tongue.

One of the most interesting and often overlooked of these pollinators were the Ornate Checkered Beetles (Trichodes ornatus):

I should mention that nothing is ever simple, especially with the small stuff. The larvae of Ornate Checkered Beetles can be a pest where their range overlaps with Leafcutter Bees. The beetle larvae can be parasitic on Leafcutter Bee grubs, but feed on flower pollen in the absence of bee grubs.

All of these photos were taken along the Nogales Trail at the Medina River Natural Area on Wednesday, July 31, 2013.

Arriving at the Right Place at Precisely the Right Time

Natural light can be very fickle. The photographer, Ernst Haas, pointed out that a good photographer is like a good poker player who makes the most of whatever cards are dealt. When working with natural light, the photographer must know how to make the most of whatever light is illuminating the subject.

Without realizing it in advance, I had arrived at precisely the right time as I was walking along the edge of the woods towards the pavilion trailhead at the Judson Nature Trails earlier this month. The light illuminating a Virginia Creeper vine growing up a tree trunk with the dark woods in the background was magical. The vine popped out of the surrounding visual chaos:

People seem to get Virginia Creeper confused with Poison Ivy, I suppose because the individual leaflets have a somewhat similar shape, but Poison Ivy has three leaflets per leaf and Virginia Creeper has five leaflets per leaf. Thus the rhyme: "Leaves of three, let it be. Leaves of five, let it thrive."

This set of photographs was taken at the Jack Judson Nature Trails (a.k.a. The Hondodo Creek Trails) in the Olmos Basin in Alamo Heights on Monday, September 9, 2013.

Caught Totally By Surprise

I was at the San Antonio Botanical Garden late this morning (Wednesday, September 25, 2013) preparing for a hike of the South Texas Plains Native Trail I will be leading this Saturday. I had stopped along the trail to take a few close-up photos of the leaves on a Guajillo.

I happened to turn around to look behind me and was somewhat startled to see a dragonfly perched near the top of a twig only about two feet away. It didn't move at all. My first assumption was it was dead, but it didn't look dead. Then it flew off and, as dragonflies tend to do, returned to the exact same position on the twig.

I took four photos of it and could easily have taken more, but was certain at least one of the four photos would be very good. Two of the photos turned out to be more stunning than I had hoped:

There are several species of dragonflies that look very similar to this one. The best I can tell from my references, this is a Common Sanddragon.

So, I was the one caught totally by surprise. As so often seems to be the case for me, this dragonfly appeared to be more than willing to pose for a photo.

The Inquisitive Young Doe

White-tailed Deer are a fairly common sight along the Panther Spring Creek trail at Walker Ranch Historic Landmark Natural Area. So are photographers. This young doe was acting as if she had never seen a photographer before and was very curious about what I might be doing. There were at least two other deer with her that wouldn't come out of the brush:

On the other hand, she probably had never seen a human with strange long front legs (my fore-arm crutches) before and was curious about how I walked.

This set of photographs was taken along the Panther Spring Creek trail at Walker Ranch Historic Landmark Natural Area on Wednesday, September 11, 2013. These photos are all of the same doe. The other two deer were too well hidden by the brush to photograph.

Yucca with a Twist

The origin of the common name for the Twist-leaf Yucca is fairly obvious. The leaves twist as they age. This yucca, also known as Texas Yucca, is endemic to the Edwards plateau and Texas Hill Country:

These two photographs were taken along the Shady Creek Trail at Eisenhower Park on Monday, September 16, 2013.

A Queen and Purple Mist

While walking from the Pearl parking lot to the Bat Loco gathering at the Camden St bridge, I passed a section of the riverbank with a large planting of Purple Palmleaf Mistflowers. Dancing from flower to flower were a large number of Queen butterflies. It was a photo op I couldn't pass up:

Queen butterflies are close cousins of the Monarch butterfly in the Genus Danaus. The two have similar appearances and are sometimes confused with each other.

This set of photographs was taken on the Museum Reach of the San Antonio River on Tuesday, August 6, 2013.