When Bluebonnets (and Mountain Laurel) Bloom, 2014 Edition

I appreciate all the positive feedback and comments I have received regarding While on a Walk while I have been on something of a hiatus. I really haven't vanished off the face of this beautiful planet.

The weather here in South Texas since early January has not exactly been conducive to being out on the trail. Like much of the U.S., it has been rather cold. Granted not as cold as the northern states, cold is relative. When it goes below 60º (F) around here, it's cold.

One advantage to not being able to get out on the trail is I have had time to make major progress towards completing the manuscript for my book, The Song of the Cactus Flower; Images from a Land of Many Thorns. I have also realized there aren't enough hours in a day to complete a book manuscript and publish a blog at the same time. If all goes according to plan, I should be at a point to resume posting on a regular basis by early next month. I may manage a post now and then, like this one, in the meantime.

The Mountain Laurel (Sophora secundiflora) and Bluebonnets (Lupinus texensis) have begun to bloom signaling a return to Spring in South Texas. These two photos were taken in my yard with my cellphone camera, the Mountain Laurel on March 3rd and the Bluebonnet on March 8th.

Mountain Laurel (Sophora secundiflora)

Bluebonnet (Lupinus texensis)

The Bluebonnet, of course is the Official State Flower of Texas, but the Texas State Legislature rarely makes things simple. For the fascinating story of how the Bluebonnet became the state flower, click on this link (pdf) to the article, "All about Bluebonnets", written by Camelia Maier.

Slipping Back to December

I have taken a lot more photographs than there will ever be time to publish. However, my schedule so far this month has not given me much time to get out on the trail to take more photos. One advantage to that is it will give me time to catch up on some series that I haven't had time to publish yet.

The Gadwalls are another one of the ducks that winter here in South Texas. They have returned again in substantial numbers this winter:

This set of photographs was taken between Mission County Park and Padre Park along the Mission Reach of the San Antonio River on Thursday, December 19, 2013.

Watching Intently Over the Weir

I have no idea what this Great Egret was watching, but its gaze was intense as it stood motionless on top of the weir:

This set of photographs was taken at the Roosevelt Park Trailhead on the Mission Reach of the San Antonio River on Thursday, January 2, 2014.

The Challenge of Distance and Camouflage

If I had not turned at just the right time to see this Red-shouldered Hawk fly into and perch on this tree, I would never have known it was there. The tree was several hundred feet upstream on the other side of the river. Even with the telephoto lens, the distance made it difficult to get a series of photos of the hawk:

This set of photographs was taken between Padre Park and Mission Park on the Mission Reach of the San Antonio River on Friday, January 3, 2014.

Going Strong Very Late In The Season

I'm not quite sure what to make of this cluster of Eastern Gamagrass (Tripsacum dactyloides) blooming profusely at the beginning of January as if it were still October:

This set of photographs was taken on the Mission Reach of the San Antonio River on Thursday, January 2, 2014.

The Loggerhead Shrike, A Rare Opportunity, Part 4 of 4

My encounter with the Loggerhead Shrike could probably have gone on for quite a long time. It had already gone on much longer than I anticipated. I was certain the shrike would fly off when I started to walk away, but it just turned on its perch and watched as I circled slowly past it. I think it may have actually been a bit upset I was leaving. Anyway, all good stories have an end and this was about as intense and visually powerful an end as I have ever seen:

I turned and walked on down the trail... The End

This set of photographs was taken at the Roosevelt Park Trailhead on the Mission Reach of the San Antonio River on Thursday, January 2, 2014.

The Loggerhead Shrike, A Rare Opportunity, Part 3 0f 4

So, in Part 2, the Loggerhead Shrike was perched, obviously aware of but unperturbed by my close presence. It kept scanning the ground. I kept snapping photos:

The primary food of the Loggerhead Shrike is large insects, especially grasshoppers. As a matter of fact, a shrike staring down from a perch above is probably a grasshoppers worst nightmare. In the winter when there aren't many insects, the shrike has to depend on frogs, small snakes, lizards, even mice and small birds as a food source.

They are in every sense of the term a "bird of prey." They lack the talons of the raptors, so they catch their prey by the neck with their strong, hooked beak and sever the spinal cord. The shrike then impales its prey on a thorn (or barb wire) and uses its beak the way a raptor would use its talons.

Because of their method of impaling the prey, they are sometimes called Butcherbirds. This behavior may seem to some to be "mean." I have witnessed a fair number of predators taking down prey and it is always in some sense gruesome, but it is part of the cycle of life.

Anyway, I couldn't help but wonder if this shrike was staying so close hoping I would scare up something for it to eat… (to be continued)

This set of photographs was taken at the Roosevelt Park Trailhead on the Mission Reach of the San Antonio River on Thursday, January 2, 2014.