A Celebration of Rain on a Day Between Storms, Part 1

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.

An Overcast Friday Morning on the Leon Creek Greenway

Friday, May 4, 2012

Leon Creek Greenway, Ingram Transit Center Trailhead

Today's photos:

The last time I walked this section of the Leon Creek Greenway was on Wednesday, November 9. That was a chilly, damp, overcast fall afternoon. This morning was a very humid, warm, overcast late Spring morning. The clouds began to burn off about the time I returned to the car, and the temperature soared making this the hottest day of the year so far, topping out at 96 degrees (F).

In addition to keeping the temperature lower in the morning, the overcast sky also provided a beautiful soft light illuminating the landscape. This is only a small portion of the photos I took this morning. There will be one more upcoming post with the remainder of the photos.

Awestruck Amongst a Multitude of Mariposas

Thursday, May 3, 2012

I have genuinely reached the point where I am at a total loss for words. I have even been struggling with how to best organize and present the photographs I have been producing on my walks. I have been truly blessed with the experience of nature's extraordinary abundance and diversity. This is especially true most recently when it comes to the butterflies.

The following photographs were taken on my walk in the Medina River Natural Area this past Friday, April 27:

Many of the common names for butterflies, or mariposas as they are beautifully referred to in Spanish, are as interesting as the insects themselves. In the order of their appearance as best as I can identify them, these are:

Pearl Crescent

White Checkered-skipper

Tawny Emperor

Tawny Emperor

Pearl Crescent

Pearl Crescent

Funereal Duskywing

Tawny Emperor

Funereal Duskywing

Little Yellow

The Same But Intimately Different

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Pearsall Park, Nature Trail

Today's photos:

Both the Leon Creek South Greenway and the Pearsall Park Nature Trail begin at the same trailhead, but go off in different directions.