Prior to visiting the art show at the Migration Celebration at the San Bernard NWR I took a tour of the San Bernard Oak, the largest live oak in Texas. The trail had been freshly mowed and maintained so it was not nearly as buggy as I was expecting. I took my time, meandering along, snapping photos of the way the light hit the vegetation along the trail.
Fairly certain this is a mustang grape…
A gas pipeline provided a nice opening for the sun-loving plants to thrive like these Mexican hats Ratibida columnifera.
Finally I arrived at the oak tree, however due to the tours (they were mostly self guided, however a guide was available to lead the tours too) there was quite a crowd and it was difficult to get good photos or to hang out very long there.
Some day I would like to return when it is quiet, to sit and enjoy it without a crowd.
I was chatting with the tour guide for a few minutes when I looked up into a nearby oak and saw those honeycombs up in the tree—only my initial look suggested they were some kind of tree fungus. I squinted a little bit and realized the mass next to it was instead a giant beehive I pointed it out to the naturalist who later recalled, after thinking a bit, that the hive had been there the previous year.
I highly recommend visiting this tree and trail if you are looking for something to do in the greater Houston area. Maybe a stop on your way to the coast?
The weekend we went to see the bats we went to Westcave Preserve as well. I think it has turned into our favorite little place to go when in the Austin area. We had hoped to get there again before May to see the chatterbox orchids but alas, that did not happen. Maybe next year!
The prickly poppies were putting on a beautiful show and have continued doing so around the state since.
Of course I love to get up close and personal with the flowers I take photos of and these were not any different.
It was peak bluebonnet season when we went; the flowers were everywhere.
I think this is a rock squirrel, there were several around the main building providing entertainment for me while we waited for the tour to start. It was rather finicky though and wouldn’t really let me get a good shot.
I’m bummed the vegetation was in front of its face at this point but it is still a neat shot.
Probably the most exciting thing was seeing two golden-cheeked warblers in the Ashe-junipers at the preserve. We stopped for a few minutes to watch a pair frolicked about. I got a few decent shots in the midst of their moving about.
I was happy to see this one turn out so well with the wing spread out.
The two of them huddled closely together.
And their tail-feathers hanging over the branches.
I definitely think the birds were the highlight of this expedition to the preserve, a bird to add to the life-list (not that I’m a big birder) but also to see an endangered and rare species. Seeing wildlife up close is always nice but sometimes you have to work for the sightings. We worked by straining our necks up to the trees; frankly it would have been easier to lay down and just watch but that wasn’t something to be done.
Next time we’ll descend down into the grotto and enjoy the beauty down below!
While in Austin two weekends ago we took advantage of an opportunity to see the colony of Mexican free-tailed bats that live under the Congress Avenue bridge in downtown Austin. We didn’t really do much research when we got there only knowing about when to go (dusk—but earlier to get a spot in the crowd) and the location but when we arrived we quickly realized we didn’t know where to park. We ended up in the Austin American Statesman parking lot, which I am pretty sure we weren’t supposed to be in, but a few others were parked there and a gate was open to the little green space near the bridge.
We arrived about 30 minutes before sunset and found a place to sit and people watch.
The crowd grew larger as time went on and kayakers and tourist boats were in the Colorado River beneath the bridge too. Next time I am definitely doing this via kayak!
Finally bats started flying out but the light was so low and we weren’t in the best position for photos. Chris opted for a video only and when he processes that I will get that up here too.
It was bat chaos!
Yes, those blurs are bats!
Finally, the thrill of the bats over and the darkness settling in, most people left. We decided to walk under the bridge where others had been, taking the chance of random guano falling on us, to see what we saw there. It was insanely loud with bats! These photos just don’t do the awesomeness any justice!
Before we went under the bridge, you can see the bats streaming out and hear them along with the crowd.
And a video under the bridge, the flashes from the cameras giving you a chance to see the mass of flying mammals!
If you are ever in Austin I highly recommend checking this out! It might be better viewing from the water and on the bridge, the bats seemed to funnel towards the middle of the bridge.
Early in the year Chris had scheduled out several camping trips throughout the spring. I had warned that he could potentially be in the field all spring—things hadn’t started up yet and he not received word about work. Even so, he made reservations to many state parks in anticipation of spring wildflower season. So far we’ve had to cancel most of them, but we rescheduled this trip to Huntsville State Park to a weekend sooner then planned since he was going to be off that weekend. Unfortunately a cool front with rain came through causing us to postpone leaving to the campground until early afternoon, when the rains had passed.
We had a site right on the lake so Chris could set up his fishing pole. I had a book to read while lounging in the tent and all was perfect. At about 4 p.m. we decided to go for a short hike and were only about a quarter mile or so down the trail when the rain decided to come back. It had stayed overcast most of the afternoon but we really thought it was done. Back to the car we went and into the tent too, taking a nap while the rain passed.
Dinner was made quickly as dusk began to fall, the lantern turned on during the last minutes of dinner in order to wash up our plates and put everything away.
That afternoon the campsite was lively with a woodpecker, this yellow bellied sapsucker, keeping our interest and allowing for a few portraits to be taken.
A few other birds were hanging around, too.
The next morning we ate breakfast and soon after the clouds began to clear. The park has an extensive trail system and we decided to do part of the outer loop, connecting the Chinquapin and Triple C Trails.
The rain left the trails rather muddy but most of the trails were in good condition.
The Carolina jessamine is still lighting up the forest right now.
View looking east from the dam into the lake.
The dam….
which heads to Prairie Branch Creek downstream.
Fairly certain this is basket grass. Or a Dichanthelium.
We didn’t stay too long hiking that day as we still had other chores to do and Chris wanted to get a few other things done before driving back to his hotel later that evening. It’s only about an hour from our house so I would love to come back here on the weekend and hit up the other trails, or even connect to the Lone Star Trail.
President Houston wasn’t too far away, but maybe next time we’ll finally stop in and say hi!
Austin needs a cool symbol like Portland has, PDX, which is their airport code. Why? Austin is what I feel like Portland would be, minus all the rainy weather. I guess Austin has SXSW and ACL, but they don’t quite flow into Austin itself. Austin is in general known to be weird, it’s a fairly liberal area in one of the most conservative states. It is definitely weird.
And there is a lot of traffic. Not that the other major cities in Texas don’t have traffic, but there are no large loops or bypasses around downtown, you pretty much go straight through it.
Anyway, we were there last week for a few days for a wetland training course. Now, I know wetlands, I focused on them in college, did some work with them in Florida and took another training course in Florida—but that little certificate is still in our storage unit in Florida—so I really don’t have ‘proof’ I took it. Plus my memory is fuzzy and I don’t remember exactly what type of training it was. So, off we went to Austin to learn all about wetland delineation.
Biologists—future biologists—wetlands are where it is at. Yes, there are lots of other environmental areas, but if you can delineate a wetland and do the permitting for it, you are golden. All people want to do are build on or around them and in general they need a permit for that.
But, I digress…Austin.
Because the class went primarily from 7:30 am until 6pm at night, with a lunch break, we did not get out to see the Treaty Tree, which was something we didn’t know about, or if we did, the information fell out of our brains the moment we left 6th grade Texas history. We did make it out to eat at a few places as Austin has a diverse culinary scene and is very friendly to vegetarians. A coworker recommended Kerbey Lane Cafe and we went to the original one on Kerbey Lane and it was excellent. We tried an Indian place the next night and then went near downtown the last night to Chuy’s. It is a fairly well known Tex-Mex restaurant and I was glad we went because they were vegetarian friendly. You may remember the incident the Bush twins had there when they were going to t.u.
The Texas capitol building as we drove by at 45mph (or maybe 35mph?). No slowing down as a cop was sitting at the corner. I’ve never had much of an opportunity to drive down I-35, usually only went on I-45 during college to and from Galveston back to DFW, but I do remember driving by the capitol when I was…mmmm, maybe late elementary or early middle school to visit a great aunt on my dad’s side who lived in Austin. I remember it as a spur of the moment day trip, three hours from DFW. But, really, I have not had much sightseeing in Austin.
We were done a little early yesterday and if we’d thought about it, because we did know about it, we would have taken some time and gone to visit the whooping cranes that are wintering in Austin right now.
So much to do in the Austin area…hopefully we can get back out that way soon.
Inside the cave, which really isn’t much of a cave, I couldn’t help but think it would make a great shelter. Which is probably what local tribes and other visitors, including animals, have done over the years.
As you can see, someone named Nichols visited from Bastrop sometime in 1883. This reminded me of seeing William Clark’s signature at Pompey’s Pillar in Montana in 2008.
This area is subject to flash flooding; several years ago they had some major flooding and had to sweep mud and debris out of the caves and do rehab on the trails before opening them back up.
Passiflora affinis. Originally I thought this looked like lutea but going off of the plant list for the preserve I have figured otherwise.
The crinkly aspect of this fern made for a good portrait of it. My best guess is that it is a southern shield fern, Thelypteris kunthii.
This set of leaves has enticed me to want to start a leaf portrait series. I did not look close enough as I was taking these to tell you what they were. I was mostly drawn to the lines and shadows.
I sat down for awhile waiting for Chris and these steps had me entranced for a few moments, thinking of postcards and posters of places in England and France, tiny little gardens with weathered stones. I almost let the moment go and did not photograph them. I’m glad I did.
A mixture of detritus and the water passing through the area. Sometimes I wonder how long leaves and debris sit before moving, decaying, or falling into another position. Does an animal walk by and brush up against it, will rain drops move it mere centimeters or a flood displace it entirely?
This little stump was beautifully textured and again sent me into a trance, reminding me of a stump that used to be in front of my grandmother’s house when she lived there. They don’t even look the same, but it was a stump and that is what memory it triggered.
I love capturing these little scenes, the ones we might walk by and not notice. Or if we notice we only think about it in passing. I’ve decided to pay more attention to them, call them small still lifes and perhaps compose some for use on Wildscape Photo.
I hope you enjoyed the little ‘trip’ to Westcave. If you are ever in Austin, do go see the three parks in this area. They are a real treat and when the weather is warm I want to swim in the Pedernales River!
The photo above is an overlook at Westcave peering down at the Pedernales River.
The park is available to the public by tour only on weekends or with a school group during the week. But for $5 a person, we felt the tour price was well worth it! The tours last about two hours, and we did not feel rushed. We were able to chat with the park ranger about the various botanical and wildlife interests within the park and nearby areas. I think we kept him engaged, asking questions that only nerdy biologists would ask! There was only us and a family of four on our tour, but I imagine in warmer weather it would be busier. I was a little surprised it wasn’t busy since it was New Years weekend.
The tour starts at the visitors center and traverses the ashe juniper and live oak habitats on the same level as the environmental center, but as we descended we entered a riparian type ecosystem of ferns, sycamores and cypress. It was beautiful! The Ashe Juniper-Live Oak complex is utilized by the endangered gold cheek warbler and apparently a few birds have been known to nest at the preserve.
At the end of the trail we reached the ‘cave’, which is really a grotto, and then on the north side of the canyon is a deeper cave like structure, really a large room.
Because the group on the tour was small we were able to take our time to take the photos we wanted. Often on tours we are rushed and cannot experience a place very well, particularly if it is crowded.
Before the preserve was founded it was visited by many people, swimmers, picnickers and people who eventually, both purposefully and unknowingly, caused some damage to the typical structures you see in caves like stalactites and stalagmites.
In the next post I will show a few photos from inside the cave as well as some closer still-life shots of the surrounding area. It was wonderful to be able to stop and look at a tiny little scene and have the time to shoot it. I can’t wait to show you those!
And if anyone cares, I found the management plan for Westcave Preserve.
A few weekends ago, New Years Eve weekend to be exact, we stopped by Westcave Preserve on our way home. We’d been by there a year before but did not have time to go in. I will have more on Westcave itself in two later posts, but this one is specifically about the beautiful maidenhair fern.
The fern grows in all sorts of rocky outcroppings, and other nooks and crannies along the creek at Westcave. The creek flows maybe a quarter of a mile before emptying into the Pedernales River.
It really makes pathways it lines a magical place.
The Texas Vascular Plant Checklist lists one other species for Texas, Adiantum tricholepis or the hairy maidenhair fern. A Google search of that species is very intriguing and now I would love to see it. The USDA plant database has it listed as only existing in Medina county here in Texas…and only in Texas in the U.S.!
I almost think it is my favorite fern, and yet I saw a photo of a giant leather fern on Flickr the other day and I was reminded of how much I love them too. I think I just love ferns!
If you missed the first part of this series go here.
On New Years Eve I slept in and Chris got up early to take sunrise photos. Once up and breakfast was eaten, we headed off for the eastern side of the loop around the rocks. It was a gorgeously clear day again, perfect really.
Initially we were going to completely go all the way to the east on the loop but we came to the junction of the Turkey Pass trail and thought it looked good, a cut through up to another trail and we could catch the eastern loop up there. We passed this beautiful pond on our way through.
And just to the right of the pond was Turkey Peak.
The south face of Enchanted Rock. In the distance we saw other hikers descending from the rock, in a steep spot. The man in the group was cautiously inching his way down while the woman had resorted to scooting down. The day before we’d been in a similar situation and I’d debated scooting, finally opting not to. Once down on the ground I looked back up, incredulous that we’d come down that slope!
The Turkey Pass trail was quiet, passing one couple and then I think we met up with the steep slope couple towards the top of the trail. This area was definitely not where the main action was going on and would be a great place to explore and enjoy some peace and quiet in the park.
This oak and little rock pool area was beautiful. A small spring was flowing through here. If I’d of had a book and was not going to be hiking I might have spend a few hours perched under the tree.
I’m always surprised to see clear running streams/springs in Texas, which I’m not sure why I am surprised. Perhaps because in Florida I was not accustomed to seeing springs unless we were in far northern Florida.
We walked to the far northern boundary of the park on the loop, then cutting south through Moss Lake primitive camp and then to the Echo Canyon trail. Somehow we ended up off trail and found ourselves making our own trail—which wasn’t terribly bad because others were coming up the way we’d decided to go down.
It was fun going down this way, hopping over rocks.
Back at camp for lunch we opted for a leisurely afternoon of napping. We’d been planning on staying out for sunset to get some shots for that and we left camp with a couple hours of sun left to scout out a place to go. Unfortunately we left just about the time we both decided to get headaches. I’d popped some medicine but Chris hadn’t and his headache become consistently worse as we hiked on.
We did manage to find some beautiful views by taking a trail that was probably not a trail, because it dead ended and we ended up rock hopping and slab walking.
This beautiful slab was begging for its photo to be taken. Chris found a set of stairs leading up to the top where I ended up laying for awhile. Chris needed to lay too but he opted for down in the shade beneath the slab. An animal must have also found it to be a nice spot because scat was at the top too.
Our sunset expedition was called off when Chris’ headache worsened. Instead we hastened back for camp where he hit the tent and was miserable for a few hours before medicine kicked in. I made dinner for myself and sat outside reading by lamplight. I’d gone to bed too early the previous night and didn’t want to do so again. Eventually Chris emerged to eat his own dinner and he opened the bottle of Champagne he’d brought for New Years.
We knew 2012 had arrived by the loud raucous that occurred as the clock struck midnight. Yes, we’d gone to bed a few hours prior to that! I was a struck with sadness in my sleepy haze by the thought of another year coming in. It made me a little sad to know that this would be the first year in two years with no long distance adventures. I let the sadness go quickly because I was soon back asleep.
Enchanted Rock is a place that is beckoning to be visited again, perhaps on a more quiet weekend where we can enjoy it in peace.
