San Gabriel Trail

Now that my term as president of the Texas Ornithological Society has ended and I have given up leading trips for that organization, I will have more time to devote to this blog and my photography.  I do plan on doing some travelling with the new travel trailer I purchased this past spring.  So you might want to check back occasionally to see if I have added anything new to the blog.

I am fortunate to live close to Booty's Park here in Georgetown, Texas.  It is a short 15 minute walk from my house to the low water crossing on the east end of the trail that runs along the San Gabriel Trail.  I really enjoy a walk along this beautiful tail and then return to my home in about an hour.  It is a 3 mile round trip and is one I regularly take for exercise in addition to my gym time.  On Tuesday of this week I made the trip. With all the rain we have had here in Williamson County this year the river is in great shape a
and the water is running swiftly.  I love the peaceful sound of water running over the dam. this is where I begin the trail. 

As I strolled along the tail this morning I could hear a Canyon Wren singing across the river.  I was a bit surprised to hear this as it is far down the trail where I usually encounter them.  I even questioned if a Mockingbird had master his song, but it was a complete in length and that is usually not what Mockingbirds do.  The tail is canopied with tall trees for the most part and the spring at the top of the hill (Booty Spring) is rushing now.  This is a rock bottomed, spring fed river that is somewhat rare here in Texas.  The Tonkawa Indians called this are the land of Good Water because of the clean water sources in the area.  As I moved toward the parking lot area I really heard little in the way of birds, but the morning was relatively cool and I enjoyed the quite time. 

After reaching the parking lot area I continued up the trail toward the dam and bird songs became more numerous.  I heard the chortle of a Summer Tanager, the hard clack call of Northern Cardinals, the near constant song of a White-eyed Vireo, and the call of a Bewick's Wren, which responded to my pishing and came close to check it out.  There were also Black-crested Titmouse and Carolina Chickadee singing as I moved along.  This years abundant moisture has really had its impact along the trail as evidenced by the heavy growth of flowers and bushes adjacent to the trail.  I noticed the presence of many dragonflies active this morning.  I was able to get a couple of shots the first one is a Common Whitetail

 And the second one I am told by a reliable source is somewhat rare for this area, a Slaty Skimmer, dragonfly that according to range maps reaches its western extreme in this area.

 

As a bonus we often encounter other wildlife here, especially white-tail deer such as this one.



 

 

On my way back to my house, once I reached the area where neighborhoods exist I began to here the call of Blue Jays and House Sparrows.  These birds seem to enjoy neighborhoods more than the wilds along the water.  So I finally arrive home and ended another hike along the San Gabriel.