San Antonio River between Kenedy and Runge
Have you ever heard of Kenedy, Texas? What about Falls City, Helena, Runge, or Goliad? Surely you know of the San Antonio Riverwalk? The San Antonio River doesn’t suddenly halt once it passes the Alamo. The river flows south to San Antonio Bay and the Gulf of Mexico. The spaces in between San Antonio and the Gulf, however, are relatively unknown even among Texans.
Mission Nuestra Señora del Rosario (established in 1754)
SCSCB Opening Session
The Society for the Study and Conservation of Caribbean Birds (SCSCB) conference in Freeport, Bahamas is underway. Ted presented in the opening session, providing information about the new Caribbean Birding Trail. The conference continues through the 25th. On Sunday (the 24th) Ted will conduct a workshop on the CBT for the partners and supporters.
In the weeks since the eruption of the Gulf gusher, criticism of the administration and the president has been muted. There have been no marches on the Capitol, no insurrection in the Gulf. In fact, the only civil disobedience has come from BP.
For example,
Black swallowtail on parsley
My yard is a feeding frenzy, an orgy of young and old, big and small, eating their ways toward winter. As I walk along my flower beds I hear the constant crunch of caterpillars, ants, pill bugs, and grubs making short work of my crops. The bird feeders are crowded with parents cramming the gaping mouths of young with masticated seeds. Never mind that the young downy is larger than the adult; instinct always wins out over common sense.
Downy woodpecker (adult male)
TripAdvisor is an on-line travel “community,” an aggregation of tourists that share opinions and experiences about when and where they travel. Each year TripAdvisor publishes the results of its annual travel trends survey of more than 2,500 travelers from around the world. Among the top trends are issues that should be of concern (and interest) to the Galveston tourism industry.
This year’s survey show that travelers are growing greener. According to the survey “twenty-six percent of respondents said they will be more environmentally conscious in their travel decisions in the coming year. The green trend may be evident in their choice of transportation — 22 percent said they’ll go biking while on vacation this year, compared to 13 percent, last year. Forty-seven percent of travelers plan to go hiking this year, up from 43 percent, last year.”