The Cibolo Nature Center & Farm is located in Boerne (pronounced Bur-nee), Texas on what
once was the Herff Ranch, established in 1852.
Much of the original 10,000 acre ranch has been developed but the Friends
of the Cibolo Wilderness group was able to acquire 62 acres, including the
original ranch homestead. Boerne is a fast-growing suburb of San Antonio, and it is great to have this area set aside as a nature center.
There is no charge to walk the trails. We stopped at the visitor center to make a
donation and get a map.
Gift Shop/Visitor Center
We’ve been here many times and there are usually some fun
creatures to see inside the visitor center.
Fredrico - Spiny Soft Shell Turtle
Scooter - River Cooter
The trails are very nice and easy to walk.
There are many places to walk down to the beautiful
Cibolo Creek.
There seemed to be hundreds of Yellow-rumped Warblers down in the creek bottom. They will be headed north soon, and some have started to molt into their breeding plumage. We usually see them in their more muted winter feathers, but they'll be bright and colorful back on their breeding grounds.
The first picture shows one getting some black feathering. The second is still looking pretty gray.
The first picture shows one getting some black feathering. The second is still looking pretty gray.
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
This Yellow-rumped Warbler is showing the yellow on its crown, under the wings and on its namesake rump. They continue to get brighter as they get ready to head north. These are the eastern variety, as western birds also sport a bright yellow throat.
A White-eyed Vireo popped out of the brush just long enough for a picture. These birds seem to believe that they should be heard, but seldom seen. They are local breeders and have already started to establish territories.
White-eyed Vireo
This Vesper Sparrow is also getting ready to head north. They come to Texas for the winter, but like us they prefer cooler places in the summer!
Vesper Sparrow
Walking back to the visitor we always stop at the dinosaur
tracks.
Millions of years ago huge dinosaurs roamed this area. In 1997 a huge flood uncovered dinosaur tracks at the Boerne Lake Spillway.
These tracks were made by a giant reptile called Acrocanthosaurus, who lived in the Cretaceous Period about 100 million years ago.
These tracks were made by a giant reptile called Acrocanthosaurus, who lived in the Cretaceous Period about 100 million years ago.
Concerned about the longevity of the tracks, the Cibolo
Nature Center participated in creating an exact replica of the tracks and
placed them on a trailhead on the Nature Center grounds.
This is a small park but the beautiful, clear Cibolo
creek is worth the trip.
Always interesting when events like fire or flood uncover cool things! And not many things cooler than dinosaur tracks.
ReplyDeleteGotta love the surprise dinosaur tracks!!
DeleteThanks for sharing your Boerne adventure in the blog! We sure do love our Cibolo Nature Center!!! :)
ReplyDeleteIt seems to the non-birder like me, that the fact birds change colors for breeding just adds to the difficulty of identification. But, that doesn't seem to be a hurdle for you two.
ReplyDeleteThey are usually at their brightest in breeding plumage, and identification is simplest then. The term "Confusing Fall Warblers" is due to the fact that they lose much of their color in fall, and along with duller juvenile birds become challenging indeed.
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