Honey Creek State Natural Area

It was a cold and frosty morning as we gathered at the old homestead for the 2 mile interpretive tour of Honey Creek, but the azure blue sky held promise of another beautiful day in the Hill Country.

Honey Creek State Natural Area, originally a ranch owned by German immigrants in the mid-1800's, totals 2293.7 acres, lies approximately 30 miles north of San Antonio, and is accessible by a weekly guided tour only.  Due to the bone-chilling temperatures, I was pleasantly surprised at how many people availed themselves of this opportunity.

Nesting grounds of the endangered Golden-cheeked Warbler, Honey Creek is a truly beautiful location.

Spanish Moss

Ball Moss - feeds off the air!

The lasting effects of a Yellow Sapsucker!

THIS is Honey Creek!

Yellow Indian Grass at the water's edge.

At least 20 feet up high, in the crook of a tree,

 grew this big, beautiful cactus!

Although birds were scarce on this frigid morning,

the dappling effects of the sun couldn't disquise THIS bird,

nestled in among the rocks on the path up a gorge.

I'll always wonder if this was placed intentionally, long ago, by hunters/gatherers or later by settlers, or if it is just 'one of those things'.

Tradition holds that as they explored their new surrouondings, they found that there were hundreds of swarming bees.  Where there are so many bees, there must be honey, and so the creek became known as Honey Creek.

Today's the last day to enter the give-away on this post.

Donated items include Crossley's new bird ID book and

Peterson's Young Birder's Field Guide.