Tam Hike

 

Big Bay Laurel on Old Mine Trail

It was dark and dripping wet at home. Even the streets were wet. A check of the Mt. Tam Cam showed a mixed bag of fog, high clouds, and blue sky. We dressed for a cold hike with likely heavy fog-drip in the forested sections and dew in the tall grass along the trails, only to get there and find a beautiful day for a hike. Not too hot, and definitely not too cold. And not wet at all.

Cobwebby Thistle

Mix of Fog, High Clouds, and Blue Sky

Fence Lizard Weather

One View

Another View

Sprawling Oak

It's not often I get to see a red-tailed hawk out in the open on Mt. Tam.

And this one didn't like being watched either.

We saw some large, furry gray squirrels this morning, but this guy was as big as them, but with reddish fur. It was moving too fast to get a good picture, and it eventually disappeared into a hollow tree. There were two of them in close proximity along the Matt Davis Trail, so maybe they were nesting in that tree.

This was the view from the Coastal Trail down toward Stinson Beach. Moments later the fog cleared away and we could see far out over a calm Pacific Ocean.

Band-tailed Pigeon in a Douglas Fir

We encountered a black-tailed jackrabbit on the trail, and it immediately turned around and took off. We saw it again later, and again it took off running despite being quite far away.

It ducked under a big coyote brush on the hillside but didn't find it to its liking. This hare was getting its daily exercise, for sure.

A controlled burn of some slash piles was happening along West Ridgecrest Boulevard. Smelled like a campfire, which was kind of nice.

The meadow at Rock Spring was loaded with purple vetch, something I don't believe I've ever seen there before.

There was a lot of buzzing of bumblebees among the flowers.

April is a good month to see sky lupine. We saw a lot of sprinkles of them, but no dense patches.

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Bird Bath

 

 Bathing Allen's Hummingbird, Mallard Lake

I dropped in at the creek that flows into Mallard Lake this morning, hoping to catch the colorful Allen's hummingbirds bathing in it. For whatever reason, I've yet to see one of the local Anna's hummingbirds bathing in the same sunny spots. They seem to prefer a much more private area with lots of cover and shade.

On the way to the creek I saw this tiny Pacific wren jump into some ivy ground cover where it completely vanished, but I waited a minute or so until he came back out into the open.

Soggy Hummer Preening

Lapping it Up

Making a Splash

A hermit thrush dropped by to check me out, then dove into some deep cover next to the creek.

Sparkles

Dropping In For A Dip

Cobweb Forager

Tight Turn

Getting His Feet Wet

American Lady Resting On Poison Hemlock

Song Sparrow & Lichen

Raven Looking for Treats, Blue Heron Lake

Junior was hungry and tried to get the adult to feed him, but I don't think he ever succeeded. 

The ring-necked ducks are still around.

Both male and female. I wonder if they are going to be nesting here.

I sat on a bench for half an hour or so, and the two youngsters appeared to get increasingly hungry. I hoped a second adult would come back with lunch, but I gave up to go home and have lunch of my own.

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Cedar Waxwings

 

Cedar waxwings are more often heard than seen, at least when it comes to seeing them close enough to photograph. I often hear them in the tops of tall eucalyptus and pine trees, where they communicate with each other in almost constant high-pitched tweets. Whenever I hear them I look for a nearby berry bush. If there isn't one around, I know the birds are going to stay high in their resting tree.

This morning I heard the telltale tweeting as I walked through Forest Hill on my way to West Portal. They were coming down to snag red berries which gave me a chance to photograph them. Afterward I watched them doing the berry-passing game with each other, too high up to capture in a picture.

A recent evening sky view out the back window.

The low-hanging fruit was apparently too low for comfort, but the berries higher in the tree were getting sparse, making for gymnastics in trying to find them.

No Berries Here

Ally-oop!

Lots of spiky wild cucumber fruits these days.

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Hairy Heights

 

Hairy Woodpecker, Golden Gate Heights

I took a walk around the neighborhood with the Z8 in a backpack this morning, just to get used to carrying it around, not really expecting to need it. There was a strong, chilly sea-breeze under a fog-shrouded sky, and even the sparrows were mostly hunkered down. 

As I was coming down from Golden Gate Heights Park where I'd watched a bunch of crows and a few ravens soaring exuberantly in the wind and occasionally breaking off to chase one of the local red-tailed hawks, I thought to myself that it would be nice to see a woodpecker. A few seconds later I heard the tweet of the fellow in these shots and was fortunate to be able to fire off a few frames before he flew away.

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Pacheco Pond

 

Mute Swan at Pacheco Pond, Bel Marin Keys

We were meeting a friend for lunch up north today and stopped by Bel Marin Keys to check out Pacheco Pond. I didn't know what to expect, but I was glad I'd brought the Z8. The little island in front of the parking lot was festooned with nesting great egrets and some kind of weird swans that appeared to be paired up, or in the process of doing so. Turns out they were non-native mute swans (Cygnus olor), descendants of the ones first brought to this country from Europe in the 1800s.

This is the view back toward the island from the little trail on the eastern edge of the pond.

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