Beach Scene

 

Surfers at Kelly's Cove, Ocean Beach

After walking down to Barbary Coast Cyclery to pick up my newly repaired bike I rode out to check up on the Golden Gate Park hummingbird nest, where the two nestlings appear to be doing fine and have grown quite a bit in just the past few days. They will probably have left the nest by next weekend.

Next I headed down to the beach to check out the No Kings protest and was surprised to see, far from the protest, a solo biologist doing a necropsy on a beached sea lion. In addition to all the protesters, a few surfers had managed to find space in the full parking lots to get out in the water and catch some waves.

I stopped by Metson Lake on the way home, where I photographed the Queen of the Cattails, an ovipositing dragonfly, and an active gopher. A red-shouldered hawk cried out from some nearby trees, and I wondered if the gopher was about to be a goner. I didn't stick around to find out.

Growing Youngsters

I couldn't make out exactly what the "No Kings" formation depicted.

After the protest, folks who didn't head straight for their cars went for a walk on the beach and along the Esplanade, or out into Sunset Dunes Park.

Biologist in Biohazard Gear

The biologist moved the sea lion closer to the water so the tide could take it back out. Here she's just taken a swab sample from the animal's mouth.

I assume the paint lets everyone know that a necropsy has already been done.

I like to capture a frame from a wild maneuver like this, even when the next frame shows the wipeout.

Saturday Swell = Swell Saturday

Queen of the Cattails, Metson Lake

I'm pretty sure this dragonfly is sticking her eggs onto the submerged plant.

Busy Gopher

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Pescadero State Beach

 

Ice Plant on the Bluffs, Pescadero State Beach

I've been wanting to head south along the San Mateo coast for a while, and with rain in the forecast for next week I figured now was a good time to go. 

Arriving good and early, I realized I was too early. The gates don't open until 8 a.m., which is too bad. Pescadero Marsh looked good in the light before sunrise, but I saw no way to take advantage. Nowhere to park, that is.

The biting predawn cold melted away as the sun rose into a hazy morning sky. I'd hoped for lots of shorebirds, and maybe even some harbor seals, but had to settle for a small flock of whimbrels that soon got the jitters and flew north. Once they were gone, the beach was desolate except for a narrow wrack line composed of tiny crab shells, a scattering of by-the-wind sailors, and a couple of bird carcasses.

I drove a little farther south to see what I might find, pulling off the Cabrillo Highway at a random pull-out that looked worth exploring. The sandstone tafoni formations drew me in, and I kept my eyes and ears peeled for black oystercatchers as I looked for compositions. I finally spotted one flying toward me from the south, and it whistled its single-note call as it passed by. I whistled back, and the oystercatcher landed not too far away.

View of Pescadero Beach from the Bridge

Driftwood in the Dunes

Mouse Tracks in the Sand

Foraging Whimbrels

Synchronized Foraging

I guess the pickin's were nothing special -- nothing worth being spied on by a nosy photographer anyway -- so the birds kept moving north.

Small Sea Tunnel

The Mouth of Pescadero Creek

Bridge Over Pescadero Creek

Killdeer On Trail to Pescadero Marsh
(Out on the marsh I spotted a bufflehead, a great blue heron, a great egret, and a pair of Canada geese, almost all of which made haste to ditch me. The geese didn't fly away, but they were definitely "up periscope" on me until I soon left.)

Coastal Sandstone Along Cabrillo Highway

Tafoni Weirdness

Some of the sandstone was in the tidal zone where it gets sculpted by the motion of the sea.

The oystercatcher wasn't hunting; it just wanted to tuck a foot and a beak, and get some shut-eye. Much as I'd liked to have it otherwise, I had to respect its wishes and head back to the car for the trip home.

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Bird Medley

 

Walking Surf Scoter, Ocean Beach

I'm pretty sure I'd never seen a surf scoter on foot before today. This one was working the rough, splashing shallows in front of Sutro Baths and would occasionally get swept among the rocks by the currents of flowing shorebreak. This time the scoter decided to take an overland route to get back where he wanted to be. He was feeding in an interesting way, burying his beak part way into the sand and rapidly "munching" as the shorebreak retreated after washing up the beach.

I was less than a block out the front door this morning when a red-shouldered hawk swooped down onto the power pole, being chased by a few crows. 

The crows weren't content to let it hang around here, either, and the hawk flew away to escape the harassment.

Northern Flicker Near Bison Paddock
(Quite a few cedar waxwings were hawking insects from the flicker's pine tree and adjacent eucalyptus, but the waxies were too high up to photograph.)

Several yellow-rumped warblers were hawking insects from the cover of a redwood at North Lake.

Unattended Eagle Eggs

Less Than Five Minutes Later

It's Hot Up There

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