Leucistic Hummingbird

 

Leucistic Anna's Hummingbird, San Francisco Presidio

I ran into several other folks hoping to spot the leucistic hummingbird reported near One Letterman Drive. After waiting a while for it to show up I decided to stroll around the grounds to look for likely nectar-producing flowers where the hummer might be holed up. There were plenty of regular Anna's hummingbirds in attendance, but I searched in vain for the white one.

I'd been talking with another photographer when I looked toward the bare-branched tree in which the hummer has previously been seen and was excited to spot a white blotch on the tree that could be only one thing. I told the other photographer it was there, and we made a bee-line for it. The unusual snow-white bird didn't stay long, but I think everyone was happy to have fired off a few frames. I know I was.

It was after noon by the time I got back on my bike to head home, making a brief stop at El Polin Spring despite my stomach rumbling for lunch. El Polin was full of birds, and the sun was coming out, but I needed to get going. 

It turned out the rain really arrived as forecast the other day, and it looks like much more is in store. I see the sun shining through our living room window this afternoon and know I'd better enjoy it while it lasts.

I spotted this red-shouldered hawk as I coasted down Pacific Avenue adjacent to the Presidio. It was hanging out on the retaining wall and pouncing into the leaves on the ground below.

The hawk did this several times but never seemed to catch anything.

Caught with its nictitating membrane shut over its eye.

After giving up on the leaf litter, the hawk casually swooped across the road and landed on a low branch.

I could hardly have asked for a more picturesque branch for it to pose on.

I spotted some shaggy parasol mushrooms (Chlorophyllum brunneum) while poking around near the tree where the white hummer would later show up. Note the likely slug-munched square rasped from the cap.

According to California Mushrooms, they are "edible and choice," although some people are allergic to them. 

Bushtit Gets a Caterpillar

An orange-crowned warbler also snagged something. The background is a building next to the tree.

Female Anna's Humminbird

The White Hummer In Its Tree

Apparently leucistic hummers can be even whiter than this.

Some pygmy nuthatches were working the bottlebrush flowers along with several other bird species (including two or three regular-colored hummingbirds).

Yellow-rumped Warbler

White-crowned Sparrow

Anna's Hummingbird

I went back to the tree in time to catch a second sighting of the leucistic hummingbird.

A second, ordinary, hummingbird perched in the same tree, sending this one deeper into cover.

Ruby-crowned Kinglet on Oak Branch, El Polin Spring

Leucistic Hummer & Yellow-rumped Warbler

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Warm-Up

 

Anna's Hummingbird, Mallard Lake

It was four degrees warmer than yesterday when I set out on foot this morning, and I was glad for it, even though it was still fairly brisk. Even better was feeling the sun's warmth, seemingly for the first time in days, when the sky broke out in blue later on. I guess there's rain in the forecast for tonight (I'll believe it when I see it), but today was kind of a glorious fall day (yes, it's still fall until Sunday).

Have you ever tried to read The Gulag Archipeligo by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn? I got a third of the way into Volume 1 of 3 when I could no longer take the relentless "man's inhumanity to man" theme. It's truly mind-boggling and heart-rending to read what a deranged leader can do to a country's own citizens. I went back to reading Viruses: The Invisible Enemy with a sense of relief.

I noticed a few of these yellow fieldcaps (Bolbitius titubans) in the grass today in Golden Gate Park and figured they must have come up up after being watered by sprinklers since it hasn't rained in so long.

Red-shouldered Hawk

I was watching a great blue heron when this common yellowthroat briefly appeared from a thicket on the edge of Mallard Lake.

I'd never seen a heron in this spot right next to the trail behind Mallard Lake before, and I know there are some huge carp that swim close to shore here, so I stopped to see if the heron would try to catch one.

I watched for close to half an hour before the heron finally struck at something, and whatever it was must have been very small. It was already down the hatch when I snapped this shot.

A few birds were enjoying a bath in the little creek at the east end of Mallard Lake.

The built-in flash on the FZ-80D will only fire a couple of times before it needs to take a siesta and recharge. Your subject will of course do many photogenic things during this siesta (and also fly away), while you gape in frustration.

Bathers at Mallard Lake

Some Townsend's warblers were also bathing in the shallows on the edge of Elk Glen Lake.

Townsend's Warbler, Elk Glen Lake

A yellow-rumped warbler gives me "the look" from the cattails at Elk Glen Lake.

Autumnal Reflections on Elk Glen Lake

Steller's Jay Nabs a Bee

Posing in a Spot of Sun

Fallen Plum Leaves on Sidewalk, 16th Avenue

Lots of pelicans on the farthest-out of the Seal Rocks today.

* * *

Making the Rounds

 

Young Raccoon, North Lake

When I saw the mama raccoon come out of the bushes just as I rolled across Chain of Lakes Drive into the entrance at North Lake, I swung off my bike, pushed down the kickstand, and dug my camera out of the trunk bag. I'd been hoping to see a coyote today, but raccoons would do, and the cute-factor with junior tagging along was a bonus.

It also took my mind off the hazard of crossing Chain of Lakes Drive, where it's hard to see if the coast is clear, especially while trying to avoid ruts in the trail as you go around the closed gate.

This crossing has become more hazardous with increased traffic since the Upper Great Highway closed to cars. There isn't great visibility at the intersection (red circle) when you're coming down the hill, and I'd like to see signage and a crosswalk put in there.

In early October I wondered if this baby raccoon had been hit by a car while trying to cross at the same place.

The raccoons today emerged from dense cover ... to do what, I wondered. Were they going to cross Chain of Lakes Drive? Were they just making their way around the lake?

Ah yes, of course. Just making the rounds.

Unfortunately for the raccoons, the spilled garbage appeared to have been picked over already, and they didn't find anything to eat.

Instead of continuing around the lake, the raccoons headed back the way they came.

Back into the dense undergrowth, with junior in the lead.

Yes, I am still following you. (Note its backlit toenails.)

The raccoons were both unperturbed by me, and did not approach me to beg, which hopefully means they are still used to people, but are no longer as dependent on direct hand-outs (which used to be very common at North Lake).

Getting into the Thicket of Things

Since I had my camera out already, I decided to snap a photo of the night herons. I only saw two, and the adult was sleeping, so I photographed junior who was awake and preening.

And jaw-stretching.

I'd been wondering if or when I might see the seasonal Say's phoebe at the Balboa Natural Area this year, and today I finally did. I'd have missed it if I hadn't stopped to check up on one of the red-tailed hawks who hangs out in the area.

At one point the phoebe regurgitated this shriveled up insect (looks like a half-digested grasshopper), but held it in its beak. I couldn't tell if it eventually dropped it or swallowed it back down.

This resident red-tail was not the banded brother. I'd only been watching it for a few seconds when it swooped down, seemingly to pounce on something on the other side of a small dune, but swooped back up again and landed on a new light pole. Shortly afterward, the Say's phoebe darted out from behind that dune and flew like a shot toward the ocean, then out around the Cliff House. I wondered if the red-tail had spooked it into leaving the area.

A bunch of pelicans were frolicking close to shore, which is unusual. Of course, they all flew away shortly after I started to record them. I knew I couldn't have been the cause of their leaving, though. I was too far away. But I soon saw who did chase them off. Yep, the usual suspects.

The rock on the right doesn't always have so much bird activity. Farther out, some of the birds seemed to enjoy soaring in the wind more than hanging out on the rocks.

* * *