Heron's Head & India Basin

Black Oystercatcher, Heron's Head Park

 

It was so cold as I rolled down the hill from home this morning that I almost turned around to get warmer clothing. Or maybe even just stay home. My speed on the descent is generally 20-30 mph, making the wind chill on a 52-degree morning about 44 degrees. "But it's so sunny out," went my thoughts. "It'll be warmer when I start pedaling at the bottom of the hill."

But I never did get truly warm because even out at Heron's Head and India Basin, the sun would become obscured by clouds as strong winds blew over the water. It was a relief when I ducked behind a big bush and out of the wind at Heron's Head to watch American avocets feeding along the shoreline.

The tide was heading out to a noon low of 0.0 feet while I was there, bringing to the mudflats several willets, whimbrels, black-necked stilts, greater yellowlegs, a spotted sandpiper and a black-bellied plover, and even a pair of black oystercatchers in addition to the avocets.

Willet in the Shallows

Great Blue Heron

Black-bellied Plover

Black-necked Stilt & Black-bellied Plover

Black-necked Stilt

There was a pair of mockingbirds trading songs over at India Basin Shoreline Park. We used to have these guys in our neighborhood, but somewhere along the line they disappeared.

Here's the lone spotted sandpiper, with a black-necked stilt for size-comparison.

Three Gentlemen on the Mudflat

Greater Yellowlegs on the Move

Whimbrel Snags a Clam

Reflecting Whimbrel

American Avocets

Brief video of avocets and black-bellied plover in motion.

Such Festive Beaks & Eyes

A pair of American avocets feeding in Lash Lighter Basin adjacent to Heron's Head Park.

California Poppies at Heron's Head

I started to ride past the goats thinking I'd pass them up, but then I smelled them and had to pull over to check them out at close range. Something about hitting two senses -- sight and scent -- must have made the difference to draw me in.

Goat Yard

From Heron's Head I rode along the coast to the Fort Mason Community Garden where I spotted this swallowtail fluttering in the breeze. When I saw it again a little later it landed on this plant, and I realized it was an anise swallowtail.

Anise Swallowtail Depositing Egg on Anise Plant
(I was able to find a single yellow egg on the plant, but it was far too tiny to photograph with the FZ80D.)

Not a great shot, but I liked all the colors.

Bumblebee on California Lilac

Eagle Cam Today

The eagle wakes up a bit when a raven calls close by.

The eagle stretches a bit...

...then gets up to feed the chicks. Note the hole started in the third egg.

Feeding fish to the chicks. (The camera operator zooms in when something is happening with the chicks.)

I missed it when the second eagle came in, so I don't know if this was a changing of the guard.

The farther eagle takes off a second later.

Settling In

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Cooper's Hawk

Cooper's Hawk on Weathered Power Pole, Forest Hill

 It's pretty rare that I spot a perched cooper's hawk around the city. I'll see them in the air from time to time, but that's about it. Back in July 2011 I was spoiled by an encounter with young cooper's hawks in the S.F. Botanical Gardens (back when it was called Strybing Arboretum). All these years later, I still think about those hawks and hope to get another opportunity like that.

The band-tailed pigeon nest is still there, but I couldn't tell if there are any chicks yet. It's possible the pigeon is keeping them warm under its body. It's surprising to see how insubstantial the nest is.

As part of a construction project in someone's yard, this cross-section of soil revealed an interesting display of subterranean tree roots.

This is the cooper's hawk as viewed through some magnolia blossoms.

Yellow Daffodil With Blue House, Golden Gate Heights

Ravens & Sutro Tower

I immediately stopped my bike as the red-tailed hawk swooped down to pounce on something nearby, but it flew away just as I got my camera out. Luckily it actually flew closer to me by landing on this eucalyptus tree.

Take-off.

These are some of the cooper's hawk shots I got back in 2011 with a Nikon D300S.

Here's a screen grab from the Big Bear Eagle Cam, with two chicks having hatched.

When I checked the cam just now I noticed all the snow has melted from the nest.

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A Tale of Two Lakes

 

Allen's Hummingbird, Mallard Lake

I finally managed to get some decent shots of the recently arrived Mallard Lake hummer this morning. Maybe he just got tired of flying away from me. Either that, or this one is not as easily spooked as the other one. I know there are at last two in the area because they often chased one another.

Before I even went out this morning, I heard a radio announcement for a show on KALW called Natural State. I was in the middle of morning exercises at the time and didn't get around to checking it out until later in the day, but the show consists of two-minute natural soundscapes from around the state. 

They mention bullfrogs in the Sierra Foothills edition, and I heard bullfrogs for the first time at Elk Glen Lake this morning. Bullfrogs are predators of native chorus frogs, so I was disappointed to find them in a pond out by Mt. Tamalpais years ago. But then we had four years of drought and the bullfrogs disappeared, while the chorus frogs survived.

This morning's walk yielded a bonanza of birds and plants (and dinosaurs) to photograph, all of which occurred near Mallard Lake and Elk Glen Lake. I ran into another birder at Elk Glen Lake who said the yellow-bellied sapsucker was back in the oak tree, and I did manage to find it. I keep forgetting how small they are, and I wondered if I'd have seen it had I not been tipped off it was there. 

Chilean Rhubarb Leaves, Mallard Lake

California Towhee

Yellow-rumped Warbler

This is the same yellow-rumper in profile.

Townsend's Warbler

Allen's Hummingbird Caught With Its Tongue Out

Lookin' Tropical

Grooming Fluff

Chestnut-backed Chickadee

Song Sparrow

Before there were birds, there were dinosaurs.... I was surprised I'd never noticed these guys before today.

Unfurling Frond

Translucent Leaf

There's a tree I always check for red-shouldered hawks when I approach Elk Glen Lake, and once in a while I actually find one. It's always on a fairly low branch, though not always the same branch.

I didn't ruffle any feathers to get the shot. I suspect it's the same imperturbable hawk I've seen in this spot before.

The red-winged blackbirds were making a lot of noise this morning.

The yellow-bellied sapsucker was hard to photograph. It was always on the move and often had a very bright background that would fool the exposure meter. Luckily, it's easy to dial in exposure compensation on the FZ80D.

Yellow-belly working the cracks and crevices of oak bark.

The California towhee was calmly hanging out on a nearby branch, so I couldn't resist snapping a shot. Since they are so often seen feeding on the ground, which I don't usually find visually appealing, I like to photograph them when I can catch them on a branch.

A couple of brown creepers joined the yellow-bellied sapsucker on the oak.

I only include this because I've never gotten any kind of shot of a brown creeper with its wings extended before.

When I took this picture I thought it was a Nuttall's woodpecker that had just chased off the yellow-bellied sapsucker. The birds were moving so fast, I now can't be sure whether there were two yellow-bellies chasing eachother, or if this is the same one that circled back after being chased away by some unknown bird.

This flicker was acting suspicious. It called out as it landed in a nearby cypress tree, then eventually fluttered over to this nearby snag where it only briefly perched near the top before ducking low and out of sight. I figured it was going to the ground to feed, but I also wondered if there is a nest cavity down there. I decided it's too early to intrude to check.

I'd already put away the camera when I spotted a different white-crowned sparrow in a red-flowering currant bush. I figured it would fly away before I could get the camera out, but it worked out fine. After that first bird flew away, this guy landed in an even more picturesque spot.

Because the walk was so productive, I didn't really look for subjects to photograph during the bike ride. However, I couldn't resist a couple of equestrians on the beach -- not something I've seen very often down there.

The rake artist strikes again (with the horseback riders in the distance).

I also don't often see a Coast Guard cutter off Ocean Beach. This is the Legend-class national security cutter CGC Munro out of the Port of Alameda.

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