Clearing the Air

 

Sun & Spindrift at Ocean Beach

The offshore winds finally arrived, rattling our doors all night, blowing leaves into our entryway, and so thoroughly clearing the air that I could see the Farallons today for the first time in a surprisingly long time. Despite having a lot of clear days recently, visibility far out at sea has been another matter. Maybe high winds out there were raising up a lot of sea spray.

West Portal this morning....

A couple of juncos and a song sparrow were bathing and drinking from the leaf-strewn water bowl, so I went down to fill it with fresh, clean water. 

The Farallon Islands

Ocean View from Golden Gate Heights

There was a pretty decent swell rolling in, but the best waves often seemed to go unridden.

There weren't that many people out, so it was less likely that someone would be in the right place at the right time.

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One Shot

Red-Shouldered Hawk, Golden Gate Park

Camera in hand, I'd stopped walking along the sandy trail that runs parallel to noisy Lincoln Way to get a closer look at a bird that caught my attention just ahead of me. It was a goldie, a golden-crowned sparrow -- nice bird, but not much of a photo opportunity given the bird's surroundings. As I resumed my walk I caught a surprise off to my left -- a red-shouldered hawk in a nicely camouflaged perch on the stump of a tree branch. 

I'd pre-set my ISO to 1600, so all I had to do was swing my camera up and zoom in. I snapped the shutter to get the image above, and when the viewfinder came out of its post-click black-out period, the hawk was already gone. Sometimes one shot is all you get.

I wondered if the hawk had also had its eye on that little goldie, and whether my presence altered its fate. 

Trail East of Mallard Lake

Townie #1

Townie #2

This pygmy nuthatch was also a one-shot deal.

The Great Blue Heron of Elk Glen Lake

Hummer in Regalia

I was watching a gopher dart out of its hole to snag plants when this red-tailed hawk glided overhead and landed on a nearby branch.

I watched the hawk at a distance to see if it would pounce on anything, but instead it flew away to do its hunting elsewhere. Later, as I was climbing the 15th Avenue steps (which seem far steeper than the Hidden Garden Steps!), a red-tail glided overhead, and I figured it was possible, but unlikely, to be the same one I'd just seen near Elk Glen Lake.

Tree-cutting operations cut off my usual route, but my new route had this interesting surprise in store. Those are all large (maybe 12-inch diameter) chicken-of-the-woods mushrooms, growing on a huge burl-like growth midway up a living eucalyptus tree.

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Beach Bums

 

Young Red-Tailed Hawk, Ocean Beach

Excellent beach-bum weather today. Didn't even need a light jacket when I set out this morning, thanks in part to leaving the house an hour later than I did last week (even though I left at the same time, clockwise). 

Fairly heavy surf this morning....

Besides the surf-fisherman, check out the lone surfer trying to paddle out. I don't know where the surfer originally got into the water, but he was drifting south at a pretty good clip while trying to get out past the breaking waves.

No surfers, no spectators. That could change in the next day or two if the wind goes offshore and the swell keeps its size.

Hardly anyone on Seal Rocks. Compare with late August.

The hawk is still on the One Way sign, but I couldn't resist putting Mt. Tam in the picture....

The hawk (likely the same one I photographed catching a mouse in this post) had to put up with several rambunctious ravens.

The ravens chased the hawk from place to place.

From one corner of the Beach Chalet to another.

For the most part, the hawk didn't flinch as the ravens dove at him, but he might have been caught by surprise this time.

The ravens eventually got bored and moved on.

* * *

Bird Walk

 

Yellow-rumped Warbler, San Francisco Botanical Garden

As I was walking up the path to enter the garden this morning, a beautifully crimson-capped Ruby-crowned Kinglet landed on a branch just above me. It was one of the most stunning ruby crowns I've ever seen, and I took off my glasses, removed the lens cap and powered up my camera, zoomed in to focus, and fffllllttttt! Bird gone.

One of these days I would love to capture a photo of what I saw, but even though I did encounter kinglets again, I was unable to score that perfect shot. My best opportunity came in the Children's Garden, where another winged termite hatch was going on, just like the one I saw on Mt. Tam the other day. The Townsends and yellow-rumped warblers were hawking them in mid-flight, occasionally joined by a few kinglets and even a couple of the sparrows.

When I got to the entrance kiosk I realized I'd dropped my driver's license somewhere along the way (SF residents with ID can enter for free). I scanned the ground as I backtracked toward where I'd locked up my bike, and when I looked up I saw a young lady who'd obviously found it and was bringing it in. Thanks!

Fox Sparrow Preening Its Feathers

The fox sparrows I see are usually busy kicking in the duff to find food, but this one had found itself a warm little bowl in the wood chips to relax in.

Sporting the Yellow Rump

Hummer Sipping Nectar

Common Sugarbush (Protea repens)

Although I saw a couple of northern flickers again today, I was unable to get as close as last time.

Termites in the Garden

A couple of scrub jays dropped by to see what all the fuss was about, but did not appear very interested in the tiny termites.

Meanwhile, much smaller birds like this Townsend's warbler were snapping them up, sometimes trying to snag more than one on a single sortie.

You can see the ruby crown in this shot, but the bird flew away before I could zoom in any closer.

This kinglet briefly landed very close, but it wasn't flaring its ruby crown.

Trying to photograph these little guys is often like trying to track popping popcorn.

There was a little fall color on the edge of the redwood grove...

...and more along one of the paths on the way to the Moon Viewing Garden which has some nice Japanese maples, but the maple leaves were still pretty green.

* * *

Snack Hatch

 

Foraging Black-necked Stilt, Coyote Creek, Mill Valley

After checking up on my trail cams I was eager to poke around the woods a little bit. Thursday's light rain had softened the crunchiness of the forest floor, so it was possible to skulk without frightening every animal within half a mile. I saw my first newt of the season, and was surprised how fondly affected I felt from encountering deer and wild turkeys -- species not terribly common in San Francisco.

Some of the creeks below Rock Spring were flowing, but the headwaters of Cataract Creek were still just pools, and the creekbed where my cams are was just barely trickling. Nevertheless, the slight change in the soil's water content seems to have been the signal for a winged termite hatch.

As the termites rose rose up from the ground, sort of spinning like a falling maple seed in reverse, juncos, ruby-crowned kinglets, and even spotted towhees were darting out like flycatchers to nab the little morsels. The termites seemed to rise up whenever the sun warmed the landscape, which was occasionally thrown into shade by passing clouds. 

I eventually left when I began to feel tiny drops of rain on my exposed skin. I did not want to bike down the mountain in the rain, so I double-timed it back to my bike.

Coyote Creek & Marsh with Mt. Tam's East Peak

Greater Yellowlegs on Coyote Creek

Acorn Woodpecker Loading up the Larder

Oak and Lone Cloud at Rock Spring

Freshly Greened Mossy Boulders at Rock Spring

Fresh Moss

Wee Banana

Chain Fern

Fall Color in the Poison Oak

The little termite foolishly shed its wings after I caught it in my hand. Its journey was not yet over....

If you look closely, you can see termite wings in the junco's beak.

Junco About to Pounce

I think the birds tried to eat the termite but spit out the wings....

Three or four spotted towhees were patrolling the area around the meadow where the termites were hatching. I couldn't tell if they were also going after the insects.

They used to be called rufous-sided towhees.

Ruby-crowned Kinglet & Lichen

Winged Termites Before Liftoff

Cloud Build-up Over Mt. Tamalpais

Hunters on Richardson Bay Marsh

Snowy in Flight

Looking back from whence I came.

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