Metson Blues

 

Learning to Hunt at Metson Lake

Not far from where it was born a couple of months ago, a junior great blue heron was pursuing the daunting task of trying to feed itself this morning at Metson Lake, where it had plenty of human admirers passing by on a busy Memorial Day. Most of the admirers left after a minute or two, but I wanted to see the bird make a successful hunt. After half an hour without a single attempted strike, though, I also left -- knowing my lunch (a killer salad fortified with a side of Jane Bread and Pierce Point cheese) was waiting for me at home. 

Earlier on my ride I saw an adult heron hunting at South lake. It made several stabs but seemed to be doing it to get a drink of water.

I wondered if I'd seen this one in its nest at nearby Blue Heron Lake.

Most young herons do not survive until adulthood. Despite all their instincts for catching prey, the prey itself doesn't make it easy to be caught.

Wing Fan

The heron moved around a fair amount among the branches of the remains of the cypress that fell into the lake more than three years ago, hoping to find a better spot.

Sometimes it would just wade toward a new spot.

It frequently looked like it was about to make a stab.

On the way up Overlook Drive I spotted a coyote ambling straight toward me on the side of the pavement. Just as I stopped and got my camera out, a bicyclist coming downhill startled it and sent it into the brush. I tried to intercept it to no avail. I thought I'd found a coyote trail to follow, but it ended in a hobo nest.

A nearby hummingbird sat on an oak branch contemplating what kind of nectar it wanted for lunch.

* * *

Tree Swallows

 

Tree Swallow at Bison Paddock

The little tree swallows seem to have bossed the slightly larger western bluebirds out of all the nest boxes. The only bluebirds I saw were feeding on the ground inside the paddock, then darting into thick brush when they sensed danger. Although they earlier appeared to challenge the swallows at the paddock nest boxes, their range map does not show them as breeding here in San Francisco (or anywhere along the coast). Maybe they don't have to compete with bossy tree swallows in their usual breeding range.

I looked out our back window the other day and noticed an unusual grey blob in a neighbor's tree down the block. My wife thought it was a bird, but I'd never seen a bird on the outside of the crown of this tree before (scroll down the link). Binoculars revealed its true nature.

I don't know what kind of tree it is, but the squirrels were definitely eating something that grows on it.

Squirrels in the Tree

The water bowl out back was disgusting, so I cleaned it out and put in fresh water. Half an hour later I happened to look down there again, and the bowl was already disgusting again. I put a trail camera on the bowl to see what was going on. Although the bowl didn't get as disgusting again for the next couple of days, I believe it was just a matter of luck -- that whatever they were dunking in the bowl wasn't quite as gross as that first day.

* * *

Salt Point

 

Along the Bluffs at Salt Point, Sonoma County

I've been to Salt Point for the mushrooms, the wildflowers, and the tafoni, but I'd never been there before to check out the tidepools. This morning I finally scratched that one off my list, and I was kind of blown away at first. There was no path to the pools, so you had to figure out how to scramble down there on your own -- a plus for the "wild" factor of the place. I was also the only one there, although a handful of people hiked by on the bluffs above.

When I finally got down to the pools I was struck by the wealth of mussel and abalone shells, and especially the countless sea urchin tests. And just past that, the great numbers of live purple sea urchins themselves. It seemed like a gold mine of tidepool action.

But my awe subsided like an outgoing tide when it struck me that there were too many purple sea urchins. These are the guys who are eating up all the kelp forests.

There were also lots of healthy looking ochre sea stars and my favorites, the bat stars -- one which appeared to be an amalgam of two stars. A feather duster worm and a black-footed abalone were also interesting finds, but I saw zero nudibranchs. I didn't even get a picture of one of the coolest things I saw -- clam siphons (like this) pumping water in shallow pools. I should have recorded some video.

While I was looking for a way down the bluffs to the tidepools I stopped to appreciate the beautiful morning.

This is what lay at my feet after clambering down the boulders to the edge of the tidepools.

This little bat star had formed itself into a mussel shell.

This one was taking a different approach.

Maw of the Anemone

Sea Urchin Tests

The tidepools were beautiful, but I didn't see much life in them other than urchins. What the urchins were finding to eat, I don't know.

Red-trumpet Calcareous Tubeworm (Serpula columbiana).

There were only a few red sea urchins among all the purple ones.

Mutant Bat Star

There were several abalones stuck to rocks in the intertidal zone.

After finishing up with the tidepools I climbed back up the bluffs to find some tafoni formations to photograph.

Earth Brodiaea

Tidy Tips

Sea Pink Meadow on the Bluffs

* * *

Incubation

 

Robin Incubating Eggs, Elk Glen Lake

Like the robin, I've been incubating embryonic ideas toward finding a new direction for my nature photography. I'd like to get away from using the compact camera so much, and I've also been feeling like the direction of the blog during the last couple of years has about run its course. 

Windrows and Spindrift, Yesterday at Ocean Beach

Slightly Ruffled Heron, South Lake

The fishing must not have been very good. The heron made a few snaps at passing dragonflies but never actually caught one.

I'll never forget being swarmed by ants when I was around five years old, so even these tiny ones swarming around a crack in the sidewalk in Golden Gate Park still make me just a little nervous. I wondered if the warm weather brought out such an unusually large number of them today.

I was checking out a group of crows messing around some logs at North Lake when I noticed a great blue heron hunting nearby. A screeching red-shouldered hawk landed nearby as I waited for the heron to make a strike.

And then a hummingbird dropped by to gather nectar from some ruby-red flowers.

Although I stuck around for half an hour, the heron never did make a strike.

* * *