Hummer Chicks

 

Feeding Time for Baby Hummers, West Portal

For the first time since I spotted mama sitting on her nest on Feb. 11, I can finally confirm that at least two eggs have hatched. It also looked like she was feeding a third hungry mouth farther back in the nest. After feeding her brood, she snuggled down over them and was indeed sitting high on the nest, reinforcing the possibility that the eggs had hatched when I visited three days ago.

This was the view when I first arrived. A female hummingbird landed on a nearby tree a couple of times, and I hoped I wasn't making the mama nervous as I stood below the nest. But that female was still there when the mama of this nest buzzed in with food for the brood.

Mama Returns

Blink

Feeding Hungry Mouths

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Thief of Sticks

 

Great Blue Heron Stealing Nest Material at Blue Heron Lake

Some of the first nesting activity of the season has begun at Blue Heron Lake with an early bird getting the jump on refreshing its nest -- by taking sticks from an unattended nest nearby. It looked like the old nest was fairly tightly constructed since the klepto-heron was removing such small twigs that it hardly seemed worth the effort of all that tugging.

Yesterday I spent part of the day among a tumult of teens and tweens, visiting The Exploratorium with a friend who hadn't been there since it was at the Palace of Fine Arts. The staff told us (as we got our Senior Citizen discount) that we could have a less hectic experience after 1:30, when the kids have to head back to their schools, but it was interesting to see how the kids interacted with the place. (Spoiler alert: It appeared to be more about play and socializing than learning about science.)

I was particularly interested in the biology section on cells, where they have sculptures showing the relative sizes of different cells (including the leukemia cell, which my friend has been fighting off for years), all compared to a human hair, which towered over all the puny cells. 

I finished my second go-round with The Secret Language of Cells the other day, and it seemed toward the end that watching the fascinating interplay of each of our human cells as they go about the intricate business of living, shows us a microcosm of the activities of the animals, plants, and microorganisms that comprise any wild ecosystem. We are not in the habit of ascribing intelligence even to non-human animals, much less Golgi bodies or mitochondria, but to see them in action leaves us wondering what else we would call it, if not intelligence.

The mama hummer in West Portal was still apparently sitting on unhatched eggs this morning.

Although I did wonder if there was room for babies underneath the warmth of those feathers. It was only around 9:30 a.m. when I was there, and the sun hadn't yet reached the nest. I'll have to check it out again later in the day, maybe tomorrow or Saturday.

Heron's Leap

Klepto Heron

Flying to the Twig Store

All In A Day's Work

Basking Sliders

Snuggled Mallard

Traffic Jam

Ruddy Duck (Female)

Ruddy Duck (Male)

A large carp swims below a forest of reflections.

A red-tailed hawk circles to new heights.

I'd been wondering what those "weeds" were in our garden, but thankfully I didn't pull them out before they gave themselves away and began to flower. I'd forgotten about the San Francisco wallflower seeds I'd tossed onto the soil last summer with little hope that any would survive the juncos, hermit thrushes, sparrows, and California towhees that forage back there.

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The Sassy One

 

Allen's Hummingbird in Cattails, Metson Lake

Many of the hummingbirds I noticed today were Allen's (Selasphorus sasin). There seem to be many more around than even just last week. Apparently they are eager to get started with nest-building, as at least three Allen's hummers were collecting cattail fluff at Metson Lake today. Selasphorus is Greek for "bearing light" or "carrying flame," and the specific epithet, sasin, comes from the Nuu-chah-nuth (Nootka) name for hummingbird.

Metson Lake

Townsend's Warbler in Cypress Near Elk Glen Lake

Red-masked Parakeet in Neighbor's Oak Tree

The parakeets don't come around as often as they did before the oak was trimmed of much of its concealing foliage.

Snoozing Ruddy Duck, Blue Heron lake

The duck drifted very close to shore before waking up and paddling back out toward the middle of the lake. The ruddy ducks are always sleeping when I bike past the lake. They are diving ducks who mostly feed on invertebrates, but I've yet to see them in action.

American Coot Eating Birdseed, Blue Heron Lake
(Check out those coot feet!)

This Anna's hummingbird was so tiny that I wondered if it was a juvenile.

I was surprised to see a house sparrow dive into this tree cavity. I've never seen one use anything but the eaves of houses and apartments, and Mission-style slate roofs.

Song Sparrow on Cycad Frond

Diaphanous Inky Cap

Fuligo septica Slime Mold Near Bison Paddock

Sunday's Moonrise With Sutro Tower
(I tried to check out the blood moon at 4 a.m. today, but it was obscured by clouds.)

The container ship HMM Nuri heading into the Golden Gate this morning.

I walk up Noriega Street pretty much every week, but other than Papa Mak's, La Playa, and Devil's Teeth, I never knew about these places.

When I saw this from the Cliff House I thought it was a whale carcass. It took a minute to realize what it actually is.

San Francisco Wallflower, Erysimum franciscanum

I just noticed these guys growing in the Balboa Natural Area. I don't think they were there last year.

I shot this yard series back in 2006-07, showing it in spring, summer, fall, and winter. I always thought it was a wasted yard, and I briefly had some guerrilla oaks growing in there (until the owner gave the whole yard a buzz-cut). I used to walk past the yard every day on my way to the Forest Hill Muni Station when I worked in Oakland.

I walked past the same yard on Sunday on my way to hike through Glen Canyon Park.

The hike was fine, but I found nothing much to photograph. I'd hoped to spot a coyote and/or great horned owl.

This nest belongs to Jackie and Shadow, the most famous bald eagles in the country. In this screen-grab, the eagle on the left had just flown in with a fish, which the other one got up to eat, showing two eggs. (The first two eggs were eaten by ravens a few weeks ago.)

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