Days in the Sun

 

Morning Shade for the Parkside Hummers

Leaving home without so much as a windbreaker feels slightly wrong, as if I'm forgetting something, or taking an unnecessary risk. But the real risk is more likely to be dehydration. And what a nice break, by the way, to be able to head out the door in shorts and t-shirt on a warm, fog-free day. 

I bought a box fan to put in the window at night to replace the 75-degree indoor air with 68-degree outdoor air. It takes a long time to make headway, but it feels good to be able to do something.

I did a double-take when I walked past this house, then quickly retrieved a camera from my knapsack, surprised that my luck was holding as the coyote remained focused on me. I finally got the camera out and began to zoom in, which is when I realized it was just a cut-out. Cute.

I watched from a distance as the red-tailed hawk glided into the tree, and I wondered if it had a nest in there. Nope. Just a crow-free rest stop. (I'd earlier seen a red-tail being mobbed by maybe a dozen crows.)

Water Specter at North Lake

Rainbows in the Sprinklers

You couldn't miss the great blue heron standing out in the open above the little island at its namesake lake.

A second heron was trying to keep cool at the top of a pine tree.

Balancing Act

There were three herons on the little island today.

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Frisky Hawks

 

Mating Red-shouldered Hawks, Golden Gate Park

As I passed North Lake I stopped to observe several red-shouldered hawks wheeling and screeching across the sky. A little farther down JFK Drive I stopped to check out a red-shouldered hawk perched high on a tree branch and crying out the familiar keer-keer-keer of the tribe. Another hawk on the wing answered the call, and before I knew it was landing on the same branch and preparing to mate with the other hawk. They couldn't have asked for a nicer day to bring on the next generation.

Soaring Red-shouldered Hawk

Immediately after dismounting, both hawks screeched in unison.

Once they quieted down, the male prepared to find a new perch. . .

. . . in the sun, a little higher in the same tree.

This was one of many Painted Lady butterflies nectaring on the Common Sea Lavender in front of the Beach Chalet.

Bathing Allen's Hummingbird, Mallard Lake

Basking Pond Turtle, Blue Heron Lake

Western Gull

I'm wondering if the Northern shovelers actually nest at Blue Heron Lake. Ditto for the ring-necked and ruddy ducks, as well as the hooded mergansers.

As I was scanning the little island I was surprised to see a black-crowned night heron preening itself. I haven't seen one in months.

Minnows in the Shallows

A great blue heron was occupying a nest on the little island. It appeared here to be "panting" (more properly called "gular fluttering") after it had been preening awhile.

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Pride of Madeira

 

The Queen of the Patch, Golden Gate Park

I passed a Pride of Madeira bush (Echium candicans) down by the beach that had a hummingbird feeding on its flowers, but it didn't seem like a good place to sit and try to photograph it in peace. Lots of pedestrians and cyclists passing by, and a sedentary homeless guy pontificating about something, so I kept going until I rode past another Echium in full flower. I soon spotted the owner of the bush, a tiny Allen's hummingbird who tolerated bees, sparrows, and a lesser goldfinch, but not other hummingbirds. He also appears to have allowed a female Allen's hummer to sip all the nectar she wants.

One nice thing about the miserable "spring forward" time change is that I'm starting my walk during a cooler part of the morning (7:30 is the new 8:30). Nevertheless, as I passed this view about a block from home I felt a slight foreboding about the hot week ahead.

I walked to the beach on the shaded side of Ortega Street and came across these dewy raccoon tracks on someone's fence.

Later on, I glimpsed a handsome duck as I sped past Lloyd Lake on my bike, so I turned around in case it was a wood duck. It turned out to be a hooded merganser, a fairly common visitor that I nevertheless haven't seen in a while.

I went looking for butterflies in the Balboa Natural Area just south of the Cliff House, but the few I saw eluded capture. The cardinal meadowhawk was more obliging.

What do you brake for? You know those bumper-stickers that say, "I Brake for Wildflowers," or "I Brake for Wildlife." Well, I brake for tapping sounds on trees, especially if the tapping is coming from relatively low on the trunk, where I found this Nuttall's woodpecker.

He might seem too tiny to be regal, but I watched him chase several larger Anna's hummingbirds of his Echium bush.

A white-crowned sparrow nibbled on the plants, but I couldn't tell what it was actually munching on.

A song sparrow used the big bush as a singing perch.

A lesser goldfinch dropped in to check things out.

It might have been looking for seeds. Finding none, it soon flew away without pecking at anything.

Many honeybees and bumblebees were visiting the little flowers, which I often forget are in the Boraginaceae (the forget-me-not family).

I'd been hanging out at the Pride of Madeira plant for quite a while, trying in vain to get a shot of the Allen's hummingbird even perching on the flowers, much less nectaring. 

The male would always fly off to a higher perch in a nearby Monterey cypress, or my quarry would be too hidden by plant material, or moving too fast for me to lock focus on it. Finally, just as I was about to give up and head home for lunch, I got a good view. Initially I assumed this was the same king-of-the-patch male, but the photos clearly show two different birds, this one a female.

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Hummer Chicks Updates

 

Hummingbird Nest with Chicks, Inner Parkside

I've been saying the nest was in West Portal, but a look at a map shows the location as Inner Parkside. I only happened to look at a map because I wanted to figure out a good route to reach a second hummingbird nest that I spotted yesterday while my wife and I were out for a walk in Golden Gate Park. 

The nestlings will probably be ready to fly as early as next week, or as late as the 25th. If I have any further updates on these nests, I'll post them here.

I could only see two chicks being fed for sure.

This is what we saw yesterday, and also what I found when I dropped by today -- what looks like an empty nest.

The mama hummer seemed to be hanging around the neighborhood, alternately feeding and resting.

I went around to the other side of the nest and saw that it does in fact hold what appeared to be two chicks.

It was very sunny on the nest, and I hope the babies all survive the coming heat wave.

This mama's nest was a lot more fuzzy than the Parkside nest. I like the addition of the little male pine cone. Probably a lot of the fuzz is horsehair.

Feeding Time

Inner Parkside Nest, 3/18/26
(The nestlings are definitely taking up more room in the nest, and mama spent some time working on the edges of it.)

GG Park Nest, 3/18/26
(The nestlings don't look much bigger.)

It was a short trip to the Bison Paddock where I spotted a tree swallow hauling a big clump of plant material into the nest box.

The hubbub around the nest boxes between the swallows and the bluebirds seemed to have stopped during the last couple of weeks, so I wondered if the birds were already brooding eggs, but it looks like they aren't quite there yet. 

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