Lewis's Woodpecker

 

Lewis's Woodpecker About to Land, Golden Gate Park

A third time was the charm. I failed to find this unusual (for San Francisco) woodpecker on my two previous attempts, and I'd almost given up on today's before I finally spotted it. I'm not a member of whatever birding group this was announced on, but I suspect it would have made finding it easier. I saw a guy looking for it in a big Monterey pine near the Horseshoe Courts, which is where I first saw it. But I let him know it was currently at the top of a nearby eucalyptus.

It was first spotted last month, but judging by the fact that it's stashing acorns, it might be planning to stick around awhile. Later in the morning I would see it hawking for insects.

Shortly after I spotted it and found a good observation point, it flew away. A Cooper's hawk then flew away in the same direction from the next-door pine, where I hadn't even noticed it. I assume the woodpecker did notice it. Thankfully, the hawk didn't get it, and the woodpecker eventually returned to its tree with an acorn. It soon left again, however, and after awhile I finally spotted it in a distant eucalyptus tree.

I spooked several Northern flickers while I was looking for the Lewis's woodpecker. This one stuck around long enough for me to snap a couple of photos.

This one just barely stayed in the frame.

The woodpecker landed with an acorn on a dead branch of a big Monterey pine.

It hopped along the branch to find a hole that it had previously been hammering at.

After deposting the acorn it took off and didn't return.

A couple of California scrub jays kept me company for a bit while I waited in vain for the woodpecker's return.

This is the same jay that was in the rear of the previous photo. It has at least two acorns...

...as you can better see from this crop.

When I spotted the woodpecker again, it was perched near the top of a eucalyptus. Here it dove toward a Northern flicker that was sharing its tree.

I don't think it meant to frighten the flicker since it flew back to its perch with an insect in its beak.

Coming in for a Landing

Landing with a Bee

Here it has caught another insect, maybe some kind of fly.

* * *

High Tide at Ocean Beach

 

Sanderling on the Run, Ocean Beach

A huge and chaotic swell joined a high tide, drowning most of the sand at Ocean Beach near Noriega Street this morning. I'd arrived about 45 minutes before peak high tide during my morning walk, so it was just about peak by the time I got back home. After a short rest, I slipped on a pair of reef-walkers and biked back down to check it out.

I had to cross a pool to get from the dunes to where the birds were hunting mole crabs, and at one point the water rose just above my knees. You definitely don't want to be in there with an expensive camera when the occasional super-sized set rolls in, since it gets even deeper and rowdier in the pool.

One of the highlights was seeing a mole crab swimming in maybe three inches of water right at my feet, then diving under the sand while it was still wet and loose.

Waves often pushed water way up to very near the base of the dunes just north of Noriega Street, so I wondered where the Snowy Plovers were hanging out. I saw only one foraging with the Sanderlings.

On the way home I spotted a coyote in the Pioneer East Meadow near Blue Heron Lake. It looked much like the one I recently saw near Spreckels Lake -- infected with mange and not exactly photogenic. The poor guy was just looking for a place to bed down for the afternoon, so I didn't stick around for long.

Sanderling pecking into a mole crab.

The sanderlings were often pushed high up the beach by incoming waves, only to have to fly back closer to the ocean when the coast was clear.

There were lots of interesting patterns being created by the interaction of water, sand, and various states of sea foam.

Here's a fairly organized state of sea foam with its iridescent bubbles. (See how life may have originated in a bubble.)

At one point, all the sanderlings up and flew north. I turned around expecting to see a dog chasing them, but there was nothing there. No dog, no humans. The signal to flee remained a mystery.

The handsome Western Gull didn't even flinch when the flocks of sanderlings took off.

Here's some of the more chaotic and condensed sea foam.

A Raven was trying to get into the good parts of a washed-up sea lion. You can also see how high up the beach the water had pushed up. Those are dune grasses in the background.

This was my only snowy plover visitor.

Snowy didn't stick around very long.

Sanderlings escape a foamy deluge.

Ocean Beach @ Noriega Street, 11 a.m.

A young Black-crowned Night Heron was hanging out in the shallows at South Lake.

The coyote was in obvious discomfort with its mite infection.

Here it's trying to gnaw some relief into its leg.

I followed along until I found the coyote resting in a shallow depression on the forest floor just south of the log cabin.

I figured it needed its rest and continued on my way.

Nice little lenticular cloud above Mt. Shasta this morning.

* * *

Diwali Sunset

 

Festival of Lights, Grandview Park

After stopping for shoes at On The Run late yesterday afternoon we were in the mood for a late lunch or early dinner, so we walked up to Masala Dosa and dined on chickpea curry for my wife and a spinach masala dosa for me. I followed up our delicious meal with a delicious sunset and only made the Diwali connection when I was back at my desk to download the images and noticed it on my Sierra Club calendar.

Scratching a little deeper, I learned that Gov. Newsom signed legislation to make Diwali an official state holiday, complete with paid time off, as of January 1, 2026. However, a lawsuit filed by the San Francisco Taxpayers Association and Quentin Kopp put the holiday on ice when Sacramento Superior court Judge Stephen Acquisto found the legislation unconstitutional: "The Court finds that AB 268 violates several provisions of the federal and state constitutions by giving Diwali special treatment expressly based on its religious importance without any significant secular considerations."

If the legislation can be rewritten, it might yet emerge from darkness into the light.

Mt. Shasta Sunday Morning

* * *