Feelin' Fall

 

Singing Pacific Wren, Golden Gate Park

Getting two beautiful days in a row on Wednesday and Thursday made for some excellent post-equinoctial bliss. So much that my mind wrote a check my body couldn't cash. I had planned to ride up to Hawk Hill in the Marin Headlands on Thursday, but I figured I might as well make a couple of birding stops along the way.

I filled my water bottle, packed a snack of dates and nuts, installed the stronger of my two bike batteries, and rolled out the gate into a clear and mild morning. My first stop was going to be North Lake, but on my way down the JFK Promenade I was so taken with the beautiful Pioneer East Meadow that I made what turned out to be a quick stop at the Pioneer Log Cabin. And since I was making a stop there, I figured a quick stop at Mallard Lake would also be a good idea.

And then I realized it would probably be best to start the Chain of Lakes at South Lake, then mosey through Middle Lake before finally getting to North Lake. I was starting to get hungry as I finally left North Lake for my next stop at Sutro Baths to hopefully find interesting shorebirds to photograph.

As I looked down at the beach, though, I saw no sign of bird life, and the tide was too high to be able to walk the beach in front of the Cliff House. Finally, almost four hours after I set out, I was ready to head out to Hawk Hill.... 

Such a long way to go, though.... 

Yep, you guessed it. I turned around and rode home.

One of Mallard Lake's two resident pied-billed grebes seemed to be enjoying the sunny morning.

Fall Color at Mallard Lake

Redwood Reflection at Middle Lake

Yellow Warbler in a Sycamore, North Lake

My first Fox Sparrow of the season. Not a rare bird by any means, but still a favorite. I like to watch them kicking in the forest duff to turn up insects, and the sound they make when doing that is as distinctive as a bird call for making an ID by ear alone.

Perched Black-crowned Night Heron

Speaking of making an ID by ear, I had to use my Merlin app for a new sound I heard in the dense cattails at North Lake, which turned out to be a Sora (that never showed itself).

This Pacific Wren was tweeting its heart out, repeatedly answering a rival on the other side of the lake.

It wasn't long before the one on the other side of the lake flew over to this side, where the two tussled in a maze of branches before zipping out of sight.

The distinctive call of the Western Flycatcher was also prominent at North Lake.

I'm going to say I got very lucky to finally be able to photograph a Common Yellowthroat with my full-frame camera. However, I still want to get a chance from much closer and in brighter light.

I knew if I tried to get closer, the bird would abscond, so I took what I could get. I did move closer after it continued deeper into the marsh in the hope it would come back that way, but my hope was in vain.

Fox Squirrel Sploot

A pair of female rose-breasted grosbeaks were feeding on the fruit of this Ngaio Tree (Myoporum laetum) at North Lake. The plant is a New Zealand native and member of the figwort family, Scrophulariaceae. 

Although I gave up on my big journey across the Golden Gate, I did stop at Metson Lake on the way home, where the Blue-eyed Darners are known to hover on a sunny day. 

Blue-eyed Darner, Metson Lake

Continuing past Metson Lake, I stopped again when I heard a juvenile red-tailed hawk calling out as an adult circled overhead. The adult rose higher and higher, then shot away to the northeast.

I waited a while to see if the adult would return with a gopher or something. At one point Junior appeared to be either pecking at bark or trying to eat ants, and then it flew away to a new tree.

Meanwhile, in the shade just below the hawk, a diminutive Anna's Hummingbird perched on an old poison hemlock stalk.

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Coyote in the Dell

 

Resting Coyote, Rhododendron Dell

I went for the birds but stayed for the coyote. (Hi ho, the derry-o, coyote in the dell.)

I'd been walking my bike through the dell for maybe fifteen or twenty minutes with no luck on any bird action. The most interesting thing happened out of sight -- a bunch of dogs were going crazy, barking as if they'd seen a chupacabra down on JFK Drive. I wondered if they'd run into a coyote.

I was looking in the tree canopies for birds the whole time the dogs were going insane, and when the ruckus stopped I walked over to a guy with binoculars who pointed out the coyote ambling into the dell when I asked if he'd seen any interesting birds. 

I enjoyed watching the coyote relaxing and grooming until it wandered off a short ways to find a resting spot with less foot traffic, where I left it alone. As the coyote sauntered toward its new resting place, an unaware squirrel took off like a bolt of gray lightning when it suddenly realized the coyote was right behind it. The coyote was obviously not hunting, but the squirrels were making alarm calls from all over the place. 

I did see my first-of-season hermit thrush and yellow-rumped warbler today, and I also had a good sighting of a black-throated gray warbler. So the bird action was okay too. I also spotted some dragonflies laying eggs in the little lily pond next to the de Young Museum.

I brought the compact camera on my walk again this morning and couldn't resist this pretty housecat resting on some Forest Hill steps (connecting Sotelo and Pacheco).

At Golden Gate Heights Park, a handful of pygmy nuthatches was gathering seeds from the ground, where they were occasionally (and only temporarily) chased off by larger, bossy juncos. I also heard but did not see a red-breasted nuthatch at the top of the park.

A nearby squirrel alarmed just as I was leaving the park, and I looked up just in time to see this young red-tailed hawk land on a tree branch just outside the tennis courts.

Coyote wets its nose to keep its sniffer working right.

Coyote looking for a place to rest.

Coyote finds a place to rest. Here, its head was lying on the ground.

It wasn't a position the coyote kept for long, with so much going on around it.

Some folks paid the coyote no mind; others turned around and took a different route to avoid passing it.

Back in the sun, coyote does some grooming.

And more resting.

Thinking about finding a new place to nap (with a redwood twig stuck to its haunch).

Gnawing at fleas, I suppose.

There were some stairs leading to the top of a small rise, which the coyote evidently knew well. It climbed half-way up, then lay down to rest in the shade to be out of the limelight for a while.

A pair of hermit thrushes flew into the same cotoneaster that recently hosted a juvenile rose-breasted grosbeak, then dropped to forage on the ground. They didn't forage long before one of them gave chase and both flew out of the area.

I can never resist trying to photograph these tiny Townsend's warblers.

It had to flare out its wing to catch itself as it almost slipped off the branch.

At the time I snapped the photo before it quickly flew away, I didn't know what bird it was. Only when I opened the image in Photoshop did I see that it was a yellow-rumper.

I'm glad I was able to photograph a black-throated gray warbler with the full-frame Nikon this time instead of the compact Lumix.

Like Townsend's warblers, these guys aren't shy about getting close, but they do move quickly from branch to branch.

I watched the female lazuli bunting to see if a male would show up, but it flew away as the lunch crowd started walking through.

Same species in the shade. (There were two or three lazuli buntings feeding together.)

Tandem-flying variegated meadowhawks. Presumably they have already mated, as the female (in back) appeared to be depositing eggs in the pond.

Dynamic Duo

* * *

Coyote on the Greenbelt

 

Coyote, Sunset Parkway

I like the way a coyote can be ambling along toward whatever goal it might have, if any, then completely change direction to sidestep an obstacle like a human. A coyote really does "walk the earth," like Jules dreams of in Pulp Fiction. 

The first coyote I saw this morning was heading south and stopped just as I looked up and spotted her. She stayed put for a minute or so, but decided to ditch me when I didn't continue on my way. She started walking north along the lower path next to Sunset Boulevard but soon had to drop that plan when she spotted another human pedestrian moving toward her, camera phone at the ready.

I was surprised she didn't continue south along the lower trail, and even more surprised when she crossed four lanes of traffic to head west on Moraga Street where she soon had to dodge a guy walking his small dog.

I'd brought the compact camera along on my walk in case I might spot any rare birds, but I was glad I had it for the coyotes. Of course my nemesis bird, the Common Yellowthroat, showed itself at Mallard Lake, but the compact camera couldn't really handle the low light. I was just about to leave the park and put the camera away when I heard crunching in an oak tree, looked toward the sound, and spotted a raccoon eating acorns. And then, near the very tippy-top of the tree, a second raccoon.

Coyote on the Greenbelt

She pauses her forward motion, takes in the local scents, and waits to see what I'm going to do.

After a while she realizes the numbskull human isn't going anywhere.

Nemesis Bird

I ran into the second coyote of the morning just past Mallard Lake. This one  doubled back as soon as it saw me, then crossed MLK Jr. Drive and continued heading west.

I tried to tag along, but the coyote, who no-doubt knows every inch of this territory, easily ditched me. 

A tall eucalyptus near Elk Glen Lake was popping with bird life, including Western tanagers.

But the real owners of the bounty were hummingbirds. I couldn't keep track of them individually, but there were several zipping around.

Yellow Warblers were also busily feeding among the flowers.

Just past Elk Glen Lake I was surprised and delighted to spot raccoons eating acorns.

Junior was near the very top of the oak.

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