Earth Day Textures

 

Earth Texture: What Is It?

This one's probably too easy, but we'll see.

The timing of the rain has been pretty good for my walks and bike rides, not to mention our garden, which recently got some new plants. I would estimate that more than fifty percent of the plants I buy for the back yard do not last. They get eaten, they don't like the soil, they get too little sun, they get destroyed by squirrels, and so on. So I notice and appreciate when something takes, especially if it's something the hummingbirds like. That's why I bought three more firecracker plants (Cuphea ignea) last weekend.

It was good to see a snowy egret back at Ocean Beach, hunting in the shallows. It seems like it's been a while since I saw one down there.

A flock of maybe a couple dozen whimbrels was also foraging nearby.

I've been seeing swallowtails like this western tiger swallowtail flitting around for weeks, but today I finally got to photograph one of them when it stopped to sun itself on a nearby blackberry stem at Middle Lake.

It took so long for the butterfly to land in a spot where I could photograph it that I almost gave up. It kept moving to new locations, only to present another impossible angle. Thankfully it finally settled in a good spot before flying completely out of the area.

At least three Allen's hummingbirds were claiming territory nearby.

This guy had a favorite branch to return to after chasing off the interlopers.

These are the first ducklings I've seen this season. I thought I'd see my first ones at Blue Heron Lake, but these were at Middle Lake. A passer-by said he also saw goslings earlier in the day.

Ducklings On The Green

If you said the top photo was a bison's coat, you nailed it.

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Earth Day Eve

 

Anna's Hummingbird & Salvia Near Elk Glen Lake

I was reading an article about the intricacies of the biological motors that propel bacteria and another about how the motors evolved from the kinds of ion pumps that power mitochondria. Check out the illustration of the motor at the top of the article and you will agree with the author: "It's hard to fathom the level of engineering achievable by a billion years of bacterial evolution."

Add another three billion years and you have hummingbirds beating their wings fifty times per second while steering their beaks into the nectar rewards deep inside flowers seemingly tailor-made for them.

Life on Earth is a mind-blowing marvel.

I had to step into my rain pants about five minutes into my walk, but they went back into my knapsack about 20 minutes later. I snapped this partial rainbow because houses blocked the rest of it and I didn't know how long it would last.

I finally got into the open at the Sunset Parkway.

Iris After The Rain

Iris at Mallard Lake

Someone moved Woody Wooduck to a new spot.

California Towhee About To Fly With Nest Material

Allen's Hummingbird Perched Above Mallard Lake
(A pair of Wilson's warblers were calling out while foraging around the lake, but the only photo I snapped isn't worth posting.)

Mt. Clathrus

There was lots of Clathrus ruber (latticed stinkhorn) just east of Mallard Lake. I might check up on it again tomorrow.

I couldn't tell what the hummer was going after and wondered if she was sipping water droplets off the lupine leaves.

Lots of red-winged blackbirds were singing and cavorting around Elk Glen Lake.

Purple Finch

The Clamp-down

Followed By Twisting

The Salvia patch hummingbirds don't always keep watch from out in the open. This one was preening deep within the foliage.

After chasing an interloper, the hummingbird landed on a perch just a few feet away, allowing me a quick portrait before he buzzed off.

The hummingbirds chase and get chased, but they seem to take it stride either way.

Even after being chased, they eventually find a way to satisfy their needs.

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Friendly Faces

 

Red-masked Parakeets in Neighbor's Oak Tree

It's always nice to meet a friendly face when out and about in the city. (Or even in my own back yard.) Coming home on a Muni train last night after enjoying Joshua Bell's stellar performance at Symphony Hall (beautiful night views of the city during intermission), my wife joined a lively conversation among some other concert-goers, making for a satisfying coda to the event.

In contrast, I started to move someone's grocery cart that was blocking the aisle this afternoon, and the owner grabbed it away and moved off in a huff, giving me the stink-eye. I smiled in return, thinking, "You'll get over it, pal." Of course, I could be wrong, and whatever injury he conjured in his own mind will gnaw at him for an hour or two.

All kinds of people out there, good-natured and otherwise. I try to be the former, saying good-morning to passers-by when on foot, not stealing the right-of-way from motorists at intersections when on my bike. What I've always thought of as basic human courtesies. And I'm grateful to live in a city where good-natured people greatly outnumber the "otherwise" crowd.

Always A Friendly Face

This slightly beat-up red admiral stopped to warm its wings on the edge of the sidewalk on Ortega Street near 48th Avenue -- not exactly what I think of as butterfly habitat.

Rock Purslane & Sea Lavender

I started my walk to the beach a little late today as I waited for some morning rain to pass by. Once I got back home I consulted the AccuWeather radar forecast before heading out on the bike, and sure enough I got rained on right on schedule.

Lots of progress from the aerial hornets (a.k.a. paper wasps or yellowjackets) on rebuilding their nest. (Updates to the original photo will go here.)

Great Blue Heron With Commanding View

When I stopped to admire the heron I noticed a bunch of cedar waxwings flying into the eucalyptus tree right above me. I grabbed a "hail mary" shot as one group swooped in.

Until today I hadn't been sure if the waxies were actually feeding upon the eucalyptus flowers, or just using the tall trees as platforms to hawk for insects.

There were probably dozens of waxies in this tree, mostly too high up to photograph.

But they were definitely feeding on the flowers themselves, or at least their nectar.

I suspect that's a build-up of sap around the waxy's beak.

Brief Video Clip of Preening Parakeets

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Out and About

 

Nuttall's Woodpecker Near Bison Paddock

The cedar waxwings that hang out in the eucalyptus trees on the north side of the Bison Paddock were apparently feeding on pokeberries today. I saw a couple fly out from one of the many bushes and walked toward it through the tall grass, accidentally flushing out another dozen or so waxies that had been out of view on the far side. I couldn't find any ripe berries and wondered if they were eating them green. The birds refused to come back down while I was there.

I caught part of Science Friday on NPR today, during a segment on astronauts and their families. I liked the parts where the astronauts describe how viewing our little Earth suspended in the vast darkness of space opens them up to a deep appreciation for this life-giving planet of ours, and to the fact that all of humanity lives on it and is equally and utterly dependent on it. They see how we're all in this world together, and what they feel is love -- love toward, not just their immediate families, but the family of fellow human beings.

If only everyone could get a taste of what they had.

Biking up to Mt. Tam yesterday I noticed they've nearly completed a new path down to Fort Baker from the North Vista Point of the bridge. Assuming it'll be open to bikes, I'm looking forward to checking out the new route.

On my way through Sausalito I saw a crow fly down into the street in front of me, then hop over to check out a road-killed squirrel before flying back up into some trees as I passed by. Seeing the squirrel, I went back and moved it off the road.

Someone moved the Farrallon Islands a lot closer to shore! That's how it looked when I first took in the view.

Solitary Oak

Looking Down on the Matt Davis Trail & Pacific Ocean

I was surprised to see a red-throated loon in Coyote Creek.

This is what the wasp nest looks like today. Battered pieces of the nest littered the ground. Raccoons are capable of doing something like this. The park staff are more likely to use pesticide (photo from this post).

The cedar waxwings played hard to get, but the Nuttall's woodpecker was a little more accommodating.

The two "babies" are growing up fast at Blue Heron Lake.

The geese were honking at something I couldn't see. I only noticed the turtles at their feet when I zoomed in with my camera.

Very brief video of a deer checking out the trail cam, and another hanging out in its day bed.

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