Nature Walk

 

Fire-Colored Sunflower, Strybing Arboretum Children's Garden

The plan was to take a walk down the hill through the neighborhood, then into Golden Gate Park where I'd walk an arc through Strybing Arboretum and up to Blue Heron Lake, then circle back up 9th Avenue. I brought the FZ80 along but wasn't sure I'd even take it out of my knapsack. 

Well, I never made it to Blue Heron Lake. The camera did come out, and it stayed out, as many subjects caught my interest. However, I might still have made it to the lake if I hadn't spotted the California red-legged frogs and the Pacific wren. After spending time with those two I was getting a mite peckish and decided to head home for lunch.

One of the things I love about San Francisco is that any walk can be a nature walk. I often won't choose to photograph the things I notice, but my eyes and ears (and sometimes my nose) are always attuned to my surroundings, and being a lover of underdogs makes me appreciate city nature all the more.

Red Admiral butterfly trying desperately to eke out some warmth from a fog-shrouded sun on a wood-chip path.

I believe this Chickadee is eating sap.

Scolding Hummers

There were many more water lilies blooming today than there were on my last visit.

Lots of honeybees were out collecting pollen and nectar.

I'm still waiting to capture a monarch butterfly (or caterpillar) on the narrowleaf milkweed plants in the California Garden.

The California buckeye's flowers are just about done on this tree, but some of the others around the park are still going strong.

Coming in for a landing....

Honeybee and Aloe Flowers

The California Pipevine plant in my yard came from the Strybing Arboretum nursery, and right now it's full of flowers. So it was flowers that I was looking for within the small remnant of pipevine that didn't get torn out during construction of the new nursery buildings...

...but instead of finding flowers, I spotted a few pipevine swallowtail caterpillars munching away on the pipevine's leaves. This caterpillar appears to have been preyed upon, or otherwise become injured or maybe just developed poorly. That also looks like some other kind of insect egg next to it on the leaf.

Sorrel, ginger, and bleeding heart in the redwood grove.

I think this sub-adult red-shouldered hawk was squawking so much because it was hungry and expecting a parent to swing by with a nice mouse for lunch.

There were several sunflowers with spectacular coloration in the Children's Garden...

...as well as the more traditional yellow (which the honeybee seemed to prefer).

The Children's Garden has really come along. It used to look semi-abandoned, or very little-used, but now it's full of plants and fun paths through it all. And not only that...

...but there are California red-legged frogs in the pond now. The pond used to be choked with water weeds to the point where you could hardly see the surface of the water.

After noticing that I could now see into the pond, I soon spotted a tadpole swimming around, and then I started looking for adults.

It didn't take long to find some.

This might be a juvenile Pacific wren (as opposed to an adult), as it appears to be a little incomplete, especially in the tail-feather department. It didn't have any trouble singing or flying, though.

Chilean Rhubarb Leaf

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