My morning walk yielded zero photo opportunities, and it looked like the bike ride was going to follow suit. All seemed quiet, and even a little bereft, as I looked out over the ocean from the back deck of the Cliff House. Seal Rocks had few resting birds and no sea lions in view. A lone fisherman was casting his line into a calm and quiet sea from the big rock in front of Sutro Baths. It appeared that the tattlers had wandered, and even the pelicans were lounging elsewhere. I got on my bike to head home, taking one last look toward the bird bath just for the heck of it.
I was happy to see that there was, in fact, a wandering tattler probing into the beach sand at the bottom of the cliffs. Then two more joined in, racing out from behind the boulders. A fourth was off by itself, pecking at rock barnacles instead of the sand. I wasn't particularly hungry for lunch, so I got my camera out, thinking I would just have a closer look through the zoomed lens.
Through the lens it was clear that the fourth tattler was actually a surfbird. And while I was watching the tattlers and surfbird, a black oystercatcher showed up at the bird bath.
When I finally did head home I spotted the unusual sight of numerous birds trying to take advantage of a very small puddle of water in the middle of the road near the confluence of MLK and JFK drives. When I looked through the camera's zoomed lens I could see that all the birds were robins, many of whom were youngsters.
Farther along, I saw that Kingsley was in his usual hunting spot. I heard a pair of common yellowthroats (one of my favorite birds) companion-calling on the other side of the lake, but they clammed up when I went over there to investigate. Since I was already over there, I snapped a shot of Kingsley just for the heck of it.
On my way home for what I figured was the last time, I cruised above Hellman Hollow and, sure enough, the coyote was down there again. Just resting this time, with no howling. I backtracked to the Polo Fields, then rode back up along the hollow to pay my respects.
Having recently mistaken the wandering tattlers for surfbirds, it was good to finally see an actual surfbird today.
The wandering tattlers gave up their pursuit of mole crabs as the tide rose a little too high for comfort.
After a nice bath and dry-off, the black oystercatcher took wing back to Seal Rocks.
Robins Hogging A Puddle
In the video below, you'll see a junco scuttling across the background. It had been chased out of the puddle just a moment before.
Kingsley on the Lookout
Hank, the Happy Hound of Hellman Hollow
Nice Doggie
Hank didn't even get up as this runner went by, followed closely by a guy pacing him on a bicycle (although the fast-moving runner seemed to be pacing the cyclist).
