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| Townsend's Warbler, Golden Gate Park |
I'd spent around three hours walking through Strybing Arboretum, cruising the woodland around the Bison Paddock, and walking my bike around the west side of North Lake with no luck. At North Lake I saw a brown creeper -- a bird I've been looking forward to seeing again -- and despite getting it in my viewfinder, I could never get a clear shot through all the foliage. A couple of Townsend's warblers showed up and diverted my attention, but they moved on very quickly, and when I looked back for the creeper, it was gone.
It was only after I left North Lake and started riding toward the beach that I spotted a townie approaching like a yellow missile along the north side of the road and landing in a tree very close to me. I got off my bike and gave chase, and finally got the shot above.
Besides the brown creeper, the other cool critter I saw but didn't get to photograph was a ground squirrel (or two) in the Children's Garden at Strybing Arboretum. With the first glimpse I got I knew it was a squirrel (of which there are many in the park), but thought it moved suspiciously like a ground squirrel. Then I got a much better look at what I'm pretty sure was a second one, confirming my suspicion. A sighting near the arboretum entrance was reported to iNaturalist in April 2023. Although I've looked, I haven't seen old Grandview Gus since that first time in July.
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| Fox Squirrel Sampling Blackberries |
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| A couple of goldfinches were the only birds I photographed in more than an hour in Strybing Arboretum. The Flower Piano thing is still going on, so there's good music all around, but also lots of people. |
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| Japanese Anemone |
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| Floating along with a raft of kelp was this party balloon. The young gull pecked at it but thankfully didn't ingest any of it. Quite a few gulls showed interest in the floating kelp and are hanging around just outside the top of the frame. The current was carrying it north very quickly. |
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| I just love the feather details on this passing gull. |
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| There was a pretty good crowd of pelicans and cormorants on Seal Rocks again, and many gulls resting on Ocean Beach. As I was leaving, yet another photo got away from me as I watched a multitudinous flock of gulls fly over my head, with the Giant Camera in the foreground. |
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| Kingsley was back at Metson Lake... |
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| ...as was G. B. Heron. |
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