True Nature Stories: The End of Something

Black-necked Stilts Foraging in Saltgrass Marsh.

As I was getting ready to bike up to Mt. Tam this morning, ostensibly to retrieve my trail cameras and bring them home, I had this feeling of coming to the end of something. Not necessarily the "forever" end, but definitely an open-ended timeframe. The end of a cycle, maybe.

The cams haven't been all that interesting for several weeks, as my decision to place them where a pool of water used to be didn't pan out. The critters know there's no water there anymore, and they trundle through the scene so quickly that there's little time to witness any interesting behavior or personality. I've stubbornly stuck with the location for the last month because it's an easy hike from the trailhead where I leave my bike....

Nevertheless, one interesting recording occurred just a couple of days ago. The images aren't great, but an animal I have never caught on my cams before, and which I can't identify, passed through. Drop me an email if you can tell what it is.

The thing about taking the trail cams home is that it cuts another thread to my connection with Mt. Tam. That's where the "end of something" feeling really came from. When I worked five days a week in a cubicle in downtown San Francisco, my weekly nature explorations on the mountain were a much-needed compensation. Now, two-and-a-half years into retirement, I no longer need that, and I'm finding San Francisco itself to be an engaging place for nature explorations, with the bonus that I can explore every corner of it on foot or bicycle.

Anyway, I'm sure I haven't reached the end of visits to Mt. Tam, anymore than I'll stop exploring nature all over this incredible state. But for now, San Francisco is where my heart is.

As I was riding home from the mountain this afternoon, I stopped to photograph another group of black-necked stilts and realized that another part of this feeling that it's the end of something is related to the election season having come to an end. We're going to be leaving familiar territory to embark on a weird adventure, but at least the next couple of months will be a good time to grab some R&R.

Buffleheads in Richardson Bay

I couldn't resist the mirror-like surface of this pool catching the reflection of Mt. Tamalpais. On my return trip I'd stop again at this spot to photograph a group of resting stilts, as well as a hunting great egret.

Double-Dive

Graceful Forager

Backlit Legs

Farallon Islands from Mt. Tam

San Francisco Skyline from Mt. Tam

I was sitting in the Rock Spring picnic area eating the croissant and apple I'd bought at The Good Earth on my way up, when first one deer, then several, wandered into view.

It was great to see some deer for a change. I don't expect we'll have a herd in San Francisco anytime soon.

After nibbling a little bit of grass, they wandered over to a large Douglas fir and ducked into its shade to bed down for a while.

This Steller's jay was taking its cue from the acorn woodpeckers, trying to hide its prize in a ready-made hole on a bay laurel tree. It tried a couple of times to push it into the hole, but was not satisfied and moved up the trunk where it tried to push the acorn under some moss, again to no avail. I'm not sure where the acorn finally ended up.

The acorn woodpeckers put up a commotion when this guy swooped into the area. I thought it was a cooper's hawk, but my Merlin app says it's a sharp-shinned. Just the other day I saw a sharp-shinned hawk up close in my San Francisco neighborhood when I was walking down some steep stairs past a small, bushy tree and heard a lot of rustling in the branches. I figured it was a squirrel, but when I stuck my head in the bush to look, a sharp-shinned hawk was staring at me, and it immediately bolted, leaving no time to try for a photo.

Red Admiral & Bay Leaves

Along with my "end of cycle" theme, I photographed this lizard -- the "last one" of the season -- because it was the only one I saw on my way to and from the trail cams.

These are the resting stilts on the edge of the reflecting pool mentioned above.

Great Egret

This is where the trail cams were set. One points down the ravine while the other points up it. I'd hoped to get better clips of animals coming and going, but it wasn't really happening (brief video below).