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| Iteration of a Honey Mushroom, Golden Gate Park |
It was another cold and foggy morning to head out the door, and headwinds that seemed to be coming out of the north made a significant contribution to the "brisk factor." Somehow, by the time I was returning home, the wind seemed to be brisking out of the south!
In "reality" (whatever that is), the wind was blowing out of the east. I figure it's just a quirk of the built environment. Wind swooshes out of the east into a row of houses arrayed north-to-south, then swishes up or down the street. I recall it being even worse downtown, where the built environment was much more canyon-like, and where it often seemed as if headwinds blew in every direction.
Fortunately, the middle part of the walk was through Golden Gate Park which had more windbreaks (and mushrooms) and was noticeably warmer.
Later, as I was biking to the beach (exacerbating the natural wind chill by adding speed), I hit the brakes when I noticed a group of hooded mergansers who were back in Lloyd Lake.
Down by the beach I noted once again that very few birds were occupying Seal Rocks, and it made me wonder whether it's just a seasonal thing or a bird-flu catastrophe. Apparently the new strain is killing not just wild sea birds, but also seals and sea lions.
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| Lucky Honeys |
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| Fungus Gnat Condos |
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| Honey River |
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| I wonder why there aren't any chanterelles to be found in Golden Gate Park's Oak Woodland. Unfortuntely, the mushrooms above are false chanterelles. |
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| Skinny Troopers |
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| Plum Leaf in a Ginkgo Sea |
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| Fish Toss |
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| The male tried to keep close to the female, but did not try to steal her fish. |
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| The female merganser downs another fish... |
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| ...then rises up for a celebratory wing-flap. |
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| The "biker gang" of Lloyd Lake. |
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| There was lots of fishing going on. You could always tell when a merganser was about to dive underwater because it would fold back its hood beforehand. |
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| Another Fish Toss |
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