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| Photo-bombing Mallards at Blue Heron Lake |
The past couple of times I took my camera down to the San Francisco Botanical Garden, the plan was to go in the southeast entrance and work my way around to exit at the northwest entrance, then cross the street to walk around Blue Heron Lake and Strawberry Hill. I never made it. By the time I was ready to leave SFBG, I was ready to head home for lunch. So today I skipped the garden and went straight to the lake, which was quite a hive of activity -- probably more so than any other lake in the park.
Unfortunately, most of the activity was from humans, dogs, and gulls. Sometimes my feathered quarry would flee at the approach of people (with or without dogs), but people actually worked in my favor once. As I turned to head in the opposite direction of a chatty group of walkers, I spotted a coyote that I'd otherwise have missed. The coyote ducked down a small hill to avoid a jogger, then came back up after the jogger passed.
But then the jogger, apparently absorbed in changing the musical selection on his phone, turned around and spooked the coyote again -- but this time it crossed to my side of the Camelot Bridge. Then the jogger also crossed the bridge, still absorbed in his phone. At first I thought he was pursuing the coyote, but in fact he never noticed it. I managed to fire off a couple of frames before someone coming the other way spooked the coyote up Strawberry Hill, never to be seen again.
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| When a guy got out of his car to feed the ducks, which attracted not just the mallards, the coots, the ruddies, and the ring-necks, but also the geese, the gulls, and even several ravens, the great blue heron flew off to find a quieter hunting ground. |
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| One of several ravens trying to cash in on the bounty of bread. |
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| It's not often I get to photograph a California towhee perched in some tree branches instead of foraging on the ground. |
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| Lots of honey mushrooms all over. |
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| Great egret nabs a fish. |
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| I finally found where the hooded mergansers like to hang out at Blue Heron Lake. |
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| The coyote was adept at moving around the landscape without attracting much attention, then instantly disappearing into cover to avoid an encounter on the trail. |
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| What's up with all these ruby-crowned kinglets without ruby crowns? |
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| Female Hairy Woodpecker |
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| Until today, I hadn't seen a Townsend's warbler in days, if not weeks, and wondered if they'd left the area. |
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| This one nabbed a caterpillar and appeared to use its tongue to scoop it into its mouth. |
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| Male Hairy Woodpecker |
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