Get It While You Can

 

Nesting Great Blue Herons, Blue Heron Lake

With rain in the forecast for tomorrow I figured I should take advantage of a sunny Saturday to get out on my bike to Fort Mason. The chores I usually do today can wait until tomorrow. 

I'd hoped to locate the California thrasher that folks have been seeing over there, but had no luck. Nevertheless, it was a beautiful day to be out and about, so no complaints.

I'm pretty sure this is the first time I've seen tidy tips in the city. They were in a field just above El Polin Spring.

Goldfields and a great blue heron were also in the same field.

I liked this vertical composition with the heron between the two small patches of goldfields in the front and a tall yarrow stalk in the back.

The heron went into stalking mode three times, coming up with bupkis the first two times but scoring a gopher on the third jab.

There were also patches of Dougas iris here and there (above El Polin Spring).

While looking for compositions with the iris flowers, I heard shuffling in the shrubbery nearby and expected to find a sparrow or California towhee when I looked for the culprit. I was surprised to see two spotted towhees instead. 

The California thrasher didn't show up at the Fort Mason Community Garden, but there were hummers galore, taking advantage of all the colorful flowers (including tulips, as I was surprised to see).

A mockingbird vied with noisy parakeets for his place in the soundscape.

Here's a clip of the mockingbird strutting his stuff. I especially liked his take on the Northern flicker.

Coast Guard helicopter circling above Alcatraz Island.

The Hong Kong-flagged container ship YM Wish sails beneath the Golden Gate Bridge on its way to Busan, South Korea.

At Crissy Lagoon, where the tide was high and getting higher, a starling gathered material to feather its nest.

The starling in the back was vocalizing quite a bit. I'd have thought it was a youngster begging for food, but it seemed full-grown. Maybe all its chittering was a mating song.

Starlings hanging out at Crissy Lagoon.

Other than a couple of coots, this resting willet was the only water bird in sight.

I dropped by Lily Lake to see if the green heron was around and found this great blue heron hunting there instead.

When I got to Blue Heron Lake, I again spooked up the adult green heron I saw there yesterday. This time it flew across the water to the edge of the island in front of the boathouse.

The little heron soon took off toward the shore around Strawberry Hill and went into deep cover.

One of the big herons, meanwhile, was busily gathering more sticks for the nest.

The trips were surprisingly short.

Just a few minutes after taking off, the heron would return with a stick.

Looks like it's going to be wet and windy tomorrow. I hope the herons are able to get their chores done today.

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