Duck Mob

 

Babies in a Bunch, Mallard Lake

I encountered a hodgepodge of nature scenes this morning and wasn't sure what to put at the top of the post. Another GBH eating a gopher? Too soon. Wandering tattlers on the move? Maybe. Hummingbirds? Hmmm. A bunch of cute little ducklings? Okay, why not.

As usual, the photos below appear in chronological order.

This possible Yellow Underwing moth (Noctua sp.) flew up from the sidewalk around Noriega St. and 32nd Ave., and glommed onto the wall of a business covered with advertisements and such.

I wondered if this was the same great blue heron I recently saw along the Sunset Parkway -- the one that took a relatively long time to kill and eat the gopher it had caught.

The herons I've watched in Golden Gate Park are so quick to consume the gophers they catch, I can't help wondering if this heron is an adolescent. After snagging the gopher and walking around with it, the heron set it down on the ground, perhaps to see if it was still alive. I detected no movement myself.

Apparently the heron didn't either, as it picked up its quarry once again, and sent it down the hatch.

Even after apparently swallowing the gopher, the heron had second thoughts and coughed it back up.

It swallowed the gopher once again, then coughed it up again.

Is it playing at being a parent?

Once again, the gopher is sliding down the heron's distended throat.

And once again, the gopher is coughed back up!

And swallowed again. For the last time?

Yes, finally. Elapsed time to eat one gopher: 4 minutes, 56 seconds.

I believe the graffiti panels are new since last week. [UPDATE: One week later, 5/6/25, it had already been painted over.] A lot of pigeons hang out at this underpass. In the last few weeks I've seen "crime scenes" of pigeon feathers in a pile nearby, and my prime suspect is that feral black cat I recently photographed walking away with a mouse it had just caught.

Short video clip of the underpass, mostly for the bird sounds.

Lesser Goldfinch on Dried Poison Hemlock

Miner's Lettuce With Two Fallen Seeds

Hummer Catching Some Morning Sun

Blackberry Flowers Being Pollinated By Bumblebees

Ten Ducklings Sticking Close to Mama

Gathering of Cuteness

Shouting it Out

In a show of élan, the defiant Allen's hummingbird lands near the bossy Anna's hummingbird.

Today, the brown pelicans had moved off to the Seal Rock farthest from the coast. A long line of birds, possibly cormorants, is flying south in the background.

At first, the wandering tattlers were gathered, as usual, on top of some boulders below the Cliff House, just hanging out. The tide and surf were high enough that sand would be exposed only briefly, so I was surprised when the tattlers started flying down there, one after another, to try their luck.

The tattlers barely had time to bury one or two probing beaks into the sand before being inundated by the sea.

This one appeared to get a quick drink from a quiet pool.

They spent most of their time running for high ground.

Or flying for high ground when the need arose.

Out beyond Seals Rocks, a pretty cool sailboat (a sloop?) cruised south into the wind.

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