Take-Off!

 

Flying Touch-and-Go's at Blue Heron Lake

Back in my Navy days aboard the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower I would sometimes watch flight operations, and one of the maneuvers the pilots practiced was called the touch-and-go, where instead of using the tailhook to catch one of the three arresting cables upon landing, they would touch the deck and then gun the engine to take off again. (They also gun the engine during normal landings so they can take off again if the tailhook misses the arresting cables.)

Anyway, I'm sure great blue herons have their own lessons to learn about landing in the treetops. I was interested today to watch one come in with a twig in its beak, then pass by the nest and circle around so it could land into the wind and with the sun at its back. It handed off the twig to its nest-mate, then almost immediately took off again toward a stand of eucalyptus.

I had just coasted past the Queen Wilhelmina Garden toward the beach when a squirrel casually bounded across the road in front of me, making its usual squirrely stops and starts. It picked up its pace and got off the road as I closed in, then changed its mind as if to head back into the road. Then, as if it hit an invisible wall, it suddenly made a twisting, acrobatic about-face and propelled itself like a furry missile through the small opening of a chain-link fence. The squirrel had to push and wiggle, barely fitting through. A moment later I realized it was not I who had been the cause of its panic, but a hawk that swooped right in front of me.

The red-tailed hawk (possibly Bando) pulled up and landed on the fence, but the squirrel had gotten away.

Take-off!

A beautiful little snowy egret tempted me off my bike at Metson Lake, especially when it strolled down next to a patch of cattails. You probably can't tell what it has caught in its beak in this frame.

But maybe this cropped version helps. Nice catch!

Oops, almost fell in.

I hadn't realized dragonflies were out yet until today.

Cardinal meadowhawks are usually pretty accommodating to photographers.

When I first saw the water strider I couldn't recall if I'd ever noticed them before in this or any other pond/lake in Golden Gate Park. This guy was the only one I saw, and it attacked a small black beetle that it presumably tried to eat.

After grasping it for a while, the strider abruptly pushed it away, then acted as if it had been sprayed with noxious liquid. It made several jerky movements and even flipped a couple of times.

Great Blue Heron With Nesting Material

Handing Off the Branch

Interestingly, this pair is still working on its nest while another nearby nest already has three gangly young herons carrying on within it.

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