The Gopher Eaters

 

Great Blue Heron Catching a Gopher, Golden Gate Park

Pity the poor gopher. So much easier to catch than a fish. I'd just passed Lloyd Lake on my way to the beach when I spotted this heron with a freshly caught gopher in its beak. I moved as quickly as I could, but by the time I could stop my bike and get out my camera, the gopher was down the hatch.

I decided to wait a bit to see if the heron would leave or continue hunting. After evading a few close-walking humans and a dog that strained at its leash, so eager to pounce, it was able to circle back to its hunting ground where it soon caught another gopher.

Later, I stopped at Blue Heron Lake on my way home, arriving just as an adult heron swooped in to feed its eager nestlings high in a pine tree on the little island east of Strawberry Hill. The adult took its time before finally regurgitating a feast for the nestlings, then wasted no time before flying away to catch more gophers.

Down at the beach, meanwhile, it looked like there were zero brown pelicans in their usual place on Seal Rocks. I just read this morning that pelicans have been starving because fish are staying too deep for them to catch, due to relatively warm surface waters. When I got out behind the Cliff House, though, I saw that a group of pelicans had simply moved to the big rock just off Sutro Baths.

Waiting for the Coast to Clear

Heron Escapes the Dog

The heron set up on another gopher almost as soon as it was able to circle back around to its hunting area.

Brown Pelicans at Sutro Rock

Resting Pelicans

Short clip of the preening pelicans.

A snowy egret hunted in the tiny beach area in front of Sutro Baths, but the tide was coming in and making the sandy beach even tinier.

The egret was spending so much time running away from incoming waves that it had little chance to hunt, so when a second egret dropped in, it wasn't in the mood to share its spot and tried to chase off the interloper, but ended up flying around the Cliff House to hunt on the relatively peaceful beach to the south.

Three nestlings are ready for whatever mama brought home for lunch.

Video clips of the adult and nestlings. 

After feeding the nestlings, it was time to head back out to resume the hunt.

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