Downy Woodpecker

 

Downy Woodpecker, Mallard Lake

The woodpecker above remained in that position for a few seconds, so still that I wondered if she had gone to sleep. In the image she has her eyes closed and her beak pressed against the branch. I can only wonder if she was trying to "hear" movement beneath the bark with the aid of her beak capturing minute vibrations.

I returned to Mallard Lake this morning in the hope of photographing the mama duck with her ten ducklings again, but saw no sign of them. A red-shouldered hawk hunted from perches on the lake's edge, making me wonder if it could snag a duckling off the water.

On the way home I stopped by Blue Heron Lake, where Mrs. Grebely was snoozing comfortably on her nest, her beak partially tucked under her wing. If there are any more little ones since yesterday, they had to be snuggled warmly beneath her. It was unusually chilly around here this morning.

A small group of cedar waxwings had paired off to play the berry-passing game on the edge of the lake.

The woodpecker worked its way up this skinny branch.

I hadn't realized the branch was dead until the bird reached the end of the line. Soon after it flew away I heard it drumming in a nearby tree.

Red-shouldered hawk in a lakeside maple tree.

This pied-billed grebe hangs out a lot at Mallard Lake, but I've never seen him with company. He does like to call out with an interesting song sometimes, evocative more of someplace wild than within a city. I tried to record it but there was too much truck traffic on the road. Unfortunately, because there's no way for motorists to make a left turn onto 19th Avenue from Lincoln Way, a lot of traffic cuts through Golden Gate Park instead.

At Blue Heron Lake, an adult flew in and landed above one of the nests, apparently just to check up on the young ones. I only noticed two juvenile herons in the nest, where there were three just a few days ago.

The youngsters were hoping it was lunchtime, but the adult only stayed for a minute before flying away.

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