The Dragon & The Damsel

 

Cardinal Meadowhawk & Bluet, Metson Lake

I was about to pass Metson Lake, wondering if I should stop to check things out on this warm and sunny (and windy) day, when a red-eared slider made the decision for me. Normally these turtles are swimming in the lake or basking on a log or rock that's either in or very near the water. This one was on dry land among the little grass flowers, the English daisies and buttercups. I think she was trying to dig a hole to lay eggs in, but she gave up after finding the soil too dense and compacted.

Nearby I found a cardinal meadowhawk dragonfly perched on a slender stick. A bluet damselfly seemed to be harassing it, turning the tables on the usual dragon-vs.-damsel story. On each of the bluet's forays, it would chase off the dragonfly, only to see the red dragon almost immediately return to the tip of the stick. Eventually, the bluet gave up trying for the high ground and settled for a lower spot on the totem pole.

Look Ma, No Fog!
(Ocean Beach at 9:09 a.m. today.)

See if you can spot the red-tailed hawk in this picture.

Hint: It isn't flying.

The hawk had been perched on a light pole when it took off toward the beach and surprised me by landing on the ocean-facing cliff. It hadn't caught an animal. It appeared to be sunning itself. By and by, it flew off its perch to land nearby, only to return to a different spot on the cliff.

Ah, much better.

I left the red-tail to check out the beach below the back of the Cliff House and found this snowy egret shaping itself like a bullet as it faced strong headwinds. When I returned by way of the red-tail, it was still sunning itself on the cliff face, 23 minutes after it first landed there.

Dancing Through The Daisies

Slider on the Move

Damsel & Dragon

The Canada goose mama at Blue Heron Lake seems to be feathering her nest quite a bit. The pied-billed grebe mama was on her nest as well, with no sign of more babies.

These three juvenile great blue herons almost look like adults now.

I recently encountered a strange situation in the back yard. The water in the bird bath, which mostly gets used by juncos, was a weird gray color for a couple of days, and then for a couple more days it had a weird residue at the bottom. I decided to put a trail camera back there to see what was going on. And while I was at it, I put out another trail camera to see who was messing up the little mats of moss growing back there.

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