Still Coming Home

 

Dazzling Rays at Golden Gate Heights Park

It's been two weeks since I returned from my "Midwest Interlude," and I'm feeling a little more at home each day, especially since I've finally returned to my former routine of daily walks and bike rides. I would never haved guessed that refamiliarizing myself would be a thing. Today was the first time I did my usual bike ride, and for just a second there I couldn't remember the route. I can't imagine what it'll be like for my wife when she finally gets to come home.

I've been thinking that I will not continue the blog in its previous format, photographing the nature I encounter on my daily outings, but who knows. I'm kind of a photography addict. If I see something that strikes me as even a little bit interesting, I can't help reaching for a camera. But that doesn't mean I need to create a blog post around it all.

Or does it? ;)

Western Flycatcher, Mallard Lake

Red-shouldered Hawk, Mallard Lake

Yellow Warbler, Elk Glen Lake

Red-tailed Hawk, Grandview Park

Lesser Goldfinch, Forest Hill

Black Phoebe, West Portal

Anna's Hummingbird, West Portal

This yellow warbler faked me out with that dark patch on its head.

I didn't think it was another yellow warbler at first, and I was pretty sure it wasn't a Wilson's warbler either, so I thought I'd made an interesting discovery of a new bird.

But the Merlin app came up with yellow warbler for all three shots, so my guess is the bird, perhaps while feeding on nectar, got eucalyptus sap on its feathers. The sap, also called kino, turns black when it dries.

Of everything new that I've noticed since I've been back, this dragon in Golden Gate Park has been the biggest surprise. Sometimes it has bubbles coming out of its nostrils.

Pygmy Nuthatch, Bison Paddock

I've been wondering what this tree at North Lake is for a long time, and when I finally saw that it was in fruit I figured I could ID it through an app. The app was clear that it was a chestnut, but it took a little more digging to land on Chinese chestnut (Castanea mollisima) as my tentative answer until I can collect and taste the nuts.

Snowy, the surf egret, nabs a mole crab.

Once again, the egret crushes the crab in its beak before swallowing it.

Soon after eating the crab, the egret took off and landed near this flopping fish, presumably tossed there by a nearby fisherman. The egret stared at the fish for a few moments before deciding not to take a stab at it, then flew a short ways over to Sutro Baths to hang out with the cormorants. I was surprised that no other birds -- not the gulls, the cormorants, or the pelicans -- took any interest in the fish. The fisherman eventually threw it back in the ocean.

Lots of birds in the fog at Seal Rocks.

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