Black Friday Birds

 

Hooded Mergansers, Golden Gate Park

As tempting as it often feels to insert my opinions about the state of our country under an administration with almost comically despotic tendencies, I prefer to just stick to the nature stuff. It does feel a little off to be single-minded in the face of so much else going on in the world of human beings. But without the daily walks and bike rides that keep me in touch with the natural world, I'd be missing out on a lot of joy in life. And who doesn't need joy? So that joy is basically what I hope I'm able to pass along on this blog. We can get our daily firehose of news and opinions in so many places. Here on the blog, there's no firehose of angst, no scams or fakery. Just real life in the real, everyday world that's tucked in all around us whether we notice it or not.

Halfway into the Oak Woodlands I stopped in a birdy location, although nearly all the chirping and flittering was taking place out of range, or by dark-eyed juncos pecking for seeds on the ground. I was just about to give up and move on when I heard the tap-tap-tap of this downy woodpecker working on a stump full of turkey tails that I photographed in this post back in February.

The woodpecker soon flew to a new spot, and this red-shouldered hawk swooped onto the scene a moment later, perhaps drawn, as I had been, by all the birdy movements and chirping.

Surprisingly, the birds didn't call out any alarms at the hawk's entrance, although this chestnut-backed chickadee didn't linger in the open for long.

After the chickadee flew out of range I spotted another downy woodpecker very close by. I watched it hunt for insects for a while before a scrub jay pounced onto the scene. It hopped around through low branches and along the ground, probably looking for a place to hide the peanut in its beak, but its abrupt antics seemed to scare off all the smaller birds, so I continued on my way.

In some oaks near the Horseshoe Courts I stopped briefly to observe a flock of golden-crowned sparrows foraging through the trees' dense branches. 

My wife was ready to get back on her bike today after a long absence, and I looked forward to showing her the giant sea serpent in person. I was surprised to find three hooded mergansers (two males and one female) paddling around in the little pond with the big sculpture.

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