Solstice Roundup

 

White-crowned Sparrow Eating Nightshade Berry, Middle Lake

I was disappointed (just a little bit) that I never needed the rain gear I brought along as I biked around Golden Gate Park to see what I might find this morning. It was also a lot warmer than I expected, and I had to shed a layer when I locked the bike to walk around Strawberry Hill at Blue Heron Lake. 

Somber skies lent a subdued flavor to the walk, which turned up relatively little bird action at Blue Heron Lake. The quiet extended also to Mallard Lake, Metson Lake, and North and South lakes (Middle Lake sported a bevy of yellow-rumped warblers who made it more lively there). 

Down at the beach it appeared that the storm chased away virtually all of the brown pelicans who'd been resting at Seal Rocks, which are now inhabited by a loose scattering of cormorants holding fast against strong winds.

On the way home I stopped at Andronico's, where the Ben & Jerry's was priced half-off due to effects from yesterday's power outage. At least, I surmised as much. An explanation for the price drop was posted on the freezer glass but was too wet and curled to make out through the condensation. The pints seemed all right to me,  not too squishy, so I grabbed a couple. I felt like I deserved a treat after yesterday's 12-hour power outage and having to cook dinner on a camping stove.

Recent rains took apart this owl pellet at Blue Heron Lake.

The owl was long gone, but an Anna's hummingbird was perched nearby and chasing off interlopers near its gooseberry patch.

Catching the Early Bloom

These guys reminded me of deer mushrooms, but I think they are some other good-looking fungus.

Hermit Thrush, Blue Heron Lake

There are still lots of false chanterelles coming up.

And more sulfur tufts.

I'm still waiting to see a ruby-crowned kinglet wearing its Santa hat.

Silktassel on Strawberry Hill

Holiday Colors at Middle Lake

I believe these are black nightshade, not deadly nightshade, so the sparrow is unlikely to start hallucinating from a scopolamine binge.

Hooded Mergansers at Rest, North Lake

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Waiting for the Rain

 

Last Night's Sunset from Grandview Park

Ring-necked Duck, Lily Pond

Honey Mushrooms, JFK Drive, Golden Gate Park

Dyer's Polypore, JFK Drive

Murphy Windmill as seen from Cliff House

Western Jumbo Gym (Gymnopilus ventricosus)

I finally realized these are not weirdly colored honey mushrooms. I knew I'd seen them before, and their name was on the tip of my tongue.

I finally uploaded them to iNaturalist to get the reminder I'd needed.

Sulfer Tufts, Blue Heron Lake

Another View

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Leucistic Hummingbird

 

Leucistic Anna's Hummingbird, San Francisco Presidio

I ran into several other folks hoping to spot the leucistic hummingbird reported near One Letterman Drive. After waiting a while for it to show up I decided to stroll around the grounds to look for likely nectar-producing flowers where the hummer might be holed up. There were plenty of regular Anna's hummingbirds in attendance, but I searched in vain for the white one.

I'd been talking with another photographer when I looked toward the bare-branched tree in which the hummer has previously been seen and was excited to spot a white blotch on the tree that could be only one thing. I told the other photographer it was there, and we made a bee-line for it. The unusual snow-white bird didn't stay long, but I think everyone was happy to have fired off a few frames. I know I was.

It was after noon by the time I got back on my bike to head home, making a brief stop at El Polin Spring despite my stomach rumbling for lunch. El Polin was full of birds, and the sun was coming out, but I needed to get going. 

It turned out the rain really arrived as forecast the other day, and it looks like much more is in store. I see the sun shining through our living room window this afternoon and know I'd better enjoy it while it lasts.

I spotted this red-shouldered hawk as I coasted down Pacific Avenue adjacent to the Presidio. It was hanging out on the retaining wall and pouncing into the leaves on the ground below.

The hawk did this several times but never seemed to catch anything.

Caught with its nictitating membrane shut over its eye.

After giving up on the leaf litter, the hawk casually swooped across the road and landed on a low branch.

I could hardly have asked for a more picturesque branch for it to pose on.

I spotted some shaggy parasol mushrooms (Chlorophyllum brunneum) while poking around near the tree where the white hummer would later show up. Note the likely slug-munched square rasped from the cap.

According to California Mushrooms, they are "edible and choice," although some people are allergic to them. 

Bushtit Gets a Grub

An orange-crowned warbler also snagged something. The background is a building next to the tree.

Female Anna's Humminbird

The White Hummer In Its Tree

Apparently leucistic hummers can be even whiter than this.

Some pygmy nuthatches were working the bottlebrush flowers along with several other bird species (including two or three regular-colored hummingbirds).

Yellow-rumped Warbler

White-crowned Sparrow

Anna's Hummingbird

I went back to the tree in time to catch a second sighting of the leucistic hummingbird.

A second, ordinary, hummingbird perched in the same tree, sending this one deeper into cover.

Ruby-crowned Kinglet on Oak Branch, El Polin Spring

Leucistic Hummer & Yellow-rumped Warbler

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Warm-Up

 

Anna's Hummingbird, Mallard Lake

It was four degrees warmer than yesterday when I set out on foot this morning, and I was glad for it, even though it was still fairly brisk. Even better was feeling the sun's warmth, seemingly for the first time in days, when the sky broke out in blue later on. I guess there's rain in the forecast for tonight (I'll believe it when I see it), but today was kind of a glorious fall day (yes, it's still fall until Sunday).

Have you ever tried to read The Gulag Archipeligo by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn? I got a third of the way into Volume 1 of 3 when I could no longer take the relentless "man's inhumanity to man" theme. It's truly mind-boggling and heart-rending to read what a deranged leader can do to a country's own citizens. I went back to reading Viruses: The Invisible Enemy with a sense of relief.

I noticed a few of these yellow fieldcaps (Bolbitius titubans) in the grass today in Golden Gate Park and figured they must have come up up after being watered by sprinklers since it hasn't rained in so long.

Red-shouldered Hawk

I was watching a great blue heron when this common yellowthroat briefly appeared from a thicket on the edge of Mallard Lake.

I'd never seen a heron in this spot right next to the trail behind Mallard Lake before, and I know there are some huge carp that swim close to shore here, so I stopped to see if the heron would try to catch one.

I watched for close to half an hour before the heron finally struck at something, and whatever it was must have been very small. It was already down the hatch when I snapped this shot.

A few birds were enjoying a bath in the little creek at the east end of Mallard Lake.

The built-in flash on the FZ-80D will only fire a couple of times before it needs to take a siesta and recharge. Your subject will of course do many photogenic things during this siesta (and also fly away), while you gape in frustration.

Bathers at Mallard Lake

Some Townsend's warblers were also bathing in the shallows on the edge of Elk Glen Lake.

Townsend's Warbler, Elk Glen Lake

A yellow-rumped warbler gives me "the look" from the cattails at Elk Glen Lake.

Autumnal Reflections on Elk Glen Lake

Steller's Jay Nabs a Bee

Posing in a Spot of Sun

Fallen Plum Leaves on Sidewalk, 16th Avenue

Lots of pelicans on the farthest-out of the Seal Rocks today.

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