Return of the Flickers

 

Norther Flicker in the Oak Woodlands, Golden Gate Park

I won't call it a "resolution," but I've been thinking about uploading more San Francisco species to iNaturalist this year, so I started today since I had such a diverse haul of photos, most of which came out of the Oak Woodlands near the Horseshoe Courts. (I'll occasionally see lawn bowlers in the park, but I have yet to see anyone playing at the horseshoe courts.) 

Another non-resolution is to do more photography outside the city. I renewed my annual CDFW Lands Pass this morning, and the plan is to use it more often than I have the last few years. I also hope to use my National Parks Pass more often, and I'd like to discover some new and interesting natural areas to explore around the state.

The fact that we're getting a decent rain year so far is good encouragement for doing these things. I started the Mt. Tam blog back in 2013 during a long period of drought, which put a crimp on the available biodiversity to explore. If you've been thinking about photographing someplace special in a deep way, this year is shaping up to be a great time to get started.

I saw a pretty sunrise in the making this morning and biked over to Grandview Park to get an unobstructed view of it.

Meadow mushroom (Agaricus sp.) in the Oak Woodlands.

I don't know what species this interesting mushroom is. It had a bulbous stem, but no universal veil, so it didn't appear to be any kind of Amanita that I'm familiar with.

This little troop of Mycenas (possibly Mycena californiensis) was growing in a log just up the trail from the solo mycena I recently photographed.

I can only recall finding a bolete in the park once before. This might be Xerocomus subtomentosus.

I started photographing flickers in the Oak Woodlands in mid-December last year and have been waiting expectantly to see them this year. Today was finally the day.

I cropped the heck out of this shot to show the Jerusalem cricket in the flicker's beak.

And down the hatch.

I don't know if the males were more skittish or just fewer in number, but this was the only one I was able to photograph.

I keep forgetting about Hutton's vireos. I'd assumed this was a ruby-crowned kinglet until iNaturalist suggested (correctly, I believe) otherwise. 

Brown Creeper on Lichen-tassled Oak

Townsend's Warbler on Oak Branch

Grooming Squirrel, Oak Woodland

Miner's Lettuce on the Edge of the Fuchsia Dell.

There was quite a lot of this cup fungus, Peziza repanda, growing in the cycad area near Lily Lake.

And if you find the cup fungus, the bear is very nearby.

This was one of several male and female ring-necked ducks diving inside a circle surrounded by duckweed at Lily Lake. The ducks themselves likely created the clearing with their constant activity.

Yellow-rumped warbler in eucalyptus, Inner Sunset just off Irving Street.

An Anna's hummingbird was feeding on a different tree across the street.

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