Around the Pond

 

Common Yellowthroat, Elk Glen Lake

The yellowthroat's distinctive chip calls pulled me in. I'd been content to walk past Elk Glen Lake and head out of the park toward home, but the calls were too close to ignore. I've been hearing a yellowthroat there for a few weeks, but the bird itself has always been inaccessible. Even having it close by didn't make it easy to photograph. The yellowthroat doesn't hold a pose very long, and it often moves quickly among obscuring leaves and branches as it forages along the water's edge.

If Panasonic could eliminate the viewfinder blackout period that follows a shutter-release with the FZ-80D, I'd buy a new one right away. There's nothing like watching your bird dance across the branches and duck out of sight while waiting for the blackout period to end. 

I was interested to see two of these guys (Volvopluteus gloiocephalus) with such different cap colors along the Sunset Parkway. One is fresh, the other old.

I wondered if this female Anna's hummingbird was gathering cobwebs for her nest, or insects for her belly. But I didn't see any cobwebs, and I certainly didn't see any insects that are bite-sized for a hummingbird with my paltry human eyeballs.

A Nuttall's woodpecker swooped onto the scene as I was waiting next to the pond for the yellowthroat to make another appearance. It never did, but the wait was worth it anyway.

A few yellow-rumped warblers were feeding and horsing around along the pond's edge, often stopping to rest in the cattails.

A couple of red-winged blackbirds were singing from the cattails. I suspect several more will join them as the season progresses.

Townsend's Warbler Dropping Down to Bathe in the Pond

I stopped to watch a great blue heron hunting at the Balboa Natural Area since I don't recall the last time I saw one there. I figured it was after gophers, but it struck and nabbed something much smaller, and which I suspect to be another Jerusalem cricket.

I told myself I would stay and watch the heron until it either nabbed a gopher or wandered into the patch of Oxalis flowers....

Coming out of the park after Elk Glen Lake I spotted this unusual scene at Irving  St. and 19th Ave. There is a gas-powered motor on the bike frame, attached to a trailer labeled @MushroomsAdventures.

After leaving the heron in Balboa Park I rode up the hill just past Cliff House and saw a photographer shooting with an awesome 8x10 view camera. He only had one film holder, meaning he'd only get to make two photos. I love that there are still people out there shooting large format. It's one of those things any serious photographer contemplates -- after all, who couldn't love such a huge negative or transparency -- but few take it up.

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