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| Townsend's Warbler, Golden Gate Park Oak Woodlands |
There were several Townsend's warblers singing in the Oak Woodlands this morning, but the one above wasn't one of them. It just happened to be caught with its beak open. At one point I heard two Townies singing from branches in the same oak tree, resulting in a territorial dispute that turned into a chase from one tree to another accompanied by boisterous vocal scolding.
The first day of spring has felt really great despite the heat. On the one hand, it's just another day, but on the other it's an astronomical turning point that can also be celebrated as a time of spiritual renewal. Even as the world celebrates a turn toward greater daylight, world events on nature's human stage have taken a turn toward greater darkness. Nevertheless, spring is a time for optimism, nuturing, and growth, and the evidence isn't on the nightly news, but right outside the door.
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| Dangling Oak Catkins |
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| There's a nicely camouflaged yellow-rumped warbler in there. |
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Bushtit with Wings Extended
(It was birdy around the Horseshoe Courts, so I hung around awhile.) |
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| A Townsend's warbler hunted at length in a nearby oak tree, rarely coming out in the open. |
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| The mourning dove noisily fluttered right over my head to land on the fence railing but soon lost its nerve: too close to the human. The moment I moved, it flew to safety in the oak woodland. |
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| Townie in the Oak |
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| A set of jacks has joined the alphabet blocks near the Conservatory of Flowers. |
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| Chestnut-backed Chickadee Gathering Nest Material from a Cycad |
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| Chickadee With a Full Beak |
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| A great blue heron was lurking in the foliage at Lily Lake, but soon realized it was too close to the pedestrian path for comfort. |
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| It took off and tried to land on a chunk of tree, but the chunk was merely floating on the surface and couldn't support the heron's weight. The bird then tried to land on the duckweed-covered surface but the water was deeper than its legs were long. It finally flapped over to the opposite bank and fluffled its feathers to dry out. |
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| A normally sleek-looking tree swallow fluffs its feathers on a pine branch overlooking the Bison Paddock. |
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| A Western bluebird about to take wing. |
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| I'd seen the Northern flicker land on a branch in the pine tree. After several minutes it dropped down to the ground to begin hunting. |
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| It was a little tricky to focus and shoot through the chain-link fence, but the flicker tolerated my presence for quite a while. |
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| Cedar Waxwing at Middle Lake |
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| Singing White-crowned Sparrow |
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| California Poppy at Middle Lake |
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| Blue-eyed Grass |
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| Hummingbird Sage |
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| Hot Days for the Nesting Bald Eagles |
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| I was worried when I saw this scene, especially since you could hear a raven in the background. A raven destroyed the eagles' previous eggs when they were left unattended. |
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| Thankfully one of the eagles (still panting in the heat), returned a few minutes later. |
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