Coyote in the Garden

 

Black-crowned Night Heron (Composite), SF Botanical Garden

Yesterday's report of a red-breasted grosbeak in the botanical garden gave me the excuse I needed to go down there this morning. Being the first Sunday of the month, there were at least three birding groups in attendance, and I hope someone got to see the grosbeak. I did not.

I paused on my way to the area where the bird had been seen, curious about many, many crows cawing in apparent alarm. As soon as I turned toward the commotion of corvids I saw a good-looking coyote just standing in the sun. The crows continued to hound the coyote for quite a while. Later on, I was over near the edge of the garden near Lincoln Avenue, looking for the grosbeak, when all the crows finally quit and flew away to the south, passing over my head in two large waves.

I wondered why crows would pester a coyote, being an extremely unlikely nest-robber. But later in the morning as I was heading out to bike home, I was drawn into the relative darkness of the Mesoamerican Cloud Forest by a singing Pacific wren. Almost immediately I encountered a "crime scene" of crow feathers scattered on the dark forest floor. Apparently coyotes will happily catch and eat a crow when the opportunity presents itself.

I was torn between trying to follow the coyote and trying to find the grosbeak. The coyote was in no mood to be followed, though, making my decision easier.

Red-shouldered Hawk

This was a little later and might be the same one, though on a different tree. There were two adults and what sounded like a begging fledgling which I was unable to lay eyes on.

I heard the Wilson's warbler singing as I neared the little pond in the Children's Garden area.

He obliged me by belting out his tune a couple more times before moving on.

The red-legged frogs are out again.

Pipevine Swallowtail

I finally found a pipevine swallowtail chrysalis, but it had already hatched.

I'm not sure what little blue butterfly this is. It never opened its wings to give me a better look.

The west coast lady never opened its wings either, but it's a little easier to identify.

I'd hoped to find the grosbeak joining other birds going after nectar in the monkey's hand tree, but I settled for a Steller's jay.

Note the splash of nectar droplets as the jay pulls its head out of the blossom.

I was surprised to see a pair of black-crowned night herons interested in the stagnant pool next to the new plant nursery. They soon realized their mistake and took wing.

I had to dial down my camera's shutter speed to 1/50th sec. (at ISO 12,800) and was pleasantly surprised to get any decent images of the Pacific wren with my heavy Z8 and no tripod.

I set a trail camera in the back yard to find out who's been digging around in one of my planters. I even stuck some aluminum tent stakes in the dirt, pointy-side up, to deter the miscreants. 

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