Furtive Feathers

 

Northern Flicker, SF Botanical Garden

I had the celebrity warbler in my sights this morning but couldn't lock focus on it during the couple of seconds I had it in view as it furtively hopped along a network of thin branches deep within a chaos-world of willow leaves at Blue Heron Lake. Numerous birders were converged on the spot, and just about everyone got a look at the Prothonotary Warbler, but getting a clear photo was another matter, at least for me (phuzzy photo below). 

I don't know how long I was there before I finally gave up. Eventually I just wanted to photograph some birds -- any birds -- so I biked over to the Botanical Garden, where the numbers of Ruby-crowned Kinglets, Hermit Thrush, and Yellow-rumped and Townsend's Warblers, have increased quite a bit since my last visit.

As always, it was a beautiful thing to observe these incredible flying animals in such lush surroundings. Last Thursday I'd biked over to the autumn-dry chaparral of the Marin Headlands in the hope of seeing an otter, bobcat, or rattlesnake -- a few wild animals you don't see in San Francisco. The prickly-dry, rolling hills of Gerbode Valley harbored the promise of wild critters, but that is all. The actual wildlife remained concealed. Rodeo Lagoon harbored a few ducks but no otters.

House Finch on Coyote Brush, Rodeo Lagoon

Believe it or not, the iNaturalist app suggested the correct ID for the Prothonotary Warbler seen at Blue Heron Lake despite the poor photo quality.

A Chestnut-backed Chickadee stopped by for a drink at some bottlebrush blossoms in the SF Botanical Garden.

I heard the calls of a Northern Flicker getting closer and closer, and eventually it landed within view.

I thought it would immediately fly away when it saw me, but it was more interested in feeding than fleeing.

I couldn't tell if it was interested in seeds or insects.

A not-very-yellow Yellow-rumped Warbler.

Getting better....

That's more like it.

A fox squirrel was going to town on the Chilean rhubarb fruits.

A Red-tailed Hawk attracted a lot of attention when it flew into a spruce tree near the Waterfowl Pond. Here its feathers are fluffled during a moment of preening.

Townsend's Warbler

I heard many calls of Golden-crowned Sparrows while I was out, but I rarely saw one. They are very well-camouflaged as they feed along the ground.

I wondered if this was the same Red-shouldered Hawk I recently encountered as it perched on a fence on the perimeter of the Children's Garden. This one began on the fence but soon flew a short distance into nearby tree branches.

There were quite a few Hermit Thrushes out today, and some of them were chasing each other around, claiming territories of their own.

Here's a larger thrush, the American Robin. A few robins and a couple of hermit thrushes were furtively entering a bush to claim its berries.

Ruby-crowned Kinglets like to give away their locations with characteristic calls and don't seem to mind being close to people.

They probably give people little thought as they dart around the branches of trees and shrubs, rarely giving a photographer a clear view. 

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