Funston Beach

 

Dune Wildflowers at Fort Funston

The plan was to find my way down from the Great Highway onto Funston Beach to check out the bank swallows I photographed many years ago, but the route I used back then was blown out and eroded away. Looking for a new route, I pedaled up into Fort Funston where I found some gorgeous dune wildflowers but nowhere to leave my bike while I trekked down to the beach. 

On the way up, I'd seen someone's ebike stashed on the cliff's edge, so I returned to the scene. There was a fisherman on the beach below the bike, so I figured it was a good spot and locked up my bike there as well. I clambered down the rip-rap of boulders to the beach, then walked south into the wind, looking forward to seeing the swallows with their nests dug into the side of the friable sandstone cliffs.

Disappointingly, I found no bank swallow nests at all along the stretch of beach they used to use, and only one potential nest hole that looked suspiciously man-made. I'd seen a few swallows flying around when I was up on the road, so I figure they've found somewhere else to nest. Assuming they still use Fort Funston (and it appears they do), they must be farther south.

The 42-year-old hopper dredger Essayons, recently down from Eureka, was sailing just off the coast this morning.

Funston Dunes

Down on the beach, a raven scavenged the remains of a cormorant.

I was the only person on the stretch of beach where the bank swallows used to be. Back in '09 there would be quite a few people walking here, mostly with their dogs, but that was before erosion took away much of that stretch of Great Highway. It's trickier to get here now.

Is this a real nest hole, or is that a Sears nest hole? (If the question seems obscure, check this reference.)

Lots of gelatinous blobs were washed up along with by-the-wind sailors. I find references to salps and moon jellies washing up, but I don't know if these are one or the other, or something else.

Recent arrival.

Sub-adult California Gull

A mixed flock of California and Western gulls was contentedly hanging out on the beach, facing into the wind, while a flock of whimbrels moved through rather quickly, and a pair of snowy egrets only stayed a little while before seeking better hunting grounds farther south.

Snowy Egret Flying South

Windy & Desolate Beach

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Melanistic Squirrel

 

Black Squirrel Near Bison Paddock

I was sad to see that the black oystercatcher nest had been abandoned since yesterday. Having those big gulls nesting so close by seemed to spell trouble. I heard the chattering of a couple of black oystercatchers today but couldn't spot them. Hopefully they have time to start a new nest somewhere less desirable for gulls.

Shortly after I rode past Spreckels Lake I spotted my first-ever black squirrel. It was foraging for human garbage behind the San Francisco Model Yacht Club Boathouse.

Farther west, I was surprised to see eight or so black-crowned night herons at North Lake. That's up from zero seen in the same tree yesterday. Down at the beach, there were still quite a few snowy egrets hunting, but the new thing was an uptick in nesting activity for the Western gulls. That one gull's nest I saw yesterday will have company very soon. There were lots of pelicans flying past the Cliff House today as well, and a lone sea lion probably heading toward Pier 39.

Hairy Woodpecker, Forest Hill

Black Beauty Nibbles on a Bone

Shadow Squirrel

Black-crowned Night Heron, North Lake

I often see those sapsucker holes in trees, but I don't recall ever seeing a sapsucker actually making those holes.

Most of the night herons were snoozing, like this one with its beak tucked into its feathers.

An Allen's hummingbird landed nearby while I was looking at the herons.

The tide was still going out while I was there, and a larger swell occasionally put an egret between the rocks and wet place.

Western Gulls Gathering Nesting Material

After plucking a mouthful of plant material, the gulls would fly their nesting booty out to Seal Rocks.

A gull inspects the area where the black oystercatchers lost their two-egg nest.

Pelicans Under Foggy Skies

Camera Obscura with Pelican Flyby

Snowy Egret Gets a Bite

Video Clip of Snowy Egret

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Purple Finch

 

Purple Finch Near Elk Glen Lake

This finch is purple the way some prose is purple: both are elaborately ornamented. I wasn't very familiar with purple finches, and when this one, so much bigger than a typical house finch, flew into some nearby bushes to feed on the seeds of scarlet hummingbird flowers, I wondered if it was something exotic. It is definitely a handsome bird.

Brown Creeper at Mallard Lake

This lesser goldfinch was singing up a storm, so I tried to record some of it on video. Unfortunately, there was a lot of background noise from traffic and, in the distance, a wood-chipper....

Struggling to be Heard

The red-winged blackbirds are still very active at Elk Glen Lake.

Red-tailed Hawk at Elk Glen Lake

This Allen's hummingbird was the king of a big patch of scarlet, tube-shaped flowers -- garden ornamentals that I'm not familiar with. 

I only saw a hummer actually nectaring on the flowers for a fraction of a second before it was chased off. It's such a bounty that it's guarded more than it's used, like a miser's wealth.

While I was watching the hummers chase each other off the flowers, the purple finch winged in and took advantage of the seeds.

The seeds are down in the bottom of those calyxes, but presumably the finch is able to eat more than just the chaff.

Purple Finch

Something darted low to the ground in front of me, moving so fast I wasn't sure I'd really seen anything. I went to look for it, thinking it was probably a sparrow or maybe a speedy California towhee, and was pleasantly surprised to see it was a Nuttall's woodpecker.

I was surprised again when it landed on some nearby poison hemlock to hunt for more insects to stuff into its beak.

Another surprise was catching this mourning dove on a branch instead of pecking around for seeds in a patch of dirt. Unfortunately, it was very skittish and quickly turned around and took off.

I wondered if the gulls were in any way harassing the black oystercatcher, which continues to brood its eggs on the side of Seal Rocks, but I never saw any sign of it.

A couple of times the oystercatcher even got up off its eggs (circled in red) to stretch out and preen its feathers.

Meanwhile, very near the oystercatcher nest, this gull also had a nest. I wonder how that will go if both species have chicks at the same time in such close proximity.

The gull's nest, the oystercatcher's eggs, and the oystercatcher.

There were ten snowy egrets hunting on the beach near the Cliff House, where they got to enjoy a brief period of time with no dog-walkers in the area (and I do mean brief; they were soon disturbed by dogs and flew away). 

This one egret was catching things almost constantly.

Num-nums on the Beach

Snowy Egrets at Ocean Beach

Both of the Big Bear bald eagle siblings hung out in the nest for part of the day today.

Dancing in the Rain and Thunder

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