Drake's Birds & Stinkhorn Check

 

Drake's Beach, Sept. 3, 2018

The shot above shows the bird life I encountered on this date back in 2018. When I was there a couple of days ago there was none of that green seaweed on the beach, no pelicans resting on the sand, and far fewer gulls. Four years ago, stepping onto Drake's Beach was like walking into a cacophonous party. I wonder if the ocean and wind conditions that brought all that seaweed onto the beach also created an upwelling that led to a boon for sea life.

Also around this time of year, but farther back in time, I encountered numerous young elegant terns resting at Drake's Beach while their parents did most of the foraging for them.

I was thinking about biking up to Mt. Tam yesterday to check the camera trap, but the enthusiasm wasn't there for such an endeavor. Instead I did my usual morning walk followed by my usual local bike ride. My home camera trap, meanwhile, has become "all Coco, all the time." It has become rare to capture the raccoons, skunks, squirrels, rats, other neighborhood cats, and various birds, that used to appear so often. Back when I used to leave the cat food outside, that is.... Even the mating pair of dark-eyed juncos, the ones who bathed daily in a bowl of water I set out back and who recently fledged their baby, have gone.

My morning walk either takes me out-and-back to the beach, or in a loop that takes me along Sunset Boulevard. I chose the latter route so I could check up on the latticed stinkhorn. At first glance it appeared to have been stepped on, but noticing that the grass had been cut made me wonder if the wheels of a mower hadn't crushed part of the fruiting. Most of it was intact and still developing. I'd brought along my Nikon and 105/Micro rig because I realized I hadn't thought to photograph a close-up of a fly on the stinkhorn on my last visit. Unfortunately, it was so cold and foggy that there were no flies. There also wasn't any brown liquid goop exuded by the stinkhorns to attract them. I wondered if the fungus required a higher temperature to begin exuding its lure to exothermic flies that wouldn't be active in the cold anyway.

Although most of my walk looks like typical Sunset District, I took a few phone-snap "nature photos" in the heavy fog, starting with some of the interesting architecture a block or so away from the nondescript duplex I live in. Tomorrow I'll enter the wilds once again, as my wife has roped me into the Duran Duran concert on Sunday....

Drake's Beach, Sept. 7, 2014

Young Elegant Terns & Ring-Billed Gull Resting at Drake's Beach

Coco Caught Two Hours Apart (Shade & Sun)

Latticed Stinkhorn Progress as of Sept. 2, 2022

Architecture-in-the-Fog

Chert Cliffs

Cypress Woodland

* * *

Clearing the Fog

 

Black Mountain with Clearing Fog

I'm pretty sure the last time I drove out to Pt. Reyes, there was no vineyard going right up to the fence along Lucas Valley Road at Skywalker Ranch. I was also surprised to see how lush and green the vineyard's leaves were. When I was ready to head home later on I hoped to find more surprises by taking Sir Francis Drake since I hadn't been that way in a long time either, but the harsh light in the redwoods along Lagunitas Creek, plus the vehicle traffic and road construction, put a damper on the anticipated magic. Had there been a little less hustle and bustle I'd like to have pulled over at the Farm Stand at Forest Knolls since that was the one new thing of interest I noticed along the route.

I'd initially been hoping to find some shorebirds to photograph, so my first stop of the morning was Drake's Beach. The fog was thick and the wind was blowing stiff and cold. I'd worn shorts, figuring I'd soon be enjoying the heat wave, but I'd at least had enough sense to bring a longjohn top, a windbreaker and a knit watch cap. 

I needed them all as I started walking east up the beach. There was no pool of water on the beach in front of the parking lot, and the rocky reefs were still covered with sand. I guess the new lagoon (so new it doesn't show up yet on the Google Maps satellite view) impounds all the fresh water draining from the hills. The shorebird action looked pretty sparse, so I let myself be drawn in by a few cheerful patches of purple sand verbena dancing in the wind. 

After snapping a few frames of the wildflowers I turned to the west and ambled over toward a mixed group of gulls, but there just wasn't enough interest in the scene to take any pictures. It was peaceful out there with small waves breaking on the nearly deserted beach, the bluffs rolling off into the fog-shrouded distance, and a wide expanse of Drake's Bay to ease the soul. It was a lovely morning for a walk (the bluffs blocked most of the wind), but I decided to leave and try for some photographic inspiration over at Abbott's Lagoon.

Even before I got out of my car at Abbott's Lagoon I caught sight of a small, dark critter bounding across the field off in the distance. I grabbed my binoculars, but I believe the critter ducked into a burrow (whose dirt mound I could see) before I could get a good look at it. What that critter was, I have no idea. It looked more like an otter than anything else I could think of, but it made no sense to see one so far from water. 

A car pulled into the spot next to me, and as the guy got out he said to his wife, "It doesn't look like the fog's going to burn off, does it?" "Nope." They went for a walk. I got out of the car and photographed a California quail on a lichen-crusted fence post, partly in the hope that I might spot a bobcat if I just kept my eyes peeled for a little while. The quail eventually peeled off his perch to join the rest of his gang gleaning seeds and clickety-clacking in the dry grass and brush at his feet, and that was my cue to peel off and check out Limantour Beach. I made a brief stop at White House Pool on the way, photographing Black Mountain as the morning's fog burned off.

Although it was sunny all the way out Limantour Road, the beach itself was still in fog, so I pulled over at the Limantour Estero vista point which, for a long time now, has not had a vista of Limantour Estero. The viewshed has been overtaken by forest. Nevertheless, hearing elk bugling in the distance made the stop worthwhile.

I parked at the east lot at Limantour and walked down to the beach. The same few gulls were massed off to the right and the left, at least until dog-walkers chased off the group on the right. The dog, Bruno, was an inquisitive and friendly, four-month-old, gangly-legged hound whose owner hoped it would be good for hunting turkey and deer. I watched a few pelicans fly by, as well as a tern or two, then decided to head back to the car and have a leisurely drive home.

Sand Verbena Meadow

Verbena Close-up

Quail on the Fence

View from Lagunitas Creek

View of Limantour Estero, Sort Of

Limantour Beach

Brown Pelican Fly-by

View Over Drake's Bay Toward Chimney Rock

Bluffs Southeast of Coast Camp

Doe and Fawn Emerging from Marsh

* * *

Latticed Stinkhorn

Latticed Stinkhorn (Clathrus ruber)

On a recent morning walk in which I had debated whether to even bring my smartphone, I was glad I had chosen to bring it when I spotted some Clathrus ruber growing in the landscaping along Sunset Boulevard near Kirkham Street (on the 36th Avenue side). As you can see from the photos below, this is a pretty large fruiting, with many "eggs" ready to unleash a lovely orange stink-basket of fungus. 

On subsequent days I returned on my e-bike to check out the progress. On the second day, the first basket had petered out, and I wondered if the whole thing would just dry up. But on the third day it looked like the fruiting was still on. I missed the fourth day because I was at Duxbury Reef, but returned this morning to find things coming along nicely. 

This morning was also the first time I'd actually seen flies enjoying the stink. I got an unpleasant whiff of the sewer-like odor myself when I took some close-up shots with my Nikon. It was definitely the kind of unpleasant smell only a fly could love, but thankfully it didn't carry very far. I couldn't smell it at all until I got right down there with it. Despite its olfactory hideousness, the fruitbodies have a really interesting color and texture. I'm curious to see if the fruiting continues this week as the weather turns warmer and drier (it was even sunny at the beach this morning), but I'm not sure I'll have time to check up on it again.

Progression of Fruiting

A Fly's Delight

Artsy Fartsy Fungus

Egg Basket

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Predatory Snails

 

Snails Sharing a Meal
(click images to view larger)

I couldn't tell what those two snails (dogwinkles?) were up to, even with my glasses on. I figured they were either mating or fighting. But as soon as I got the image up on my computer screen I could tell that the "weird appendages" I'd seen through my lens were not parts of the snails, but were actually crab legs. Earlier I'd watched a crab escape from my prying eyes by burying itself in pebbly sand. It seems a little amazing that a snail can catch a crab. Although it also seems amazing that even sea anemones catch crabs. I would  soon find one such kelp crab being devoured by anemones and possibly a turban snail, which is supposed to be an algae-eater.

With low tide arriving before sunrise over the weekend, and not being terribly low at that, I was unable to roust myself out of bed so early for the hourlong drive out to Duxbury Reef. I wasn't even sure it would be worth the drive this morning despite a post-sunrise low tide of +0.46. Although there wasn't a whole lot of reef to explore by the time I got there, I was reluctant to leave even when the reef had mostly returned to its underwater realm. If I'd been in Hawaii I'd probably have gone snorkeling. I didn't want to stop to exploring. 

Pair of Snails Feasting on a Crab

Limpet Covered with Tiny Animals
(the white things with black dots)

Close Crop of Limpet Shell

Hermit Crab Hanging Out

Deadly Elegance

Captured Kelp Crab

Camouflaged Kelp Crab Playing It Cool

Small Mossy Chiton

Another Strange Unknown Creature Similar to This One
(Note brown cylindrical waste pellets around it.)

Band-Tailed Pigeons Feeding on the Bluffs at Agate Beach

Wider View of the Group
(feeding on dirt?)

Very Shaky Video of the Band-Tailed Pigeons

On The Edge (Bolinas Ridge)

Fog Beams on the Edge of the Woods (Mt. Tam)

Silhouette With Cool Clouds Above Mt. Tam

* * *

Hodgepodge

 

I haven't been out shooting during the last week, instead working on a long-term project on Pt. Reyes that will be similar to the Mt. Tam book you can see on the sidebar. I figured I could get started creating some basic pages by picking out single images that are worth a page of their own. I mocked up the page above for now, but I'd like to replace the two starfish with nudibranchs eventually, assuming I can snag a couple of new species. 

I biked up to Mt. Tam today to check on the trail cam, only to see that the pool continues to attract very few visitors compared with other years. I think the pool is a bit more shallow this time, and the "beach" is a bit more steep, so it might not be as attractive to wildlife. But even band-tailed pigeons, which were so prevalent in the past, have been no-shows. The coolest animal to show up was a bat, but the trail cam images and video are not worth posting. A fox ambled past the cam and put his mark on it. I did not notice any peculiar smell when I checked up on it this afternoon. On another scatological note, I almost put my hand in a pile of raccoon poop shortly after whacking it on a stick and drawing just enough blood to attract the attention of very persistent little flies. The goldfinches that last week were all around the Rock Spring water tank were gone. The soundscape had returned to the realm of acorn woodpeckers.

It seemed like it was going to be a day of micro-climates, so I brought along a wind gauge and thermometer to put some numbers on my observations. It was 65 degrees in my living room just before I left at 9:15 a.m., and 63 degrees outside, with a mild 2-3 mph breeze. The fog was wet enough to dust my eyeglasses, and to make a pitter-patter sound on my nylon windbreaker as I rolled down the hill toward the Golden Gate Park entrance at 9th and Irving. Half way across the Golden Gate Bridge it was about 59 degrees with 6-10 mph wind. I'd have guessed the wind was stronger than that, so it was nice to get a measurement. I didn't get above the fog until just below Bootjack, and once I was in the sun the temperature quickly rose to 69, then up to 82 by the time I reached Rock Spring, and finally to a high of 96 in the sun. The wind had come up to 10-12 mph by the time I headed home, with gusts to 17 mph. Again, when I hit those gusts head-on, I'd have guessed they were stronger than that.

And just to earn my hodgepodge license, I'm including a couple of off-beat pix of doctoring a cheese pizza with vegetarian toppings, and a recent discovery of a mochi donut shop on Irving Street near Nomad Cyclery where I was having my ebike tuned up, with a new rear brake rotor, brake pads, chain and cassette, and new fat tires (old = 700x30; new = 700x50) which I thought I'd try out for comfort's sake. 

Riding home I passed the float planes near the freeway offramp and remembered when my wife got us a ride in one of them for my 40th birthday -- 24 years ago! Holy cow. I also photographed a clutch of greater yellowlegs from the bike path between Sausalito and the float planes. They were the first I'd seen along there. I'm still waiting for the return of the black-necked stilts that I often saw before I got the FZ-80.

Squirrel Comes In For A Drink

Steller's Jay Comes In For A Bath

Crime Scene On The Log Above The Water Hole

Get Those Numbers

Zucchini, Spinach, Sun-Dried Tomato, Onion, Garlic,
Bell Pepper, and Field Roast Veggie Burger

Cybelle's Cheese Pizza, Doctored

The Mochi Donut Shop

A Mochi Donut (delicious but $3.80!)

Can You Spot The Trail Cam?

Fox Marks His Territory

* * *

Wild Wednesday

 

Wild Skies on Wednesday

Scenes of crazy skies filled with clouds spilling sheets of rain were nice, as were the few occasional drops that landed on me, but best of all was hearing the boom of thunder as I stepped into the woods to check my trail camera. Not the kind of weather I would normally expect on a mid-August day, which made it a good day to bike up to Mt. Tam. I was prepared to deal with rain, but each time the skies darkened nearby I hoped I would be able to avoid getting soaked. My luck held, and I never felt more than a few drops.

There was a dense river of fog snaking through the Golden Gate, with storm clouds moving across the sky above it. It was such an unusual scene that I stopped at the visitor look-out on the north side to take it in and snap a photo with the FZ80. The rest of the ride was par for the course, although I stopped along Panoramic Highway to photograph a pair of panther amanitas growing beneath a pine in someone's front yard. I hadn't expected to see mushrooms in August either, but that spot probably gets a lot of fog drip. (Just this morning I found a puffball in my garden at home.)

There were quite a few California quail in the area around Rock Spring, and I was glad to see they'd also appeared on my trail camera (video below). I accidentally spooked them and raised a cacophony of excited quail chirping. Once that died down I noticed a constant high-pitched chirping of countless small birds too high in the trees to see. But on the way to the trail camera I saw them flying down to the Rock Spring water tank to drink from a small leak. After checking on the trail cam I returned to the tank to await their return. It was hot and muggy, and little flies harassed me as I tried to remain as still as possible. Finally, the birds returned to drink despite my presence. They were goldfinches, and there must have been dozens of them.

The Golden Gate Bridge Emerges From The Fog

Panther Amanita Mushrooms Along Panoramic Highway

Quail on the Lookout, With Ripening Acorns

Quail Flushed Into Cover

Goldfinches Drinking At Rock Spring Tank

Goldfinches & Honeybees

A Young Coyote With Big Ears Visits The Trail Camera

Mt. Tam Cam, August 2022

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