Kingfisher, Take 2

 

Kingsley the Kingfisher

It was interesting to see as I walked through The Haight this morning that a couple of street people, an older man and woman, were back in the same spot after moving elsewhere for the summer. A little farther on, a favored stoop for other wanderers had been taken up by a new person, with a new dog, and I wondered if maybe he's just passing through after Burning Man. Another regular, who often has a sign saying "Broke & Ugly, Please Help," had new strings on his acoustic guitar and apparently didn't have any way to trim the long, dangling ends where they wrap around the tuners. I'll try to remember to remedy that for him when I pass by that way again next week.

I hadn't really expected the kingfisher to be in residence again this morning, but I quietly crept up for a look, and sure enough, there he was, Kingsley the Kingfisher. I parked my bike and removed my bright windbreaker, then managed to poke my lens through a hole in some brush so as not to spook him. 

Eventually I tried to get a clear view, but Kingsley beat wings and found another perch. He really kept me pinned down behind the cattails. If I showed myself even one inch past them, poof, he was out of there.

Angel's Trumpet, Garden for the Environment

A beautiful dahlia from the same garden.

I hadn't seen the red-tailed hawks hanging out on the Murphy Windmill in ages.  I'd wondered if the two hawks had dispersed to more gopher-laden pastures. For a while there, around the time of the Outside Lands Festival, the blades were actually moving, making it an unlikely landing spot.

Some bushtits caught my attention while I was hiding behind the cattails to wait for the kingfisher's return to its perch.

These two Canada geese were a little disturbed by the guy hiding next to the cattails on the end of the lake, and a minute or so after posing for this shot, they took wing, heading west.

At first glance I thought these tiny damselflies were just bits of floating cattail fluff. They were so ephemeral and seemed to drift on the breeze. Although some were tan-colored I finally noticed the blue in some of them and realized what they were.

Kingsley on His Perch

Kingsley Returns After Catching A Fish

It looked as if he might have just swallowed a fish before landing. He shook off some water and made some bodily adjustments before settling back down.

Handsome Bird

* * *

Nuthatch Country

 

Pygmy Nuthatch & Redflower Gum, Strybing Arboretum

The redflower gum tree just past the entrance kiosk was busy with birdlife when I arrived around 9:30 this morning. I'd never seen nuthatches working eucalyptus  flowers before. There were also yellow warblers and downy woodpeckers enjoying the brightly colored bounty.

Heading toward the California Garden I stopped near the small lily pond when I heard splashing in the water. I half-expected to see a raccoon pass by, but the culprit soon emerged -- a red-shouldered hawk that had been having a bath.

Nuthatch In Profile

Nuthatch Stretch

Yellow Warbler

Yellow Warbler in Profile

Downy Woodpecker Feeding on Gum Flowers

Downy About to Fly Away

California Towhee

Song Sparrow

Dark-eyed Junco

Freshly Bathed Red Shouldered Hawk

The hawk flew into some tree branches to preen...

...and had to keep moving to lose a pesky photographer.

The monarch butterfly was tantalizingly close to a patch of milkweed plants in the California Garden. I searched the plants for caterpillars as I always do, and as always I didn't find any.

Numerous hummingbirds were probably the most vocal and active birds in the whole garden. All I saw were Anna's.

Black Phoebe in Shade

Black Phoebe in Sunshine

Western Flycatcher

Chestnut-backed Chickadee

Dark-eyed Junco

Now that I'm reminded of scrub jays, I take back what I said about the hummers being the most vocal. Let's call it a tie.

* * *

Kingfisher & Coyote

 

Coyote in Hellman Hollow, Golden Gate Park

I thought I was going to be skunked today after looking in vain for interesting bird action in spots from North Lake to Land's End, but on the way home I encountered a kingfisher and, soon after, a coyote. 

I've been hearing a kingfisher's chattering for the last couple of weeks as I've biked through the park, but I haven't stopped to try to find it since kingfishers tend to be skittish about being watched. I've figured it would be unlikely that I could find and photograph one without investing more time than I was willing to commit to.

Today, as I was slowing down to check out Metson Lake, which hasn't shown any sign of bird life since before the Outside Lands Festival closure, I spotted a kingfisher perched on the tip of a branch. I stopped the bike and got my camera out without even daring to look toward the bird, but when I got the lens cap off and the camera turned on I saw that he'd already flown to another branch. I snapped a long shot, and he immediately took off again, but he circled over the lake and ended up landing much closer to me. I quickly grabbed a shot through some cattail leaves, and that one shot was all I got. This time the kingfisher took off for good, heading west toward Chain of Lakes. 

I was getting hungry anyway and looked forward to getting home to fix lunch, but I soon began to hear the yipping of a coyote. From a distance it sounded like one or two dogs straining at their leashes and yipping, either in distress or excitement, but as I went to investigate, the sound's coyote nature became clear. Lunch could wait.

While I was out at Lands End, I was surprised to see how much change there is from day to day in the number of birds that gather on Seal Rocks, with today's numbers being relatively sparse. Even the gulls were gone from around Sutro Baths, and there wasn't a surf scoter in sight.

Quite a few people were checking out the scene of the deadly car crash that happened at the Cliff House late yesterday afternoon, several hours after I'd been there. While I was there today, a fire truck pulled up and even all the firefighters wanted to check out the scene, as did a couple of U.S. Park Police officers. Everyone remarked on the incredible trajectory taken by the out-of-control vehicle. Apparently, the speeding car hit a parked Tesla at an angle and sent it flying up the curb, across the sidewalk, through the fence, and over the edge, while launching itself into its fatal flight.

Wall of Bougainvillea

Scene of Fatal Crash at Cliff House

Kingfisher at Metson Lake

Coyote in the Grass
(I first saw the coyote from Middle Drive, then turned around and rode back to the Polo Fields to pick up the path that skirts Hellman Hollow -- where Hardly Strictly Bluegrass will take place next month -- so I could get closer.)

Yawn

Snooze

Okay, not really snoozing.

The coyote got up and headed for the woods when a woman walked toward him, apparently curious to see how close she could get.

After the woman turned around and went back the way she came, the coyote returned to its favorite spot in the middle of the meadow.

* * *

Among the Cones

 

Western Bluebird, Sunset Boulevard Greenbelt

One nice thing about bluebirds is there aren't 29 different species of them throughout the state, as there are with sparrows. 

The other day I was scrolling through Flickr images and came across Eric Zhou's shot of a brewer's sparrow, which he was able to add to his life list. I thought of his shot again today as I was walking along the Sunset Boulevard greenbelt hoping to find some migrating birds to photograph, but having to settle for the usual suspects. 

Among those were numerous little brown birds, most of which were probably house finches (judging by the males flashing red), whose camouflage is often so good that I don't see them until they're flying away from below my feet. I'm impressed by anyone who can spot, say, a brewer's sparrow, among such a group.

One interesting tidbit I learned today is that dark-eyed juncos are sparrows.

Okay, I'm pretty sure these are two little brown birds.... I would guess they are sparrows but would not be surprised if they are finches, or even one of each!

A couple of pygmy nuthatches were probing for pine nuts among the cones and leaf litter. This little fellow pulled a nut from a cone but flew into a nearby tree to eat it before I could get my lens on him.

If you look closely, you can actually see the horizon. Quite a change from our recent foggy days. This is the northernmost of the seal rocks, and it had the lion's share of bird life. Most of the sea lions seem to have moved on. There were none on the rocks today, and I've only seen one or two out there the last few days. I finally saw a few pelicans diving on prey today, but just a few individuals at wide intervals.

* * *

Old El Polin Spring

 

Allen's Hummingbird Bathing at El Polin Spring

As I mentioned yesterday, I'm posting a few bird shots taken at El Polin Spring in mid-June 2008. Back then, a western flycatcher was still called a pacific slope flycatcher (the two species were lumped together only last year). Also back then, I was shooting with a Nikon D200, but using the same 300/4 lens and 1.7X teleconverter that I still use with the D800E. You'd be hard-pressed to get a clear shot of a bird in the spring at this time due to plant growth in front of the spring's outlet. 

I didn't photograph any birds today, but I did watch a red-shouldered hawk that was perched above a foraging fox squirrel, wondering if the hawk would make a move. But it eventually flew to another nearby tree. Closer to home I watched a flock of wild parrots chase off a turkey vulture as if it were a hawk.

Resting in the Flow

Adult Goldfinch Feeding its Chick

Pooped Pygmy

Wilson's Warbler

Western Flycatcher

Pine Siskin

Pygmy Nuthatch

Lovey Dovies

Sparrow Feeding its Cowbird Chick

Western Flycatcher

Western Wood-Pewee

* * *