Sunny Allen

Allen's Hummingbird Inside Bison Paddock

It was kind of a hazy and chilly morning, but even as gauzy clouds built up in the sky, I found it hard to believe the forecast of rain was going to come true, much as I wished it would. If it does come, it'll likely be the last we see for a while.

Sunny Allen, as I call the Allen's hummingbird at the Bison Paddock (Shady Allen is at Mallard Lake), might finally have some competition for his territory. Until today I hadn't noticed him going after interlopers. About the only things that used to get him off his perch were hunger and being buzzed by a speeding tree swallow.

Today's big surprise was seeing all the by-the-wind sailors washed up on the beach below the Cliff House. The Natural History of Bodega Head recently posted about masses of them washed up on the beach at Salmon Creek, but I didn't notice any here until today (although I didn't check yesterday). There's a long, sinuous wrack line of the poor things running south from below the Cliff House, and more masses of them on the little bit of sandy beach next to Sutro Baths.

A fig tree that I pass on my West Portal walk was still bare last week but is now sprouting new leaves -- and, somehow, a fig.

For a while it looked like the band-tailed pigeon nest was going to become increasingly exposed as the nesting birds broke their concealing twigs with their comings and goings, but now that more leaves are coming in, the nest opening (and the pigeon's eye) is actually getting harder to spot.

Camellia blossoms fallen from the tree.

Sunny Allen Flexing His Hair

I like the hummer's wistful look, knowing that he is probably laser-focused on something that would probably be long gone by the time I could turn my head and look.

Tree Swallow Through The Fence

I thought the swallow would fly away for sure when I walked right up to the fence to point my lens through it, but it didn't seem bothered in the least.

More Flexing of Head Feathers

Sitting Pretty

Video clips of the hummer and swallow as they take in their surroundings. In case you're wondering about some of the background sounds, there is a dog park nearby....

Bison in the Paddock

Seaside Daisy at Cliff House

Sea Thrift Near Cliff House

I finally decided to try riding my bike down to Sutro Baths, taking the path next to the old Louis' Restaurant. I was glad I got off and walked the bike down the last little steep section where there's a blind curve that runs into a good place to end up flying over your handlebars.

Those are all by-the-wind sailors (Velella velella) puddled in the nooks and crannies below Sutro Baths.

Looking like shards of glass, the sails are made of a chitinous material similar to what's found on the exoskeletons of insects and crustaceans.

Velella Tidepool I

Velella Tidepool II

Velella Tidepool III

Long-dried Velella with Driftwood

Velella View with Sutro Rock

I was surprised to see this new-to-me shorebird probing for num-nums very close to me.

Even when a wave pushed it to skedaddle up the beach and much closer to me, it simply resumed its business as if I wasn't there.

My first thought when I viewed the photos at home was that it was a greater yellowlegs (with not-very-yellow legs), but the Merlin app identified it as a short-billed dowitcher.

California Gull Eating By-the-Wind Sailors
(Those dark spots in the water are more Velella.)

Gulls like to call them sea-popcorn....

Bob-bob-bobbing Along

A song sparrow struts its stuff at Sutro Baths. Note the bit of green algae stuck to its beak. It probably comes all the way down to the shore only at low tide, when lots of seaweed is exposed on the rocks.

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Lake Dwellers

 

Song Sparrow at Mallard Lake

One of the reasons I look forward to my weekly walk past Mallard Lake is the semi-wild ambiance of the place. Cattails and ducks, raccoon tracks in the mud, impenetrable foliage just off the trail, a little creek that birds like to bathe in. And if you skirt along its south side, the automobiles (almost all of which is thru-traffic heading up to 19th Ave./Crossover Drive) is on the other side of the lake. 

The bonus today was an encounter with cedar waxwings, which I thought had left the area already. They were darting into a tall Cotoneaster with very few (and fairly old) berries left on its branches. I was surprised they couldn't have found a better prize, but then again, maybe there's something about older berries that makes for a special treat.

Another bonus was seeing a very yellow, deliciously viscid, San Francisco banana slug. It had just about reached the base of a big pine tree, and I wondered how high up it had been. It curled up near the bottom and seemed to fall asleep.

Yet another bonus was catching a Pacific wren in the open. Instead of tweeting its usual territorial/mating song, it was belting out staccato bursts of chatter -- probably a warning to its kin that a human being was in the area.

As I walked past the back room of our flat toward sunset I noticed some interesting light coming through the windows, so I stepped in for a better look. At first there was just a mass of dark gray clouds behind a very well-lit Mt. Sutro, but then a rainbow began to form.

Whatever rainfall contributed to the rainbow must have come in at an angle, because we didn't get a drop. The bow was so huge I couldn't fit it all into the frame at even the camera's widest angle of 20mm.

This morning I finally stopped to see the neighborhood mourning dove on her nest. This opening is right next to the hand-rail on the front steps, and I can only wonder if the resident humans ever notice her. Some people go in and out through their garage almost exclusively, so there might not be much traffic on the steps. I snapped a single photo, then left her alone.

House Finch on a Red Tiled Roof

House sparrows often nest in the tile cavities in some neighborhoods, but I haven't noticed much of that around here.

This song sparrow emerged from nearby cattails to dip into the waters at Mallard Lake. I couldn't tell if it was getting a drink, or snagging tiny flotsam such as seeds or pollen. 

Song Sparrow and its Reflection

I'm pretty sure I've seen banana slugs in Golden Gate Park before, but I can't remember when. Almost certainly more times than I've seen western fence lizards (once, last May).

This Anna's hummingbird was having a post-bathing preening session above the little creek.

The Pacific wren was in the shadow of a tree about the same color as its own feathers, so I popped up the built-in flash and crossed my fingers.

It eventually calmed down and ceased its high-speed chatter, reducing to a series of double-cheeps at short intervals, then finally stopping altogether when it began to hear double-cheeps in response from another nearby wren.

Video of the Pacific Wren Chattering, Then Listening

Cedar Waxwing & Cotoneaster

A pair of hermit thrushes were chasing each other around and came to an abrupt stop in some nearby branches, where I couldn't resist tearing myself away from the waxwings for a moment.

I think this was the one being chased, but I can't tell male from female. I've been wondering why, with so many hermit thrushes in the city, I never hear one whistling its beautiful mating song. And if it's because they don't mate in the city, what is all the chasing about?

Cedar Waxwing with Berries

A tiny Townsend's warbler pauses briefly on a branch before leaping down to the stream for a quick splash.

Nearby, a somewhat bedraggled yellow-rumped warbler does likewise.

A few pygmy nuthatches were visiting the lower branches of this cypress, but they were moving fast and mostly keeping out of sight. Maybe they don't mellow out around humans until summer and fall.

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Ruddy Duck

Male Ruddy Duck, Blue Heron Lake

I photographed a very mottled ruddy duck back in late October and mid-November, and I wonder if the duck here now is the same individual. There were a male and femal pair back then, same as now, but now the male is in its breeding plumage.

I saw the duck on Blue Heron Lake when I was walking around it yesterday, but the duck was snoozing out in the middle of the lake -- too far away to get much of a photo. Both the male and female had drifted much closer to shore today, but that was only half of what I needed. Apparently, ruddy ducks do most of their feeding at night and like to sleep during the day. 

I watched the ducks for quite a while and almost gave up waiting for the male to show his colorful robin's-egg-blue beak. In fact, I had gone back to my bike to leave when he suddenly began to preen his feathers. The preening lasted for maybe ten minutes, after which the beak was tucked right back into its wing feathers and out of sight.

I made it home from my walk without getting rained on, but held off on the bike ride until this squall could pass by. Nevertheless, I did take a short ride out to Grandview Park to see if any rainbows would develop, but only this very pale critter showed up. I rode back home to wait out the rain and was disappointed to get a relatively light sprinkle while watching the radar indicate that a possible thunderhead was passing well south of my location.

Snoozing Ruddies

While I was watching the ruddy ducks, this little ruby-crowned kinglet popped up to forage in a bush right next to me.

The ruddy duck finally showed his distinctive beak when he untucked it to preen his feathers.

Grooming Ruddy Duck

I kept my camera on him in the hope that he would rise up and flap his wings as ducks often do when they're done preening, but this guy refused to cooperate.

A short rear-window timelapse from early this afternoon.

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Garden Walk

 

Winging It

The streets were wet as I walked down the hill to catch the 44-O'Shaughnessy bus to Glen Canyon Park this morning. The wind was up, blowing massive dark clouds across the sky. Maybe not the best day to hike over Twin Peaks from Glen Canyon to Cole Valley. Although it's a hike I've been planning to repeat for a while, I decided to wait for better weather, so I passed the bus stop and kept going down the hill to visit the S.F. Botanical Garden and Blue Heron Lake.

I saw a couple of crows in my neighbor's oak tree, then spotted this guy clinging to the topmost branches. It was biting something off the tree and eating it. Maybe leaf buds?

The parakeets often dribble a fair amount of their food, but this guy seemed to be using his feet to to keep more of it inside his mouth.

Invitation to Bees

There were so many bees on this plum tree that I wondered if the hive was nearby.

The SFBG is dominated by Anna's hummingbirds year-round, but this visiting Allen's hummingbird still found room to squeeze in.

The plant is aptly named Hummingbird Sage.

An Anna's hummingbird hits the red-flowering currant.

The pitcher's plant vines draped all over the currant and other nearby plants are still flowering like crazy (as are the ones in my yard).

Giant Coreopsis in the California Garden

A few hooded mergansers (and northern shovelers) are still around at Blue Heron Lake.

Smiling Slider

This honeybee has a good-sized pillow of pollen on its legs, collecting here from a South African species of rock rose.

I missed seeing the tulips when I entered the garden, and I couldn't resist snapping a photo when I saw them on the way out.

I'm still sort of addicted to watching the eagles and grabbed this screenshot as papa flew in with a fresh fish yesterday morning.

Unfortunately, it had only two chicks to feed. The late-bloomer wasn't able to get enough share of the food to make it.

After feeding, papa took over the chick-warming duties for a while.

When I checked the cams this morning, the two chicks were all alone at the nest. I was surprised they could take the cold for so long (over half an hour). Later in the day I caught both eagles at the nest.

This Mt. Shasta view is another of my favorite web cams to check, but it was down for several days recently. The view also tends to be so foggy and/or cloudy that you can't see anything anyway.

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