Burt & Sally

 

Burt & Sally, Blue Heron Lake

I was snapping shots of the blue heron nest when I took my eye away from the viewfinder and was surprised to see a raccoon walking past my feet. I immediately recognized them as the same youngsters I encountered a few Sundays ago, who I'm calling Burt and Sally (after Burt Reynolds and Sally Field in the movie Smokey and the Bandit).

Foxgloves at Garden for the Environment

Cole Valley

Not a Polecat, but a Colecat.

A couple of women walked past me here, and one said to the other, "I can't see what he's looking at," meaning me. The scene above is what I was looking at. Yellow flowers in the meadow below the giant solo eucalyptus at the head of Sharon Meadow, with the morning sun trying to break through the fog.

Bloom in Lily Lake
(But still no green heron.)

I saw, but was unable to photograph, an evening grosbeak in the Oak Woodland. It flew away just before I could snap the shutter. I saw no other interesting birds during the rest of my walk through the Oak Woodland, the Fuchsia Dell, and Lily Lake, and thought I was going to be skunked today, until I came across this pygmy nuthatch in an oak tree on Whiskey Hill.

The nuthatch nabbed a couple of small caterpillars.

I was watching a chestnut-backed chickadee when I noticed this downy woodpecker moving through the branches of a small oak in the background.

Downy Woodpecker, Whiskey Hill

Downy Woodpecker with Oak Leaves & Flowers

Cormorants, Pelicans, and Gulls at Seal Rocks

Looks like by-the-wind sailors are still blowing ashore.

Low Tide View Below The Cliff House
(The pelicans and cormorants were on the sea stack in the upper right.)

Snowy Egret in Wind-rippled Waters

Great Blue Heron at Metson Lake

Gopher at Metson lake

Great Blue Heron & Gopher at Metson Lake

Lucky for the gopher, a couple walking their dog chased off the heron.

The heron was chased by the resident red-winged blackbird as it circled back over Metson Lake.

Great Blue Heron at its Namesake Lake

Raccoon Staredown, Blue Heron Lake

Burt spent most of the time on land.

Sally spent more time in the water.

It's easy to tell Burt from Sally, but I have no idea of the actual gender of the two raccoons.

Canada Geese Keep An Eye Out

Both raccoons like to feel under rocks for submerged critters.

Burt crossed the road to check out this tree stump, then re-crossed back to join Sally at the lake.

I was glad to see there are still three juveniles in the nest. Last time I looked I only saw two. Again today, an adult dropped by to check in but didn't offer any food.

I was surprised when Burt stuck his paws into the gopher hole. That would have been something to see if he'd caught one.

Sally appeared to catch something a couple of times, but I couldn't make out what they were.

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Downy Woodpecker

 

Downy Woodpecker, Mallard Lake

The woodpecker above remained in that position for a few seconds, so still that I wondered if she had gone to sleep. In the image she has her eyes closed and her beak pressed against the branch. I can only wonder if she was trying to "hear" movement beneath the bark with the aid of her beak capturing minute vibrations.

I returned to Mallard Lake this morning in the hope of photographing the mama duck with her ten ducklings again, but saw no sign of them. A red-shouldered hawk hunted from perches on the lake's edge, making me wonder if it could snag a duckling off the water.

On the way home I stopped by Blue Heron Lake, where Mrs. Grebely was snoozing comfortably on her nest, her beak partially tucked under her wing. If there are any more little ones since yesterday, they had to be snuggled warmly beneath her. It was unusually chilly around here this morning.

A small group of cedar waxwings had paired off to play the berry-passing game on the edge of the lake.

The woodpecker worked its way up this skinny branch.

I hadn't realized the branch was dead until the bird reached the end of the line. Soon after it flew away I heard it drumming in a nearby tree.

Red-shouldered hawk in a lakeside maple tree.

This pied-billed grebe hangs out a lot at Mallard Lake, but I've never seen him with company. He does like to call out with an interesting song sometimes, evocative more of someplace wild than within a city. I tried to record it but there was too much truck traffic on the road. Unfortunately, because there's no way for motorists to make a left turn onto 19th Avenue from Lincoln Way, a lot of traffic cuts through Golden Gate Park instead.

At Blue Heron Lake, an adult flew in and landed above one of the nests, apparently just to check up on the young ones. I only noticed two juvenile herons in the nest, where there were three just a few days ago.

The youngsters were hoping it was lunchtime, but the adult only stayed for a minute before flying away.

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In the Tangle

 

Eastern Fox Squirrel on Fuchsia Vines, Golden Gate Heights

I probably wouldn't have posted anything today if I hadn't noticed that one of the pied-billed grebe chicks has hatched at Blue Heron Lake. At first glance, I thought I had lucked out: the mama was off the nest. Now I could get a better look at the number of eggs in it (there must have been at least six; now at least five), but then I spotted the little hatchling, the former resident of egg #6 (or more likely egg #1).

It's not getting any easier to see the nest through the tangle of branches, which is almost certainly a good thing. I try to mask my efforts to photograph the nest when people are walking past, and no one has even asked me what I'm looking at. Just another goofy photographer looking at a bug or a leaf or something boringly artsy.

Before heading out on my bike ride I looked out the back window to see if the bird bath needed a refill, and that's when I spotted the squirrel climbing around on my neighbor's lilly pilly tree and the tangle of fuchsia vines that have woven their way among its branches and pretty much everywhere else.

Squirrel on the Vine

Anna's hummingbirds often visit the fuchsia flowers.

I was surprised the first time I saw a squirrel eating the lilly pilly berries. It's kind of funny to watch them nibble away at a single berry, then scamper off to do something else. It's not like there's a shortage of berries when they're in season. The tree is native to Australia, and it makes its flowers during our winter. 

This little chickadee fluttered through the tree's dense branches before breaking into the open and quickly taking off.

As pretty as the berries are, I kind of hate the lilly pilly tree, to be honest. All those berries fall into our yard, and dozens of them sprout and have to be weeded out, one by one. That's why a squirrel eating one berry before moving on doesn't get me too excited.

Junior!

When mama returned to the nest, she didn't acknowledge the youngster in any way that I could discern. The hatchling worked its way around to mama's back and seemed to want to climb up there but couldn't quite get a grasp. I'm sure it's going to get more chaotic as more chicks hatch.

Video clip of the little hatchling trying to find a place to relax.

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