Battling Woodpeckers

Downy Woodpecker in Oak Tree Near Lily Pond

Three species of woodpecker seemed to be chasing each other through the trees around the Lily Pond this morning. There were downy, hairy, and Nuttall's, and it was hard to tell who was chasing whom. No one seemed able to feed in peace for very long before being chased into flight, or getting the irresistable urge to chase someone else into flight.

The morning started with a surprisingly brilliant sunrise, and my second surprise of the day was seeing a fox sparrow sing its song. I made a little recording of it that shows how much noise competition it faced. Ditto for a song sparrow later on. I'd never heard a fox sparrow's song before, and another interesting first for me this morning was hearing the song of a ruby-crowned kinglet. Unfortunately, it liked to sing while hopping around as madly as usual, so I never got a shot, much less a recording.

Down in Golden Gate Park's Fuchsia Dell, about a dozen squirrels were noisily chasing each other around and around the trunk of a redwood tree. 

I guess the spring-like weather is supposed to take a turn this weekend, and I'll be interested to see if the bird- and critter-action remains as dialed up as it has been the last few days. Hopefully it won't get too cold and wet for any newly hatched band-tailed pigeons in the Forest Hill nest. 

Big Sky, San Francisco

Sutro Tower & Twin Peaks

Nostalgic View of 1960s San Francisco Architecture

Quite a few of these old houses around the neighborhood have been sold and remodeled to look more modern. Others continue to be well-maintained by older folks who still have the money to keep them up. But elsewhere you'll see what I like to call the "ghost houses" that show their age to such a haunted-house degree that you wonder if anyone still lives there. (I don't say that to poke fun at anyone; these houses just show a remarkable contrast and are a good reminder that not every homeowner in San Francisco is wealthy.)

Singing Fox Sparrow, Windsor Terrace

The fox sparrow's song was soft and sweet, and not a great match against jet airplanes, passing cars, talking humans, or even white-crowned sparrows singing across the street.

This is probably the best patch of miner's lettuce I've seen yet.

Turkey Tails in the Oak Woodland

Ready to Launch if Necessary

Song Sparrow Between Songs

The song sparrow seemed to be waiting for a chance to be heard.

Hairy Woodpecker

Red-flowering Currant

Black Phoebe

Nuttall's Woodpecker

Downy Woodpecker

Nuttall's Woodpecker

Raven Collecting a Branch for its Nest

Bermuda Buttercups at Whiskey Hill

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Over The Bridge

 

American Avocet, Mill Valley

One of the funny things about being retired is knowing that you don't really have to do anything. You could just get up for breakfast and crawl back into bed after stuffing yourself with waffles smothered with butter and blueberries. But in nearly three years of retirement, I have yet to actually do that. I'm worried it would be habit-forming.

In lieu of waffles today, I decided to ride out over the bridge to check out the bird life along Richardson Bay, then continue on down to the beach at Tennessee Valley. The trip took about five hours as I stuffed myself with an all-natural smorgasbord of scenery and wildlife.

Wigeon in a Calm Pool Near High Tide

American Avocet Working on Its Breeding Plumage
(Both males and females have rust-colored breeding plumage.)

Several black-necked stilts were foraging in the salt grass.

Star Lily

Short Clip of Waves Washing Ashore

Feathering Beast

Making Sand

Making Sand II

There used to be hole-in-the-rock here.

Tennessee Cove Earth Portal Before Landslide, December 2007

Making Sand III

Edge of Tennessee Cove

Layers of Solidified Flows

Nature's Rock Tumbler

Erratic Chert
(If we have glacial erratics, can't we have ocean erratics?)

Obviously, I love watching the power of the ocean....

Spring Velvet

If Willets Could Talk

Snowy in the Salt Grass & Pickleweed
(There's an article about cultivating pickleweed and other salt-tolerant plants for food in the March 2025 Scientific American.)

The avocet had just raised its bill after a dip, and the surface tension of the water was still holding between the upper and lower parts.

American Avocet in a Moment of Reflection

Greater Yellowlegs

There were about a dozen of them foraging along Richardson bay.

The daring ones came pretty close despite my incandescent windbreaker.

Not tucking that foot all the way in, just in case....

Reflecting Killdeer

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Tree Swallows

 

Tree Swallow Sounding Off Inside The Bison Paddock

The tree swallows have been back at the Bison Paddock for a while now, but today they were really going crazy, perhaps juiced up on the warm, sunny weather. Whether there are just more of them, or they are getting closer to nesting, I don't know, but the activity level was way up from yesterday.

I'd like to thank whoever thought of putting the nest boxes close to the fence, where people can easily view the birds. The nest entrances are all facing south, which is great if you're on the south side of the paddock. However, I tend to skirt along the north side (which is actually sunnier in the morning this time of year due to shade cast on the southern edge), so the action right at the nest holes (and there was lots of it) was out of my view. 

Western bluebirds could often be seen perching on top of the nest boxes, but I couldn't tell if they were interested in using them for anything but a perch.

I was glad to see the band-tailed pigeon nesting site in Forest Hill was still occupied this morning. I hope to see hatchlings the next time I pass by. The view of the nest is opening up a bit, probably due to the comings and goings of the adults.

Tree Swallow Preparing for Flight

"Sunny" Allen (as opposed to "Shady" Allen at Mallard Lake) was in his usual spot on a pokeweed plant.

After nearly being knocked off his perch by a speeding tree swallow, Sunny Allen perched briefly on a fruiting branch.

Tree Swallow Near Nest Box

Who is that masked bird?

Short Clip of Vocalizing Tree Swallow

A little bit of rainbow in the spindrift today....

Surf Scoter in the Clear

Surf Scoter in the Suds

You-know-who is still you-know-where....

At Metson Lake, the great blue heron seemed content to groom despite a nearby snowy egret, but only until the snowy nabbed a fish. That drew the ire of the much larger GBH, who stalked toward the snowy until it fluttered away to a more distant hunting perch.

The snowy egret rested on the log for a moment before disappearing behind it to continue hunting for fish. Right about that time, several red-eared sliders emerged from the water to climb up on the log and sun themselves (but the light made it too harsh to photograph).

After vanquishing the little snowy egret, the GBH returned to its grooming and preening.

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