Coyote Sunset

 

Friday's Sunset from Grandview Park

As I biked over to Grandview Park to catch the sunset I noticed a red-shouldered hawk on its usual perch atop a nearby streetlight (I know I've put its photo on the blog before, but I can't find it). I was tempted to stop, but I didn't want to risk missing the sunset and continued on.

When I reached 14th Avenue, another critter presented itself -- a coyote! I guess I should get out more in the evening. The coyote scampered away from me when I stopped to photograph it, and for a while I figured it was long gone. Wrong! A few minutes later I spotted it trotting down the road next to Grandview Park and set out after it, finally catching up to it on the east-facing slope. I wondered if it was G-Dog, who I haven't seen in such a long time.

Oh yeah, and the sunset was kinda nice too.

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Cooper's Hawk

 

Juvenile Cooper's Hawk, National AIDS Memorial Grove

I'd just come through the Oak Woodlands with no especially interesting sightings and passed by Lily Lake with no sign of the green heron. Crossing the street, I figured Whiskey Hill would be my next chance to see something. But as I walked around the edge of the National AIDS Memorial Grove I heard the distinctive call of a cooper's hawk and decided to check it out.

The call was likely made by the juvenile in excited anticipation of getting a furry, warm mouse to eat from one of its parents.

Later on, there was some action in the great blue heron nesting trees in front of the boathouse. I arrived just in time to see one heron chase another one through the air. Later on I happened to be shooting some video (see below) when the two had some sort of ruckus in the tree.

Cooper's Hawk Feeding on a Redwood Branch

Even with my max setting of ISO 3200, I could only get a 1/60th sec. shutter speed in that dark woodland, so I popped the on-camera flash to hopefully get at least one sharp image.

The youngster flew down to the forest floor after polishing off its mouse, only to soon think better of being down there with a human present. It flew back up onto a very high redwood branch to wait for another meal to be delivered via air mail.

Two wandering tattlers were still hanging out below the Cliff House. Seals Rocks had a good number of pelicans and cormorants on it once again.

Video clips of the wandering tattlers showing a little of their tail-dipping.

There are three large youngsters in the nest in the background.

Great Blue Heron Nest Activity

I was surprised to see this nesting Canada Goose in such an open area. I also saw what I believe were three eggs in the pied-billed grebe nest today. The hen got back on top of them too soon to get a better look.

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Garden Variety

 

Pygmy Nuthatch, San Francisco Botanical Garden

Other than a handful of sparrows and juncos, I hardly saw any birds as I made my way through the SFBG this morning until I reached the Succulent Garden and, farther back, the Children's Garden. Not that there were lots of birds anywhere, but it was fun to encounter a pair of Wilson's warblers, one of whom sang while the other responded with simple chit calls, and a pair of pygmy nuthatches, one of which foraged and kept a lookout while the other excavated a nest cavity.

There were lots of familiar flowers, though (including one that looks like a toy accidentally dropped on the ground by a child), and I wouldn't have been too disappointed if I hadn't encountered any interesting birds at all.  

Nothing brightens up the somber, fog-shrouded early morning light like a colorful bloom of azaleas.

Iris On A Pond's Edge

Some of the camas in the California Garden was just about done already, but some other nearby plants were still blooming nicely.

Things are always changing in the California Garden, and I don't recall ever seeing this color of iris there before.

Flannel Bush

Bleeding Heart in the Redwood Grove

Phacelia Among Wild Radish

Several bumblebees were working a patch of sage near the Succulent Garden.

I couldn't tell if she was trying to collect spider webs or what down there, and she nervously flew away before she filled her beak.

This hummer's coloration is so drab, I wondered whether it was an immature bird, recently fledged.

Lupine Flying Solo

Aquatic plants in the frog pond (still no frogs out yet).

Singing Wilson's Warbler

Clips of singing Wilson's warbler and pal. The one who sang flew away before I could record it in action, but you can hear it singing in the background while its pal hogs the camera.

This pygmy nuthatch was busy flitting around some pine logs and trees while its partner excavated a nest hole nearby.

Nuthatch Keeps A Lookout

Pygmy Nuthatch Excavating A Nest Cavity

Clips of the excavation work.

Allen's Hummingbird in Succulent Garden

Occasionally it would chase off an interloper, then quickly return to its perch.

Monkey Hands
(Chiranthodendron pentadactylon)
(It's in the mallow family, but this native of Guatemala and southern Mexico looks nothing like our typical California mallows!)

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Lesser Goldfinch

 

Lesser Goldfinch on its Singing Branch

Another red-tailed hawk made a swooping play for a pair of squirrels high in a cypress tree at Golden Gate Heights Park this morning, just as I was passing through. I'd love to have gotten a photo of the striking moment when the hawk flaired its wings and tail feathers as it overshot its mark. You could almost hear the screaching sound of brakes as in an old Roadrunner cartoon. 

One of the squirrels ran down the tree while the other ran up. Only the one that ran down began its alarm call when the hawk found a perch on some lower branches. I wondered if the other one, still high in the tree, preferred not to give away its location. In any event, the hawk soon realized that, without the advantage of surprise, the squirrels would be far too nimble to catch.

It was another windy and overcast day here on the city's west side, and Seal Rocks looked especially forlorn with very few birds resting on them. Even the ever-present cormorants were in short supply. I was glad to at least see a few wandering tattlers on the rocks below the Cliff House. They're so well-camouflaged from above that I might have missed them if one hadn't been bobbing its tail.

On the way home through the park I braked for a pair of lesser goldfinches and got lucky with an unusually bold one who tolerated my presence while swirling out its song from some brush along the side of the road.

Black-crowned Night Heron Resting in a Willow at North Lake

While at North Lake I stopped beneath a eucalyptus tree that was singing with numerous cedar waxwings. They were too high up to photograph, and didn't appear to be feeding on any nearby berries that would have brought them lower. I snapped a shot of this Allen's hummingbird who was more accommodating.

A few pelicans glided over the guano-covered sea stacks but continued flying south, leaving Seal Rocks about as bare of birds as I've seen it. 

A couple days later (4/25/25)

Wandering Tattler

I'm interested whenever a local birder posts a sighting here at the Cliff House on the same day I was there. On a recent day where I saw a dozen or so surfbirds but no tattlers, someone else reported tattlers but no surfbirds. At another time of day I suspect there might have been black oystercatchers and black turnstones on the rocks, but no tattlers or surfbirds.

Lesser Goldfinch

In this short clip of a lesser goldfinch singing from its perch, I set the audio to 150%, but the song is still faint behind the wind noise.

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Coyote on the Parkway

 

Coyote's Close-up, Sunset Parkway

I was glad to put the cold wind at my back when I turned north on the Sunset Parkway this morning. In yesterday's warm sunshine I shot almost everything at ISO 80-100, whereas virtually of today's fog-shrouded shots were ISO 650 and up. The coyote portrait above was shot at ISO 1000.

I hadn't gone far when I spotted the anomaly about a block away, heading my way. Even at a glance it registered as a coyote, not a dog. I couldn't believe my luck as it made its way toward me instead of running away. It diverted off the sidewalk at one point to stalk something in the grass but never made a pounce. My luck continued when the coyote stopped right in front of me to eat something ... that only dogs eat. And dung beetles.

Or so I thought. Apparently coprophagia isn't all that uncommon.

After the coyote loped off, heading back the way I'd come, I continued toward the park, where I found another hunter -- an urban bobcat! Okay, I can dream, can't I? 

I'm sure the apparently feral, uncollared, black cat would have run away from me, but he had zeroed in on something in the grass, probably a mouse. He looked back at me and resisted the temptation to run, then turned back toward the grass and almost immediately pounced, then carried his prey into dense cover.

I used to see feral cats in Golden Gate Park quite often before coyotes were a thing, but today's was the first I've seen there in a long time. I was also surprised this morning to encounter an orange feral cat in my neighborhood, another rare sighting. It stared at me without moving, but ran away as soon as I called out to it.

The 1200mm View

A hopeful stalk that didn't pan out.

Strolling Down the Parkway

Cautiously Skirting the Human

It looks like he's snarling, but he's just chewing his food.

Coyote Num-Nums

Coyote keeps his nose clean.

The coyote made short work of the windfall, then continued heading south.

The traffic light was just changing on Sunset Boulevard, so the cars in the background on Moraga Street were about to start moving. I was glad when the coyote crossed 36th Avenue to head east instead of continuing south across the traffic on Moraga. I was tempted to follow, but I figured it would either immediately lose me by going into the residential back yards, or let me tag along and take me far out of my way.

Black Cat on the Prowl

You can just make out that the cat has caught something with gray fur.

Bumblebee on Flannel Bush Flower

Chilean Rhubarb at Mallard Lake

Singing Yellow-rumped Warbler

Bathing Allen's Hummingbird

Latticed Stinkhorn

Chestnut-backed Chickadee With Grass Seed

I was surprised when some red-winged blackbirds flew out of the cattails and sailed across Elk Glen Lake to land near my feet and hunt for seeds.

It looks like these really are Chinese houses wildflowers, not toadflax. There was also some native phacelia doing well nearby, as well as some elegant clarkia that was in pretty bad shape. Strange but cool to see wildflowers in the park (that aren't California poppies, that is).

I hit the brakes on my bike when this red-shouldered hawk flew into a nearby tree near the Polo Field. Here, it hunkered down as it appeared to zero in on potential prey.

Nothing came of it though.

The snowy egret is just relaxing, but the two turtles are keeping their eyes peeled just in case.

My wife tipped me off that Kilauea is going off today.

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