Kohuhu on Sunset

 

Anna's Hummingbird Nest in Kohuhu Tree, Sunset Parkway

As I was walking along the Sunset Parkway toward Golden Gate Park I noticed some kohuhu bushes that were growing on their own, rather than being mingled with my neighbor's red trumpet vine. I took some pictures, then continued my walk, only to discover one more kohuhu or related Pittosporum sp., and each one a little bigger than the last, until I came to an actual kohuhu tree.

The tree was being visited by a Townsend's warbler, a singing ruby-crowned kinglet, some house finches, and a few bumblebees. In addition to the visitors, there was a resident Anna's hummingbird with two large offspring in her nest. 

The Townie appeared to be feeding on the flowers' nectar and/or pollen. I tend to think of Townies as insectivores, so that was new to me. The finches appeared to be eating the small flowers whole.

As I continued my walk I noticed kohuhu bushes on pretty much every block. Given the many times I've passed by them without giving them a thought, it was interesting to suddenly "see" this plant just a day after learning what it's called. The local birds and insects certainly knew all about it, although the smaller bushes didn't seem nearly as attractive to them as the tree.

Shortly after I headed up the trail in Golden Gate Park I spotted an odd object in the grass a ways off the trail and was able to identify it only after I zoomed in with my camera. It was a dead animal for sure, but I couldn't tell it was a raccoon until I walked over to it. The grass around the carcass had been pressed down, no doubt during its struggle for survival with what I would guess to be a coyote (and would hope not to be an off-leash dog). I was surprised by the amount of decomposition, given that the kill must have occurred since I passed by last week.

Kohuhu growing all by itself.

Townsend's Warbler in Kohuhu Tree

Mama Visits the Nest

Baby hummers probably gave sword-swallowers the idea that it could be done.

The finches appeared to be using their heavy seed-eating beaks to pull off a whole blossom to consume at once.

I'm always glad to see flowers that our native bumblebees can take advantage of.

Townie Probes a Kohuhu Blossom

Townie with Pollen on Its Beak Prepares to Reach for a Taste

Raccoon Carcass & Area of Struggle

The carcass is no more than a week old.

Someone (probably a gardener) set up this little tripod of sticks to make a lost pair of eyeglasses a little easier to find.

Fish Convention at Mallard Lake

Allen's Hummingbird at Mallard Lake

When the hummer went to bathe in a relatively dark nook, I tried out the FZ80D's built-in flash. I wasn't sure what the sync speed was, so I tried 1/100th sec. here...

...and 1/250th here. Turns out the FZ80D can sync at 1/250th sec., which is slightly better than the FZ80's 1/200th.

A few days ago I spotted a mourning dove as it ducked into the very small crown of a tree in someone's front yard on Ortega Street. I took a picture today from the sidewalk, even though the view looks more open on the other side. To view it from the other side I would have to walk up the entrance stairs right under the residents' window, and I don't want to risk tipping them off about the nest just yet.

This California towhee was hanging out beneath a tree swallow nest box in the Bison Paddock. The swallows might have settled who gets the rights to what box, as they have not been especially active around them lately.

The Murphy Twins atop The Murphy Windmill in Golden Gate Park

Just before there was enough light to get a color image from the trail cam this morning, the eagle rested over its chicks, covered in new snow.

About 15 minutes later, it was wakey-wakey, time to feed the chicks.

I checked the cam again just before posting, and mama was feeding the three chicks while papa fed himself. A couple of minutes later, mama settled back over the chicks and papa flew away. Although the big storm is set to arrive in the Bay Area tonight and tomorrow, it looks like Thursday is the big day for Big Bear. I can't even imagine being exposed to the kind of harsh weather they just take in stride, day after day.

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Kohuhu

 

Pittosporum tenuifolium

I noticed a sweet smell as I walked past a neighbor's privacy screen of mostly red trumpet vine yesterday morning. A few of its large flowers were in bloom, so I sniffed some but didn't really notice much of a scent. 

It happened again this morning. Same sweet smell. But this time I noticed another plant intertwined with the trumpet vine, and it had very small maroon flowers. A sniff of these new flowers didn't yield as much scent as yesterday, but enough to confirm that it was the plant of interest. By the time I returned from my walk about 90 minutes later, the scent was completely absent.

I ran a phone snap of these mystery flowers through Plant Net and came up with its name, kohuhu (Pittosporum tenuifolium), a New Zealand native. I also set it up for a macro shot (posted above) with the Nikon D800E. The plant emits its scent at night, which is why its fragrance lingered in the early morning but dissipated later on.

When I cut a piece to bring home to photograph I had to unwrap it from all the tendrils twined around its branches. I thought the plant itself was a vine, but it turns out the tendrils belonged to the red trumpet vine which is using the kohuhu as a brace for its own climbing.

Kohuhu Branch With Flowers

These Adirondack chairs get around, which appears to be the point. Part of the Golden Mile Project, 100 of them were set out to be used. Unfortunately, this chair's seat has been vandalized, with a slat broken out of it (and possibly burned, as there was fire debris nearby).

Ocean Beach Breakwater Near Noriega Street

Beach Ravens
(They were gathered beak-to-beak before they noticed me and broke up their little plot, like a raven version of a Gary Larson moment.)

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Golden-crowned Kinglet

 

Golden-crowned Kinglet, S.F. Botanical Garden

I knew this was a new species for me as soon as I saw the bird through the viewfinder, but it took a few beats to realize not only what it was, but that it was a bird I've been waiting to see for weeks. I've seen them on Flickr and read email reports about them, but a golden-crowned kinglet finally showed up in my own neck of the woods. I think there were two, in fact.

That was definitely the highlight of my morning, but back in the Children's Garden I was excited to find a fresh coyote scat right in the middle of the paved path down by the pond. No sighting of the coyote though. Still no red-legged frogs in the pond, but a pair of mallards was resting in the sun on the wooden walkway. 

Elsewhere in the Garden, the Pacific wren nest looked pretty much done, but there was no bird activity on or around it. I had a brief sighting of a pipevine swallowtail nectaring on the red-flowering currant that is draped with pipevine plants (which are still in flower) on the edge of the California Garden.

From the Garden I biked over to the spot in the Oak Woodlands where I saw so many birds on Friday, and there was almost no activity at all. Not even a junco. But I did see Mr. Green at the Lily Pond -- my first sighting of the green heron in quite a while.

Lesser Goldfinch on California Lilac

The goldfinch flew off the Ceanothus bush a second after I snapped the picture, then began feeding on seeds dispersed on the path.

Dewy Spurge

The golden-crowned kinglets were foraging on the tall fir on the edge of the Redwood Grove.

The feeding was fast-paced, and I cursed to myself many times at all the shots I saw in the viewfinder but missed on the snap.

Like ruby-crowned kinglets, the golden-crowns weren't terribly shy, but they didn't exactly pose at their leisure either.

Here's a typical missed shot where, through the viewfinder, I saw the bird in full profile with a beautiful catchlight in its eye, but ended up with this on the snap.

The golden-crowns eventually got too high in the tree, so I moved on, enjoying some of the new growth, like these slim solomons, in the Redwood Grove.

Redwood Sorrel

Ruby-crowned Kinglet in the Aloe Patch

California Towhee on Coyote Brush

California Towhee Showing Its Long Tail Feathers

Pipevine Swallowtail Fluttering Among the Red-flowering Currant Blossoms

There was some gorgeous birdsong down by the pond in the Children's Garden, and it took me a second to realize it was a robin. It even stuck little hermit-thrush-like trills on the ends of its runs. This one was splashing in the bath behind the Garden Library.

Green Heron at the Lily Pond

While it was preening it suddenly seemed to take an interest in something up above. 

Whatever it was up there...

...Mr. Green wanted no part of it, and strolled into cover behind the cattail reeds where he became invisible. 

Can't help myself. More eagles! The third chick has hatched.

Papa came by, but mama didn't want to get up, so papa ate from the bird carcass...

...then took his leave.

Nice day for eagle-watching....

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