Stow Lake and Strybing

A walk in the rain around Stow Lake. A Pied-billed Grebe led me towards the thickets over the waterline near the boathouse. Once there, it called mellifluously to its partner who was busy rearranging leaves and sticks as if building a nest. Wanting to get a better photo, I entered the thicket carefully, so as not to disturb them, and found myself eye to eye with a Varied Thrush. It made its way across the road to the Eucalyptus grove and vanished with a blur. The Glaucous-winged Gull was happily preening on a paddle-boat. Other interesting birds were a Chestnut-backed Chickadee, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, and Downy Woodpecker. Strybing Arboretum was lively, but most of that was due to foraging squirrels.

Attempting macro shots with a telephoto lens.

The Grebe appears.

The couple call to one another as they seem to engage in nest building.

The Varied Thrush departs.

Wary but calm enough for a picture.

Glaucous-winged Gull series.

Sick Day

Feeling sick as a... sick dog, I took the slow way home to recuperate with a film and all the remedies prescribed by my kind friends. But as is often the case, I find being outside therapeutic, even in the stop start rain and brisk wind. So I bundled up and made a few stops on my way home. The PFA lagoon offered up some relaxed geese. The Burrowing Owl at Sutro has had to suffer power-washing near its rock wall and people meandering off trail towards its crevice, so unsurprisingly, it was out. At Lloyd Lake a Great Egret fished in the run-off from the falls and in the distance, the glowing spot of the Hooded Merganser's crest gave it away. The other Mergansers were quite active, surfacing with fish of all sorts and covering the entire area of the small lake. Now I'm home with warm soup and ginger-lemon-everything... ahhhhh.

From the Past

Taken 2 years ago at the Palace of Fine Arts Lagoon.

The Odd Couple - Alta Plaza Hawks

First, Ill start with a couple of images from the Palace of Fine Arts lagoon. While stalking a juvenile Night Heron, I saw a flash of yellow emerge from the reeds and clicked the shutter to reveal a Common Yellowthroat. The first I've ever seen, so that was a treat. And just a reminder that the beauty is in the details - please click on the images to get a closer look.
I stopped by Alta Plaza park to see what the hawk situation was like and found it very very calm. After twenty minutes surveying the park I settled in to photograph the sparrows and a woman with three dogs walked by apologizing for disturbing the birds. I told her I was anticipating the birds would fly away and was waiting for that moment to take my photo.

Suddenly the sparrows that were still foraging on the ground leapt en masse into the trees. A roaring sound, like opening a car window while at freeway speeds, grew up out of the silence as a dark, wavering, plummeting, shape appeared over the rooftops. I recognized the shape of a hawk in full stoop, and by the time I raised my camera, the hawk, with talons outstretched, checked its dive and pulled up three feet above the woman's miniature poodle. Changing its mind at the last second,, the Red-tail swerved hard to the right and landed in a blossom filled tree next to the sidewalk to compose itself. It was only perched 5 feet above the ground. This was as sincere a hunt as I've seen, and I feel if that dog had been by itself, the outcome would have been quite different. The moment was impossible to photograph as it happened so quickly.

Sitting in the tree after the poodle hunt.

I surmised that this was a female as there was a companion in the area too.

Wings askew, head level.

Talons out for the kill.

Banking hard left.

Gathering nest material. Moments earlier she had been grasping at tree branches to wrest them loose.

Her companion, a juvenile male I assume. This is not the same dark bird as was in the park a few months ago (the bird I called Leroy) This one has a band on its right leg, and it's patterns of behaviour differ markedly from the previous juvenile which was unbanded.

They followed each other all over the park and ranged between 4-8 blocks from the park on further flights. This might encompass Lafayette Park as well. We'll see how this develops. It would be remarkable to have a new nesting pair in this neighborhood. Does anyone know if coupling between adults and juveniles occur and whether they are ever successful?

A favored tree for evading Ravens and having a clear view of the park. Here the male departs with a start.

It was remarkable to have two hawks flying low through the park vocalizing much of the time. People actually began to take notice, although I suspect taking a poodle as prey would have garnered them more attention.

Calling out with a raspy voice, not as clear and piercing as the adult bird's.

The male banks to give a beautiful view of juvenal plumage.

While the female goes hunting.

The wet ground kept most gophers safely underground.

Time to search for greener, er... gopherier, pastures. Both hawks depart and leave me with a lovely last image.

Perched on the cathedral's steeples with Bernal Hill as a backdrop. The male on the left and the female on the right. What an exciting day. I feel that this is going to be a great spring for hawk-watchers in the city.

Hummer Buzz

This image has developed a following on Flickr so I thought I'd share it here.

Ummm, well... you see, I have this store.

This is the formal announcement of a little experiment. I have opened an online store to explore the idea that people might be interested in a set of note cards, or a sweatshirt, or a wall clock with a giant falcon head on it. Well, tasteful little quality of life things that may be good as gifts, or as gifts to self. Prints, posters... you get the idea. So in lieu of making this a completely self promotional affair, here are a few pictures to show my gratitude for your having read this.
Oh yeah... to get to the store... CLICK HERE

Acorn Woodpecker earning his title.

Great Egret in good form, over Crissy Field.

Residents Day (in pictures)

Wandering around the city yielded these photos today.

Randall Museum hawk departs after a sizeable meal.

Randall Museum Kestrel on the hunt...

and swallowing an insect.

Corona Heights Anna's Hummingbird.

Crissy Field Kestrel.

Mallards mating.

Drying off.

Great Blue in color, at the Palace of Fine Arts.

Cooper's Hawk discovers photographer, Palace of Fine Arts Lagoon.

Mallard takes off from the PFA lagoon.

Crissy Field Red-tailed Hawk.

Alta Plaza Park gets a low flying visitor (unbanded).

A feast for sparrows.

Spring is here.

Another view of the Alta Plaza visitor.