Wildlife

September 17, 2016

Caturday: Testing the new camera

I haven’t taken a huge amount of photos as I’m still learning my way around the camera. However, we did manage to go to Martinez on a bird hunt. We got lucky and there were a few birds we didn’t see last time. One nice thing about the camera though is that it seems to work well in low light and so it makes it easier to capture the pointy eared people. It also takes better action photos than the last one, so Pepi looks good in mid run.

Miss Jenny's blue peepers — Miss Jenny’s blue peepers

Titanescu's stinkeye — Titanescu’s stinkeye

Here's Pepi having a run. — Here’s Pepi having a run.

As for the birds, here are a few. The fall migration is beginning to kick in, so we’ll try to make regular trips out there to what drops in to visit.

Teeny weeny itty bitty lizard. It was only about 3 inches long, including the tail.

I was amazed to see a green heron fishing. The last time I saw one was in South Florida in 2001. The photo isn’t as good as I would like, but I’m happy to have seen it.

Alhambra Creek flowing out to the Carquinez Strait.

Looking across the marsh with a sunken ship in the water.

While we’ll make regular trips out to the marsh, I’m hoping for a trip back up Diablo and another trip to a botanical garden. The weather has warmed up again though, so it might be a short wait.

March 27, 2016

The Markham arboretum in glorious Spring colors

What a difference a few storms made at the Markham arboretum, now wearing its vibrant Spring blues, greens and reds from blade of grass to treetop. The Galindo Creek meandering through the gardens remains a few feet at its deepest, hummingbirds have begun their courtships, but the countdown to summer has already begun.

The following photos were all taken yesterday during the course of a single walk through, taking advantage of the blooms we waited months to see. There were over twenty of them, so we decided to arrange them in a slide show for convenience. Below, that, you’ll find a short video of Anna’s hummingbirds courting.

The female hummingbird perched at the very top of a tree, is being buzzed by a male. The chirping sound you hear as he passes by is made by fanning out his tail feathers.

April 22, 2015

Day of the critters

Earlier, I posted part one of our day at Mile Rock Beach. This is part two, more or less. While we were out, we saw lots of birds and a rodent or two.

Here are the critters we saw along the trail to Mile Rock Beach at Lands End.

Ok, not a critter. It was so pretty though.

The first critter we saw was this hawk in a tree

While watching the hawk, this happy sparrow decided to twitter like mad

Our hike left us hungry, so we went off to Stow Lake at Golden Gate Park for a bite to eat.

This red-winged blackbird was hoping for a morsel.

Grumpy seagull. They got in a kerfuffle so has a bit of feathers in their beak.

This gull sat on our table (pooped on it too) and tried to get close enough to steal something

On our way around the lake to go home, we spotted these

Someone with a large dog walked by. The ducks flew and the goose cursed the dog loudly

It was certainly a day for critters. Another gopher put in an appearance while I was watching the geese.

September 7, 2014

Seagulls: A preteen nightmare

A while back we went for a walk around Pier 39. Oddly enough, it was to check on the gulls and possibly catch a sunset. The gulls were more entertaining with plenty (too many?) of offspring this year and I wanted to see them before they left the nest for good. I missed out on the little ones, but these were pretty darned funny.

Please mom? Please? Please? All the other kids are doing it! — Please mom? Please? Please? I wuvs you!

I'm sooooooooooo hungry! — I’m sooooooooooo hungry!

Mom? Mom? Mom?I got the wind blowing up my butt! Mom? Mom?

Ha! I'm finally out on my own! — Ha! I’m finally out on my own!

The last two pics were taken on a different day. They may not have been the gull in the other pics, but they are from the same season.

July 11, 2014

Birdies in the afternoon

My last post was from Stow Lake at dawn. This time we went in the late afternoon, before the fog rolled back in. The geese posed nicely and the water was reflections were pretty.

Blue sky with wisps of fog over Stow Lake

We paused to sit at a table and enjoy a cup of coffee. We had a visitor who sat at the other end of the table watching.

After our coffee we went for a walk around the lake.

Lady ducky showing off her feets and checking to see if we had noms.

Another pretty female duck with a Brewer's Blackbird lurking behind — Another pretty female duck with a Brewer’s Blackbird lurking behind

And here is my ultimate goal. In my last post I had a pic of a young girl ducky who was molting. I had taken pics of her and her siblings, but that was the only one that came out clear. I got lucky and got a cute pic of all three together.

July 9, 2014

Birdies at dawn

We went to Stow Lake at dawn to see what critters were lurking in the fog. It’s very peaceful, but not exactly quiet. The birds were noisy.

No boaters on the lake this early

The Chinese Pavillion and mist on the water

Hummingbird

Flappity flappity

Steller’s Jay and mate

American Robin

Robin with noms

Feed meh!

This little ducky is almost a big girl now. She’s molting.

And now for the bonus pic from Lastech. This was also taken at dawn, so it fits the theme. 🙂

Black Crowned Night Heron hunting for fishy noms

April 3, 2014

Anniversary adventures: up in “our” grill

On March 19th, we celebrated our tenth anniversary. Ok, we didn’t actually. Poor Lastech caught an evil cold, so we postponed it. I didn’t mind and it wouldn’t have been a celebration if he wasn’t feeling well. As a result, we went out last Thursday. We divided our celebration into two parts and this was the first day.

We weren’t planning much for that day, but we had an ice chest with food and went out to grill some of our favorites. We originally planned on going to a lovely spot on the Marin Headlands, but it was closed for renovation. Instead, we explored the headlands for a while, clouds and bird watching before returning to The City to do our grilling at Baker Beach. We grilled carne asada, zucchini, mushrooms and a few bratwurst. We made tacos and had a very pleasant time.

We then took a trip to the arboretum to see what wildflowers might be blooming as it’s that time of year. It was lovely and we found azaleas, ferns and wisteria blooming. We also came across an old friend. 🙂

[Show picture list]

Yes, it was our old friend the hawk. We also watched a young couple walking around the arboretum. Both were so intent on their phones that they never saw the hawk. I don’t mind technology, but I would never want to be so unaware of the beauty that surrounds me. To be so close to a hawk is not a moment to be wasted. I’m simply amazed that it has happened so many times now.

The next day we went hiking on Angel Island and that will be the next post.

April 2, 2014April 2, 2014

After the storm

Lastech managed to take a couple of pics from the pier and at the Embarcadero. They weren’t taken on the same day, but they all occurred after the storms that have been blowing through.

We have had lots of rain, small hail, thunder and lightning. The pointy eared people were not amused, but they only hid during the hailstorm. They didn’t hide for long at all. That’s evidence (to me) that the Feliway is working.

September 25, 2013September 25, 2013

Birdy, Birdy, WTF? Birdy?

These past couple of days have been frustrating, thanks to business providers. In order to put me back in a good mood, Lastech took me to the park and then the beach. We saw many birds and here are are some of them.

I call these parking lot birds. They are either brown headed cowbirds or Brewer's blackbirds. I'm not certain. They're everywhere. — I call these parking lot birds. They are either brown headed cowbirds or Brewer’s blackbirds. I’m not certain. They’re everywhere.

Sanderlings? I'm not sure. I just know that the lead bird had the noms and the other two wanted them. — Sanderlings? I’m not sure. I just know that the lead bird had the noms and the other two wanted them.

I love empty beaches. Ok, not quite empty as there were plenty of birds. That haze is sand as it was a tad windy.

These teeny weeny birds were fun to watch. Sanderlings, I think.

WTF?? No, not even sea gull noms. These were too big. Lastech decided I needed some good Zen this morning, so we went to the Japanese Tea Garden. I love the Koi

Sea gulls having an argument over noms. The gull on the lower left has the crab in question. Photo by Lastech

You got the noms? No I don't have the noms! There over there! Damn! — You got the noms? No I don’t have the noms! They’re over there! Damn! (photo by Lastech)

Note to self: Do NOT go to Ocean Beach when the wind is blowing. I’m still finding sand in my ears and other assorted nether regions. Baker Beach is safer in the wind. Yes, we knew it was bad when Lastech turned on the fan in the car and sand was blowing out of the vents.

That was the pleasant part of our adventure for the day.

September 19, 2013

Tribble? In the tree?

I must apologize to anyone trying to access the blog yesterday. We ran into a memory hogging issue that shut us down for the day. It took some work with our web hosts to locate and correct the problem. People love to complain, but I will NOT complain about Hostgator. Their tech crew was very patient and helpful.

I’m still madly thrashing around the apartment cleaning and driving the pointy eared people batty. I’m probably driving Lastech batty too, so I decided to take a break and share some non feline critter pics.

There’s a lake at Golden Gate Park where we love to take walks. We’ve seen cormorants and hawks almost every time. There are coyotes that live there too, but we haven’t come across them yet. I live in hope. As we reached the southern end of the lake, we looked up…

I should not have been able to get these photos. It only happened because others feed them. They came out to see if we were going to feed them too. Please don’t feed the critters! It only makes them dependent on humans. When that happens, they become a nuisance. Besides, bread isn’t healthy for ducks, squirrels or any other wild creature.

Sniffing and hunting for treats — I know you gotta have noms!

No noms. As for the tribble?

I used the zoom on my camera to get these pics. We weren’t nearly as close as it seemed. Many people dislike raccoons as they can be a nuisance. Where I grew up, there were no raccoons. As a result, I tend to take great joy in watching them do what raccoons do. I just prefer to keep my distance. 🙂

A final note: If you have a problem with mice or rats, please don’t use poison. The collateral damage can be awful. A beautiful pair of owls in a nearby park died as a result of eating mice that had been poisoned. You can lose pets the same way. It’s just not worth it.