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.
Our hike left us hungry, so we went off to Stow Lake at Golden Gate Park for a bite to eat.
Given the construction, we avoid leaving the kitties alone when the workers are doing their thing. Instead, we left very early and went to the park at sunrise. The last time we were there, we got to watch ducks, geese and robins. This time, it was very quiet.
Since a couple of ducks were the only wildlife we found at Stow Lake, we wandered off to another lake for a walk.
It had been a very quiet morning, all things considered. While slighty disappointed that we didn’t see more wildlife, we were very happy with the sunrise and eucalyptus and lack of other humans. In other words, it was peaceful. It didn’t last. Our peace and quiet was abruptly shattered.
We headed off around the next curve in the trail and came face to face with the rare and elusive Golden Gate Bawk-Bawk.
Our very quiet morning turned into a rare event and will be much remembered. As we left, the Bawk-Bawks were safely roosting in the nearby shrubbery.
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.
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.
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.
Here are just a few ducks and geese I’ve found at Golden Gate Park. 🙂
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. 🙂
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.
Well, no. This IS San Francisco and the home of the Maltese Falcon, but not this time.
We went to the Japanese Tea Garden to soak up a bit of Zen. Instead, the main pond had been drained for maintenance. Bummer. Still, we decided to walk around it to see what might be blooming. Then we found this:
This is not the same bird that we saw across the street at the Arboretum. I meant to take only a couple of pics, but it turned into a regular photo shoot. The birdie was working it for the camera.
I think I took about 90 pics. These were the best. I’m still in awe.
Here’s a vid that Lastech took with his new phone. The sound is awful, but I’m too impatient to edit it out for now, so hit the mute button. 🙂 We’ll get better at this. We just need practice.
Yesterday we ran off to the park to test Lastech’s new phone as we wanted to see how well the navigation worked. We decided to visit the Arboretum in the hope that there might be some wildlife in addition to the magnolias that were blooming.
We rounded a corner to find 3 other people staring at a tree. This is why.
I found it amazing that several people walked by and never even wondered (or noticed) what we were all looking at. The hawk was sitting in a tree next to the walkway. It was only about 7 feet off the ground.
It was a good day. 🙂
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.
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.
Summer has arrived in San Francisco and with it comes Karl The Fog. I got all the sunshine I needed after spending more than half my life in the desert. Now I just relax and enjoy the fog. Karl hangs around on Twitter and to quote him:
Summer has officially arrived in San Francisco. Don't leave home without your pea coat, scarf, and memories of sunshine.
— karl the fog (@KarlTheFog) July 15, 2013
Here are some photos from a recent trip to Stow Lake in Golden Gate Park.
“Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.”
― Søren Kierkegaard
There’s a look on Titanescu’s face that sometimes brings to mind a tortured but not defeated soul. Perhaps a Russian writer after ten winters in a gulag, lasting twelve months each.
The enigma of cats, who do not judge but reflect: a throw back without absorption, and a convoluted intro to three shots I took at the Strybing arboretum. I really liked them, which is what I want to share…
