Aquatic Park - San Francisco

I took Jackson on a whirlwind public-transportation tour of San Francisco for his last day of summer vacation. He loves public transportation and the beach, so we got going via BART, then a street car to meet dad for lunch down town. Then we braved a congested cable car experience with dozens of very tall European tourists, and finally: the beach. Ninety-degree weather made it especially summery. And there were several pelicans, dive-bombing the water. Whenever they dropped straight down into the waves, you could hear people on the beach go, "Ohhh!" in awe and admiration. Pelicans are strange, ancient-looking birds. I was glad to see them.



The creature rising from the sea in the second photo is either a Dolphin-club swimmer's arm, or Nessie the Aquatic Park Monster.

Blue Heron just barely

A nice couple pointed out this blue heron while walking along the path last night. They were thrilled and whispering and pointing--THAT'S that proper approach to bird watching, people. None of this tromping around and exclaiming, "WHAT? A HERON you SAY? WHERE?" So, thank you, nice couple.

I was able to shoot off a bunch of shots in a dark canal while this colorful guy hunted bugs. He was a stealthy (and hungry) little thing so many photos came out blurry. And guess what? Herons look like cats when they hunt. Very still, then aiming toward the prey, then LUNGE, SNATCH! Bug in the beak. He caught at least three big grasshopper-looking things as it got progressively darker and I had to eventually give up. The bugs were eating me at that point anyway.

Two views with two different camera settings. Nothing fancy, just a Canon Powershot, so I'll take what I can get.

Rock City and Wind Caves - Mt. Diablo

Rock City is well named and the wind caves are sandy and made from wind (and graffiti).

It's getting darker earlier

Soon I'll have to start tagging posts for "Fall." My evening walks will begin earlier and the alarm clock will wake us all too early. On the bright side: cardigans! This is Mt. Diablo glowing at dusk behind Heather Farm's wildlife sanctuary--a remarkable park in the middle of a growing city.

Low-key Wildlife at Dusk

At dusk the wildlife around here gets a bit complacent. Knowing they blend into their surroundings that much more, they don't take off quite so quickly as in the daytime (you hardly ever see much of them other than ducks and geese and the occasional turtle in the daytime). Here's some low-contrast sights I saw on my walk the other evening.

The elusive muskrat. There's a big family of muskrats swimming around the lake at dusk but they're very hard to photograph because they duck under the reeds near shore. This one was sitting nearby in the canal, not noticing me for a while until a couple of walkers came by and startled it away. I tried to explain to them that there was a muskrat two feet away that I was trying to photograph but they just smiled and said, "Oh, yeah?" really loud. Way to go, nature lovers.

A large group of finches were picking apart these thistles. Another pair of walkers scared them all off, except for this loner, who fearlessly plucked away at his thistle feast, tossing it about while I snapped away. Looking for bugs in there? Don't know. The air was fluffy with downy plant matter.


I'm not including my blue heron shots because that blue heron is stealthy and managed to blend into the surroundings so well, you have to squint to see him. And that doesn't live up to my exacting photographic standards around here (ahem). I'll get you yet, little heron, even though you're the shyest creature in the lake.

Stow Lake -- Golden Gate Park, San Francisco

Paddle boating last week in the fog. We went under the bridge where Joseph mentioned there might be a troll living. I sang "Come Sail Away" for the acoustics. Paddle boating is good exercise, yo.

Datura's a night owl

When I go for my early evening walks, there's a few Datura plants at the entrance-way to the park. They look like the top photo when I start my walk. And when I head home, they look like the second photo. During the day, they look like spring rolls--you'd never know there's a dramatic flower waiting to come out at night.

Breezy with crickets

If you stick with it 'til the end, you'll hear some geese too.

Low-light walk

It was a it too dark for photos, but I took some anyway. Nice wildflowers manage in the heat (and cold--it's been a mild summer with lots of blustery, foggy mornings).


A winged thistle.

This is not a technically "good" photo of Common Swifts, but it was the best I can do. They circle around their communal nest at dusk before "funneling" in for the night. These swifts don't live in a chimney or a hollow tree, but have chosen to live under a bridge that crosses the canal along the trail. If you walk over the bridge, several dart in and out of it from beneath your feet. They're really hyper little birds and never seem to stop moving, even while roosting--hence, blurriness.

Walnut Creek Library Opening

Our brand-spanking new WC Library has officially opened and what a beaut. Jackson liked it so much he wants to go back immediately. So large, it takes two photos to show most of the building. There's lots of art installations and public events coming up. Being the nerd that I am, I'm thrilled. And it was excellent to see Jackson walking through the building with a big smile on his face, saying, "Wow."


No amount of futzing with my camera would get it to flash in front of this bright window. You get to see the art better this way, I guess. Flying bottle art is underrated, I think.
This beautiful great horned owl lives at the Lindsay Wildlife Museum. He and a few other animals were hot and bothered by all the humanity and noise, but they handled it well. The birds of prey are my favorite creatures at the museum, which rescues injured animals and tries to release them back into the wild if at all possible. Some have to be kept on if their injuries inhibit survival.

I told the docent that I had heard an owl outside my home-office window a few months ago and she asked what it sounded like, so I said, "You know, like: hoo! a bunch of times." She said, "That would be a great horned owl. They're the only ones that make that hooting sound." I was thrilled and intrigued all at once. She said that in January, they're looking for mates, so that would explain any calls coming from the trees around that time. I already learned a bunch of local facts at my new library today.

Tilden Park Steam Train

Steam trains in the Berkeley hills roll through a redwood forest--a 20-minute ride for $2.50 each--deal!

Macro Lens Free-for-all

Not trees but close-ups with the new camera and its built-in macro lens. Long ago with my 35mm camera, I had to buy a special detachable macro lens to take close-ups. No more! I wasn't even sure if my camera had a macro lens and if it did, how close could it go. The answer: pretty damn close. Summer in Heather Farm Park is especially lovely in the Butterfly Garden.

Arty

Jackson took these on the way home from seeing a movie with friends the other night. New camera, low light, eight-year-old at the helm. I just drove.

Blue. Flowers.

No trees, but nice.

The goslings are growin' up

Look at their long adolescent gosling legs. Very prehistoric looking.

Kaiser Permanente Gardens

I just spent the last two weeks in the hospital with my boy. When he started to get better, his favorite thing to do was walk around the hospital grounds and visit the gardens. Every hospital should have big trees and gardens--we were lucky to be there. Bonus: the pediatric ward is amazing because the people there are amazing.

Sunset

Good Sky

I hope the new digital camera I ordered can handle the specs of my camera-phone. Otherwise, I'll be a disgruntled consumer.

Please Do Not Feed the Goslings

We have lots of ducklings and goslings at Heather Farm Park now and people sometimes bring their big bags of stale bread to feed them. There's a large sign at the lake entrance, outlining all the reasons for not doing so, but people either don't notice it or choose to ignore it (in fairness, the park needs to post more signs, especially because it's an official nature preserve). So when I walk around the lake and I see people with their bread-bags, I mentally wrestle about whether I should inform them of the park rules.

The park doesn't want anyone feeding the birds because they get sick from the human food. Sometimes they die. They're not built to digest bread and it has no nutritional value for them anyway. Feeding wild birds encourages them to stick around the area longer than they should and they over-tax the ecosystem with their needs and waste. The lake water fills with algae, making it difficult for other species to survive.

Sometimes people listen to me and stop feeding them. It's usually moms with little kids. Little kids love feeding birds, but if the no-feeding rules are posted--don't encourage them. Teach them about animal safety and habitats. Kids naturally love saving and caring for animals. They won't want to feed them if you tell them it's not good for them.

The other day I pointed out the sign to a mom and she just kept letting her kids feed the goslings big hunks of bread, which they gobbled up. I told her it could kill them, but she ignored me. I got so angry and repeated the rule. She said something like, "Yeah, I heard you the first time." I told her it was an opportunity to educate her kids, which was my polite way of telling her she's a dummy. I often think being polite is not always the way to go. It's probably too late for her, but not for her toddlers.

From the sign:
-Bread and other snacks cause harmful and potentially fatal health problems such as botulism and duck plague.
-Alters the natural ecosystem balance
-Decreases life expectancy and health
-Pollutes the water and habitat
-Discourages natural and healthy migration habits
-Creates overpopulation
-Causes problems for other native birds

And may I add: The goose-shit situation at Heather Farms is untenable. Please do not encourage more shit.

Smoke Tree