A day in San Francisco on Fisherman's Wharf

A week ago, Saturday the 7th, my husband, daughter Red, and I went to San Francisco for the day. We met Ruthie J of Nature Knitter and her brothers for lunch at Castagnola's next to Fisherman's Wharf. While waiting for Ruthie to arrive, we were seated at the Captain's Table where you can get a 180 degree view of the boats docked at Fisherman's Wharf. While waiting, I could see a black-crowned night heron and a snowy egret. I took photos of both birds, but the heron pic was not very good. But you can see a very nice photo of the heron on Ruthie's blog (here). Below is my photo of the snowy egret. I sure do love those bright yellow feet!

After our lunch and conversations, Ruthie wanted to see some other sights. While we drove down The Embarcadero looking for a place to park I had noticed some photo ops, including some beautiful flowers - mostly tulips. Be sure to click on any of the photos for an enlargement. First, here is a shot of the sign for Pier 39, the largest and most commercial part of Fisherman's Wharf. Typical of weekends, it was wall-to-wall people, especially since this was the first beautiful weekend in quite a while.

And here are a few photos of the tulips we had seen. Aren't they beautiful? Mixed in to make it very colorful were other flowers such as daffodils, primroses, and anemones (I think), as well as other small flowers. They sure were colorful and quite attractive all along Pier 39.

Here is a view of Alcatraz Island from Pier 39, with one of several sailboats that were out on the bay that day.

Boudin Bakery across from Fisherman's Wharf, world famous for their sourdough breads.

Ice cream or yogurt, anyone?

Found on our walk were several Brewer's Blackbirds. Here is a shot of a female.

Another species seen were several gulls. This one, I think, is a Western gull carrying an old empty plastic bread bag. He/she was trying to keep it from letting the "youngster" get it. Below this photo is the "youngster." Notice how much grayer and mottled looking is his plumage which is an indication of a first or second year gull. I would think it is a first year gull.

As we were heading back from Pier 39 and toward the direction of where our car was parked, I saw this hawk perched on a fence around the pier. Enlarge the photo and take note that it has a leg missing. I am identifying it as a Sharp-shinned hawk.

If you have the extra time and are interested in more sights and history of this part of San Francisco, click on all the links I provided.

Another visit to Palo Alto Baylands - part 2

As mentioned in my previous post, this little trip to the Palo Alto Baylands took place in early October. The previous post showed all the scenic landscape in the area and around the Bay Area. This post is strictly the photos I have of the birds Red and I saw. Red will be posting her photos very soon, and you will want to visit her blog since she has better quality photos.

Typical of what one would see at the Baylands, especially around the Duck Pond, are Canada Geese, mallards, even hybrid mallards, and lots of coots and gulls. Above is my one shot of the all too "common" Canada Goose. Below are some hybrid geese found near the snowy egrets. If you look closely you can also see a male mallard in this hybrid geese photo.

(Don't forget to click on the images)
This shot of the male mallard and American coot was also taken at the Duck Pond. This area is well visited and many of these birds are looking for a handout from the clueless folks who visit. There are signs posted all over asking people to not feed the animals, but nobody pays attention to the signs.

This pair of male mallards was taken along the trail, away from the Duck Pond. I so love seeing their bright green heads and dark curly "tails."

I felt like this snowy egret was sitting there posing for me.

Farther down the trail Red and I saw several different water birds. This photo has a mixture of American Avocets in their winter plumage and marbled godwits.

All marbled godwits here except for the one American Avocet. This was taken just about twenty feet away from the previous photo.

And then we saw Northern Shovelers, and I think the other birds are western sandpipers. If any experts out there can tell me differently, I would welcome the correction.

Here's another shot of Northern shovelers found on the opposite side of the trail.

Here are a couple of long-billed curlews offset by more American Avocets.

I would certainly say we had a very varied birdy experience for being there for just a few hours. Along with the beautiful sunsets and alpenglow of the hills around the Bay and seeing a good variety of bird species we "done good!"

Snowy Egrets at Palo Alto Baylands

The other day I posted the photos of the black-crowned night herons nesting at the Palo Alto Baylands. While walking around between the ranger's station and the fenced-in migratory bird area I saw these strange looking geese. Canada geese they are not! And as far as I can tell I would say they are "hybrid" geese. If anyone in blogland can identify these birds for me I would be appreciative. Meanwhile, we'll just call them hybrid geese. Feel free to click on any of the photos to get a larger view.

This pair of snowy egrets were in the palm trees closest to the pathway, closest to the fencing. And as I said last year seeing these birds nesting in palm trees, I never would have believed it if I didn't see it with my own eyes. Imagine, snowy egrets nesting in palm trees. Only in California (and possibly Florida).
This water area was also behind the fenced-in area, not far from the palm trees. Notice the flora looks like chaparral - shrubs between the water source and the palm trees.

This picture shows the chaparral and the base of one of the palm trees in the background. I guess you can say these Canada Geese were "visiting" the snowy egret rookery area. It seems that neither species was upset about the other sharing their territory.