A seasonally appropriate moment

It was dark and I was very surprised any of the pictures came out at all.

 

Why is everyone looking at me?

I was told this sulphur-bellied flycatcher is a rare sighting in SF. It was easy to spot this weekend by finding the crowd of people pointing cameras and binoculars at it.

It is a pretty cool-looking bird and I'm glad I happened across the small crowd while on my regular owl walk.

 

Red-Tailed Moon Cheese

We had a few amazing moonrises recently and this red-tailed hawk was begging me to take this cheesy picture -;]
 

Blue on Green

Great blue heron fishing in a patch of green water plants at South Lake in Golden Gate Park.
 

Sleepy peek

I believe this is the mate of the female tucked-away owl who was showing off her hook yesterday.
 

she has a hook

My current favorite owl who I call "tucked-away owl" because she sits way up in a pine tree and is really hard to spot even when you know where to look.

I think this is a female based on the coloration. I read that females have more spots and usually are a bit more brown/darker than males. The owl I believe is her mate lives a few blocks away and seems lighter overall.

I love the way the one claw just peeks out, looking like some kind of hook on the chest.
 

Owl or Tree Troll?!

 

Cooper's hawk chilling in the woods

I came across this hawk just chilling out at about eye level. It seemed very calm and reminded me a lot of people I see chilling out on logs hidden away in Golden Gate Park.

I think this is one of the parents of the three fledglings I've been seeing in that same area.

Osprey has to work to keep its catch

I spotted this osprey just as it was catching a fish in the surf.

There was a seagull trying to steal the fish right away.

I know it shouldn't be surprising that the seagulls were right there trying to take advantage of the osprey's fishing skill but it seems odd to me that a gull would even mess with an osprey. But seagulls seem pretty pesky and the osprey is pretty busy just trying to hold onto the fish. So I suppose the gull is hoping to cause the osprey to lose its grip and drop it so the gull can scoop it up.

The osprey managed to shake off the gull and hold onto the catch.
 

"1, 2, 3, 4, I declare a thumb war!"

"Bro, we have talons not thumbs and I don't want to play."

These siblings were holding onto each other's feet for a minute or two. Not sure exactly what was going on but it sure did look like kids playing some silly kid game and maybe only one of them really wanted to play.
 

Quail Blue Steal?

This Quail knew exactly how to get it's photo taken.

It saw me with my camera, jumped up and struck a few poses for me before jumping down.

Kingbird rides into battel on Red-Tailed!

Dive! Dive! Dive!

In coming!

Evasive action!

As the smaller more maneuverable Kestrel dives in from the sun!

I wonder if there is a hummingbird mounted on the back of that Kestrel?

Not only was it like some kind of graphic novel or animated movie happening in real life but I also saw the Western Kingbird and a Kestrel for the fist time!

 

How did you get your name?

Barn Owls in a barn!

My first time seeing what I assume is the reason they have their name.

 

Fledgling has perfected it's stare!

Also notice it's making a fist.

This red-shouldered hawk that flew over to warn me off also made a fist at me.

The red-shouldered hawk that attacked me a bunch of times would also land on a branch near me and make a fist which it seemed to be shaking at me.

Do birds make angry fists to shake at who ever they are made at while they stare them down? It sure does feel like they do but maybe it's some other behavior?

 

Learning to stare me down!

I think this is dad teaching a fledgling to give me the stare. So cute!

This is the 1st or 2nd day of fledging for this little one. Its sibling is still in the nest.
 

16 owls spotted on Memorial Day!

Because of all the new owlets I was lucky enough to see 16 owls on my normal 4 mile loop in golden gate park!

Mom(?) with a few owlets. I did see at lest 3 owlets in the nest.

Curious owlet keeping an eye on me.

I think this was mom(?) coming back from hunting earlier in the morning

This is a great-horned owl mom keeping an eye on a nest with two owlets in it. Not posting images of the nest because it's too hard to hide the location and I can imagine crowds forming at the very public location.

These two did not seem happy to see me -:[] They don't seem to have a nest and it's my understanding that it's late in the season so they probably won't be having any owlets this season? I'm new to this so not really sure but it looked like they just paired up a few weeks ago, seemed to be looking for a nest but now just seem to be hanging out in a few different locations which seems like non breading behaviour?

This is a male keeping an eye on his mate that is in a nest that is way up and hard to see. I usually spot her tail and back but usually can't see much more of her. I believe this is the female who's mate was killed a few months ago. I was super happy when I saw these to meeting up once she left her first a few weeks after he first mate was killed. Fingers crossed things work out this time.

I'm pretty sure this is the male of a pair of barn owls that have a nest in a super public landmark that some how few people seem to know about. To be fair it's high enough to be hard to get to or see unless you know where to stand so I think 99.9% percent of people never notice it. The female of the pair is the first owl I ever spotted and was also the one I saw the most because she spent most of the time in one roosting spot until she started her nest. I know they currently have at least 3 owlets. Hoping they make it.
 

Pygmy Nuthatch fledglings getting out into the world

So fun and cute to see these little ones being shown around by their parent.

I couldn't catch them together but there were two fledglings and a parent showing them around and keeping an eye on me.

I probably wouldn't have know they were fledglings unless I had seen them right by the parent. They were clearly still little fluff balls -:]

They were begging for food and seemed to still be figuring out how to fly.

They didn't realize they should avoid me because and landed right next to me which is when the parent showed up and hustled them back into a tree.

 

Three New Barn Owls in the Neighborhood!!!

Also one of the parents keeping an eye on us before moving out of the way so we could see the three owlets.

I'm keeping an eye on two more barn owl nests and two great horned owl nests. Have briefly seen at least the top of one great horned owlet.

Little nest, Big Nest.

It seems to be the season. I have found a few nesting spots recently.

It's been a minute since I've seen a humming bird nest. I only spotted this one because the hummingbird was yelling at me then went and sat in the nest. I think I saw some little beaks poking out when I checked in on it yesterday.

here are a few owl nests I have spotted but this is probably the easiest to see as well as being really high and out of the way. I have been watching the pair for a few months. I think they took this nest from some hawks. The sad thing is that a few weeks after it looked like their nesting was in full effect I found one of the pair (male?) dead under one of their regular roosting trees. It looked like it had a deep gash on the back of it's neck and the way it was on the ground it looked similar to how I've seen hawks kill other birds. So maybe one of the hawks they stole the nest from got revenge? It's been a few weeks and the one owl is still on the nest. I was told it's not likely the eggs will hatch since (she?) would have to leave the nest for too long and the eggs would get too cool. I'm going to keep an eye on it just in case 🤞

I'm pulling for them but still getting disapproving looks!

Late Night Traffic Enforcement Officer

Spotted on a 1am walk along Great Highway. I have been walking the Great Highway path at dawn, sunset and late at night on clear fairly bright moon lit nights in hopes of seeing a barn owl in our neighborhood and I finally spotted one last night!