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.

Artemis II is flying by the moon!!!

I probably look a lot like the big yellow lego head right now -:P

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!

 

Are the Farallon's a secret alien space port?

Or is it Fata Morgana?!

The view out the back window today made it feel like we are in a sci-fi movie for sure!

Fata Morgana is just a fun old term for mirages that occur on the horizon of the ocean. They create ghost / flying / floating ships and islands. Or in this case an alien space port that someone is trying to keep secret -;]

 

Waking up grumpy!

I would probably be grumpy too if woke up to someone taking a picture of me.

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!

Sun?

I look a quick look at the sun this morning and saw the big sunspot so grabbed the camera and took some pictures.

This 2nd picture is the actual orientation it was in from our perspective.
 

And...

Done.

Hooting at the moon!

I can't believe how lucky I got at the end of my walk last night.

I was on my way home almost an hour after sunset when I heard some hooting ahead of me on the path. As I got closer I spotted the great horned owl on a branch right over the path and right in front of the moon.

To catch the hooting with the moon was more than I could have hoped for. Though I wish I had managed to get better shots and video but it was dark and super hard to try and get the moon and the owl exposed together with less than a minute before it flew off.
 

OB 2026-01-13 @ Noriega

More pictures from last weeks swell.

Lots of big hacks...

...barrels...

...and split peaks had!

I love the arms down steez in this last image -:]

I only managed to catch a few of the amazing rides I saw last week but still have few more shots still to go through.

Monday night auroras from SF

Not sure if there was any green but maybe. The city lights are due north so it washes out the best direction to look for the auroras. There may be a bit of green peaking through or maybe it's just the yellow city lights blending with the blueish sky and haze?

There is clearly red/purple visible and I could just make out a little red with my eyes but it was super hard to see.

The haze didn't help any but it did look neat in the long exposure.

OB 2026-01-12 @ Noriega

There was some bigger surf last week. I finally had a chance to go through some of the shots.

Jumping Jesus on a pogo stick!

OB Burrowing Owl!!!

We were walking to pick up dinner and hoping to spot a barn owl on the way. @the_borkalork thought she saw a little bird in front of us that was quiet like an owl. I couldn't see it but then she pointed it out and I managed to take some not so great pictures. It was dark.

This is the first burrowing owl either of us have seen and it was only a block or so from our place. So cool!

 

Wet and Shroomy

It has been raining and wet for a few weeks now and there have been a fair number of fun mushrooms around.

Anyone know what species they are and if they are fun, tasty, or deadly?