Another seasonally appropriate moment

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

 

Spiders getting ready for the 31st!

I love that these spiders are more visible this time of year, though I think these are Shamrock Orbweavers so maybe they have their season mixed up?

 

Looked so fun I had to get out there!

I walked across the street intending to get a bunch of surf shots.

But it looked so good I only lasted five minutes before I had to grab my board.

It was Fun!
 

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 -;]
 

OB Hallmark Sunset

 

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.
 

Toenail moonrise over Sutro Tower

Thought this moonrise from last week was pretty fun.
 

Owl or Tree Troll?!

 

Lucky few minutes of SF visibility!

The marine layer, clouds and light fog cleared up just enough for a few minutes to get a mostly clear view of last night's partial lunar eclipse.

Images are a bit soft because there was still a fair bit of haze and light clouds. I was also hand holding the camera because we weren't expecting it to clear up at all.

So happy to see this since we have had cloud cover here in SF for months and have missed most of the recent astro fun.

This last photo shows the clouds coming back in to cover up the view but it was pretty spooky looking which was fun.


 

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.
 

Tucked away

This barn owl seems to have returned to one of its regular roosts tucked way up in a dense pine tree.

I hope its young are doing well.

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?