R: Great Blue Heron.
Today I went to find my owls. And maybe a nest??
I went straight to the fakenesttree to start. And there she was. As she’s typically been lately. This time, facing South when I found her. And I noticed what looked like a dead rodent on a branch just up from her?
Searched again for possible nests. And there seemed to be two candidates in the Monterey Cypress that’s Northeast of the fakenesttree… Since I was able to stay out until after sunset, I thought MAYBE I’d see her go to it!
Walked the Slime Mold Lab Trail into the Secret Gardens. It was pretty quiet in general in the area. Except for the crazy loud music coming from the bandshell. I saw a Great Blue Heron fly up and into a tree in the distance. It must’ve been scared off by an unfortunately unleashed dog running frantically all over the place. Ugh.
Took a counter clockwise walk to the Lily Pond and spotted some crushed Great Horned Owl pellet bits. On the trail. Above was thin euc branches. HM. No sign of a GHO in the area otherwise.
They’ve restored a portion of the South Ridge Trail that had been blocked FOREVER by a fallen tree. Maybe now that spot will have less people hanging there smoking and leaving their garbage.
New succulents were planted at the South entrance to the Lily Pond. Nice.
Walked in and started searching for anything interesting. A woman was seated on that rock there, facing the North side of the pond. I stopped to look closer, just seeing (sadly) random clothes strewn on the North side. Then she slowly turned to me and slowly pointed to the North side. I looked but didn’t see anything. Raised my binocs and saw A COYOTE!
I lowered my binocs to show her my dropped jaw as a thank you, at which point she held two fingers up. Looked again, and THERE WERE TWO. Sleeping about three or so feet from each other. Both curled up into balls, with their tails around their heads. I would have NEVER seen them if I didn’t use my binocs. And I would likely not have spotted the second one if she hadn’t indicated it!
I asked her, in hushed tones (since she was sitting patiently with a camera that had a large zoom lens), how long they were there. She said, “For hours.” Wow! Must’ve been enjoying the unusual sunshine today. I thanked her for the tipoff and continued quietly on my way.
Aside from a Mallard couple (that often is seen there), not much was going on at the Lily Pond. Though, I’m quite certain I heard a Ruby-crowned Kinglet somewhere on the South side.
Reached the end of the pond and noticed Red Angel’s Trumpets blooming near the bench at the fork. Huh. That’s new! Plus a couple clusters of Spring Fieldcap mushrooms near the new plantings. Fun.
Decided to do a loop around the Lily Pond itself, since it’s been super long since I last did that. No Goldenrod Crab Spiders in any of the Calla Lilies I checked. But both African Hemp and Pokeweed and Purple Foxglove were blooming past the Tree Fern Dell.
Checked the Secret Mushroom Spot, and nothing. Guess the rains were too long ago to expect much there. But the Blueblossom is getting OUT OF HAND over there!
Walked up the delightful stone staircase, which looks quite pictureseque and haunting with all the grass growing in it. And made my way onto the trail along the North fence. I should just call that the North Ridge Trail. Yep.
Came to the spot that most people use to hang out in by sneaking through a gap in the fence. And there was SO MUCH GARBAGE there. In the words of my colleague, seeing stuff like that “makes my blood boil.” Those Coyotes are eating so much garbage left out like that. Why SF Rec and Parks doesn’t improve the fencing there is beyond me. It really wouldn’t take much to make it so people couldn’t get through.
Made another uneventful loop through the Secret Gardens and figured I’d just wait til it was a half hour before sunset to see further GHO developments. It was getting cold, and the fog was rolling in. But while standing on the Slime Mold Lab Trail, I saw a bird fly to a tree opposite. Northern Flicker!
The light was horrible, so I went West to see if I could get a better look. Lucky for me, it kept calling and remained in place. Not obstructed. While I got crap photos, I’m AMAZED I was able to see it and even get a crap photo for iNat. And for me to remember it. It’s so hard to believe they are here year-round. I so rarely even hear them.
Stopped to note some fun Layered Cup fungi popping up from wood chips near new plantings and a good number of Red-berried Elder in bloom in the Secret Gardens on my way back to Ma Owl. Looked up for her, and there appeared to be a red somethingorother at the base of her. And that dead rodent shape was no longer there. HM!
And then some REALLY COOL THINGS HAPPENED.
Okokok, so FIRST. She started to eat something. Now, this is WEIRD. It was approaching a half hour before sunset. I’ve never seen a GHO eat anything so early. AND, she was tearing it up in incredibly small pieces.
TO FEED OWLETS, I’M GUESSING!!!
That red somethingorother I was seeing was the rodent in her claws. She spent SO MUCH TIME tearing off the smallest bits to eat. This was FANTASTIC to get confirmation there is INDEED A NEST nearby! ALSO, this was the longest I’ve been able to watch a GHO eat. It was so cool to note that each and every time she went down for a bite, she closed her eyes.
Now, I know that they have horrible sight for things up close. So they always close their eyes when preening. I didn’t realize they’d always do the same when eating. Because the few times I’ve seen them eat it was dark, and thus, hard to see. But what was DOUBLY COOL was that she’d everysooften lean back and open her eyes wide to see her prey below her. Like when you get older, as I have done, you have to move what’s in front of you a little further away to focus on it!
No good enough photos. But at least I got some video of her eating.
I thought she must be preparing this food to go feed an owlet or two. So it was thrilling to watch in anticipation that she’d finish and fly to feed. Which would show me where the nest is.
Yeah. None of that happened.
After taking forever and a day to finish eating, while I daydreamed of an invention for birders that would rest your head while looking almost directly up for a long time, she preened a bit. And got ready to start her night. She then flew out toward the Lily Pond. Where she ended up was out of sight, but after a bit I heard Pa Owl hooting. From around the same area as the fakenesttree.
He also flew toward the Lily Pond, and I found him hooting high up in a euc. Where Ma Owl was just below. Also hooting.
NOW GET THIS. She flew over right next to him. And they both leaned in to touch their faces to each other. More than once.
OMG!!!
I HAVE NEVER SEEN THIS BEFORE. I don’t think?? I was almost GIDDY with DELIGHT. Now, I’ve seen owlets do this to Ma Owl. But never two adults! FLIPPIN’ EXCITING to see NEW BEHAVIOR!!!
Then they duet hooted super close to each other. Also not something I have seen THAT often. Then he flew West. And she soon followed. And they continued duet hooting in a Monterey Pine tree.
Then Pa Owl flew out and out of sight somewhere in the West of the Secret Gardens. And Ma Owl soon flew out and landed in the Cypress with the possible nests. And she sat there. Facing where he went. And just waited. For A WHILE.
While I also waited with her (enjoying seeing a Bat flutter by now and again), I realized something. At this point, it was FOGGY. The whole sky was white. And because of that, I could still see. I was able to find her after she landed. And I was able to see the whole sky. So if she or he flew, I’d be able to see them and see where they went.
I’ve always avoided going out on foggy evenings. Because it’s almost impossible to get decent photos. LIKE TODAY. And I figured it’d be hard to re-find them after they flew away. NOPE. This is a GAME CHANGER.
They didn’t start hooting until the bandshell music stopped. This was after sunset. But despite the fog, they hooted. So fog should not deter me from going to see them. And, IN FACT, it will help me see them when they fly! Can’t believe it’s taken me this long to figure this out.
At some point, I couldn’t wait any longer. And had to head for home. HOWEVER. In addition to some fantastic new behavior I got to witness from them, I have a hunch that Ma Owl was waiting at this year’s nest tree. It’d make sense for it to be that tree. Super close to the fakenesttree that she’s favoring of late. And two large enough nests in it.
Yeah, they’re high up. So it’ll be nearly impossible to see into. If one of them is indeed The Nest. But, WHATEVER. Finding the nest tree early is A WIN, folks! We shall see. Can’t wait til I can stay out late again and possibly find out…
