Today I went NATURING. And it has honestly felt like months and months since I’ve been outside for myself. And just myself. I can’t believe I was doing this 4-5 times a week back in the pandemic times. How lucky was I.

For a couple reasons, I had to stay closeish to home today. And as I was in the Southeastern corner of the city for something, I decided to finally try out Candlestick. It was warm and sunny and absurdly windy, but it was entirely more appealing than the dense fog and chill over in the West. Yes, I’ve been itching to spend more time in my backyard of late, but you see so little wildlife when it’s like that. So. I opted for something else.

As I was making my way to very end of the park’s parking lot, I couldn’t help but slowly realize that the park is pretty much where Candlestick Park was. The “park” for sports. That I went to a number of times to see Giants games with my dad in my youth.

SO SO bizarre to see it like that. Like a bomb had dropped and blown it all away and into the bay’s edges. And yet, the remnants of the gates are still oddly there. It’s like a ghost town sports ballpark. WEIRD.

But I’ve been curious about the place. It and Bayview Park have been holding steady at the bottom of my City Park List, mostly because it’s in a part of the city I’m so rarely in. And it gets mentioned from time to time at my work. That it’s the only California State Park in SF. Unless you count the Saddle part of San Bruno Mountain. Which I don’t.

Even though it’s way out there, it very much feels like a neighborhood park, given the folks I saw there. Many of whom were just enjoying being by themselves in their car in the parking lot. Some folks walking their dogs or just walking. A family here. A group of friends there. Oh, and a handful of wind surfers.

I’ve been to what feels like MANY neighborhood parks, and this one is unlike the ones I know. Maybe it’s because it’s Summer, but the place feels empty and barren and barely hanging on. Perhaps it’s the crazy winds that flow every which way there. Or the dump site it turned into not so long ago. Or the partying that clearly goes on there, given the amount of trash there.

Upon arrival, I was greeted by an astounding number of California Ground Squirrels. They OWN the place. And because there was a good number of them, it seemed possible that a Burrowing Owl may also be in the area. So I kept my eyes open for THAT.

Though I was hard-pressed to see many native flowering plants, there were an ok number of Coast Live Oaks (showing their handsome acorns) and a Coffeeberry bush or two and some California Sagebrush and one Big Saltbush. But as it’s a “Recreation Area,” the focus is clearly on recreating while there. And notsomuch the naturing. Sigh.

But there are some spots with native plants and planting flags. So, good work is happening. Thank gawd.

And a drop-dead gorgeous Blue-eyed Darner Dragonfly stopped to pose at a Coast Live Oak right in front of me. Aw!

On my way to the actual Point, I noticed a huge wide open dead grassy area. Hm! Normally, I’d think there’d be tons of Gophers in such a place, but I saw no mounds. Hm. Too close to the bay? Too inhabited by Ground Squirrels? Regardless, seemed like a prime hunting spot for Owls…

And, yep. Spotted what looked like possibly a Great Horned Owl feather alongside it.

Got to the Point, where the Sunrise Point Fishing Pier is. Which had a couple guys fishing on it. And it’s an interesting viewpoint of the bay there. You can see Mount Diablo and everything. But the industrialized land opposite (Hunter’s Point) really takes away from the natural look of the bay. And as the water there is not safe to go into, it’s a sad reality to look out onto.

But, as I was orienting myself to the land’s edges via Google Maps, I noticed that I had bookmarked an iNat observation over on the Hunter’s Point side. A Burrowing Owl was observed over there! Unfortunately, I didn’t have time to try getting over there, but so intriguing to know! And maybe, slowly and bit by bit, the area is becoming more welcoming to wildlife…?

As I started to head away from the Point, I spotted something white up in a Monterey Cypress tree. A Black-crowned Night-Heron was up there! Awake! And looking right at me! I looked below it and saw A BUNCH of whitewash on the ground. Maybe more were up there! Wish I’d gotten a better photo, but most of my photos of wildlife were entirely washed out by the blazing sunshine today.

A Double-crested Cormorant in the water. A Gull overhead. And possibly a Bewick’s Wren calling in the shrubs? Oh, and some Pickleweed at the shore amidst all the random concrete blocks.

And then I came upon a dead bird. Bob may be surprised I couldn’t ID it, but I couldn’t. It looked like a shred of its former self. And maybe killed by Avian Flu?

While there was mostly very little in the way of native plants, there were a nice number of murals painted here and there.

And then I was starting to make my way along what I believe is Jackrabbit Cove, and I saw a small bird at the shoreline. Doing a Butt Dance as it hunted for food. Yes, that’s right. A BUTT DANCE. Okokok, maybe it’s technically a Tail Dance? But it frequently moved its butt/tail up and down as it scoured the rocks for food. Hilarious!

I didn’t recognize the bird. And after IDing it using Merlin, it sounded familiar. Spotted Sandpiper. Consulting my Life Bird list, I was reminded that I HAD seen this bird before. Over at Middle Harbor forever ago. But I didn’t have really good looks that time. And likely not even a photo? I recall watching it in silhouette, and it was a good distance from us.

But THIS Spotted Sandpiper was so much closer. And had the sun on IT. And I got to watch it forage and butt dance for some time. So fun to see!

Just past the Sandpiper was a couple of large rocks with about three different kinds of Lichen on them. So cool. Lichen is so cool.

And then I was at a tiny stretch of beach. That I assumed was still part of Jackrabbit Cove. Where more native plants had been planted. With some Beach Knotweed mixed in there.

That’s when a couple Terns started hunting over the bay. I think it was two Forster’s Terns? Got to watch them dive and succeed so often at catching fish! But it made me sad to think how gross the water is there. And that the poor fish have to swim in it. And then the birds eat the fish. And how is that for them?

A Snowy Egret further along the shoreline was a sweet surprise. As were a couple more Spotted Sandpipers. Unless it was just the same one moving along with me? MAYbe.

Then it was time to turn inland to make my way back. Along a paved path that had literally TONS of tiny Western Fence Lizards at the edges. Just sploofed on what must’ve been very warm concrete.

At the end, I caught sight of a very small Butterfly for a splitsecond. I had caught sight of three prior ones before. For EXACTLY the same amount of time. A splitsecond. And that’s it. ARGH!

On the walk back were golden Dragonflies. And a California Buckeye tree with far too many seed pods for this time of year?? A couple Hummingbirds. A Genista Broom Moth that kindly posed for me. And even a Woodland Skipper that made my day by just chilling on leaves for me to admire and document.

Throw in a Black Phoebe on the dead grassy area, and I was back to where I started. The wind surfers were all out of the water. And the formidable fog was rolling in dramatically over San Bruno Mountain.

It was time to head out. And while I didn’t see a Burrowing Owl (boo) or a Black-tailed Jackrabbit (which I have a hard time believing are even there), I was so happy to be outside. Having that crazy wind swirl around me. Spot a bit of the wildlife that call Candlestick home. And get to see and know that corner of my city.

I’m so close to having visited every single dang city park at this point. No, I don’t count the “parks” that are just ballfields or playgrounds. But the remaining ones for me are over in that part of the city. Bayview Park. India Basin. And there may be a stray one I’m forgetting in the Southwest part? Oh, and there’s even another good birding spot nearby that Bob and Juli told me about a while ago. Looking forward to returning someday to this very corner of the city to see what Yosemite Slough is all about!