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« A Sunday in Marin Headlands – Part I
Road trippin’ for the next 10 days »

A Sunday in Marin Headlands – Part II

23 April, 2009 by Adam R. Paul

(continued from here)

At the Headlands Visitor’s Center, formerly the Chapel of Fort Cronkhite, I headed out along the trail on the south side of Rodeo Lagoon.   As is usually the case, I quickly saw a trio of River Otters splashing and swimming by the lagoon’s east side.   A Great Blue Heron stood patiently in the reeds, hopefully not noticed by the otters (a fellow bird photographer caught an amazing sequence of one of these otters going after, and narrowly missing, a Great Blue Heron!!).

adampaul-P1020582 by you.

Rodeo Lagoon

Many flowers and shrubs were in bloom, including this fuzzy foliage:

adampaul-IMG_0444 by you.

Fuzzy!

I do not, however, know what it is, although I’m sure I’ve seen (and probably identified) it before…..

adampaul-IMG_0455 by you.

Anna’s Hummingbird / Calypte anna

An Anna’s Hummingbird gave me nice close views for a while.  I just love how tiny their feet are!

adampaul-IMG_0485 by you.

Red-flowering Currant / Ribes sanguineum

Currants were blooming in a lightly-shaded spot along the trail.  Although I thought at first it was a Sticky Currant, a quick lookup at home proved it to be a Red-flowering Currant.  A pretty bush, either way!

adampaul-P1020584 by you.

Rodeo Beach & Lagoon

I neared Rodeo Beach and was surprised how few people were there – it’s often rather busy, especially on beautiful days like today!

adampaul-IMG_0488 by you.

Bermuda Buttercup / Oxalis pes-caprae (non-native)

Non-native, but abundant, Bermuda Buttercup (AKA Sourgrass) was all over the place.  Like many of our semi-naturalized non-natives, this one comes from South Africa.

adampaul-IMG_0491 by you.

Cow Parsnip  / Heracleum maximum

Just a couple of towering Cow Parsnips were beginning to bloom.  For some reason I’m very fond of this noxious member of the Carrot family (Apiacea), which can cause itching-to-blistering if its juices are touched.

adampaul-IMG_0497 by you.

Field Chickweed / Cerastium arvens

In a shady nook, a couple of Field Chickweeds grew.  This  white flower has a lovely symmetry in its deeply-lobed petals, making it almost appear that it has 10 separate petals.

adampaul-P1020593 by you.

Wildflower-strewn beach

At the beach, between the ocean and the lagoon, a menagerie of wildflowers bloomed — Bermuda Buttercup, Horned Searocket, and Yellow Sand-verbena.

adampaul-IMG_0499 by you.

Red-breasted Merganser / Mergus serrator

A duck in the lagoon caught my eye, and I was please to spy my first Red-breasted Merganser of the year.  Oddly, I have only ever seen female-types (which could very well be juveniles), never a male.

adampaul-IMG_0513 by you.

Yellow Sand-verbena / Abronia latifolia

I paused to photograph the nearly-perfectly-spherical flowers of a patch of Yellow Sand-verbena, then walked across the bridge to Fort Cronkhite and headed back toward the Visitor’s Center, now on the north side of the lagoon.

adampaul-IMG_0522 by you.

Double-crested Cormorant / Phalacrocorax auritus

As is their habit, Double-crested Cormorants were perched on every stump sticking out from the lake, and American Coots munched along the shoreline, but little else was evident.

adampaul-P1020599 by you.

Giant Horsetails / Equisetum telmateia

A large patch of Giant Horsetails caused me to pause.  They don’t really look very much like horse tails to me, but they must have reminded someone of them, as even their latin genus name is horsey.

adampaul-IMG_0524 by you.

European Starling / Sturnus vulgaris

I was in no hurry, so I even gave some invasive European Starlings a little time.  Although I am required to dislike them due to their displacement of native bird species, their antics were funny to watch.  This one high-stepped and opened its beak wide, looking very self-important.

adampaul-IMG_0537 by you.

Rough Cat’s-ear / Hypochaeris radicata

Under a road rail grew a few Rough Cat’s-ears, one of few asters I think I can identify reliably.   Although you wouldn’t know it from these photos, half of this walk is right alongside the access road to Fort Cronkhite, and it’s not as pleasant as the south side for that reason.

adampaul-IMG_0543 by you.

California Poppies / Eschscholzia californica

Across the road, a patch of happy California Poppies rose up.

adampaul-IMG_0546 by you.

Western Bluebird / Sialia mexicana

A bird on a wire next to some Jays caught my attention.  At first I thought it was a Western Bluebird, but discounted that since it was very pale, and I had not seen any bluebirds here previously.  Should have stuck to my first thought, as that’s exactly what it is.

adampaul-IMG_0554 by you.

Great Blue Heron / Ardea herodias

The Great Blue Heron I’d seen when I started around the lagoon was still there, and allowed me to get pretty close until I’d shot my fill of heron portraits.  Right as I got to the steps that climb to the Visitor’s Center, I witnessed a Great Egret tussle, as one flew into another’s territory, and was quickly chased out.

With that, my walk was done.  For such a short outing, there’s always a lot to see if you take the time, and I’m always grateful and somewhat amazed to have all of this just a few minutes from San Francisco!

Birds seen: Wildflowers seen:
Location: Marin Headlands
Observation date: 4/5/09
Number of species: 27

Canada Goose – Branta canadensis 2
Mallard – Anas platyrhynchos 4
Bufflehead – Bucephala albeola 1
Common Goldeneye – Bucephala clangula 1
+ Red-breasted Merganser – Mergus serrator 1
California Quail – Callipepla californica 1
Western Grebe – Aechmophorus occidentalis 2
Double-crested Cormorant – Phalacrocorax auritus 5
Great Blue Heron – Ardea herodias 1
Great Egret – Ardea alba 2
Snowy Egret – Egretta thula 2
Turkey Vulture – Cathartes aura 12
Red-tailed Hawk (Western) – Buteo jamaicensis calurus 1
American Coot – Fulica americana 1
Western Gull – Larus occidentalis 15
+ Caspian Tern – Hydroprogne caspia 1
Anna’s Hummingbird – Calypte anna 4
Western Scrub-Jay (Coastal) – Aphelocoma californica californica 2
Common Raven – Corvus corax 10
European Starling – Sturnus vulgaris 2
California Towhee – Pipilo crissalis 1
Song Sparrow – Melospiza melodia 5
White-crowned Sparrow – Zonotrichia leucophrys 4
Red-winged Blackbird – Agelaius phoeniceus 2
Brewer’s Blackbird – Euphagus cyanocephalus 1
House Finch – Carpodacus mexicanus 1
+ American Goldfinch – Carduelis tristis 2

+ = year bird (85 so far)

This report was generated automatically by eBird v2(http://ebird.org)

– Anderson Thistle
– Baby Blue Eyes
– Beach Strawberry
– Bermuda Buttercup (non-native)
– Blue-eyed Grass
– Broom sp. (non-native)
– California Blackberry
– California Buttercup
– California Manroot
– California Poppy
– Cala Lily (non-native)
– Cow Parsnip
– English Plantain
– Eucalyptus (non-native)
– Field Chickweed
– Forget-me-not
– Horned Searocket
– Iceplant (non-native)
– Lupine sp.
– Milkmaids
– Miner’s Lettuce
– Morning Glory
– Red-flowered Currant
– Redstem Filaree
– Rough Cat’s-ear
– Scarlet Pimpernel (non-native)
– Sticky Monkeyflower
– Thimbleberry
– Twinberry
– Vetch sp.
– Wild Radish
– Yellow Sand-verbena

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Posted in Birding, Hiking, Nature, Photography, Wildflowers | 8 Comments

8 Responses

  1. on 23 April, 2009 at 17:22 A Sunday in Marin Headlands - Part I « Adam Paul

    […] here Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)Hiking & birding around Marin […]


  2. on 23 April, 2009 at 20:40 montucky

    It’s truly amazing that you can see all of that so close to the city! What a great thing that is for those who take advantage of it. Wonderful photos as always. I love the hummingbird photo. I’m still looking forward to their arrival here.


    • on 27 April, 2009 at 06:41 Adam R. Paul

      Thanks – at least our Anna’s Hummingbirds are here pretty much year-round. They have quite a Napoleon complex!


  3. on 24 April, 2009 at 03:19 Donald Kinney

    Great shot of the Starling…
    You are really increasing my knowledge of birds…


    • on 27 April, 2009 at 07:00 Adam R. Paul

      Thanks, Donald!


  4. on 24 April, 2009 at 18:58 Red

    Wow! You certainly saw a lot. That’s quite the bird list. I really need to be better at reporting to ebird. I have no excuse either.

    This time of year is just so beautiful everywhere we look. The Bay Area is the perfect place to live. Well, the natural world part is 😉


    • on 27 April, 2009 at 07:02 Adam R. Paul

      I love eBird – it makes the sometimes tedious task of managing sightings pretty painless, and it helps with research too. Citizen science at it’s finest!


  5. on 12 December, 2011 at 13:47 Nikon Coolpix S4000 Digital Camera

    Thank god some bloggers can still write. My thanks for this blog post..



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