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Dawn Chorus. A mixer of home and a visit away from home to San Francisco. [1]
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Date: 2025-09-07
San Francisco. Perhaps the only city in the world that I can say I like enough to say I love it. For sure I like it enough to say I’m happy to leave it behind in the serenity of returning home to my little mountain town of Quincy while at the same time thinking, wow, maybe some day I’ll get to go back to San Francisco and see more new things. Although it’s not at all easy for me to get to San Francisco on a casual basis, if I do get the opportunity it’s only a four and a half-hour drive. Why, that’s practically next door. Uh, in some sense or other, I’m sure. When sitting in the passenger seat I’m telling you that last hour getting there is approaching an eternity, and the last hour coming home is a minute-by-minute salvation to my soul.
Still, you have to admit there is serenity to be found in both of these vistas:
Mile Rock Lighthouse (remains) near the entrance to San Francisco bay. August 11. Point Bonita Lighthouse to far left center in photo.
American Valley, Quincy, CA. August 9
As most of the readers here probably know I was just in San Francisco for over a week to have some final surgery done for an intestine bugaboo that I’ve been hassling with for over three years and two previous surgeries, the very first one to quench an emergency life-threatening condition. But the reason I was in San Francisco is irrelevant; what matters is that I got a chance for essentially two days of freedom to explore Lands End and snap away with my camera at whatever I found compelling. And there was plenty, I’ll tell you. Even being selective I came home with over one hundred frames from the trip.
I have to say I for one really appreciate interpretive signs. Taking a photograph of them, being careful to get them in good focus and close in enough to be readable as an online photo, is very helpful and saves a lot of time in explaining about where I was and what I was seeing, and contains a lot of information that I’d probably get wrong if I tried to just pass it on as I recalled it. Now I can talk about the place and you can refer to the sign for accuracy.
Right-click and select “Open Image in New Tab” for enlarged view. (As you can do with any of my photos in this diary.)
So, if you look above you’ll see the green area with the “LANDS END” label, also containing West and East Fort Miley, and in between those is the V.A. hospital, my, er, home-away-from-home for eight full days. Also in this sign you’ll see “Coastal Trail”, which is where I walked and I found out from another interpretive sign that it used to be Sutro’s railroad. I also paid another visit to the Sutro Baths ruins. I love this place, but I already told you that.
I’ll be showing my photos of birds and other as we go, but I’ll also be popping in some more interpretive signs from my excursions. But first! Not only a bird, but a new species for me, making this my fourth new species for this year and driving my life list count to one hundred eighty-one. Pardon the fuzzy focus but it is sufficient for positive i.d.
Chestnut-backed Chickadee. August 11, on the Coastal Trail, Lands End, San Francisco
This is a very furtive bird and popped out in the open once, for all of a second or two and then disappeared back into the foliage. I hung out in this spot for several more minutes but it did not reappear. Well, onward then.
None of these grow around Quincy, not that I know of at least. This is of the Passion Flower variety.
And this, a Nasturtium
Meanwhile, back on the ranch, just before I went to San Francisco I took a walk out in my own haunts, and scored a nice prize.
Great Blue Heron, White-faced Ibis, and Mallards
And, uh, don’t call me paranoid but I think maybe the Heron followed me to San Francisco. Uncanny, I call it.
Great Blue Heron in the original wading pool at Sutro Baths. Can you see it?
Does this help?
Plain as a pikestaff, ain’t it?
Readers here may know I love railroads. Pretty much any railroad. So I was most pleasantly surprised to find I had been walking right where one used to be.
This is what that old railroad bed looks like today. As I was walking this (now the Coastal Trail) I was sure wondering to myself why it was so wide and level. The sign explains it all.
Birds, alas, were not plentiful along this trail, at least not while I was walking it. More, many more, if one got out and away from the trees. But I did get these two others among the trees.
Dark-eyed Junco
Anna’s Hummingbird
On Tuesday, August 12, I hiked over to the Sutro Baths site. Sea birds and a hawk.
Various seagulls.
Brown Pelican
Double-crested Cormorant
Red-tailed Hawk
Fare thee well, Sutro Baths. I may never see this again.
Much as I love San Francisco, I love my little mountain town and valley all the much more. It was so good to get back home and get recuperating. By the time this publishes I’ll be at 99% of full normal again.
Closing pics from American Valley, August 9:
Black Phoebe
Darner dragonfly
Savannah Sparrow
Two final interpretive signs
I mean really, when the choice comes down to it, which of these two scenes would you rather look at?
I never said it would be an easy choice.
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