22 de enero de 2021

The Inner Richmond neighborhood watch

Sheltering-in-place has made us stay home and hang out on the rooftop more. Over time, I have gotten quite familiar with our neighborhood corvids, pigeons, and gulls - their sizes, habits, and calls. Although I still sometimes mix up crows and ravens, following their sudden defense caws have led to many bird actions in the neighborhood. Recently, I noticed that the pigeons and gulls are starting to get involved in chasing threats away too.

Still, there's a Red-shouldered Hawk (or maybe several) that would challenge the neighborhood gang from time to time. Sometimes, I can't see it, but hearing its call makes me feel that it is somewhere near and that would drive me to locate it.

Publicado el enero 22, 2021 06:30 TARDE por linzyl linzyl | 11 observaciones | 1 comentario | Deja un comentario

20 de noviembre de 2020

Rooftop crow gatherings

For a long time, I've watched the neighborhood crows gather on the same cypress tree (https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/61228632). After each meeting, they fly far out into the Presidio and various parts of the city.

Recently, I start to notice them on our neighbors' rooftops:
1) when it was very foggy (https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/61754040) and
2) an hour before the rain (https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/65133231)

I wonder if they are checking on each other whenever there is a change of weather or sharing the locations of their food cache?

Publicado el noviembre 20, 2020 08:24 TARDE por linzyl linzyl | 3 observaciones | 2 comentarios | Deja un comentario

02 de noviembre de 2020

Woohoo-heyhey

Never thought we would hear a Great Horned Owl on our roof!

Not sure if this has any relation to the full moon, but the bright moonlight was definitely helpful to us in spotting the owl in the dark. I do wonder if it has found its way here as our neighborhood has been quite popular with hawks (see references) - many times, I have seen them swoop down to a prize catch.

Interesting how the owl has returned again night after night.

Publicado el noviembre 2, 2020 11:47 TARDE por linzyl linzyl | 12 observaciones | 0 comentarios | Deja un comentario

03 de septiembre de 2020

The Alternative Birdfeeder

I wouldn't have noticed the differences in juvenile plumage if we hadn't started feeding the birds last year.

New Dark-eyed Junco fledglings arrived last month and I started reading about differentiating plumage by Hatch-Year/Second-Year. I began to wonder if the ones that look "more adult" are the same fledglings that came by our (shoe) birdfeeders last year and if they share the same parents.

So much to learn!

Publicado el septiembre 3, 2020 10:14 TARDE por linzyl linzyl | 9 observaciones | 0 comentarios | Deja un comentario

22 de junio de 2020

Unidentified caterpillar

We were surprised to find a little green caterpillar (on daikon) survive after being in the fridge for three days. Afraid that the birds might eat it, we created a little habitat.

Interestingly, we discovered a cocoon the following day, thinking that the green caterpillar had turned white. Another day after, we realised there were actually two caterpillars in the habitat! The latter turned into a Diamondback Moth several days later and we set it free.

The little green caterpillar remains in the habitat and has become longer with a purplish red line in the middle.

Publicado el junio 22, 2020 04:20 TARDE por linzyl linzyl | 2 observaciones | 0 comentarios | Deja un comentario

28 de marzo de 2020

Rooftop Shoe-birdfeeder: Surprise Party

Over time, it was interesting (and surprising) to watch other feathered friends arrive - House Finch, White-crowned Sparrow, California Towhee, California Scrub-Jay and even the American Crow.

However, over the rainy season, I discovered and learnt more about the "poop-shrooms" - Phycomyces. The shoe-birdfeeders turned pretty soggy and dirty very quickly, to a point I had to get rid of them. Still, the experiment was great while it lasted.

Publicado el marzo 28, 2020 12:10 MAÑANA por linzyl linzyl | 12 observaciones | 0 comentarios | Deja un comentario

06 de diciembre de 2019

Rooftop Shoe-birdfeeder

Curious about the birds living around us, we recycled four converse shoes into birdfeeders in July. The first that appeared was a Dark-eyed Junco couple with four juveniles. It was fascinating to observe the change in their plumage over the weeks.

Publicado el diciembre 6, 2019 08:01 TARDE por linzyl linzyl | 5 observaciones | 0 comentarios | Deja un comentario