Walked around the shore of Sand Francisco, on Tuesday from the Sea Lions at Pier 39 to Baker's Beach in the Presidio.
First went to see the sea lions, before it got busy. Quiet in the morning, the sea lions were mostly sleeping, at Pier 39. They had rafts set aside for them, to sleep on, but some slept on the docks by the boats.
Started to see the odd gulls, perhaps a slaty-backed gull?
The harbour was quiet, early in the morning. Lots of little and big boats moored.
Walking to the marina zone, lots of people out, jogging and using the limited green space of the area.
At a marina, the tide was down, so birds were pecking at the mud. I saw a night heron and a brewers blackbird.
In a small pond, near the marina, saw a snow egret and grebe. It's a small city, so everything has to fit, these little ponds get really used by the birds, where in Toronto they would just be an empty water feature.
Lots of white crowned sparrows, the main bird in the area. Also lots of hummingbirds.
There was an attempt to naturalize some of this area, and a boardwalk takes your through the Crissy Field pond/marsh, feels like Burlington. Saw a phoebe almost get snatched by a red shoulder hawk.
There is an old historic airfield adjacent to the water, the grass is kept cut. Saw a meadowlark, a great blue heron just hanging out, and a couple of killdeer. A house finch was in the palm tree.
At the base of the Golden Gate Bridge was a person surfing. At the base of the bridge, you can't keep walking but have to use stairs to go to the top of the ridge.
Climbing to top of ridge, lots of California poppies in bloom. It is very much a scrubby area and sandy area. Like the Scarborough Bluffs, steep, sandy, but with few tall trees.
An old tunnel to get under the bridge, without having to cross the highway.
More house finches hanging out on the old armaments.
Lots of old armaments along the ridge-line, places to put cannons to fire from.
There is a very rough path along the ridge, that goes up and down, to the secluded beaches. It is sandy and rocky under foot. Like Wasaga Beach dunes, but much taller. Lots of ravens and crows flying overhead, along the tall ridge-line. Some of the birds hunt for little mammals, saw a dead shrew.
There are a couple of small hidden beaches. This is Fort Point Rock. Probably how the area looked before it was heavily settled, with lots of Western Gulls sitting on the rocks. In the water was a raft of scoter ducks.
Walking up and down the cliffs and dunes, I saw a lizard.
Had to walk down a very steep dune to Marshall's Beach. Needed to hold the steel cabling walking down.
A massive container ship heading to port, the smoke from the chimney stretches for miles.
At the parking lot of Baker's Beach, it is filled with crows and ravens. No gulls, just ravens and crows acting like gulls, picking up and fighting over trash.
Took the electric trolley back across. The trolley had no problem navigating the steep hills.
Went to the cable-car museum, that still functions. Inside it smelled like burning oil, the cables are located under the streets, and move at 9.5 miles an hour from the machinery here.
Rode the cable-car to our hotel. The lever grabs the cable under the road, when the conductor pulls it.
Ate a sourdough lunch at Boudin cafe.
Took the bus to checkout Bike Kitchen, in the Mission District. It was tidy, but you can tell people where living in the RVs and minivans parked on the street. The DIY bike shop was small, but extremely busy, maybe about 50 people, with nice racing bikes, all coming out to work on their bikes.
