Love In The Air...

   This morning I went searching for the recently reported bald eagles at Vasona Lake County Park while on a family outing. Biking through the area however did not lead to sightings of any bald eagles, or any birds of prey for that matter (excluding vultures). Oh well... The park did have a nice feeling of springtime, with birds starting to court and early spring flowers in full bloom. I did get a year bird: the extremely rare, not-ubiquitous-at-all Steller's jay.

My favorite weather :)

Ants I mean Coots

Cute, little killdeer

Did not expect to find a mew gull here. The dainty, dove-like Larid was found on the pier on the lake's west side.

Acorn woodpecker

Pretty little pied-billed grebe

Bewick's wren singing his heart out.

Yes, those are daisies

 

Fresh, spring growth of California sycamores

California buckeye sprouts stimulated by rain

Black-crowned Night Heron

American goldfinch

    Following the bald eagle attempt, I biked up the beautiful Los Gatos Creek Trail to the not-so-beautiful ponds on Oka Road. Beside the trail in the creek, I got my only lifer for the day: the COMMON MERGANSER (seriously though, that took way too long...). A male/female pair were swimming together in some rapids, how appropriate for Valentine's Day. Additionally, a pair of hooded mergansers swam close by. At the Oka Ponds, I got my third year bird for the day: ring-billed ducks. Nothing else was too unusual. 

Who can't love hooded mergansers?

Male common merganser incoming. Look at how streamlined these diving ducks are...

Female incoming

Reunited! No clue why they were at different ends of the stream though...

One happy couple.

A lovely golden carpet of fallen flowers

 

 

More pretty, pretty flowers

Ring-necked Duck

No ducks or cormorants seemed to care about the rules

    Later during the day, my family went down to the Palo Alto Foothills Park. Unfortunately, I did not see anything of interest other than some pretty views. However, a chorus of life was singing as we arrived, including my first county WRENTIT. Also, I heard many "ribits" coming from moist meadows suggesting increased amphibian activity from the recent rains. 

I believe that this is the Palo Alto Baylands

My usual birding area. Note the Shoreline Amphitheater.

Who decided to plant this random cherry in the middle of the native forest?

Sunset over Boranda Lake

Gadwall

Is that....kissing?

"LEAVE NOW", they said to me...

And to the people who actually read my blog...Happy Valentine's Day!

Heart-ish shaped mushroom taken yesterday at Stanford Campus