Happy Halloween

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Green sign

This old, worn green sign that has lost its message still speaks to me - it's more interesting than when it was new.

Thistle - Autumn

These thistles appear in many places that I walk but the best examples are - guess where - at the Ponds. Here's one with its thistledown ready to be carried away by the next breeze.

On the wing

There are many birds on the wing at the Ponds, but they can be hard to photograph, between the darting birds and the balky camera (not to mention the slow operator)! But - there was one bird that held still for me the other day: a ? from the nearby local airport. Do any of you know what kind of plane it is? Maybe an acrobatic plane?

Sunrise at the Ponds

Last Tuesday was foggy at the Water Treatment Ponds and began to burn off pretty quickly. But I managed to get a shot of the sun before it was unbearable to look at. There are many wonderful things to see and photo at the Ponds.

Forest

Is this a forest seen from a height? No, it's just a patch of weeds in the fog at the 'Ponds'. It's a plant I've never noticed before, growing in a big patch next to one of the ponds.

Gaggle of geese

Here are Hans' geese after they had floated a little farther upstream on Corte Madera Creek Thursday. See Hans' blog yesterday: http://hansroenau.blogspot.com/

OPEN

When I saw the NOPE sign on a bookstore on Sunday, I went back on Monday, hoping that the store would now be OPEN. It was and one of the booksellers was outside, arranging an array of Free Books. He told me that when he opened his first store, he had an OPEN sign on a wooden board in the window and didn't yet have a CLOSED sign. His store faced north and was a little dark; so he thought that if he cut out the letters in the sign, more light could come in. And as soon as he had done it - Voilà - he saw he already had his 'closed' sign!

More Fall color

Just north of Ukiah, California is a row of trees at Parducci Winery; these trees were planted by someone who knew what he/she was doing. The colors are fantastic every autumn. This year we stopped and took some photos so you can see them too. . .

Fall color

This photo is for Bob T. who feels, as I do, that this noxious plant can be a thing of beauty in the fall. In the shade of a redwood grove on the Avenue of the Giants it achieves only a pinkish shade rather the bright red seen elsewhere.

NOPE

What do you think this sign in a Garberville bookseller's window means? And might it read something else on a different day? This is not a quiz or a contest (too easy?) but I will post a followup in a few days.

Sandy and Bjorn

Here are Sandy and her grandson Bjorn at the track Thursday morning. Bjorn is here on a short visit from Montana. Six months old and a charmer. I won't tell you how old Sandy is; you wouldn't believe it anyway - I don't.

My next photo will be next Tuesday.

Fall color

Those of us in the West who have lived in the East or Midwest tend to feel we don't have proper fall color here. But - look at this stand of trees near the College of Marin parking lot; I didn't check them up close but they are likely liquid-amber. There's plenty of color!

Osprey nest

Last Tuesday Bob T. and I walked to Divide Meadow while the others did their run. One of the sights to be seen on this walk is this osprey nest, abandoned at this time of the year. I'll check it again in the spring. Wikipedia describes the osprey:

The Osprey (Pandion halites), also called Sea Hawk, is a diurnal, fish-eating bird of prey. It is a large raptor, reaching 24 inches in length with a 6 ft wingspan. It is brown on the upperparts and predominantly whitish on the head and underparts, with a brownish eye patch and wings.
The Osprey tolerates a wide variety of habitats, nesting in any location near a body of water providing an adequate food supply. It is found on all continents except Antarctica although in South America it occurs only as a non-breeding migrant.

Full moon

Tuesday night's full moon was bright and it wasn't even dark yet, as you can see. It wasn't really yellow (I don't know why it turned out that way) but you can see the man in the moon.

IMDCHAMP

There's no lack of ego here! The runner (whose car has this plate) didn't come in first in Saturday's footrace but he was close. And obviously, sometime, somewhere, he did win the championship

Pigeon of another color

Most pigeons are of the gray blue and iridescent color of the pigeon photo of a few days ago. But pigeons come in many colors and they all hang around together. This one was nearby the one from the other day. And it did have two legs; one is just hidden.

Bigger ferries

Here are two more boats (ships?) that could be called ferries. The one on the right is the California Hornblower yacht. As many as 650 people can ride it for a dinner cruise. If you'd like a booking, go to http://www.hornblower.com/yacht.asp?port=sf&id=10
I'm not sure about the other one on the left; I think it may be an old ferry now used as offices. However, in Google Earth's photos of the pier, this boat doesn't show and that indicates it may be a working boat. ??

Red lamp

Last Tuesday as I walked the promenade around Pier 1 in San Francisco, I spotted this red warning lamp, one of two lamps to show approaching vessels where the ends of the pier are.

Ferries

Here are two ferries on San Francisco Bay on a beautiful warm day in SF.

Egret

On Tuesday as I walked the path in Marin to catch the ferry to SF, this Great White Egret was watching for a mid-morning snack in the Bay. Of course, I tried getting closer and finally, I was too close and he/she flew away, but not before I managed to capture this shot.

Pigeon

This San Francisco pigeon posed for me yesterday all the while keeping a wary orange eye on me!

Christmas card?

This could be Christmas card material, no? The red ones are rose hips and the white berries - I don't know - but they are growing on the Rush Creek trail in Novato.

Hi ~

Rush Creek marsh was thick with birds Sunday morning. The recent rains must have livened up the food available. There were ducks, some kind of very small, darting, cheeping birds, and of course, stilts. And the water was like a mirror.

Margie

We had our first rain of the season on Friday night - 1/3 of an inch! Then Saturday morning the sky was filled with clouds, giving us a glowing sunrise.

More grass

Just a few minutes after yesterday's photo was taken, the sun came up. There was still fog and I'd walked on to a different kind of grass. What a difference the sun makes! There is no color enhancement here; this is just as it was. Yesterday's photo would have been bright like this in the sun.

Grass again

On Tuesday, Bear Valley was quite foggy. When we got there it was daylight but the sun hadn't come up far enough to chase the fog away. There is tall grass along the Trail before it enters the woods and I am always tempted. Sometimes the photos are worth keeping.