Green Heron Again

The other day I posted a picture of a Green Heron in flight. Here's a picture, taken a moment earlier, as the bird was trying to decide what to do next (fly away).

 

Sunshine!

Everybody came out today to enjoy the sunshine after weeks of rain. Among the sun-worshippers were the little weevil and the cucumber beetle. Both were sitting on a Golden Yarrow flower. But don't rely on these identifications. I'm neither a flower- nor an insect-expert! Offhand, I can't really remember anything that I'm an expert of. What I do know, however, is that I took the picture on a walk with Bob H at Rush Creek.

 

The Rain in Spain falls ....................

Go ahead, stifle a yawn, you've seen enough pictures of St. Vincent's School for Boys in San Rafael. But wait just one minute. We're supposed to be looking at a pastoral scene, with cows happily grazing in the foreground. Instead, what we see is a lake.

 

And that's what this picture is all about. The unprecedented rain of the past few weeks has made a lake out of the pasture. Save this picture so you can show it to your grandkids.

 

Green Heron

Do not ever overestimate me. I know a lot less about birds than you might suspect. But my guess is that the bird I photographed at the Ponds this morning was a Green Heron. I had to act quickly and didn't even know that I caught the reflection until I saw it on the monitor when I got home.

 

Capsicum

Bell peppers have long been favorite subjects for photographers. Wanting to leave no turn unstoned in my path to greatness, I thought I'd give it a try. And black and white is de rigueur when it gets to serious photography. But if you must know, these two were once green. I'll try again one of these days.

 

Swallow

If you've ever tried to take a picture of a swallow in flight you will know that these little guys/dolls don't stop to pose for you. So yesterday I took so many pictures that I had to come up with at least one fairly good one. The location of my activities was the Las Gallinas Valley Sanitary District (lovingly referred to as LGVSD) Ponds. The swallows there are Barn Swallows, getting ready to build their nests under the bridge near the parking lot. Some of my friends insist they are Cliff Swallows, but the split tail (look at my picture) proves them wrong.

 

In an effort to broaden the horizon of my fans, here's a bit of valuable information. The Non-Marching 52-year-old "Sewer Band" (LGVSD) performs throughout the year. The highlight of its endeavors is the Free Annual Concert at the Marin Veterans Auditorium, this year taking place at 7:30 PM on May 18. Be sure to mark your calendar.

 

Makes You Wonder

When I looked up at the sky this morning, here's what I saw.

 

Shadow

I saw this shadow on a utility building at the Corte Madera Marsh. Something did not compute. There were too many shadow lines. Suddenly a cloud moved in and the shadow disappeared. But hey ~ some lines remained. That's when I discovered that some of them were actually graffiti! Mystery solved!

 

Street Art

What it says on the web ~

All Emco Wheaton Monitoring Well Manholes incorporate cast-in identification triangles in accordance with  API recommendations and meet AASHTO H20 wheel loading.

 

What I saw ~

A face on the ground in Fairfax, with a triangle as its nose, and an ill-defined mouth, which I embellished with a twig.

 

Tree

Sometimes a scene really grabs me. When I saw this tree today, I got so excited that I went on automatic pilot,  stopped the car, tumbled out, and took the picture before I thought what I was doing!

 

Yes, the photo is black and white, and no, it is not cropped or otherwise manipulated. I took it from the narrow road that leads to Lake Lagunitas and Lake Bon Tempe from the Fairfax-Bolinas Road.

 

Stranded Boat

Here's one of several boats that had broken loose in the weekend storm and washed ashore near Blackie's Pasture in Tiburon. The boats were later inspected by the Coast Guard for oil-leaks.

 

Don't you dare move!

I just love the sign at the little table at the Pine Cone Diner in Point Reyes Station. After all, "Rules is rules"!

 

Bubbles

A few days ago I was in Point Reyes Station and noticed that the Brick Grandi Building (once a hotel) was decorated with, what looked like, hoops. Some investigation revealed that I was looking at an installation called "Bubbles", by Petaluma artist Mark Grieve. It is one of several works of art, all part of the "2011 Geography of Hope Art Exhibition", running through May 31st.

 

The Grandi Building was built in 1915. Today, using brick is taboo! Recently there has been some talk about the building being turned into a hotel again. That would take a lot of work.

 

A railroad ran through Point Reyes Station from 1874 to 1933, hence the "Station" in the town's name. Which did not occur to me until today's Google! I deserve a loud "duh!"

 

Black-necked Stilt

I really like Black-necked Stilts. They are so graceful, carefully picking each step with their loooong legs! I took this picture a couple of days ago, near the Village Shopping Center in Corte Madera. Specifically ~ I was on the Redwood Highway and the bird was in the waters of the Corte Madera Ecological Preserve. Note the delicious treat in his/her bill. 

 

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

 

Giving in to tradition, I wish everyone a

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

 

 

Not the Sagrada Familia

The most complicated and confusing architectural work I have ever seen is Antoni Gaudi's Sagrada Familia Cathedral in Barcelona. Construction began in 1882 and completion is now estimated in 2026.

 

Crossing the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge (John F. McCarthy Memorial Bridge) yesterday, I was suddenly reminded of the Cathedral. Started in 1952, the bridge was completed in 1956. It is one of the three bridges you must cross if you want to circle the San Francisco Bay. Even though Jerry Garcia allegedly conceived the idea for the Grateful Dead song Terrapin Station while driving across the bridge, it gets far less press coverage than its two sisters to the South!

 

And no, I was not at the wheel when I took the picture.

 

Burrowing Owl

This morning three of us traveled over the Richmond San Rafael Bridge to the Mysterious East Bay to see the endangered Burrowing Owl in the Berkeley Marina. There are only four of these small birds there, and they are protected by a fence and by warning signs. We were extremely fortunate to spot one of the little guys fairly close-up. They over-winter in the Berkeley Marina from October to April.

 

Great Blue

Great Blue Heron ready for take-off at the Ponds this morning. One of my very favorite birds.

 

I have been advised that yesterday's flower is called Bleeding Heart.

 

Flower

Sorry, I don't know what it is called, but I think it's really beautiful. I saw it this morning in front of Toby's Feed Barn, way out there in Point Reyes Station. 

 

Who Dat?

I must not have made my bed when I left for a photo-shoot this morning. When I got back and walked into my bedroom, I got a shock. Somebody was in my bed, wrapped in my blanket.

 

Which, once again, proves that I don't have to venture very far to find a photo-op.

 

Let me assure the Doubting Thomases among you, that I didn't disturb a thing in order to take this picture. And if you don't get what it's all about, I recommend "Imagination 101", probably offered at the College of Marin. Good Luck!

 

Back to Rancho Shazam

These roosters are free to roam around Rancho Shazam, and roam and explore they do. They stopped only long enough to check me out (an intruder). It wouldn't surprise me if they served as security guards. Lee says there's also a hen, but I didn't see it. It probably knows to stay out of harm's way (roosters)! I thought the roosters were every bit as handsome as the prize-winners I've seen at the Marin County Fair.

 

Magnolia

I took this picture of a Magnolia bud at the Falkirk Cultural Center in San Rafael. The lady I was with, told me that the leaves of the plant will grow out of the flower. I tried to find some information about this on the web but had no luck. Remaining ignorant, I still like the bud.

 

Mystery

I don't know what the story of the bottles is. All I know is that they caught my eye, so I took a picture. It wasn't until I blew it up on the monitor that I realized that the plastic bottles were filled with plastic bottles. Do bottles reproduce and have baby bottles? What gives here??

 

If you must know when and where all this took place - it was yesterday morning, at the corner of Highway 1 and the Point Reyes - Petaluma Road.

 

Mount Tamalpais

Sometimes I stoop low and play to the crowd. Pictures of Mount Tam are always received with accolades by my enthusiastic audience. But to tell the truth, I never tire of taking pictures of the Sleeping Maiden (as the mountain is known). I took this one from the gardens of the Falkirk Cultural Center in San Rafael.

 

Smarter than SMART

While the Sonoma-Marin-Area Rail Transit (better known as SMART) is moving from the conceptual stage toward the building stage (i.e. languishing), the Rancho Shazam Railroad is ready to go. It just lacks a few finishing touches. Passengers will have a lovely view of Mount Tamalpais (seen in the background) as they zip through Marin.

 

More Rancho Shazam

Here's the tightrope bike at Rancho Shazam again. I was really thrilled by everything I saw and by Lee's creativity. There'll be more in the days to come!

 

Rancho Shazam

Many of you drive past Rancho Shazam every day on your way to work and probably never notice it. It's located on Nellen Avenue (well, not quite), right next to 101, between the San Anselmo and Lucky Drive exits. If you know where Big 5 and Gold's Gym are, you can't miss it.

 

I paid Lee Greenberg, the owner and creator, a visit today, and wound up spending a couple of hours with this delightful guy. My picture shows Lee, his pooch Lambchop, and the Tin Man, posing in front of one of his buildings. If you look real close, you'll see a yellow bicycle doing a tight-rope act in the upper right.

 

I took lotsa pix and you'll get to see some of them in the days to come.

 

San Francisco Bay Bridge

I took this picture of the San Francisco Bay Bridge (on 2/21) from aboard the Larkspur Ferry on my pilgrimage to the S. F. Museum of Modern Art. The new tower, 525 feet high, dominates the scene. The bridge, scheduled for completion in late 2013, is a self-anchored suspension span, whatever that means. Searching for information on the Internet, I found a great website, complete with live web-cam -

http://baybridgeinfo.org

 

The Two Buddhas

I love the two Buddhas meditating by the Corte Madera Creek, not far from the College of Marin. For a long time the larger one sat there by his lonesome, then, one day, the smaller one appeared. The flowers serve to enhance the scene. Note that someone has placed a few pennies on the chest of the larger figure.

 

Joe

Sometimes the task of picking a picture for my Daily E-mail is really daunting. Today being an example. I needed to choose between my pictures of Lady Gaga doing a handstand, Moammar Gadhafi in the nude, Joe, and some closeups of an open-heart operation (I think that's what it was). Feeling like an American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences decider, I finally picked the picture of Joe. He was very excited when I said the magic words "And the winner of the Bloodshot Eyes Award is ................." He then humbly thanked his parents, his lovely wife, Jill, and his photographer (moi, once again). In case you are hot to meet him in person ~ Joe lives in Fairfax, CA.

 

A Ray of Sunshine

It was a dark and dreary morning, when a ray of sunshine broke through the clouds to illuminate the egret. Wow! No Photoshop! Honest!

 

I took the picture from the Ponds. In the background the Most Holy Rosary Chapel of the St. Vincent's School for Boys. Once a Gold Rush orphanage (established in 1855), the school is now a non-profit residential treatment center for troubled and abused boys.