Wordless Wednesday: Great Horned Owlets

Look how big they've gotten!

All Photos by Joe Moss, 19 March 2012

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Travel Tuesdays: Nature Walks in the City, cont'd

I've often blogged about finding a bit of nature in the city, whether it's flying kites on the National Mall, exploring the beach in a coastal city, or observing the moon's phases over the course of a month.  Last month, when we visited my sisters in San Francisco, I blogged about all of our nature sightings in San Francisco Parks.

Since we returned home, we've been getting updates from my sister about two particular sightings: the nesting Great Horned Owl in Golden Gate Park (She stars in my new blog header- photo by me) and the Anna's Hummingbird nesting near her apartment.

My sister's friend Joe Moss, of Urban Owls took some amazing photographs (All photos are the property of Joe Moss. They are used here with permission).

Great Horned Owl and owlets in Golden Gate Park

Photo taken 1 March 2013

Photo taken 6 March 2013

Photo taken 6 March 2013

You never know what you might be missing if you're constantly rushing from place to place. This Anna's hummingbird nest is in a tree overhanging the sidewalk near my sister's apartment. People unknowingly walk below it all day long.

Photo taken 1 March 2013

Photo taken 3 March 2013

Photo taken 3 March 2013

Once I started communicating with Joe to secure permission to use his photos, he also sent me these photos of a coyote  taken in Golden Gate Park.

Photo taken 8 March 2013

Photo taken 8 March 2013

While I wish I were still in San Francisco to see these beautiful birds fledge, I'm excited to receive updates from my sister. My sister tells me my 3 year old niece was sad when the hummers fledged last week- her little friends move on- but I know they had fun watching their growth.

What amazing nature sightings have you made in the city lately? Will you slow down and look a little closer?

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Nature Walks in the City

As most of you know, I live in the country, so spending time in nature is easy. City dwellers may think nature is hard to find, but if you take a close look, it's all around you, too. I've written about plants growing up through cracks in the sidewalk and birds on city wires before, but even I need to be reminded about the number of animals that can be observed in city parks.

Case in point: all of our animal sitings in San Francisco parks last week. On Thursday, we saw loads of gophers holes in Sutro Park and could have seen them emerge if we had been patient enough to wait. But we were on a mission to see Sutro Sam, a river otter that lives in the Sutro baths so we kept walking. And just as we walked up... there he was! Lots of other people were gathered watching for him, too- he's a bit of a celebrity in the area.

Another day, we went on an adventure to see the Bison that live in golden Gate Park. Obviously, these are not wild animals, but the kids were excited to see them. Along the way, however, we made some pretty exciting observations.

We saw loads of ducks.

 Five raccoons

 And the most exciting observation.... a nesting Great Horned Owl!

Can you see her there camouflaged in the middle?

A man nearby also told us he had just seen a coyote along a wooded trail nearby.

All in all, it was a pretty exciting adventure. We were excited and pooped out at the end of our long walk.

So even if you think there aren't many animals in your city, take a closer look. I'd love to know what you find.

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