Marin Headlands, San Francisco
Hiking and Bird Watching
Sunday, September 23, 2007
Preethi and Julia bundled up against the morning cold.
Julia and I picked up Preethi on Sunday so we could drive to the Marin Headlands for some raptor spotting and hiking.
The weather was dreary in the morning, as you can see from the sky in this shot of Preethi and Julia, but it cleared up in the afternoon. Still, San Francisco always seems gorgeous no matter what the weather is doing.
In this photo, we captured a Turkey Vulture in full glide.
This is the time of year when many different species of raptors, or birds of prey, migrate south for better feeding grounds. Since these birds do not like to fly over water but prefer to follow the coastline on their trek south, the Marin Headlands becomes a great vantage point to view them. The reason the Marin Headlands is such a special spot is because it is bracketed by the Pacific Ocean on the west side and San Pablo Bay on the east side, funneling the birds onto the narrow headlands.
It got warmer in the afternoon.
It was quite funny how we got this and several other photos of the raptor in flight. We had walked up to Hawk Hill, where all the very enthusiastic bird watchers and ornithologists had gathered to view the migrations. We saw a few birds in the distance but weren’t very impressed. Then, as we were walking down from Hawk Hill, we managed to get these close-up shots of exactly what they were all looking for.
We drove down to the beginning of the Coastal Trail and headed out for a four-hour hike up and down the beautiful Marin Headlands hills. The weather eventually cleared up, and we all had a great time hiking.