anonsally:

Rainy day hike

Yesterday, Wife and I bravely proceeded with our plan to go for a short hike in a new place, despite the inclement weather. We selected a trail on land owned by the municipal utilities district, bought a hiking permit (good for a year!) and drove out to the trailhead (top photo). 

I wore my yellow rain PONCHO and trail gaiters, so I stayed fairly dry and thus warm–though it was pretty muddy and squelchy, and sometimes I was afraid I would slip and fall. Still, hiking in the rain can be nice because there aren’t so many people on the trails. We really enjoyed this hike, which had some of the best wildlife we’ve seen all year:

• First of all, in an early foresty bit, there was a group of woodpeckers harassing a squirrel! (Alas, I didn’t bring my binoculars because Wife does not like to stop [in her defense, this hike was intended to be for exercise purposes], so I couldn’t identify what type of woodpeckers they were.) I suspect it was a trespassing issue, since the squirrel was on a dead tree with lots of holes drilled in it, which was presumably the home of the woodpeckers. They eventually chased it away–it leapt onto an adjacent pine tree.
• Then we crossed over a bridge (2nd photo) and admired some very cute coots in the river. 
• We passed a man with binoculars a bit later. Seeing a mixed flock of juncos and what might have been white-crowned sparrows, at first I thought that’s what the binocular man was looking at.
• However, then we saw a couple of coyotes! One of them crossed the trail in front of us, but the other stayed along the side of the trail; I got a photo of it (Row 3: original photo and crop showing the coyote more clearly–good camouflage!). I think the man with binoculars was probably admiring the coyotes. I knew they existed around here, but it’s the first time I’ve seen a coyote in Bay Area, though I did see them occasionally in the 1990s when I lived in San Diego.
• Anyway, the scenery was also good, and we saw plenty of Canada geese and an egret in the water (Row 4), as well as some pleasing fall foliage (Row 5) and good views (Row 6). 

On our way back we crossed the bridge again (Row 7) and returned to the car just as the light rain was turning into a downpour. 

Reposted from https://lies.tumblr.com/post/637533709639237632.