Summertime and the Living Is Easy

Red-shouldered hawk perched at the edge of the marsh right by our house. This species is one of the most common raptors in the Pacifica area, nesting in eucalyptus trees.

Black oystercatcher is one of a pair nesting on a sea stack off Rockaway Headland. It was standing guard on the mainland shore when we found it. Though the offshore nest is inaccessible to land mammals like me, in typical oystercatcher fashion, the bird tried to lure me away, squatting down like it was sitting on a nest. After this photo session, the bird flew back out to the sea stack to rejoin its mate and their two downy young.

Seed pods of Nuttall's milk vetch, a plant of very exposed, seaward-facing slopes on the headland.

Dramatic lighting at sunset atop Rockaway Headland.

Paul Donahue