I really don't want to leave here. There are deer grasing outside the room and a Dark-eyed Junco singing its heart out. Its so peaceful among the pines. I could easily get used to this.
Breakfasted, blogged then picked up Linda to return to San Francisco with a rather large detour via the Panoche Valley. We got there with assistance and occasional hindrance from Homer Simpson. The route there took us through rough chapparal habitat. We saw Nuttall's Woodpecker, Oak Titmouse, Spotted Towhee, Western and Mountain Bluebirds and Yellow-billed Magpie, among plenty of other birds. Possibly the best thing we saw was a pair of Acorn Woodpeckers next to their store tree. The bark was riddled with hundreds of holes, most of which had a single acorn inside. The woodpeckers were busy tending their harvest and adding new acorns to the stash.
The Panoche Valley proper was a flat plain with dry rough grassland, and apparently home to a substantial flock of Mountain Plovers. They are supposed to be here all winter, but the last report was back in December. We tried this and a number of potential places with no luck. There were numerous Savannah Sparrows all along the fence lines, acting for all the world like Meadow Pipits. Say's Phoebe seemed to be reasonably common too. We saw a cracking Golden Eagle next to the road which took off and flew over our heads. This signalled the time to break off and head up to San Francisco.
We dropped Linda off at her hotel, but not before I drove the wrong way up a one-way street. Oops. Actually, I was surprised by how the chaos I caused seemed to cause so little animosity. We checked into a Holiday Inn near Fisherman's Wharf, found an Italian Restaurant for a meal, then watched a film (Black Dahlia).
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