The Birds

U.S. Bank Birds, San Francisco, 2011.

Later tonight, if there's time, I'm watching The Birds, the Hitchcock film. I feel like this is a film I should know well because of my obsession with actual birds. Also, last weekend I drove with Catey through Bodega Bay, where a sign at a local hotel/restaurant had a sign displaying that Tippi Hedren was there over the weekend.

Today, I did some birding for a purpose. I wanted to photograph the male and female lazuli buntings that have been reported in the Presidio. I took photos (I'll upload them tomorrow) of both male and female... and the female was carrying grass (aka "nesting material") in her bill. For an ornithologist, this is exciting because it indicates they are breeding. From what I have heard, they've always been suspected, but not confirmed, to breed in the Presidio. This almost cinches it, but it will be interesting to keep watching in the next few weeks as they hopefully lay eggs, which will then hatch and fledge.

The eagle pattern on the building of my bank in the Mission is awesome, isn't it? From afar, it just looks like a typical grid. But, it's the eagle that forms the shape of the logo of U.S. Bank. I don't know whether that was intentional, but I assume so. Either way, it's a very organized flock of eagles -- only Escher could have done better.

El Capitan Façade

El Capitan, San Francisco, 2011.

What stands today is but a reminder of what this landmark once was. The façade still remains, but with billboards plastered on the marquee; the foyer is gutted so that cars can enter where movie patrons once did. The auditorium has been completely removed, and this is now a pay parking lot in the Mission district of SF. 

I found one link with some interesting research and a collection of marquee photos from the mid-1950s when theatres like this had not yet been snuffed out by television.

Shadow of a Feather

Peacock feather and Shadow, Brooklyn, 2010.

Dad and I both liked the way this shadow hit the wall at my brother's apartment in Brooklyn last Christmas. This photo probably has more meaning because I was surrounded by family when I took it. 

But even without the back story, I admire the symmetry and detail, the crispness of the form of the feather itself, the ability to make out the barbs and barbules on the feather. (Click on the image to zoom.)

I also like the lack of color in the photo, due to the intense back/sidelighting. Only a few colors can be made out at the head of the feather, where one expects a color explosion from his/her knowledge of the male peafowl's plumes.

Giant Novelty Golf Ball, Rancho Viejo, TX

Giant Novelty Golf Ball, Rancho Viejo, TX, 1997.

I snapped this as I drove, or more likely as my friend Jenna drove her Volvo back from South Padre Island to Santa Ana NWR, where we all lived. Jenna was in her second Americorps term and I my first, and we, along with other "refugees," as we called ourselves, would frequent the beach on our free weekends. 

This photo has two amazing elements. The concept and execution of imagining and painting a water tower to resemble a huge golf ball on a tee -- amazing. The second element: "Rancho Viejo" means "Old Ranch." This area of Texas is peppered with "Winter Texans," or snowbirds. It was probably named Rancho Viejo long before it became a retirement ranch for so many northern old folks. 

Digging a little deeper, I just learned that this tower looms over a HUGE (1,400-acre) resort and country club with the same name. It comes complete with "Winter Texan Memberships." To toss another amazing fact on the heap, they have no photos of this water tower on their website.