San Bruno Pt. - Nov. 16, 2009

Walking Distance: 2.23 miles
Walking Time: 1 hour, 23 minutes (1:10 - 2:33 p.m.)
Start & End Point: Public Parking lot/space, San Bruno Point, South San Francisco, CA

Another beautiful day. I walked today with my friend Sandy, and we discovered, as we walked south from San Bruno Point parking lot -- expecting to hit a dead end, that the dotted line (gap) shown on the Bay Trail map (south of San Bruno Pt.) was now a walkable path/trail. So, we headed south (toward the San Francisco airport); occasionally peered down at clumps of shorebirds embedded in the short grass and mud/sand by the water; and enjoyed the sun. We stopped at a bridge not far from Belle Air Rd. and Airport Blvd., turned around and headed north back to San Bruno Point.

Wildlife Sightings:
12 ducks; 27 sea gulls; 3 coots or large grebes; 40 little brown jobs (LBJs); 140 unidentified brownish shorebirds (small, medium & large); 4 willets; 1 dragonfly; 1 crow; 1 snowy egret; 3 Western grebes; 1 brown pelican

SamTrans Peninsula, South SF - Nov. 14, 2009

Walking Distance: .8 mile
Walking Time: 18 minutes (12:09 - 12:27 p.m.)
Start & End Point: Public Parking Lot, SamTrans Peninsula, South San Francisco, CA

My boyfriend Alec & I power-walked this little leaf-shaped peninsula, on the north side of San Francisco Airport, on our way up to the San Francisco Animation Festival. It was a beautiful day, and there were lots of birds in the more sheltered lagoon-like area (land side) West of the peninsula. (Not bad given how close we were to the airport -- see image of the United Airlines building nearby.) We also had a nice view of the mountain to the West lettered with "South San Francisco" on the hillside, that we frequently see off the freeway, as a blur.

I was excited to see (or more accurately recognize) my first bufflehead (black and white colored) ducks. (See grainy image -- only marginally better than the grainy photos you might see of the Loch Ness monster.)

Wildlife Sightings:
4 Canada geese; 2 pigeons; 5 Western grebes + black & white (bufflehead?) ducks feeding and flying together; 11 black-necked stilts (including 1 very loud one, warning others); 2 little brown jobs (LBJs) and songbirds; 53 very small unidentified brownish shorebirds; 12 American Avocets; 68 medium-larger unidentified brownish shorebirds (including some Willets); 48 ducks + 4 (shoveler?) ducks; 20 sea gulls; and 1 snowy egret

Burlingame to SFO - Nov. 3, 2009

Walking Distance: 2.11 miles
Walking Time: Approx. 1 hr. (5:30 - 7:15 p.m. total time including dinner stop)
Start & End Point: Public Parking near Mahler and Bayshore Highway, Burlingame, CA

I don't recommend walking the Bay Trail at night. But, on warm nights with a full moon, it can be beautiful. I got lucky and found the public parking lot in the dark, and heading Northwest I walked first as far as I could go (to the tidal gate(s), just North of the intersection of Millbrae Ave. and S. McDonnell, south of the San Francisco Airport (SFO). Then I turned around and walked Southeast, until I hit "the gap" zone where I ended up in someone's back parking lot (private property). I enjoyed a dinner stop at Benihana's (Japanese) restaurant, conveniently located right on the Bay Trail, out on a small point, with the moon lighting it from above. And speaking of the moon...

My only heartbreak this evening: not bringing a camera with me, because I thought it would be too dark. As if to mock me, a gigantic, cheddar cheese pumpkin of a moon rose out of the Bay, casting beautiful reflections on the water. Silhouettes of planes landing at SFO started to cross in front of it. Never leave your camera behind. I also have to say, it is impressive watching thundering planes/jets take off in pairs so close-up. Although I wouldn't want to live this close to a major airport without extra soundproofing in all my walls.

One final note: I was struck by how much more foot traffic there was in this segment this evening. Hurray, people walking, and taking advantage of this great resource we have at our disposal.

Wildlife Sightings:
None; I could hear a few shorebirds, but it was too dark to see any creatures - except a few dogs going walking with their owners.

Burlingame, Day 2 - Nov. 3, 2009

Walking Distance: 1.83 miles
Walking Time: 1 hour, 10 minutes (4:10 - 5:20 p.m.)
Start & End Point: Public Parking Lot by Anza Lagoon & Robert E. Woolley State Park, Burlingame, CA

I finished walking the two loops that are part of the Burlingame segment of the Bay Trail. The smallest loop is the walk around Anza Lagoon which is ringed by hotels, restaurants and office buildings, but still remains quiet and peaceful given the ample buffer space around the lagoon. The (lower portion of the) larger loop is made up of Airport Boulevard which is linked at both ends to the Bay Trail that fronts the Bay.

The weather was warm and beautiful. In the absence of wind, the water was very calm, and was bathed in pastel colors at sunset.
I watched two fishermen whose cell phones kept ringing.
(Does this scare the fish?)

Wildlife Sightings:
16 sea gulls; 5 little brown jobs (LBJs); 2 feral cats; 5 crows; 11 unidentified brownish shorebirds; 34 ducks; 2 snowy egrets; and 21 Willets

Burlingame, Part 1 - Nov. 2, 2009

Walking Distance: 3.15 miles
Walking Time: 3 hrs., 43 min. (1:46 - 5:29 p.m.) less 1.5 hrs. for breaks.
Start & End Point: Fisherman's Park parking lot,
Burlingame (near San Mateo border), CA


It was a beatiful day today: sunny, warm, and the Bay surface was
like glass.

I passed The Sherman (apparently an old, permanently docked Oakland Ferry boat) first. It took me a longtime to cover a little more than 3 miles, because I made two long stops: 1.) I paused to talk with a birder, NW of the Embassy Suites hotel, and that was quite a long, interesting conversation; and, 2.) I stopped to eat an early dinner at Max's Restaurant in Burlingame. The latter stop was also my turning around point. I took so many pictures of the moon rising on the way back that I worried the parking lot would be closed before I could pick up my car; but all was well. Run, run, picture, picture, run, run, picture, picture. I started to feel like a darting shorebird.

Wildlife Sightings:
3 cormorants; 8 Western grebes; 8 little tiny brown jobs (LBJs); 5 brown pelicans; 29 sea gulls; 2 butterflies; 2 feral cats (see image at right for cat next to the spay neuter Peninsula Humane Society building); 2 crows; 9 Canada geese flying overhead; 15 ducks (darker in color than normal mallards, saw on and under water); 105 UBBs in shallow water or water's edge; 3 black-necked stilts (flying past, close to water); 2 snowy egrets; 3 willets; 1 plover; and 1 couch.