After flying a bit, as the wind rises in late morning I often take a walk around Baylands Park, giving the chargers time to top up batteries while I enjoy the local sights.

Monday I saw lots of California Ground Squirrels, Spermophilus beecheyi, harvesting and eating seeds from tall stalks of grass.

Spermophilus, their genus name, means “lover of seeds.”

They sat upright, grabbing stalks and pulling them close to nibble the seeds.

They were so intent on feeding that they let me get close with my camera.

Enter the Fox. A week or so ago, the squirrels were less evident, but while I was watching a pair of Canada Geese and their brood walking along the bank of the Slough of Despond, a kit fox, Vulpes macrotis, popped out from the underbrush, first focusing on the family of geese, then turning to notice me.

I froze, afraid to spook the fox by reaching for my camera.

The fox looked at me for a long minute or two, then turned and walked away.

That day I also saw a long-eared jackrabbit racing along the cracked, dry earth by the long pier that extends into the Baylands.

Another Snake. Oh yeah, and another glossy gopher snake, a three footer, crossing the path in front of me. As it glided into the scrub, it dissolved from sight.

So far this year, we haven’t seen the explosion of baby ground squirrels that swarmed the park last June.

But maybe they’re still coming. Perhaps the focused seed eaters were hungry parents fortifying themselves for another bout of baby sitting.

Tags: Baylands, Gallery, Snakes.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 9th, 2009 at 9:20 am and is filed under Baylands. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.