Hi, I’m Michael.

I want to thank my daughter Danielle and her man Ben for encouraging me to share this content. To know is to love, to love is to appreciate, in appreciation lifes beauty and wonders I realize the value of sharing these blessings. I hope visitors to this site find something worth their time and are inspired to look up and wonder. What native wild nature lives in my neighborhood? (especially Alessandra and Clara)

Throughout the stories and gallery I mention the first name of some acquaintances with whom I shared the journey. Thank you David, we only spoke once, I appreciate your encouragement.

On this site are short stories followed by the gallery. Enjoy Wild Niles.

Wild Niles, California

As long as I can remember predatory birds have fascinated me. When I was a punk kid my dad’s longest running “dad joke” was to call every bird I pointed out a Turkey Vulture, but I kept looking up and asking anyway. Later in life, maybe 20 years ago I started taking “stay healthy” walks through my Niles neighborhood park along Alameda Creek called Quarry Lakes. I noticed predatory birds were my neighbors just steps from my front door so I decided to start photographing my lucky sightings. The best of my Wild Niles neighborhood journeys, and other lucky encounters, will be shared on this site. Included among my “Wild Niles” neighbors are the Bald Eagle, Golden Eagle, Red Tailed Hawk, Cooper’s Hawk, Peregrine Falcon, Merlin, American Kestrel, Osprey, White Tailed Kite, Burrowing Owl, Barn Owl, Great Horned Owl, Northern Harrier, Kingfisher, and yes, my dad’s Turkey Vulture.

UNLIKELY HEROES

Just outside my front door in my “Wild Niles” neighborhood native natures struggle for survival between predator and prey plays out every day. On this day of my hunt for sightings of one of my Wild Niles neighbors, as I approached the Lago Los Osos overlook (Quarry Lakes) off Alameda Creek, I witnessed the struggle of Bald Eagle to get food outmatched by lone Mallard’s struggle to not be food. To top it off the story has unexpected heroes, a pair of Canada Geese.

The predator circled and dove attempting to snatch its prey, over and over, from different directions. Flying right above me I could see Bald Eagle’s focus on it’s target. With each approach the hunter reached out, wings open, legs outstretched, talons grabbing into the water. Anticipating each attack the hunted dove under the water at just the right time to avoid capture. Submerging too early meant resurfacing right into the talons. Dive too late and it would be an easy grab. On one pass lone Mallard’s timing was off and Bald Eagle reached into the water and came up with feathers (in the title pic of Bald Eagle you can see talons gripping a lone Mallard feather “trophy” while circling for another attempt). The injured lone Mallard prevailed and Bald Eagle was denied the meal. During the entire episode the two Canada Geese never left lone Mallard. They did not retreat or take flight. They held ground by staying close, kept full attention on the unfolding life or death drama and vocalized while flapping their wings. Bald Eagle finally tired, retreated to a tree overlooking Lago Los Osos to reflect on the battlefield of frustration. The Canada Geese escorted lone Mallard to the safety of shrubs along the lakes edge, right under Bald Eagles “nose”.

In the natural world of predator and prey, that overlaps with our human world, there is no judgement of good or bad, right or wrong. It is just the way of nature. But from this encounter with my Wild Niles neighbors, I find myself questioning whether when Canada Geese put themselves in harms way, against survival instincts, to protect lone Mallard, there is a conclusion that is inescapable. Courage, sacrifice, and facing danger to help others inspires respect and appreciation, perhaps even from a hungry Bald Eagle. Enjoy Wild Niles.

( thank you to courageous Military and first responders, Police, Fire, Medical and all who sacrifice and face danger for others)

Full Moon Rise over Wild Niles, Ca.

Wednesday eve December 7th, 2022 I went to Lago Los Osos, Quarry Lakes to take pics of the full moon rising over Wild Niles. When setting up my camera before sunset I noticed the downtown Niles American flag was at half mast (pic 1). It was in honor of Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day. After sunset, as the full moon rose so did the flag to full mast (pic 2). In pic 3 with the Union Pacific Engine 1097 Mars is barely visible below and to the left of Bella Luna. Pic 4 shows the scene including Lago Los Osos in the foreground. Honoring the past, appreciating the present, looking to the future. (Thank you veterans, appreciating that our precious American freedom is not free)

The Eucalyptus Perch

Sweet, Sweeter, and Sweetest

The following may be a factor why Fremont, Ca. is ranked 2025 happiest city in the USA.

When it comes to places where the native natural world and the human world overlap in a relatively healthy balance the Niles district of Fremont, Ca. is a sweet spot. The neighborhood is surrounded by

-The undeveloped East Bay foothills, bright emerald green in late winter and spring, golden brown in summer and fall.

-Niles Canyon, a Sycamore and Oak Riparian Forest whose life source is Alameda Creek.

-Alameda Creek, an antecedent perennial stream carrying relatively clean water from over 600 square miles of watershed (from Mt Diablo to Mt Hamilton to the Altamont pass) through Niles Canyon and Niles on its way to the San Francisco Bay.

Niles ponds and Quarry lakes which are filled by Alameda Creek.

Even sweeter is Lago Los Osos, a protected lake in our neighborhood East Bay Regional Park. Thoughtfully created from gravel pits Quarry Lakes has varied habitats including lakes, wooded areas, a slough and a meadow providing fertile ground for our wild Niles neighbors to thrive.

The sweetest spot, where I have encountered the most variety of Wild Niles neighbors up close, is “The Eucalyptus Perch”. Between Alameda Creek and Lago Los Osos, three hundred steps upstream from Sequoia bridge, standing among a grove of Oak and Pine trees is a Eucalyptus tree with the top fifteen feet being deadwood on two main branches. It provides an ideal perch view of the lake and the creek for our wild winged neighbors. Throughout the gallery are pics of our Wild Niles neighbors on the Eucalyptus perch.

Wild Niles is all about connecting with nature. Please enjoy this silhouette series of Bald Eagle connecting with The Eucalyptus Perch.

57 Z

YOU NEVER KNOW WHERE TAKING A PICTURE CAN TAKE YOU

On this Wild Niles adventure I was talking with Christine and Dan at the Alameda Creek/Lago Los Osos overlook bench when I noticed an interesting bird on The Eucalyptus Perch. We all walked closer, downstream on the Alameda Creek Trail, and spent a few minutes shoulder to shoulder taking full photographic advantage of the encounter. It was a relatively rare sight, a Peregrine Falcon.

As usual, I rushed home to my computer to download the images, hoping to have taken good advantage of the lucky sighting. When cropping and optimizing the pics I noticed the Falcon was banded with the marking 57 Z.

This started a search for answers. Who banded this bird? Can I find them and learn more? Are they interested in the sighting? It took a few weeks of searching the internet when finally a clue. The UC Santa Cruz Predatory Bird Research Group monitors Peregrine Falcons and the director is named Zeca. I remember telling Dez that this may be a coincidence, but I was sure I was on to something. Zeca, the director of the group appreciated the sighting info and told me that 57 Z was banded by them, a female hatched on a monitored rooftop nest in downtown San Jose 12 years earlier.

Zeca also invited me ( and Dez ) to become citizen scientists for the Predatory Bird Research Group. We signed up and got to monitor a Peregrine nesting site and report our observations. When the UC Santa Cruz Predatory Bird Research Group started in 1975 the known Peregrine nesting sites in California were a just a few because of environmental stresses (DDT). Thanks to the effort of the PBRG the Peregrine Falcon populations in California have been restored. The UCSC PBRG has “led the Peregrine Falcon reintroduction effort on the west coast of North America and helped bolster populations of other species of predatory birds” (PBRG website). Thank you for the good work, we are proud to have volunteered.

Taking the 57 Z shot led to an adventure with Dez. As citizen scientists, we helped in a small way to protect wild nature and got to encounter a beautiful Peregrine Falcon pair, nest, and hatchlings. Priceless.