All the early-morning pickleweed planting, all the garbage bags full of fast-food wrappers, and all the endless volunteer hours have finally paid off: San Francisco's gritty southeastern waterfront is so clean a family of rare raptors has moved in and set up house.
A pair of osprey, a species never before reported in San Francisco, has built a nest atop a 150-foot crane at Pier 80. While cement trucks and America's Cup workers rumble along the shoreline, the striking black-and-white birds with 6-foot wingspans swoop and dive across the water, snagging fish for their growing family.