City Park Lagoon
I was on one of the bridges over City Park Lagoon yesterday finishing my lunch when one of the Park’s Ugly Ducklings swam over and proceeded to thoroughly intimidate the turtles. The closest one retreated completely inside his shell just after I snapped this. I’ve seen one hiss at a nutria until the nutria backed away and they're not nearly as timid as turtles. The swans rule this lagoon with an iron fist.
City Park Lagoon. I’m not sure who’s tending to City Park right now. It’s either volunteers or a skeleton crew. It needs more attention but it's still beautiful.
118 days until football season...........................
Quote of the Day
It's best to leave on top. Not many players in the NFL get a chance to do what I'm doing today and walk away from the game happy. I can live the rest of my life happy.
Jimmy Smith, Jacksonville Jaguars
Blog of the day here.
Quote from said blog: "When the year is about to pass on, to die, our lives seem more transparent. When the sun is shining, as it is now, and when the cherry trees and the dogwoods are dumping flower petals like snow showers, as they have been, it’s hard to believe that we won’t live forever."
2 TrackBacks
Listed below are links to blogs that reference this entry: City Park Lagoon.
TrackBack URL for this entry: http://01f3666.netsolhost.com/cgi-bin/mt/rf20908-tb.cgi/132
Canadian GeeseThe pair at top seem to have to oldest goslings. The two pair in the second image are a contrast. The far ones seem relaxed whereas the near ones seem determined to get wherever they're going. Heads tilted forward, hurry up, hurry up. Ha... Read More
Canadian Geese, delmer. Wish light had been better but it's nearing sunset and it's also overcast at CrabAppleLane this Mother's Day. The pair at top have the oldest and the most goslings. The two pair in the second image are a contrast. The far ones ... Read More
Poor turtles! But that's such a lovely picture.
The turtles eat the babies so that's why the water fowl run them off if they can. I learned that from John Lawson who told a funny story on his father who had a pond on his farm and couldn't understand why the baby ducks kept disappearing. He finally saw the big snapping turtle -- had turtle soup for lunch next day. Something like that.
In the Chesapeake Bay region, mute swans are a serious threat to the Bay ecosystem. They're an introduced exotic that the Maryland DNR is actively trying to control with mixed success. Part of the problem is that the public has difficulty understanding how such an attractive bird can be a threat to crabs, fish, and native birds.
Nice pictures though.
K-
Canadian Geese intimidate me a bit. They're all over the place here.
It's not that I'm afraid one might actually hurt me. I'm more concerned that one will try to bite me, peck me, whatever they do and I'll have to react and at that moment a school bus full of kids will be going past.
I guess I'm more afraid one will humiliate me. And, like most men, if I'm going to be humiliated I'd prefer a woman do it.
Beautiful pictures. Yeah, City Park is nice. You made me want to visit!
Thanks, Andrea, I thought that swan was going to peck at those turtles. Apparently, they got the message without the peck.
These aren't snappers, Mom, but they may also be a threat to small birds or eggs. Snappers defend themselves pretty aggressively. Tried to get one out of the middle of the road in Madisonville one time so he wouldn't get run over. He wouldn't let me.
Yeah, Kem, Louisiana has a storied history of introducing wildlife that don't produce the desired effect. Nutrias, introduced accidentally, and crane flies, introduced intentionally, have made a nuisance of themselves. The latest is parrots. I see several varieties in trees and on neutral grounds all over the city. I think they're mostly escaped pets but the New Orleans climate is not that much different than their indigenous climate so they're surviving and thriving. No idea what effect that will have.
Wild animals have never concerned me much, delmer. The axiom that they're more afraid of you than you are of them is usually true. Still, I try to give the larger ones a wide berth. I find people's pets to be much more unpredictable because you're usually in their environment and that's threatening to them. When Fido's owner says he doesn't bite, it only means he hasn't bitten his owner. Yet. I don't care much for humiliation regardless of who does it. Man, woman, or beast.
It will break your heart, Renee. The park's oak trees took a beating from Katrina's winds and from the flood waters. It looks like most of them will survive but they need attention. They're not at their best right now. The park is pretty desolate during the week days when I go. Haven't been on weekends. I like the quiet but that's not what this park was built for. It is supposed to have people picnicking and kids playing, running, jumping, laughing, and screaming.