the Way of the Turtle

3.2 Mile Walk Along the Genesee Riverway at Turning Point Park & Ontario Beach Park
Sunday, March 15, 2009

Not the best start to the day - woke up with a cold (sneezing, sniffles, tired... bleah) which made the drive out to Rochester seem much longer than usual. But when I got there it was another gorgeous warm, sunny afternoon, so Ann and I decided to go over the Turning Point Park and Ontario Beach Park for a bit of walking.

Turning Point was packed with people - there were only a couple of parking spots left when we arrived, and there were walkers, runners, riders, and fishing people there pretty much the entire time. Guess everyone enjoys a nice March afternoon! We walked almost to the other side of the boardwalk. Not as much wildlife when we were there in February... we spotted a few mallards, gulls, red-winged backbirds, and two swans (one of whom looked like she had nesting in mind.) The mergansers flew by once, but we didn't see any swimming. The wind blowing along the river also cooled things down quite a bit, so I was glad I'd brought a heavier jacket that I could change into at Ontario Beach.

No surprise, lots of people at Ontario Beach Park too. We walked out on the long concrete jetty and checked out the numerous gulls and mallards. Further out along the jetty there was a flock of birds in the water that we first thought were gulls, but then they started diving underwater and the zoom on my camera showed that they were some kind of duck. Spent a while watching them and listening to their call, which led us to refer to them as "barking ducks" for the rest of the time we were there. (Checking my field guide and www.whatbird.com revealed that they are actually called Long-tailed ducks, mostly due to the long pinfeathers that extend out behind the males.)

Walked out to the light at the end of the jetty, and I spent a while figuring out how to use the timer on my camera so we could get a picture together. On the way back to shore we passed a fellow with a bag of bread who incited a feeding frenzy with the gulls, and I contributed with some potato chips I brought to throw to the birds. Got some neat photos of the gulls swooping around, though the lack of a viewfinder makes it really tough to get a zoomed photo of a flying bird... maybe I'll get better at that in time. (Or I'll just keep using my old camera for shots like that.) Watched the ducks for a little while longer (it's a trip watching them dive under and pop back up a little while later) and then headed back to the car for the drive home and some dinner.

JMH