1 Mile Walk at Five Rivers EEC
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Headed to Five Rivers for a brief walk before my run this afternoon, hoping to see a few more turtles enjoying the sunshine. I hadn't counted on the day camp they were running (lots of kids organized into various groups, presumably doing various nature-oriented activities out on the grounds) so I hustled down to the Beaver Pond without stopping by the bird feeders and flower garden - just wanted to get some quiet time at the pond in case a horde of campers headed that way.
Only a few turtles at the bridge - the big snapper and one of the smaller ones, and a couple of sliders. Maybe the cool weather has them less active. But while we were watching the turtles - mamma mallard came swimming across the pond with her ducklings tucked in behind her. Hurray! Apparently they all made it through Tuesday night's spillway mishap OK. I was hoping she'd go by the bridge but instead she took them into the marshy area, probably up onto the terraced beaver pond - makes sense, they're pretty much out of sight there and that keeps the squirts away from the big snapping turtles.
On my way down to the far end of the pond the kingfisher perched in the tree above the beaver lodge, which gave me a chance to get a couple of decent photos. Surprisingly few turtles on the logs at the far end - maybe that side of the pond doesn't get enough sun during the morning to make it worth climbing up on the logs. Perhaps I'll stop by on the way home and see if more are sunning themselves then...
JMH
