Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Animal Wednesday - what I've seen.


Between biking and walking I've seen lots of animals this week...well "seen" in a funny word to me this week. I've had an eye infection that has been painful and won't (of course) allow me to wear my contacts that I use for reading.  So my vision has been long, and I've had to look up and out and enjoy what I can see far away.  Unless I have glasses on I can't see the camera lens picture, so I just "point and shoot" and hope something good comes out.    A long philosophical discussion about eyes and glasses at a later date - stay tuned. 

This is a pic of one of my favorite walks - a water reservoir near my house.  Walking distance, round trip to the lake, around and back is about 4 miles.   Good on a lovely cool summer morning. 

There was a heron in the lake and I got a very fuzzy far away shot of it. 

These Canada geese were enjoying the water and completely ignored me - which was good cause they can be scary if they want to.


We saw this little turtle on the bike path. He was super still, and so brown and funny that we actually thought he was dead. But after I took these pics he scuttled away.   Is he/she a snapper? I'm not sure.



Then I saw this toad, just sitting by the side of the bike path.   I think it's a brown toad. He didn't move at all as I snapped away,  and I managed to get down and get a picture of his happy face.


Isn't he awesome?


I missed getting a pic of the snake that slithered across the path, boy can they move.  By this time I was starting to wonder why I was seeing so many animals, and then realized that they sky was darkening dramatically and a huge storm was on it's way.  So we turned around and went back to the parking lot to pack it in.

In the parking lot, I saw this poor little painted turtle walking and heading to the grass. How he/she got into the parking lot I'll never know but it was obvious that there was no way it could get over the curb.


I got gloves from the car and tried to help by picking it up and putting it on the grass.  I succeeded but only after practically chasing the animal - clearly it thought I was about to eat it and it scuttled SO fast that I couldn't keep up.  I finally did catch it, put him on the grass and hopefully it found a place to stay.



 Finally a RedTailed hawk flew right by us - chasing a small bird (didn't catch it).  He/She perched for awhile and then flew away with swooshing wing sounds.

Happy Animal Wednesday - we're off on vacation and no good computer access, so have a lovely few weeks.

10 comments:

Lisa at Greenbow said...

You have had some wonderful animal encounters. I hope your eyes heal while you are on vacation. Have a great time. I will look forward to seeing all you present about you time away.

Cris, Artist in Oregon said...

Some great Animal sightings you had..Have a lovely Vacation. Will miss you. HAW

Lynn Cohen said...

Whew, I am exhausted from this animal adventure(s)! Some amazing creatures you encountered on a walk! that bumpy toad has so much personality! And I am so happy the turtle got rescued from the parking lot where things could have gone so bad for him but didn't. I hope he wasn't too truamatized by being chased and handled by yours truely. I need a vacation to relax from all of that...especially that unseen (by me) snake slithering across the road.

Have a wonderful vacation and hope the eyes clear up quickly. That is no fun at all.

Teri said...

You have seen such interesting animals. Must be a nature haven around your house.

HAW

sukipoet said...

have a fun and relaxing vacation. hope the eye clears up soon. the turtle and toad blend in so well with the path they are on.

Katiejane said...

Wow! You saw scads of animals! Happy Wednesday to you, too!

Anonymous said...

Hi Mim, it has been a long time since I visited, oh my, these are awsome shots! All those animals in once place, and you saw a snake too! so many turtles live there! When I saw those all those critters I had to look again where you live, (I'd forgotten) and thought: that can't be in Europe. :) have a wonderful day, hope you eyes are better!

studio lolo said...

What a perfect AW post!

I'm sorry about your eye :(

A few weeks?? Wow, now that's a vacation!!
Have a wonderful time whatever you do.

xo
lo♥

yoborobo said...

A few weeks sounds great to me! Love your pics, and that you saved the turtle. :) Hope your eye gets better fast! xox

Robin said...

Wonderful photos.....ooh that Turtle..so adorable! I am happy you saved him!!! The Geese!!! The Hawk!

I hope by the time you read this, your eye is much, much better!

HAVE A SUPER, SUPER, DUPER HOLIDAY!

And....*Frohe Geburtstag*!!!!!!!

Love, Always,

♥ Robin ♥