land ho...

...suddenly everyone became skittish...

running about - honking, yelping, screeching...

mama and papa goose and the little goslings scurried for the water like there was no tomorrow... i've never seen them all move so quickly... one minute we were all in conversation, happy as clams - the next, they'd abandoned all to head out...

i was left to wander around looking, looking, looking and finally... over across the water - on the other side of the shore, i saw him... a rather large fox... on the prowl... back and forth - back and forth - back and forth - he went on the path... then he went down to the edge of the water. i thought for a moment he was actually going to hop in and swim but i think he was just using it as a scare tactic. the geese and ducks, and all the little ones were gathered into the center of the lake huddled in a tight circle. i was standing quietly on the other side watching.... praying.... for him to go off into the park away from us. after several minutes - that felt like hours - he did just that... trotted off, looking back yet keeping a steady course away from us. whew.... such a close call.

he was too far away for me to get any decent pics... my heart was racing much too fast anyway so it's just as well.

happy day.....