Softshell Turtle

We paid a morning visit to the Descanso Gardens,* a large park west of Pasadena.  Birds were very few, but we did find this large turtle close to an elaborate "Bird Observation Station." I think it's probably one of the many variants of the softshell turtle. 

The wedding which was the main point of our trip west was in the afternoon.  Our old friend Donna's daughter Sarah married Todd, in a brief but very touching ceremony.  She is from New York and he from Nevada, but they are both living and working in L.A. It was at a brewery, and I greatly enjoyed their superb brown ale--it almost approached Guinness.

* The  Habitat page on the Descanso Gardens' site is here , with an image of a hard-to see western gray squirrel captured by a remote camera.  No turtles, however :)