A Sunday Outing...

...possibly the first en famille by the look of the babies. Mama had her hands webbed feet full marshaling them into a line of sorts, only to have them break ranks and start swimming in all directions. Patiently, she would round them all up again, but never did have complete success with the little fellow on her left, who seemed determined to assert his independence....

It was a lovely (and busy) Sunday morning elsewhere in Spring Lake Park and the adjoining Haworth Park. Mothers and fathers were out pushing jogging strollers, some with the intended occupant toddling beside the empty stroller. There were rowboats out on Spring Lake and the boat house was open with paddleboats and kayaks for rent. Lake Ralphine was lined with people fishing and discussing how many fish they were catching. A man stood by the lake on his phone discussing his real estate needs in a loud voice. There was a guided hike gathered in a group receiving their instructions,. There were joggers, bicyclists, dog walkers and numerous groups of chatting women. There were picnickers gathered around the tables,  families enjoying the day together, and a football coach earnestly coaching one of his students to play defense.

The bird population was equally busy--honkers were loudly earning their nickname, and ducks were everywhere, even the mama with her babies was unfazed by the proximity of so many people. A pair of swans kept a dignified distance. A man throwing sticks in the lake for his dog told us that he had seen a river otter grab the leg of one of the swans. He threw rocks at it and drove it away, but this was the first time he had seen the swans since then.

Back home again, we surprised a couple of turkeys sizing up our "water feature", much more suited to the tiny Lesser Goldfinches who favor it.  Several quail, heretofore rather shy, were boldly marching around underneath the bird feeders, while the very shy titmouse seemed to sit and enjoy his seed rather than carrying it off to some distant branch to crack it. Three hairy woodpeckers lined up on the edge of the roof peering over the edge at the action, while a very large , and a very blue blue jay  attempted to eat out of the swinging suet feeder with none of the athletic ability of the creepers, who can actually hang upside down on it and eat at the same time.

I almost fell asleep on the porch reading the Sunday New York Times--a fitting way to spend a Sunday....