Sunday, February 14, 2010

The Candelaria Nature Center

We took the folks down to the Candelaria Nature Center on Saturday for some bird watching.  After all, it is the weekend of the Great American Backyard Bird Count. 

The feeding station near the entrance trail was full of activity with chickadees, nuthatches, woodpeckers, and assorted small brown birds.

The pond behind the visitors center was full of action.  Wood ducks, coots, ring-necked ducks, mallards, and geese were there in abundance.  Also out enjoying the day were, to our surprise, turtles.  As you can see in the photo, there were red-ears, sliders and soft-shelled turtles sunning themselves on the logs in front of the viewing portal.  Did someone forget to tell them they're cold-blooded?  The water must be only 50 degrees, yet here they were, able to swim up, clamber onto a log and catch some rays. 

Trust me, Terrance hasn't gotten out of his burrow this winter despite the sunshine.  With temps near 20 at night, he's bundled up tight underneath the Vinca. 

1 comment:

CE Webster said...

Great post--Too Cold For The Water!