feng_shui_house: me at my computer (Default)
feng_shui_house ([personal profile] feng_shui_house) wrote2017-02-12 11:24 am

The Water is Fowl (pic spam)

Ok, 2 posts of pic spam is enough for one day. More photos tomorrow.


The Chinese goose, despite the name, is a domestic breed that originated in Africa.
chinese-goose_4587.jpg

This coot got the munchies and dove for a beak ful of greens.
coot_4349.jpg

Judging from the hooked tip to the beak, this is a cormorant. There are also anhinga in my area which are very similar, but have a straight beak. The cormorant has oil glands, and so it can waterproof its feathers. The anhinga is a much more primitive species and lacks the gland, so it must hold out its wings to dry them in between swimming, or else it would sink.
cormorant_4603.jpg

Domestic geese were once used as guardians. The big males in particular are wary of strangers. This fellow, living in a park with a constant influx of new humans, was just making sure I didn't get near his girlfriend, but wasn't being aggressive.
goose_4760.jpg

Found an isolated corner in the 'farm' area (I can't call it a farm- it has a herd of goats, 7 shaggy ponies, and a wire enclosed shed so dark you can barely see the 4 chickens inside). Two minutes walk away from the bare sand of the goat enclosure there's a building with a restroom where I washed my hands after goat petting and behind the building is a water feature that flows over coral rocks and meanders down to a giant banyan tree and then on to join one of the many lakes. And there were two pretty ducks snoozing in a patch of sun.
sleeping-ducks_4459.jpg

At first I thought this was a great white egret, and then I saw the yellow feet and the yellow at the base of the beak. This is a snowy egret. I couldn't get very close, alas.

More photos tomorrow. You know, I only look at the one small area of the park and that still takes me 3 hours to see everything. My regular taxi guy couldn't pick me up, so he sent a friend who was apparently not familiar with the exit (turn right around where he came in - a minutes drive) and we wound up going most of the length of the park on the internal road I'd never gone by. I had known they had an extensive dog park, and tennis courts, and buildings for indoor sports, and a bike trail, but I didn't know they had a big lake set up with pylons and cables to pull people on water skis! This park is really, really full of stuff. I like my quiet corner with the unplanned wildlife. :^)
snowy-egret_4367.jpg

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