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Down by the Riverside, Part 1
We drove down to the edge of the river, parked and headed west on the bike path. There was plenty of wildlife and lush greenery to entertain us.
No homeless camping here today, but there were signs that the city recently cleared this area.
This little green bird had a large voice and wonderful song.
The Bird of Paradise was appreciative, and glowed in the morning sunlight.
Apparently this is the Love Lost & Found bulletin board?
Not knowing what else to do, we walked on down to the water.
This is a nature preserve so the birds are safe from hunters.
We decided to go West to the next bridge, cross the river and walk back on the other side.
I don’t want to know what these squirrels are doing (closes eyes).
Some one has been here stacking rocks for hundreds of yards along the water.
First camp of the day, about 20 feet from a freeway.
More squirrels everywhere (probably related to the couple shown above)
There were plenty of cool birds too, doing their morning fishing.
Someone decided to move towards the beach; didn’t need to rent a U-Haul as apparently he can carry his whole kit on his back. T'was pedalling very slowly, into the wind.
Having been headed West,
No homeless camping here today, but there were signs that the city recently cleared this area.
This little green bird had a large voice and wonderful song.
The Bird of Paradise was appreciative, and glowed in the morning sunlight.
Apparently this is the Love Lost & Found bulletin board?
Not knowing what else to do, we walked on down to the water.
This is a nature preserve so the birds are safe from hunters.
We decided to go West to the next bridge, cross the river and walk back on the other side.
I don’t want to know what these squirrels are doing (closes eyes).
Some one has been here stacking rocks for hundreds of yards along the water.
First camp of the day, about 20 feet from a freeway.
More squirrels everywhere (probably related to the couple shown above)
There were plenty of cool birds too, doing their morning fishing.
More rocks.
Someone decided to move towards the beach; didn’t need to rent a U-Haul as apparently he can carry his whole kit on his back. T'was pedalling very slowly, into the wind.
Having been headed West,
we went North here, across the river, so we can go East and then South back to where we left the car.
There were LOTS OF DUCKS at this point.
Looking East, upriver.
There were LOTS OF DUCKS at this point.
Please go on to Part 2, but first the watch:
Down by the Riverside, Part 2
We left off with the Duck Convention. In this shot they spooked and all took fright but not flight. They calmed down quickly.
A flock of pigeons arrived to spice things up. The two types don’t seem to like one another.
An enormous heron flew over us with some nest-building supplies (probably from Home Depot a mile away “as the crow flies”).
Now a giant pelican soared past, scattering some of the ducks again.
We played a little Hide and Seek in the palm oasis just north of the River.
A gaunt lady strode past us; my wife (the former track & cross country coach) said, “About 100,000 miles of running on her body"
Ducks were unimpressed.
How do birds fly in a thicket of branches?
Even more curious was a guy from Dallas sitting in a lawn chair in a field of pampas grass, with only his head showing.
The ground squirrel climbed to the top of a bush; apparently as amused as I was.
The grass gradually faded away as we continued East on the riverside path.
The first hummingbird of the day willing to sit still for a portrait.
Elderly cyclists huffed and puffed past.
Cormorant doing the BATMAN signal.
More action on the South bank bike path. This is a Thursday morning, right?
and a nice morning after a couple days of (wait for it) Rain.
Sea World just north and east of us.
That’s the stretch we walked - out on the south (left) side, across on the west bridge and back along the north side.
TOO MANY SIGNS! No wonder our taxes are so high!
This homeless guy was apparently frozen by the news that Earl Scheib the car painter is gone, but his shop and his low prices remain.
We made it back to our car and saw this parked across the street.
A flock of pigeons arrived to spice things up. The two types don’t seem to like one another.
An enormous heron flew over us with some nest-building supplies (probably from Home Depot a mile away “as the crow flies”).
Now a giant pelican soared past, scattering some of the ducks again.
We played a little Hide and Seek in the palm oasis just north of the River.
A gaunt lady strode past us; my wife (the former track & cross country coach) said, “About 100,000 miles of running on her body"
Ducks were unimpressed.
How do birds fly in a thicket of branches?
Even more curious was a guy from Dallas sitting in a lawn chair in a field of pampas grass, with only his head showing.
The ground squirrel climbed to the top of a bush; apparently as amused as I was.
The grass gradually faded away as we continued East on the riverside path.
The first hummingbird of the day willing to sit still for a portrait.
And a (relatively) rare white pelican, one of a pair flirting around near a snagged tree in the middle of the river.
Elderly cyclists huffed and puffed past.
Cormorant doing the BATMAN signal.
More action on the South bank bike path. This is a Thursday morning, right?
and a nice morning after a couple days of (wait for it) Rain.
Sea World just north and east of us.
That’s the stretch we walked - out on the south (left) side, across on the west bridge and back along the north side.
TOO MANY SIGNS! No wonder our taxes are so high!
This homeless guy was apparently frozen by the news that Earl Scheib the car painter is gone, but his shop and his low prices remain.
We made it back to our car and saw this parked across the street.
A question for all readers: WOULD YOU PUT THOSE RIMS ON YOUR CAR?
Thanks for joining us.
Cazalea
I love that overhead shot of the gaunt older woman,
and your wife's professional assessment about her athletic mileage 
!
!
When you mentioned the ducks being seemingly frightened by the pelican…
I looked it up and learned that pelicans can indeed prey on ducklings or small adult ducks! That is crazy…how on earth are they digested if they can’t even be chewed into bits?! I don’t know what pelicans secrete in that death trap of theirs, but I didn’t realize how aggressive and predatory they can be. Such is nature.😔
