A quick visit to the Duck Pond
We went to our chiropractic appointment in San Jose early. After getting some sandwiches and soda we decided to pay a quick trip to the duck pond in Palo Alto at the end of Embarcadero Rd, past the golf course and past the airport. It had been foggy in San Jose and Ed reminded me the light would be flat. As I usually am fighting harsh sunlight and shadows I thought it would be a good idea 
As we approached the duck pond, wouldn't you know the sun suddenly appeared! Grrrrrrr.
Last year they posted "do not feed the ducks and birds" signs on the posts surrounding the duck pond. When we pulled up and parked it was pretty quiet and peaceful.
Another car pulled into the parking lot and a young man and woman got out loaded down with big loaves of bread. Immediately the ducks started swimming over. They must have excellent vision! I remember from other duck ponds that if anyone approaches with a white bag the flock starts to converge on the person in hopes of being treated.
They started handing out pieces of bread and all flying wildlife made a swift path to them. I was suddenly horrified at the amount of pigeons who suddenly appeared out of no where. They actually started landing on the people!
The woman would cry out occasionally as the flapping wings got too close to her. They landed on her arm, and her boots too!
It looks like this pigeon is asking, "Where's the food?"
They saw me get out of the car and take photos. I guess it was O.K. because he's smiling at me
In this photo he's trying to convince a seagull to take a piece of bread he has on his arm. If you look very closely you can see it. The seagull did not take the bread. They would, however, take it from his hand. Now the pigeons seemed to have no fear and would land on his arms and shoulders and eat the bread. They also fed the geese and threw some bread at the ducks in the water.
When we first drove in to the duck pond, I commented on a huge gathering of seagulls on the south side of the road. As all the commotion started happening we noticed seagulls flying in from the other side of the road.
The people were feeding the birds for quite some time, so I actually got slightly behind them to photograph (or try to) the seagulls approaching the food. There are small trees that surround this end of the duck pond and it was difficult getting the gulls in a clear view, and not have the tree leaves in the way. But, here's one I all "incoming."
A woman with a baby came by and pointed to the "don't feed" signs posted. I took a photo of one of the signs last year and the reason they don't want people to feed the ducks is because of the injuries they get from the other birds all trying to get one piece of food.
The woman and baby went away, and the two people kept on feeding the birds, mainly the ones that were on land, not in the water.
We finished our food. I looked for egrets but didn't see any. I did find these three though.
I had a great time watching them slash their beaks through the mud and muck. Yuck! When they'd lift their feet to walk, their feet would lift up strands of the mucky stuff.
We decided to drive to the boat landing/windsurfing area to see if anything exciting was going on. Suddenly the fog came in! I took some overall views to use in a collage project I'm collecting pictures for. But here's one of a walking path with waning sun and enveloping fog.
Except for a few seagulls, a few people sitting in their cars and one or two seniors out walking nothing too much was happening and we didn't want to get stuck in traffic so we headed back out.
The fog came in some more, and I suddenly asked Ed to stop the car. I took a few photos (still had my telephoto zoom on) and we left and went to the beach to watch the sun set.
After I got back home, I realized I could stitch two photos to show the bridge and trees in the fog. As everyone knows by now I am not a black and white person, having spent years developing and printing black and white. I thought color was the greatest when it came out! (Well, I'm not "quite" that old so I'm exaggerating a bit here.) But I just knew I'd get so many comments saying it would look better in black and white so I converted it.
For some general information and directions to the duck pond here's a link:
http://baytrail.abag.ca.gov/vtour/map3/access/Btpalto/Btpalto.htm
As we approached the duck pond, wouldn't you know the sun suddenly appeared! Grrrrrrr.
Last year they posted "do not feed the ducks and birds" signs on the posts surrounding the duck pond. When we pulled up and parked it was pretty quiet and peaceful.
Another car pulled into the parking lot and a young man and woman got out loaded down with big loaves of bread. Immediately the ducks started swimming over. They must have excellent vision! I remember from other duck ponds that if anyone approaches with a white bag the flock starts to converge on the person in hopes of being treated.
They started handing out pieces of bread and all flying wildlife made a swift path to them. I was suddenly horrified at the amount of pigeons who suddenly appeared out of no where. They actually started landing on the people!
The woman would cry out occasionally as the flapping wings got too close to her. They landed on her arm, and her boots too!
It looks like this pigeon is asking, "Where's the food?"
They saw me get out of the car and take photos. I guess it was O.K. because he's smiling at me
In this photo he's trying to convince a seagull to take a piece of bread he has on his arm. If you look very closely you can see it. The seagull did not take the bread. They would, however, take it from his hand. Now the pigeons seemed to have no fear and would land on his arms and shoulders and eat the bread. They also fed the geese and threw some bread at the ducks in the water.
When we first drove in to the duck pond, I commented on a huge gathering of seagulls on the south side of the road. As all the commotion started happening we noticed seagulls flying in from the other side of the road.
The people were feeding the birds for quite some time, so I actually got slightly behind them to photograph (or try to) the seagulls approaching the food. There are small trees that surround this end of the duck pond and it was difficult getting the gulls in a clear view, and not have the tree leaves in the way. But, here's one I all "incoming."
A woman with a baby came by and pointed to the "don't feed" signs posted. I took a photo of one of the signs last year and the reason they don't want people to feed the ducks is because of the injuries they get from the other birds all trying to get one piece of food.
The woman and baby went away, and the two people kept on feeding the birds, mainly the ones that were on land, not in the water.
We finished our food. I looked for egrets but didn't see any. I did find these three though.
I had a great time watching them slash their beaks through the mud and muck. Yuck! When they'd lift their feet to walk, their feet would lift up strands of the mucky stuff.
We decided to drive to the boat landing/windsurfing area to see if anything exciting was going on. Suddenly the fog came in! I took some overall views to use in a collage project I'm collecting pictures for. But here's one of a walking path with waning sun and enveloping fog.
Except for a few seagulls, a few people sitting in their cars and one or two seniors out walking nothing too much was happening and we didn't want to get stuck in traffic so we headed back out.
The fog came in some more, and I suddenly asked Ed to stop the car. I took a few photos (still had my telephoto zoom on) and we left and went to the beach to watch the sun set.
After I got back home, I realized I could stitch two photos to show the bridge and trees in the fog. As everyone knows by now I am not a black and white person, having spent years developing and printing black and white. I thought color was the greatest when it came out! (Well, I'm not "quite" that old so I'm exaggerating a bit here.) But I just knew I'd get so many comments saying it would look better in black and white so I converted it.
For some general information and directions to the duck pond here's a link:
http://baytrail.abag.ca.gov/vtour/map3/access/Btpalto/Btpalto.htm
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Thanks Dee!
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