Trip to the Duck Pond

I planned on taking him out to the college and letting him run around in the field in front of that today and then touring the campus. However, the sprinklers were on this morning so we had a change of plans. I took him to the duck pond across the street. Definitely not something I'd do if there were babies on the ground, but right now it's only the start of breeding season and as long as you give everyone their space the birds stay happy. It's actually a rather large place, with a nice sized field on one side of the pond and then up behind it and the Children's Day Care there is another small lake with a play ground and park over there. Lots of places to walk. I took the camera along and got some rather nice pictures. The birds are all used to people and let you get pretty close. I did risk getting any closer than 20-30ft with Toby along, but they didn't pay either of us any mind for the most part.

I can't put up all of the pictures for today, but here are some...

When we first started we walked in the field next to the pond. There was another small pond in the middle of the field (really tiny) and I let Toby nose around in the grass. It was weird... because he could have easily disappeared into the brush, he blended in so well.


We were just off some main roads and people use the area frequently. Next time we go I'm taking some bags to pick up some of the litter... it was just sad. But I got a nice shot of Toby standing when some car horns started blaring from the road behind us.


After we looped around behind the Day Care (closed on Sundays) we headed off to the small field by the small little lake and practiced some obedience. He was such a good boy.

Then we wandered over to some of the birds swimming in the small lake and I got to take some nifty pictures.

And what was Toby doing while I took these pictures?

As fascinating as he finds the birds, he doesn't consider them prey. He watched them quite a bit when we walked past the main pond, his favorite parts being when the birds would land in the water. But for the most part he just relaxed and enjoyed the day, rolling around while I took some good pictures.

Of course, when he discovered I'd let him go right up and sniff the water (I wouldn't let him drink out of it... I carry water for us to drink, I don't need him catching something and who knows what's been dumped in that water), he was more than willing. He really wanted to go swimming with the birds but I was leery about what was in the water... it really stunk. So he just got to sniff the edges. All was going fine until one of the geese decided Toby was a little to close for comfort and started honking really loud at him.
See the extended head on the goose in there? Yeah he was screaming at Toby. Toby wasn't too sure what to make of that. I called his name and for a moment he didn't come, but when the goose started to turn towards him he decided it was best to leave the bird in peace and came barreling up to me.

Here is the main pond. We were resting on the other side of it (my car was up by the building on the other side), waiting for someone to leash their dog. I understand getting your dog some exercise - shoot, we were there for that reason - but letting your dog plow through and chase and bark at all the birds? That's just rude. And I'd hate to see what would happen if the dude decided to let the dog loose after there are babies on the ground. The geese get vicious and fast.

And some pretty shots I grabbed while walking:



I need to figure out a lot of stuff on my camera still, but for the money I had, it's a really nice camera.

We were gone for about an hour and a half, but Toby is still zonked out on the couch. I'm sure he'll be up and at em soon, but he enjoys getting to trot around and explore everything.