Friday Afternoon Walk

Every Friday I walk a dog on Bay Farm Island in Alameda (ironically, the one part of Alameda that isn't actually an island). I love walking this dog -- not only because she is cute, but also because it's simply a gorgeous walk and such a nice way to end the week. Today, I took my camera along.

Good thing I did, because it's duckling season and I was fortunate enough to see two groups of babies (with their very protective parents). It's pretty hard to get close enough to duckling families to take a good photo without having a duck-chasing dog with you, but with one, it's nearly impossible. I lucked out and managed to get a few good ones (there's another on my Flickr page).

It was really touching to see how the male ducks herded up the babies into a little group (not in this photo, but in later ones as the dog started barking), and then swam around, protecting them and the mother.


See the white heron, on the left? I love this walk because the whole time there's tons of suburban wildlife. Three or four different kinds of ducks, a few different other water-loving birds, egrets, herons, plus squirrels and chipmunks, not to mention other dogs. I go the same route every time, and I just so enjoy it. I'd like to live along the lagoon here. There are some beautiful waterfront houses, but also a whole complex of nice condos. If we stay in Alameda, I wouldn't mind living here at all.