Fine Feathered Friends

For being in the heart of the city we certainly have a lot of critters about.  A couple of weeks ago we were driving home in the evening and right in the middle of University Blvd. and Alameda Ave, a nice fat coyote was strolling through the intersection!  Wally pointed out how nicely filled out he was and how nice his coat was….wonder what he has been eating?  We also saw another coyote along the creek on our bike ride last weekend.  But the critters we are seeing at the Polo Club are the feathered kind.

The residents love their mallard ducks.  We have several pairs that enjoy the pond system and so far we have seen three Mama’s showing off their new ducky families.  Apparently there is one Mama who stole an egg last year and also this.  She has one hatchling swimming along behind her.  Then there is a Mama with ten, with nine and six.  Wally and I are looking forward to taking Elaine and Nolan down to the pond to see the ducks when they visit next week.  I’m sure there will be more photos to share!

So here’s what duck families do…swim around~~

Climb out, not quite as quick as Mom, but definitely cuter~~

Waddle across the grass. Dad joins in for a bit~~

  Waddle a bit more, around to the top of the headwater (little waterfall)~~

Slide down the waterfall and back into the pond where they swim around some more! 

All in a Duck's day!

One critter that the residents definitely do not like, is the goose.  They pretty much despise the geese.  Wally and I spend a lot of time harassing and chasing the geese off the pond.  Gypsy is our secret weapon.  The Board even gave us special permission to let her off leash to chase the geese!  Those residents who live on the water must have us on speed dial, we get called, a whole lot!  One pair of geese has been pretty relentless, they seem determined to nest here.  If they hatch little goslings here, the little goslings will grow into the big messy geese and return each year to nest in their birthplace!  And we definitely do not want that!  Well, one day the inevitable happened.  We got the call, several calls actually, that the geese had been successful!  They built a nest and laid eggs right in someone’s flowerbed!

Talk about defeat and failure.  All I could see was future spring times at the Polo Club spent chasing off multiple pairs of geese.  Then…the eggs were gone.  We heard another resident had a raccoon rummage through his trash one night.  Maybe he got lucky and had eggs.  Then I've been asked many times if the fox has been seen this year.  Maybe he is around.   But I’m kind of thinking maybe that fat coyote we saw…Anyway, the geese have returned, still trying to build another nest, and we are back on goose patrol!  Pretty sure this was not in the “job description”!