Ellipsis: The Ducks Of Victory Park

Thursday, November 01, 2018

The Ducks Of Victory Park

"In November, some birds move away and some birds stay. The air is full of good-byes and well wishes. The birds who are leaving look very serious. No silly spring chirping now. They have long journeys and must watch where they are going. The staying birds are serious, too, for cold times like ahead. Hard times. All berries will be treasures."

~Cynthia Rylant

In November

It's November 1st, and it's about 1:30 AM, and as I sit here typing this post, I am absolutely freezing! Summer's hold on autumn is definitely gone, which I couldn't be happier about, but my goodness, when the cold weather turns really fast, like it did this week, it makes me grateful for warm sweaters, hot tea, pie, and warm days like the one you see in the photo! The picture is of Victory Park, here in Stockton, and it was what I think will be the last day of truly warm weather. It was the kind of day when you didn't really need a sweater, but there was just enough of a chill in the air to remind you to get your autumn and winter clothes out, and put your short sleeve blouses away!

Anyway, I went to the park to photograph the beautiful rose garden they have there, and I did do a few photos, but I ended up spending most of my time, photographing the inhabitants of the crystal clear duck pond on the right side of the park. There were more ducks in the park than I remembered being there on my first visit last year! Bigger ones too, and they were making quite a ruckus, they wanted my attention! They must have been used to folks taking their photographs, because a few of them were definitely mugging for the camera! I enjoyed my visit with them very much, and it felt good to photograph some wildlife. I love finding new birds, and while I had seen a few of this variety before, it's always nice getting in some quality time photographing an active subject!

It was a nice afternoon.

The Mallards