You Know I'm a sucker for this kind of thing ...

 

This year's crop of ducklings are swimming around today in Dr. Sun Yat Sen Gardens.

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The heron was at the Garden this afternoon

tapping his little feet impatiently waiting for them to send the tourists away and lock the park for the evening. I'm not sure what he's after -- he's eaten all the little koi by now, I'm sure. I managed to get very close.

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Broody Geese Redux

I caught the 3-week cold somewhere between Portland and Walla Walla two weeks ago; it's been all laying low and coughing ever since, but Friday I went over to the Gardens to sit in the sun for an hour. I arrived right after all the excitement.

The pair of broody geese from last year (and the year before) are back. The Parks Department had just left, having taken an egg out of their nest and instructed the grounds guy at the Garden to cordon it off so they can't return to it. They're in an extremely bad mood.

Here's the story as I understand it: the Parks Dep't doesn't want geese nesting in the parks because they defend their nests aggressively, and they could hurt somebody. Last year Parks absconded with the clutch of eggs the broody goose was sitting on, replaced them with fake ones made of concrete, and then eventually took those away too. This year they've decided against replacing the egg -- they just want to discourage the geese from nesting. We'll see.

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Went to See Lucy's gig at the Spirit Fish Thing Sunday

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I know you think it's all mallards with me,

but there was a pair of pretty little Gadwalls at the Garden last week. They kept arranging themselves among the reflections of the winter foliage left around the garden.

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And now for something completely different ...

 

Went for what was meant to be a valedictory trip to the Bloedel Conservatory over the weekend. But since there's money for the Olympics, if not for parks, it turns out that there's at least one more trip to the dome in the offing before the offing, as it were. Paul Wong is doing a site-specific installation there Feb 27th. It should be a hoot. Here's a taste.

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Just for scale

 

The tit is about the same size as the flicker's head.

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