It has been a quiet week at the Canal Cottage. But the weather here has been good, we have things to do, and I am always grateful for ordinary days. One evening, we had a little wander around at the nature area down the street from home. It used to be the nature area next door because we could walk there along a short path from where we live to the center of the park.
The nature area hasn't moved and neither has the Canal Cottage, but now there's a gate that prevents residents of our snowbird resort from using that path. (We think it was a management decision due to insurance or legal concerns.) It isn't safe to walk along the shoulder-less highway to the public entrance, so now we have to drive there. Which means we don't go as often. It's never been the best nature park for seeing birds and animals, so if I have to get in the car anyway, it feels like we might as well go somewhere else.
That's about it for pictures from the week, so this is a good time to serve up some planned-overs. (Not left-0vers, because I have always meant to use these before the end of the season.) Most of them are from our Autumn stay in Colorado, which was so picture-worthy that it is no wonder I'm still blogging about it.
On one of our mountain drives with our son, we stopped in downtown Ouray. There is a beautiful koi pond (actually kind of a man-made canal and pond) at the town park. It was a fun place for a rest-stop.
Ouray is a charming mountain town that looks like a toy village from the viewpoint above. The town nestles at the foot of the San Juan Mountains, not too far away from where our son and daughter-in-law live.
On another day we visited a city park on land that was donated to the town of Ridgway by the family of Dennis Weaver (Chester in the long-running western series "Gunsmoke" for those old enough to remember.) The Weaver family had a home in the area.
I believe the sculpture below was meant as a memorial to Dennis Weaver. As the sign says it is a bronze sculpture of the American Bald Eagle.
The Mountain and the sky are real. But the Eagle is NOT the real thing!
It really is quite a nice depiction of a soaring Eagle. And I think the pictures look like it could be a real bird taken with a good zoom lens! It would be a sub-adult because in the bright Colorado afternoon light, the white head didn't show up well. If I were at all inclined to cheat, it sure would be tempting to say I'd finally taken some good flight pictures!! (But I wouldn't do that. ) By contrast, below are the best flight shots I've ever gotten of the real thing:
These were from "our" Eagle nest (the one here in Fort Myers Florida) in 2018, the year I stopped by the nest on the very day that one of the Eaglets of that season took its final flight away from the nest.
And finally, one more picture which has nothing to do with anything at all that I've blogged about recently, but that I saved just because:
This handsome fellow belongs to a man who helps out at the property where we store our boat while we're away. He was keeping a close eye on us when we went to bring the boat home last Winter. Isn't that mask great? Unsurprisingly, his owner called him "Bandit." Definitely one of the most interesting random cats I've ever seen!
SHARING these random cats, birds, and wanderings with the following: Thank you to the hosts.
MOSAIC MONDAY; NATURE NOTES; THROUGH MY LENS; TRAVEL PHOTO SOUVENIRS; MY CORNER OF THE WORLD; SIGNS SIGNS; THANKFUL THURSDAY; SKYWATCH FRIDAY; FRIDAY BLISS; and SATURDAY CRITTERS
We appreciate all visitors and commenters! Thank you.