I Love These Guys

I can't walk across the old Washington Street Bridge

without craning my neck to see what may 

be lingering on the driftwood caught on one 

of the bridge's piers. Friday found these turtles basking

in the noontime sun. All heads pointed in the same direction,

these soft-shelled guys shared space with

red-eared turtles. About forty-five minutes later,

I came back to find the sun party had

gotten larger ...

... and even more were trying to find 

their own place in the crowd.

I love these guys and could have watched tham

all day. There don't seem to be "antics"

as such, just a bunch of reptiles enjoying

the seasonal warmth on any handy tree snag,

laboriously climbing up to join the rest

of the river gang, dozing, then maybe falling off

to begin the process over again.

After all, falling off the log is easy,

finding one's place on it is not.

Awk! Wildlife Encounter!

Yeh. Well, whatever.

I was looking for herons and enough turtles to 

populate the logs as if they were a city.

No such luck.

I got a fluttery little butterfly

and one big-ass turtle.

The shell reminded me of the back end

of a Duesenberg automobile

wearing a school girl's pleated skirt.

The above photo, from the Auburn Cord Duesenberg

Automobile Museum, is licensed through

the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic License.

Turtles!

While walking through the White River State Park the other morning, 

I stopped to look over the old Washington Street bridge hoping to see turtles. Rather, a turtle. I'd have been happy to see just one.

The morning was warm and I thought I might catch one basking on the driftwood

I was rewarded with the sight of about a dozen, going about their turtle business --basking on an old log, searching for food, swimming just below the water's surface in quest of some goal known to them alone, or just drifting with the slow current of the river. 

I must have seen a dozen of them, with great unseen numbers of them lurking amid the driftwood, underwater, out of sight. My camera was stretched to its capabilities to get a few decent pictures. I was very happy.

Creek Flowers

At this time, the creek is too deep from heavy rains to see turtles as the water's covering the rocks on which a they might bask. But the rain brings a proliferation of color, such as these pink flowers. Delicately hued, hiding from public view by the creek, their beauty is enjoyed by red-winged black birds, mallards, blue herons, butterflies and, yes, the occasional human.