The King of Washington Park Lake

Now that Spring is finally here, I've been taking walks around the Washington Park Lake to watch for turtles.  I'm rather fond of them and, so far, I've found quite a few of them sunning themselves on the matted remnants of last year's cattails.  Most of the turtles I've spotted this year are fairly small - not much bigger than my hand.  And then there is this handsome old creature; I've nicknamed it The King of Washington Park Lake.

Last August, I was standing a few inches from the edge of the water near the northeast edge of the Lake.  I was looking out over the water at nothing in particular when I got the feeling that I was being watched.  I looked down and there, not even a half foot from me, was a giant turtle.  I'm talking about a shell nearly as big as a Fiat tire.  It was floating there with its head just above the water, staring right at me.

I nearly had a heart attack and, of course, I didn't have a camera with me.

Since then, I've managed to catch sight of this huge turtle a few times.  Once, while trying to take a picture some dragonflies, it slowly swam out from behind some vegetation to watch me for a few minutes before diving away.  But I haven't been able to get a good photo of it...just some blurry shots of it floating out near the middle of the Lake.

Until yesterday morning when I spotted its peering from the matted cattails where a dozen or so smaller turtles were basking.  Such an awesome, ancient-looking face.

Hello Turtle

The first turtle sighting of the year in Washington Park.

Pond Pals

A duck and a turtle keep company on a sunny morning in Washington Park.

Pine Hills Turtle

When I was very little, two of these large concrete turtles stood on Madison Avenue near the long wall that runs in front of the Price Chopper supermarket.  I remember playing on them after visits to the nearby Pine Hills library or before shopping.  The pair have since been moved across Madison on the lawn of the Steamer Ten Theatre. 

Sunbathing Turtle

A small turtle enjoys a warm day in Washington Park.

A Turtle In The Sun

A turtle sunning itself on a bit of debris near the outlet of Washington Park Lake. There were at least two other turtles visible just before I took this photo, but they vanished as soon as they heard me. This one stayed quite a bit longer, cautiously watching as I rummaged in my backpack for my camera and carefully poked the lens through the fence.

Some time ago, I rescued a baby turtle that had stranded itself on the ledge of the dry Moses fountain nearby by picking it up and carrying it over to the edge of the lake. I always look for turtles when I walk along the lake and wonder how mine fared.