If it walks like a duck ...

Well I'm in a real urban area as I'm in the Queens section of NYC...It's only been say a few years ago, that at this nearby park only a few blocks away, we often get seagulls...uh, kind of strange..LOL. There's no ponds or any bodies of water in the park, and while there are small ponds or laketype areas in other parks they are many miles away..for instance Kissena Park has a man made pond and is residence to geese, mallards, rails, even swans..but here where I am? No water..My theory? I somehow think that years ago, a lone seagull flying and passing by my neighborhood caught sight of the fact that there were free eats as often people feed the pigeons and sparrows...so he must have gone back to his seagull friends and say..."Psst..hey I know a place for free eats.." LOL...Now we have a regular flock of them that are always there in the daytime

Well, it only looks dirty because it's so shallow, but I bet the water was clean enough. And hey! Who wouldn't want their own pool instead of having to go down to the Y all the time?

First off here is a shot of various breeds of Minnesotan ducks from a zoo visit I took back in July. I have no idea what breeds though. Hahaha! I love near a nature Center. I see ducks and geese and a few otjher vcritters that will sit in puddles after a storm as opposed to sitting in the creek or ponds at thre nature center. So it seems these critters have adapted to the urban enviroment very well. I have had geese and duck sititing in my yard in a small puddle in the past. HAPPY POSTINGS FROM GRANDPA BOB!!~

It's not urban around here, but where I used to live it was kind of a nature oasis in the middle of a big suburban development. it was about 40 acres of woodland in the middle of this area. It might have been alittle more than that I'm not sure really, but the woods wee just full of critters who had been forced into this little oasis. You could not walk through there without seeing deer,turtles squirrels, snakes, chipmunks and all kinds of htings. They all looked healthy and had learned to live for the most part in this space. They were pretty habituated to people also because there were walking, biking paths all through there that were well utilized.

hi ldyjarhead I live close to the Tustin hills and up in the hills we have deer and coyotes and bobcats. Last fall when we had those horrible wildfires here the blazes drove the poor frightened soot covered deer down into t he streets of Tustin. the wildlife people had to cart them to a different area that was not on fire. the poor things were just frantic. the air was full of smoke and ashes, and we had to use our air condioner and keep our doors and windows closed. I am allergic and boy was that a rough time trying to breathe. wow. We also have a possum who comes into our yard in the middle of the night and tips over our garbage can. I met him one night and he was so fat I did not think he cou ld crawl under the fence but he did after he snarled at me for scolding him. lol.

Everybody adapts and where do you go if there's little else in your perception ? Ducks playing around are par for the course. My uncle used to keep ducks in his beack yard and when I was a kid I used to go there and play with them. Loads of fun !

I have seen ducks and other critters (such as squirrels) make good use of urban development. Where I live, it's kinda city kinda suburb but there are plenty of trees around.

I love to watch the birds after a good rain when they take a back in the puddles that are in the streets and on sidewalks. I plan to get a birdbath next year, one that hangs, and put it on the garage. I can't get a pedestal type or Cookie would have a murder-fest! That dog loves to eat birds.

Great picture Ldyjarhead. I have a few pictures that my husband & I took of some seagulls at Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco, but I can't figure out how to attach one to my post here. There is no link. Shouldn't I be able to? What am I doing wrong? HELP!

Yes ; I have seen such Ducks and / or other birds who bathe in such Puddles . Still; these happen much lesser .

A long time ago in a place far, far away... Sorry, got caught up in Star Wars there. A long time ago I worked in downtown Baltimore in a skyscraper. I worked on the 28th floor, but this building was 33 stories high. A Peregrin Falcon roosted on the 33rd floor, outside a window on the ledge. It was a wide ledge, mind you, but still... geesh! It's certainly no mountain! It was quite the story in the news; TV, newspapers, all over the place people were talking about this falcon. There were even 'tours' set up so people could go up and try to see her. She was named "Scarlet". I'm not sure why she got that name, but our company had a male Peregrin falcon brought in to be her mate. She seemed to love the idea, too, because before too long, there were eggs in her nest, then babies! Of course, his name was "Rhett". It was so awesome to see these birds, living and surviving well in downtown Baltimore City! I was once standing by my window on the 28th floor, just looking at the scenery (when I was on a break, of course ) and I saw Scarlet flying and gliding through the sky. She got closer and closer and eventually landed on the ledge right outside the window where I was standing. She kind of paced back and forth, looking at me while I was looking at her. All of a sudden, I felt like an exhibition in a zoo! These birds are HUGE! Her feet were as big as my hands. I had no idea they were that large until I got the opportunity to see one only 2 feet away (with a thick pane of glass between us, thankfully!).

I love the way they obviously decided they wanted their own little private pool (maverick ducks) and didn't want to share the big pond with the others! Good for them! We have a family of blue tongue lizards which enjoy basking on the edge of our pond - they should be coming out of hibernation soon, so I'll have to take a photo of them.