Monday, June 5, 2017

Laguna Niguel Lake

Another departure from the desert.

This lake is just down the hill from where we live, and is part of our local park. It's a great place and we can walk to it in just a few minutes. 


For those of you who are familiar with my granddaughter Tay, this is her younger brother. He's a bit older and bigger than this now. Either way, he is still a maniac.


It's a great place for fishing and hiking.


A common site just about everywhere this time of year.


Just a few of the Canadian Geese that spend winter and spring here. Some have even stopping migrating and seem to live here full time now. I'm pretty sure that most of these guys are gone though.


I'm not a bird expert, and don't usually post photos of them, but what the heck. They are pretty cute.


Boat rentals and one lonely goose.


Great Tailed, or Mexican Grackle. These are very common around these parts and are very much characters. They are also very smart, and will even hold a conversation with you (in their language).


Thanks to our amazing rain this year, the water level is almost to the top of this picnic table right now (if it was still sitting there). It even spilled a lot of water over the dam at the other end. The drought is over!


Sulphur Creek fills the lake

Not much of a photo, but I liked the reflections

No joke! People occasionally find them in their yards and gardens.


Time to go...

More to come relating to this place. There was once an Acjachemen/Juaneno Indian village here. Unfortunately, very little of their presence still remains today. 


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56 comments:

  1. Walk with care then!
    That's a lot of geese. Cool you have that park close to you.

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  2. What a nice place to have so so close to your home! Love the little creek :)

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  3. Nice to have such a lovely place just down the road from you! It has been really rainy here too, all of April and May have been much wetter than average with the level of Lake Ontario about a metre higher than usual. Is that a good thing or a bad thing?

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  4. Beautiful area Pat if I lived that close I believe a lot of my time would be spent right there.

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  5. The lake is only a few mile from where my friend lives.

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  6. Alex J. Cavanaugh - That is a good idea. There are a lot more geese than shown in the photos. Yep, it is very nice having having it near.

    mshatch - We are lucky to have it so close. Thanks!

    Shammickite - It sure is! Considering how large Lake Ontario is, one meter higher is a LOT of water. Good or bad? I guess we'll see as time goes on. When it comes to rain, it seems to be either feast or famine.

    Jimmy - Thanks Jimmy! If I was a fisherman (fisher-person?), I would too.

    Should Fish More - I thought about that when I posted this. Your friend is probably even closer than a few miles (as the crow flies).

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  7. Nice to see your "usual" surroundings! There seems to be enough of both water and wildlife.

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  8. The baby geese are so cute. Looks like a great place for a walk. I'm a bit leery about the Rattle Snakes though.

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  9. visualnorway - Thank you Sir! I don't usually post things from where I live, but I've taken so many photos around here, that I thought I should.

    Ida - They are very cute! We don't see the snakes very often, but they are around.

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  10. Y'all really do have the best out n' about fun!

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  11. Cute little guy..... Bet he'd love to go back there sometime --especially now that the water levels are so high... Glad your drought is over. Hopefully, ours is also... We are having LOTS of rain right now... LOVE it.

    Beautiful park... Great pictures of the Canada Geese and their babies....

    Hugs,
    Betsy

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  12. Brian - We do our best Brian. Thanks!

    Betsy Adams - Thanks Betsy! We're still getting some rain here. We need to normalize and rain all through the year, instead of all at once.

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  13. ...water certainly makes the landscape green.

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  14. Tom - Oh yes! Up until last winter we've have VERY little rain for the past several years. It is really nice seeing things green up.

    Al - It's a great place. It is also adjacent to a couple of amazing canyons.

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  15. Pat, this is such a nice place to be. The lake is beautiful and so peaceful. The younger brother of your granddaughter is a real warrior. I wish I could hug him. He is so special.

    I also very much enjoyed a goose with her babies. You took very beautiful pictures of them. Mexican crackle is also very nice bird, looks a little bit like our local crows.

    We don't have many places like this one , I can only dream about them.

    Greetings from Utah.

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  16. Kaya - It's not a large lake, but we really enjoy having it so close. He is a handful. Not in a bad way though. The Grackle is actually related to crows. They are a bit smaller though. Thanks for the thoughtful comment Kaya.

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  17. Beautiful shots in and around the lake.

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  18. Came every week to Laguna Niguel for 5 years, but have yet to visit the park! How I miss the ocean of Southern Cal. Yeah, your grand child looks like a riot:):) A nice park - next time I'll come to the south, I'll have to look it up (next to the Thai Restaurant here!!)

    Many thanks for sharing the pleasant memories with All Seasons! It looks like you 're not going every weekend to to the desert now?

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  19. Rajesh - Thanks Rajesh!

    jeannettesstgermain - A riot he is! The lake is pretty close to the Thai restaurant. I have to spend some time away from the desert to reward my wife for spending so much time there with me. I still go during the summer, but not as much.

    Lady Fi - That it is! It is very nice.

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  20. Beautiful settings, natural scenes.

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  21. A great series of photos, Pat. Those ducklings are always a sweet sight!

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  22. Hello, your grandson is a cute boy. The park looks nice. I would be worried about the snakes. I like the cute goslings, our geese do not migrate either.
    Great series of photos. Happy Tuesday, enjoy your day!

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  23. A great place to have fun with cute little maniacs (or bigger ones). And beautiful water views,...different from what I've come to expect from you , but I'm glad you decided to mix it up a bit blog-wise. I love the birds .

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  24. PS, btw thank you for linking up and sharing this post. Enjoy your day!

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  25. Good to see you have some water. Did you catch any fish?

    Cheers - Stewart M - Melbourne

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  26. What a quirky pleasure to walk with you, Pat! Thanks for visiting

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  27. How super to have somewhere like this to explore so close to home Pat. I bet your gorgeous grandchildren love this spot!

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  28. AWESOME photographs, Pat! The ones of the baby geese are adorable - wonderful captures!

    I especially like the photo of the Great Tailed - Mexican Grackle because it reminds me very much of a crow/raven which are my favorite birds. And not only because I think they're beautiful, but also as you stated....very smart!

    Thanks so much for sharing!

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  29. Really like seeing your neck of the woods there. Nice place to walk and take a good long look around.

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  30. Wonderful photos and landscape. Greetings.

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  31. Bob Bushell - Very nice to have some of both close at hand.

    Marleen - Thank you very much for the nice words.

    eileeninmd - Thanks Eileen! If rattlers are around, they will give you a warning if you are getting too close. Regarding your PS, you are very welcome. Thank you back!

    DEZMOND - Very cute little fluff balls.

    Sallie (FullTime-Life) - Yep, both types are around. Contrary to popular belief, I really don't spend all my time in the desert. I could though...

    Stewart M - Oh yeah! Water is always nice! Although there are many fish to be caught there, my primary interaction with fish, is to eat them.

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  32. Cloudia - The feeling is mutual! Thanks right back at ya!

    PerthDailyPhoto - It is really nice to have it close by. There is much more around also. They do love it, and have been there many times. Thanks Grace!

    Ron - Thanks so much Ron! You are right about the Grackles. In fact, they are the three of them make up their own family of birds.

    robin andrea - Thanks Robin! I try to go there regularly.

    Blogoratti - Hello! Thanks so much for the nice words, and for commenting.

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  33. What a lovely area Pat and it's close for you and your family to enjoy. Nice seeing the wildlife enjoying the area too. It's wonderful that mother nature decided to replenish the water levels. I like that reflection too.
    Thanks for the fantastic post and have a great week.

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  34. The goslings are cute!

    There are limited ranges here of rattlesnakes- mostly around the shores of Georgian Bay and Lake Superior. Other snakes here are non-venomous.

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  35. bill burke - Thanks so much Bill! We've been on water restrictions for three years, and wasn't fun at all. I hope people don't revert to old habits of wasting water again.

    William Kendall - Very cute! Rattlesnakes are fairly common in these parts. They usually manage to avoid interaction with people though.

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  36. Is this one of the regional parks in OC??? And the bigger question...do they allow dogs to get in the water?

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  37. TheChieftess - It is one of the county parks, and they don't allow dogs in the water, and they have to be kept on a leash.

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  38. Pretty pretty shoots Pat:))))

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  39. Anne - Thank Anne! I appreciate the nice words and that you came by to comment.

    Anita - Thanks Anita!

    Nora - Yes, it is really nice having it close by, and having a lot of water in it.

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  40. Wow, that looks fantastic! So lucky to have that just near you.
    Great photos, even of the birds! The little ones were cute.
    And nicely book ended with your grandson.

    Thanks for sharing Pat.
    You do indeed have an eye for photography and a love of the outdoors. Wonderful.

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  41. That's a sweet little lake to have within walking distance of your house, Pat. I can't say I've ever seen it, and I've lived in OC most of my life. Excellent advice on that rattlesnake sign!! Have a good weekend!

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  42. Anthony J. Langford - Thanks Anthony! Some luck, and a lot of hard work. Thanks Anthony! I appreciate what you said.

    Spare Parts and Pics - Very sweet! A lot of people have never heard of it, or seen it. Thanks Pete, you have a great weekend also.

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  43. I hope the waterlevel is normal now. We are still short of it :(

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  44. NatureFootstep - We had so much rain, that there was no way save most of it. I felt bad seeing much of it flow right into the ocean. Still, though it appears that our drought is over. At least for a while...

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  45. Great photos. I really like the composition of the rental boats (did you stage the blue boat and Canadian Goose?)

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  46. Sage - Thank you Sir! The goose was fine, about the blue boat, kept trying to paddle away...

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  47. Great shots, Pat!

    How close were you to the Goslings? Seems like their mother is use to pics being taken.

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  48. Val Digger - Thank you! I was pretty close. Canadian geese aren't very skittish like most birds.

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  49. Pretty nice post. I simply stumbled upon your weblog and wished to say that I have truly loved surfing around your blog posts.
    After all I will be subscribing to your feed and I am hoping
    you write once more soon!

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  50. Anonymous - Thanks so much for taking the time to comment, and for subscribing. I appreciate it!

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  51. What a beautiful area! How fortunate for you to live so near. Also, yay for no more drought! I think that is wonderful. I was so excited when it was announced a few months back.

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  52. Baby Sister - Thanks Amanda! We feel very fortunate to live in the area we do. We are also VERY pleased that the drought seems to be over. Right now, it seems like the whole state is on fire (so we're going to need that water!). We've had 4 that we could see from our house in the last several months. Take care...

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