Mason Park

Mason Park, or William R. Mason Regional Park, to give it its full title, is a large (approximately 95 acres) park only 5 minutes walk from our apartment. It's a lovely place to go walking and I usually visit several times each week.

My first port of call is usually a lap of the butterfly habitat to see what I can spot.

As you walk, loads of little geckos scuttle across the path in front of your feet, heading to the safety of the undergrowth. They love to sun themselves on the rocks.

Just before the butterfly garden is an area where some bunny rabbits hang out. They are there every single time I visit. Something has had a decent chomp on the ear of the rabbit on the left!

At this time of the year there are loads of super cute ducklings and goslings around. They are adorable little balls of fluff!

As well as what I think of as 'normal' ducks like the ones above, the lake is also home to Ruddy ducks with their distinctive blue bills.

Lots of other waterfowl and birds make the lake their home, including this rather evil looking heron. I think it's the red eye that makes it look a bit scary.

I'll finish with my favourite thing in the whole park... Turtles!!! The lake is absolutely teeming with them, and, like the geckos, they also love sunning themselves on the rocks around the lake. The pic below is my favourite, it was a teeny baby turtle and I love how he (she?) looks like it is stranded.

Here are some more turtles to finish. I somehow ended up with about 100 photos of turtles, so by just posting this small selection I'm actually being quite restrained!