I was looking at Japanese finches in the park when something floating in the pond caught my attention. I gulped. It was the little baby turtle I'd returned to the water last week (Apr 28, 2024). I've been saddened to see hatchling corpses before, but this one tore me up even more because I'd made an extra effort to save it on land.
It was such a wee thing. I thought I could give it a dandelion puff growing around the Irrigation Ditch nearby, when I saw a lizard squirm out of hiding, seeming to say, "A dandelion seed? You can do better than that." And he showed me two small wildflowers with his tail. Okay Lizzie, one flower for you, one for me--how's that? He slithered away. Lizards don't usually show themselves.
P.S.:(I noticed last year on May 3, I posted about the Japanese Finch too. I used to think they were real cute tiny birds. Maybe this time of the year, they get so noisy you can't not notice them or something.)
