Flooding in the park

The park flooding seems more extensive than ever. These photos are taken at several different locations, all showing how far the lake has gone beyond its boundaries. JJ was happy to find her own little lake. She doesn't like to be in the water if she can't feel a solid bottom, so it must seem like there's now a lake made just for her. Cayuga and entourage have another little corner just for them, all cozy and surrounded by phragmites. The swans are now further and further from the edge of the shoreline, although they have to keep building up the nest to stay dry. I got a nice little video of Mama swan building up her nest. Such a hard working parent!

CAUTION: THE FOLLOWING PARAGRAPH AND RELATED PHOTO CONTAIN IDEAS AND IMAGES UNSUITABLE FOR CIVILIZED HUMAN BEINGS.

I had to climb up the trunk of a downed tree to get a good angle for the video. This was partly because I was trying to see into the nest (still couldn't) but also because some disgusting person has shit, literally, on the nice little mound from where I usually get a good view. Big puddle of feces! They even left the filthy toilet paper!! What is wrong with these people. It is disgusting, unsanitary, thoughtless...I could go on and on. Unsanitary. It is close to the water, so all the bacteria etc. will go into the water and make the fish, ducks, children who put their hands into the water, etc., sick. We go backpacking upstate - the hard and fast rule is to 1) bury waste and 2) do it at least 100 feet from water. Even now, hours later, I want to throw up just thinking about it. Of course (just for balance), there are NO facilities in the south and south east parts of the park. On the other side (Park Slope side) there are facilities, both flushable and port-a-Johns.

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On the bright side, we saw a robin's egg. Alas, on the ground, not in a nest. But I'm sure there are nestsful of them around. Such a pretty color! And we've decided to show the phragmite height by seeing how quickly I can disappear behind them.

The only dead animal today was a little fish, probably abandoned by one of the fisherpeople, since it was not right next to the water. Many fisherpeople are responsible - they cast their poles sideways , so the lines don't get caught in the trees, and return what they catch. But it only takes a few bad apples to end up with abandoned fishing line and hooks that injure the waterfowl.