Cazalea takes readers on a picturesque journey to Chollas Lake, introducing a new Seiko watch acquired for his wife. This post beautifully intertwines a personal watch acquisition story with stunning nature photography, showcasing the serene beauty of the lake and its diverse birdlife. It's a reminder that watch collecting often goes hand-in-hand with other passions, like exploring the natural world.
We expected fog in the morning, so we planned a trip inland about 6 miles from the bay. I was planning for us to stay clean and dry, so didn't need a tough watch. Let me introduce the newest addition to the collection, which I couldn't resist yesterday when we went to the Seiko store. Yes, it's for my wife eventually, but the bracelet fits my 7 3/8" wrist and I like the look of it.
I made the right call to go inland. The sunrise was great again today.
Our destination: Chollas Lake / Reservoir. This used to be one of the main water storage facilities for the city; when I was a kid it was not open to the public. A shame, because we lived only a mile away. After other, larger reservoirs were built, they opened Chollas for shore use and as a kid's fishing lake. But I was 30 then so it didn't matter.
This is a view looking west towards the dam; the rising sun is lighting up the clouds.
We walked to that end; now you can see eastward. It's about 3/4 mile around the lake.
We saw about 20 white pelicans at the lake. These relatively rare birds are hard to approach, so I was pleased to get some nice photos of this one:
There were plenty of geese, and they showed no fear of the morning walkers. I am sure they get fed daily.
This Great Blue Heron was the only one of his kind, and he lurked in the reeds staying out of sight of the geese and pelicans.
The sun popped up above the hillside and burst out over the water.
It dispersed the cloud of mist on the east end of the lake.
We observed courtship behavior on the water: squawk, squawk, squawk! Follow me!
C'mon, it's getting a bit public out here! OK, lead the way.
Wow, I like your colors!
Want to come over to my place?
Follow me ... Slow down, I can't keep up, and I don't even know your name!
The pelicans were either too dignified for such foolishness, or they were too old.
A small gang of geese came down to drink.
They were not worried about me at all, and I was only about 10 ft away.
They did start fighting among themselves, as geese do.
I was trying to blend in but having no luck.
The pelicans were actually the most fun to watch. Some were sleeping and some grooming themselves.
This pair -- the farther one is grooming; his head is turned 180 degrees! The nearer one is dozing but keeping a wary eye on me.
I want to find out what species of ducks are cruising by in back of the pelicans. They have unusual black and white coloration and we saw only this one pair in the lake.
After 90 minutes of sunshine, we sadly drove home into the mist. It's dripping wet at our house. I'm thankful I have vehicles of my own and don't have to wait at the bus stop for a ride.
Thank you for reading. I'm happy to announce we have at least another week's worth of watches lines up for our walks. Now I just have to figure out where to go...
Cazalea
