Maybe one day, I'll dive into the history of the ponds, but for now, I want to share the beauty of the views and the wildlife.
There are four adjoining ponds in Kaysville. I've seen different names attached to some of them, so until I figure out what their real names are, I'll just number them 1 through 4.
This^ is the most north pond where the water feeds into them, so I'll call it Pond 1. It has the best shaded look-outs and I think I take a picture every time I go.
This is Pond 2. It has a fishing dock and two long bridges/boardwalks that people love to fish from. USU owns all of this property and it's very good of them to build walkways, paved trails and educational buildings. They have really big plans to improve the site. Pond 2 houses their Wetland Discovery Center. This is their website, and they have much better pictures then I have.
This is Pond 3. You can see Antelope Island in the background, about 12-13 miles away, as the crow flies. USU built a cement canoe launch on this pond a year or two ago. Every once in a while we will see kayakers and fishermen on the ponds. This pond is easy to see and has a large variety of birds nesting on the shores and in the clumps of cattails and phragmites in the middle.
This is Pond 4. It has less access making it perfect for ducks who are afraid of people, especially during hunting season. You can see the freeway sign in this pic^, which is right next to the ponds making for terrible videos. You get used to the road noise while you're there, but I recommend watching any of my videos on mute. You probably don't want to hear me talking anyway.
The ponds are home to many visitors. Fishermen, bird watchers, dog walkers, walkers, runners, bikers, and kids attending classes and field trips. Dogs aren't allowed in Kaysville parks, so it's really nice of USU to allow dog walkers. Some dogs are amazing while off-leash, but I'm sure I should mention the leash rule.
My favorite visitors are the cats that live nearby. They are both sweet and love a good back scratch. Their tracking collars say they are Rocky and Kaku. Rocky seems to be declawed and thinner, while Kaku is smaller, has claws and a bit more meat on her. She loves stalking whatever is in the bushes, so hopefully she's helping with the mice population, which is not noticeable except that one half a mouse I saw off the trail one time. We see Kaku a lot more than Rocky. Probably the whole lack of claws situation.
There are bugs and critters, of course: dragonflies, butterflies, box elder bugs, swarms of those little fliers, mosquitos probably (I wear too much bug spray to know for sure), garter snakes and snails. There are two particular snail crossings. Turtles!!! I love the turtles. There was a muskrat one year, but no sign of them now.
I won't go into the flora right now, but I do love identifying plants. I'm stumped on a few. Maybe I'll ask you all for help later.
My favorite residents are the birds, of course. Here, the most plentiful birds are the robins, doves, sparrows, seasonal swallows, red-winged blackbirds, great tail grackles, starlings, quail and all colors of finches. Ducks, coots and Canada geese, of course. Occasionally, there are some seagulls passing by, but they usually stick to the nearby schools' parking lots. Seasonally, there are a few pelicans, cormorants, Forester's terns, and one heron (you have to get up very early to see that one, or just get lucky). Not a lot of the smaller birds of prey. Theses swallows(?) will make quick work of warding this one off.
I've been privileged to see: a night heron, a kingfisher, a giant hawk or eagle (look for that story in a later post), warblers (but not this year), a phoebe, a towhee, and a pair of American kestrels. Once I saw a raven in a tree across the street (property also owned by USU) and finally understood just how massive they are compared to crows. This one was maybe four times as large as the average parking lot crow. Also, this year, for the first time (I'm getting better at seeing), I can tell you where the oriole's, cedar waxwing, a killdeer and humming bird hang out. I basically freaked out when I saw each one. What a treat each time.
One time, and I had to identify him later, there was an osprey. He/she was huge and soared around and would finally dive right into the water. He/she didn't like the camera. I read they have incredible eyesight. Every time I thought it got close enough, it zipped off when I raised my phone. I've never seen a bird turn that fast before. I finally figured out what tail fathers were for. Yeah, beginning birder here.
My favorite birds to observe are the ducks and geese. When you watch a gaggle of geese grow up from little tiny babies, you somehow feel connected to them, almost responsible for and proud of them.
The ducks are very interesting characters. I'll spend most of this blog on manky mallards (that's what one website called them). But let me list the other ducks I've seen. Traditionally, there have been many ring-necked ducks hiding out on Pond 4. They must be seasonal, because there is no sign of them yet. The redheaded ducks occupy ponds 3 and 4. There have been less coots (super cute and I think I finally heard one, which is probably how they got their name). I've only seen one grebe and maybe one grebe baby. That's down from many the previous years. The mallards are scarce this year, as well, and I think I know why- there's a trio of manky mallards (mallards crossed with domestic ducks escaped off the farm) that rule Pond 1. Let me introduce you to Masquerade, Brownie and Son-of-Brownie.
Most of the time, Masquerade is in charge, but sometimes Brownie seems to lead the group. Son-of-Brownie tends to be more independent sometimes, but never too far away. My daughter is highly against me feeding the ducks, so I honor that. I do know of some regular dog walkers who do feed the ducks and these three will spot you from across the pond and swim over to you. It feels so nice to be loved, but I'm sure they're disappointed. They're nice about it, at least. You can even tell them good morning and they swim right over. Once I was picking up a particularly large bit of trash and I must have looked like I had food to share. They were very interested. Too bad.
There are plenty of other places to see wild water fowl nearby: The Great Salt Lake Shorelands Preserve (our favorite place on earth - sorry Disney), Farmington Bay, the pond by the Bountiful landfill, etc. But this is were I choose to spend my mental health and exercise time. I think I finally understand the nature/mental health connection. You can think about the past or the future, but when you see a bird or a bug, that is happening right then. You are in the present. And if your life is not in danger at the moment, being in the present can be the happiest place to be. Recently, we've started watching the fish. We watch them for a long time. This is my little thank you to the birds and bugs that make me happy.
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