Turtle finding!

Quite a nice day today, except for the rain that came down when I was about to head back and the flat tire on my bike which made the paddling through the rain even more difficult. Sigh.

Great Blue Heron herding the Gadwalls onward.

Catching a small snack.

A Brown-headed Cowbird that likes to perch on treetop at the worst lighting conditions ever. Nice songs though.

Near the Terra Nova Rural Area, a pair of Cinnamon Teals and a (immature?) Hooded Merganser were spotted in the pond (as well as the nesting Killdeer).

While looking at the ducks, I accidentally stepped on something solid. And this was what I saw when looking down! A turtle shell??

Is it still alive? This is the upper shell, also known as the carapace.


It looked fine to me.

The lower shell, also known as the plastron. It's a small-sized turtle that's about the size of my palm. I wonder what species is it? [Edit: According to Hugh, it seems like another case of exotic pet unwanted and abandoned. I hope bad karma goes to whoever that abandoned this creature.]

I was thinking why it was there and what to do with it? Either it's a wild turtle or someone has decided to release it there. And should I leave it back on the grass or should I bring it home and decide it's fate when I get home. Eventually, I decided to leave it be and put it closer to the water edge to see if it will go into the pond where it's safer from human feet.

Slowly, it came out of hiding and slowly crawled into the pond and away it goes! Hope I made the right decision.

Uh-oh. Rain is coming. Time to pack up the camera and go home.
.