Raccoon Family at Lost Lagoon

I accompanied my mother to downtown Vancouver today to pick up prizes that she had won from a local newspaper contest.  Afterwards, while it was still early, we decided to bus to Stanley Park and walked around the Lost Lagoon.  According to this post (the photos from that post have all been taken down by the server, sorry), the last time I was there was more than three years ago!?

Anyways, today was a nice day to be out - although there were too many people to our likings.

Several Mute Swans around the lagoon.

Sunny and gorgeous day.

Hard to tell what kind of waxwing this is, probably Cedars.

Unknown fly came and rested next to us.

 

Turtles sunning.

Heron and Two Swans.

Damselflies and Dragonflies are quite abundant along the edges of the lagoon.

Pacific Forktail (Ischnura cervula) - identifiable by the four blue dorsal dots and blue on the sides.


Not sure what species of damselfly (Family Coenagrionidae) this is - since the photo did not capture the necessary parts to identify the species.


A female Blue-eyed Darner (Aeshna multicolor).

While looking at something, a lone raccoon slowly walked up behind us along the trail.

 

 

It paid no attention to us as it strolled on by.

 

Later on, we saw one adult with four young raccoons crossing the trail ahead of us again.

After a short bathroom break at the Second Beach, which was packed with people, we headed back to the bus stop.

We heard a Belted Kingfisher near a pond.  Looking around, it was hiding in the shades and not doing much.

There were many Canada Geese, Mallards, and this lone female Wood Duck being fed by people, despite the signs of not feeding wildlife.

One of the few butterflies that I saw today - White Admiral (Limenitis arthemis).  It quickly flew away as the bikers zipped down the trail.

Reflection of the blue sky.

We accidentally stumbled across the Nature House that I heard about but never being to before.  It is quite a small but well-displayed place with a few specimen and general information on a wide range of wildlife in the park, including this bumblebee key that I find very useful.

Link to the larger image of this key.

Nature House at the Lost Lagoon.

After that, we headed back to downtown for a late lunch (Japadog) and then home.