Bonsall Night Heron

I was completely mistaken about this pond!


From looking at the satellite maps I deduced that it was a reservoir.
It was off the road a ways and up on a hillside.
We stepped around a gate (no signs) and walked a half mile.



But upon our arrival, we discovered it was a pond
created to hold water for an avocado ranch.


From the look of the abandoned buildings nearby,
which I neglected to photograph, it was a very old pond.


The pond is memorable because we saw our first snake.
Silently sunning itself on the path, we almost stepped onto it.
My wife LEAPT into the air shouting Snake!
[click to enlarge]


I aimed the camera while she and the snake
 instantly took off in opposite directions.
If you don't see him, let me help you:


Anyway that was a pulse-raising episode and good reminder.


While we were looking for this pond (which took quite a while to locate)
we saw the Robbie Lane pond again - just to the E of this one.
And we failed to get into the snooty health spa resort across the road.