A visit to Mission Trails Regional Park
Although I live in La Mesa, I am just a block outside of the eastern edge of the San Diego city limits. Not too far from me, also at the eastern edge of San Diego, is Mission Trails Regional Park:
The park was established in 1974 and, depending on the source, comprises somewhere between 5,800 acres and 6,150 acres. That makes it the largest city-owned park in California and the sixth largest in the United States; it also is the seventh largest “open space urban park” in the U.S.
Much of the park was destroyed in the October 2003 Cedar Fire which burned 280,278 acres and 2,820 buildings (2,232 homes), and killed 15 people, including one firefighter. The Cedar Fire is the largest fire in California history. Chaparral ecosystems recover rapidly from wildfire, though, and there virtually is no evidence of what happened ten years ago.
I go to the park quite often just to wander around, especially Lake Murray to feed the birds and squirrels.
Recently, though, I discovered the main Visitor Center:
There are great exhibits inside the Visitor Center, where I took the following five pictures. Of the five, only one was alive. The others had been taxidermied. You get to guess which one.
At the rear of the Visitor Center, I met a guy hanging around with his little one:
His little one, an iguana, was ten years old and eats a couple of pounds of dog food and lettuce each day. Makes me glad I have Zoey the Cool Cat. She eats a six-ounce can of wet food and a cup of dry food.
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Posted on January 26, 2013, in Birds, Fauna, Manmade, Mother & Father Nature, Out & About, Photos and tagged american kestrel pictures, bobcat pictures, coyote pictures, fox pictures, geese pictures, great horned owl pictures, iguana pictures, mission trails regional park san diego, raccoon pictures, squirrel pictures. Bookmark the permalink. 24 Comments.
beautiful pictures!
Good photos here Russell. I hope the bob cat was the stuffed one. I doubt you got that close to a live one.
cats are superior in every way! – especially Zoey
Reblogged this on bearspawprint.
Nice shots Russel. I had coyotes in my post today too.
Russel, love the photo of the squirrel with the roll! I think maybe the Kestrel is alive? We know the Iguana is…
You got it. The kestrel is the only living one.
But is Zoey the Cool Cat 10 years old yet? What does the future hold in appetite terms?
ZCC is five so I think her appetite has stabilized.
I’m guessing that the kestrel is alive. It’s eyes look so, well, alive.
Yep. I’ve always found it fairly easy to tell, too, just by looking at the eyes.
Yay!^^
Yes the kestrel is beautiful, they’ve done a good job on the rest though.
Rich nature ！
I figured it was the 1st pic ~ but I wanted it to be the 2nd! I’m more of a cat person!
Great photos yet again Russel! My favorite is the bird! I have not been to Lake Murray in years!
Beautiful photos!
Great photos.
Hello..I thought I had pretty much scared off the men with my diagnosis of breast cancer. Thanks for being brave and visiting my blog. My sister is a vet and rescued an injured bobcat near her home in VA that had been hit by a truck. After 2 months it has been released again near her home. It is nice that we humans sometimes do something nice for the wildlife besides moving it out so we can build homes….Michelle
Men also get breast cancer, not as often, though. Additionally, however, every man I know has women in his life!
Yes..but I think some men get funny when we are talking about certain body parts..I decided to be open about it.. I am not alone in this…
bobcat was beautiful, sorry it wasn’t living and breathing!
That squirrel scored!
Your darling Zoey looks exactly like my precious girl, Little Kitty, who went to feline heaven ten years ago. Thank you for this write on Mission Trails Regional Park. Your blog is a delight…