Soaking Up the Sun

This Western Pond Turtle appears to have a smile on his face as he lays on a log soaking up the sun with his feet tucked up into his shell. Notice, he also appears to have his eyes half close too. I took this photo yesterday in Cottage Grove at the Row River Nature Park. While Jeanette did the grocery shopping, Buster and I went for a walk in the park.  I was set on looking for birds, but the many turtles lying out in the sun grabbed my attention. There are several ponds in the park, and every pond has several logs, and every log had a turtle or two on it.  They all seemed to be Western Pond Turtles; I did not see any Red-Eared Sliders, which is a good thing as they are an invasive species that is threatening the native Westerns. I did eventually get back to birding and managed to find 23 different species. All of us, the turtles, Buster, me and the birds, all seem to enjoy the sun.