Urban wildlife seems like an oxymoron–just like a sanitary landfill, but it does exist. Surprisingly, our small RV park supports a variety of creatures. The park is a tiny oasis of nature amidst the urban landscape of Riverside, California. There are two ponds and several areas of woods–which are a jungle of vegetation and a haven to small creatures.
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| Black-crowned night-heron in a tree on the bank of the pond |
A variety of birds resides around the ponds, including great blue herons, black-crowned night-herons, great egrets, American coots, mallards, an osprey and double-crested cormorants.
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| Great Egret |
A great horned owl resides in a large tree above the other campground and hoots in the evenings. A bevy of doves flies around the park along with numerous song birds that love the dense brush of the woods.
The coots split their time between the pond and waddling around the lawns searching for insects.
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| American coot (right) and pied-billed grebe (left) |
The most surprising urban wildlife encounter has been a coyote. On several occasions he has walked by the trailer on the walking path. One afternoon he was after the flock of coots feeding on the lawn.
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| Coyote trotting on walking path |
