March 12 -- University of Nevada, Reno campus

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My plan for the day was to visit the Planetarium (which is part of the University, I think), and the History Museum (which is right across the parking lot from the planetarium).

I walked north from the hotel.  Here's another painted box which I believe is filled with electrical stuff (telephone stuff?).  With expressway behind.

People can walk on the bridges that cross the highway.  Looking west.

Standing in the same spot where the previous two shots were taken, having turned 180.  Now we are looking east at Walgreen's.  I mentioned before that it is over the highway.  We believe all of that metal stuff above the store is suspending it.  Nice sky, eh?

University-related buildings start on the other side of the highway.  A nice little house, with offices.

Standing right in front of the International Center, looking south toward downtown Reno.

Another nice house with offices.  And a sort of obelisk in front.

Fancy details.  And pigeon-pokers.

It's a pretty campus.  (Shuddering to think how much water it takes to maintain all of the grass and other non-native plants............)

Another look south toward downtown.

Annotated.

Daffodils.  Hooray for yellow!

I walked between some trees, and inadvertently flushed a hawk.  I think I must have been within 20' of it.

It moved to this tree (see it, near the bottom, about a third of the way from the left?).  Crows were harassing it. 

I googled "hawks Reno" and got Cooper's hawk and red-tail hawk.  I think this is the latter.

A bit later, as I walked near the planetarium, a hawk flew right overhead.  It looked a lot like the hawk-flying-over in the link above..........



Quince.  Such a great color...................

Speaking of nice -- isn't this pleasant?  I think we could see this water from the hotel, as a sort of flat gray space.  I didn't realize it was water until I was here........

Looking back south toward downtown.

There were lots of water birds here. Mallards, Canada geese, and a pair of swans.  This is the first time I've been close enough to a pair of swans to get any pics.  They were busy preening.

Closer crop of the above -- loose feather, and -- look at the light coming through its tail feathers!  Cool.

There were signs saying "Do not feed the birds!" but I believe people must ignore the admonition.  The birds were quite attentive to any people who walked by.  In a "What might you have to offer?" way, rather than in a "I am ready to flee" way...........

Having looked at the Trumpeter Swan Society's swan id page, I believe these are mute swans.



The exposure is bad in this next shot, but it's the only one I got which shows the round cement containers sticking up from the water.  I think these are nesting platforms.  They are more than a yard in diameter.  One of them had a nesting Canada goose.

Walking uphill and uphill toward the planetarium.  Another scaly-leafed plant, with interesting (almost pine-cone-y?) open seed pods.

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