I Saw A Turtle!

I went for one of my round-the-town walks yesterday, while the weather was still good. I really need to get some more exercise, so I've taken up a semi-regular stroll, just so I can get used to the idea of leaving the house.

I walked past the man-made lake by the high school, and I saw some ducks (no real surprise there)... but I saw something else which struck me as unusual. There was a greenish helmet-shape sitting about six feet from the edge of the lake. At first, I thought it was a piece of rubbish, or someone's hat, but I crept up for a closer look and...

Hey! I saw a turtle! =)

I'm happy to see real live creatures up close, but I didn't want to disturb turtle too much. So, I took a couple of pictures, and then crept away. Unfortunately, I took said pictures with Dinkycam and they really didn't work out at all:

That greyish smoosh in the middle of the greenish smudgy stuff is the turtle. I really really have to get a new camera! Once I took the (cough cough) "photos", I crept away, and watched the turtle as it plodded off back to the lake.

Okay, so I'm getting over excited over a damn animal. It's just that I seldom get to see non-domesticated animals so close to a built-up area. (There have been a few kangaroos sighted in the empty field between the CBD and where I live, but they have been there for a while.)
This makes me both happy, and a little sad, too. A lot of other people who would have seen this would have tried to disturb the animal somehow, by either trying to take it home, or injuring it somehow. The closeness of the high school to the lake also brings some nasty possibilities to mind... though I assume the turtle would have the sense to keep away from people at a set time (who knows?).

I also saw some birds with long black curved beaks by the lake. I think they are either a type of ibis, or a jabiru, but I gotta do some research. Damn, I wish we still had that bird book we used to have years ago, but I think my Dad took it with him to Queensland...
PS. Yep. They were definitely ibises.