Spotted in Ueno Park (Bonus: Baby Ducks!)

On the way to Shinobazu Pond in Ueno Park, I spotted a fervently sleeping cat.

The last time I was here, it was the dead of winter and the lotus leaves were all brown and withered. This was the end of June, so the lotus flowers were not in bloom yet. You can see a large bud on the right side of the photo, though, with turtles on the left. You can tell from the size of the lotus pond that the flowers in bloom would truly be something to behold.

Ueno Park is having a summer festival, so food stands had been set up around the area. I like this curly potato: essentially a whole potato stretched out into a spiral.

I see where Daffy Duck got his look.

The biggest draw of the area was the baby ducks. You didn't even have to look in the lake to know where they were, you simply had to follow the crowd.

Six adorable ducks and their mother. (One was hiding out near its mother's belly.)

They looked so relaxed, it looked as if they hardly had bones in their body.

Sparrows, taking over the hydrangeas.

A sparrow giving itself a sand bath...

...while another simply sunbathed in the dirt. It looked like a cicada.