Willow Dale Duck Pond

Friday Afternoon Drive: Willow Dale Duck Pond

Bob and I went for a drive Friday afternoon.

We drove to Allegany State Park via Bradford, PA.

Our first stop was at Willow Dale Duck Pond. The duck pond is located along PA Route 346 a few miles west of downtown Bradford. We parked alongside the duck pond. I took photographs of three resident white ducks, from inside our car, using my Grizzly camera bean bag as support for my long lens.

The white ducks were fun to watch!

Once the ducks tired of playing, I got out of the car to take a few pictures of the pond itself.

Willow Dale Duck Pond

It’s beginning to look a lot like Spring!

Our next stop was at Marilla Reservoir, the subject of my next blog post.

I linked up this blog post with Eileen’s critter party. You may view more critters by visiting Eileen’s critter party blog post.

We received a brochure in the mail a few days ago, mailed to “Our Neighbor”. The brochure came from BJ’s Wholesale Club in Olean, NY. BJ’s was offering its neighbors a 60-day free membership. I wouldn’t exactly call a company in Olean, NY our neighbor. Olean is located a little more than 50 miles from our house. What to do on a rainy day … how about a trip to BJ’s to see what is there? We found a few things at BJ’s not available at our nearby Sam’s Club. We walked out of BJ’s with about $100 less cash.

On our way home from Olean, we drove by way of Bradford PA making one stop at the Willow Dale Duck Pond.

I took this photograph of Willow Dale Duck Pond in July 2012,
the day that we first discovered the duck pond.

The duck pond is located along Route 346 a few miles west of downtown Bradford.

We parked alongside the duck pond,
and I took photographs of the four resident ducks from inside our car.
(photo taken by Bob)

It was fine weather for ducks.

Sunday Drive: Willow Dale Duck Pond

Bob and I went for a drive this past Sunday (July 22). We made four stops, while on our drive. On Monday I shared photographs from our stop at Sugar Bay on the Allegheny Reservoir, as well as lunch at The Willows. Earlier today, I blogged about our stop at Marilla Reservoir. A few miles farther east on Rt. 346 towards Bradford, Pennsylvania, we made our last stop, which was at the Willow Dale Duck Pond.

According to the following two news articles, this duck pond was restored last summer.

July 29, 2011 – via Willow Dale duck pond gets approval for restoration – The Bradford Era: News – Willow Dale duck pond gets approval for restoration: News
Three months ago, Bradford native Steven Cavallaro was told it would be impossible to restore the duck pond adjacent to Willow Dale Cemetery …

October 9, 2011 – via Turnout high for grand opening of Willow Dale duck pond – The Bradford Era: News – Turnout high for grand opening of Willow Dale duck pond: News
Many people showed up Sunday afternoon to celebrate the grand opening of the newly-restored duck pond next to the Willow Dale Cemetery in Bradford …

The duck pond is gorgeous!

Willow Dale Duck Pond

Now for close-up pictures of some of the resident ducks.

Two Resident Ducks

Black and white duck

One last duck picture

I thought it might interest you how this Sunday drive came about.

On Saturday, Bob rode the motorcycle to Erie, Pennsylvania, to check out the vendors at Roar on the Shore. When Bob returned home from Erie, he showed me a video that he took of the Trevor Vines Freestyle Jump Show. While the jumps were impressive, what impressed me the most was the brilliant blue sky. Warren had been under cloud cover all day! Well, I wanted to take a drive somewhere to find the sun. We found the sun on our way to Salamanca, New York, where we ate dinner at Thunder Mountain Buffet and tried our luck on the one-handed bandits at the Seneca Allegany Casino. (Luck was not on our side.)

Leaving the casino, we drove to Bradford, Pennsylvania, and took Route 346 out of town — a portion of the route that we had never traveled. We passed by a duck pond, and I said “oh look at that!”. Then we passed by a reservoir with a covered bridge. I said “oh look at that!” Then we passed by The Willows, and I exclaimed “that’s the restaurant that Susan and Dave went to a while ago, the one by Willow Bay!”. We decided to make a return trip to the area on Sunday to eat lunch at The Willows, take a walk around the reservoir, and see the duck pond up close and personal. I am happy that we made a return trip. What a great day we had!