Lloyd Lake, also known as Mirror Lake or Kissane Lake, is a clay-lined

lake A lake is often a naturally occurring, relatively large and fixed body of water on or near the Earth's surface. It is localized in a basin or interconnected basins surrounded by dry land. Lakes lie completely on land and are separate from ...

Golden Gate Park Golden Gate Park is an urban park between the Richmond District, San Francisco, Richmond and Sunset District, San Francisco, Sunset districts on the West Side (San Francisco), West Side of San Francisco, California, United States. It is the Lis ...

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

, named in memory of Reuben Hedley Lloyd, the park commissioner. It is home to a wide variety of non-native, non-

migratory bird Bird migration is a seasonal movement of birds between breeding and wintering grounds that occurs twice a year. It is typically from north to south or from south to north. Migration is inherently risky, due to predation and mortality. Th ...

s. Birds to be found within the lake area include

geese A goose (: geese) is a bird of any of several waterfowl species in the family Anatidae. This group comprises the genera '' Anser'' (grey geese and white geese) and ''Branta'' (black geese). Some members of the Tadorninae subfamily (e.g., Egyp ...

, Pekin ducks,

Muscovy ducks The Muscovy duck (''Cairina moschata'') is a duck native to the Americas, from the Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas and Mexico south to Argentina and Uruguay. The species has been domesticated, and feral Muscovy ducks can be found locally in New ...

, Campbell ducks,

mallard The mallard () or wild duck (''Anas platyrhynchos'') is a dabbling duck that breeds throughout the temperate and subtropical Americas, Eurasia, and North Africa. It has been introduced to New Zealand, Australia, Peru, Brazil, Uruguay, Arge ...

gull Gulls, or colloquially seagulls, are seabirds of the subfamily Larinae. They are most closely related to terns and skimmers, distantly related to auks, and even more distantly related to waders. Until the 21st century, most gulls were placed ...

s and

pigeon Columbidae is a bird family consisting of doves and pigeons. It is the only family in the order Columbiformes. These are stout-bodied birds with small heads, relatively short necks and slender bills that in some species feature fleshy ceres. ...

Portals of the Past

The lake is home to some early San Francisco architecture: the remains of Alban Nelson Towne's 1101 California Street,

Nob Hill Nob Hill is a neighborhood of San Francisco, California, United States that is known for its numerous luxury hotels and historic mansions. Nob Hill has historically served as a center of San Francisco's upper class. Nob Hill is among the highe ...

house can be found by the lake, between JFK Drive and Crossover Drive. After the 1906 earthquake and fire devastated the building, his wife presented the portico, popularly known as Portals of the Past to the park in 1909. All that remains of the mansion are the ionic columns of the entrance, which stand in isolation.

In popular culture

In the

Bugs Bunny Bugs Bunny is a cartoon character created in the late 1930s at Warner Bros. Cartoons (originally Leon Schlesinger, Leon Schlesinger Productions) and Voice acting, voiced originally by Mel Blanc. Bugs is best known for his featured roles in the ' ...

cartoon ''Bushy Hare'' (1950), Bugs pops up at Portals of the Past. The site is mentioned in

Alfred Hitchcock Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English film director. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featu ...

's film ''

Vertigo Vertigo is a condition in which a person has the sensation that they are moving, or that objects around them are moving, when they are not. Often it feels like a spinning or swaying movement. It may be associated with nausea, vomiting, perspira ...

'' (1958) as a place where Madeleine Elster (

Kim Novak Marilyn Pauline "Kim" Novak (born February 13, 1933) is an American retired actress and painter. Her contributions to cinema have been honored with two Golden Globe Awards, an Honorary Golden Bear, a Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement, and a s ...

) enters a trance and becomes possessed. The "Portals of the Past" also play a significant role in the novel ''License to Ensorcell'' (2011) by Katharine Kerr.

References

External links

{{Golden Gate Park Golden Gate Park Lakes of the San Francisco Bay Area Landmarks in San Francisco Lakes of California Lakes of San Francisco Lakes of Northern California

Portals of the Past

In popular culture

See also

References

External links