This post is about a trek taken at Lake Erie Metropark in late June. I figured I’d better get this picture-laden post published soon, as I’ve made a couple of trips to this venue since then to see the water lotuses, so I will be doing a separate post soon on those lovely and delicate flowers .
This is such a huge Metropark, (1,607 acres), and there is a lot to see. In the three years I’ve been going here, I am sure I have still not explored every corner of this park. I’ve mentioned our wacky weather this year, and, as I write this post, usually by late August, the grass is brown and crispy and it seems you can hear your footsteps when you walk on it. We had our sunniest June ever on record here in Southeast Michigan, but when we had rain, it was the torrential, think-about-building-an-ark kind of rain. Unfortunately, the Cherry Hill Marsh Trail has been flooded throughout 2019 and 2020.
On this day, it seemed as though everything was a bright-green color. Last year the boathouse (pictured above) was repainted from turquoise to this pale, pea-green hue.
I stopped to say “hi” to Luc, the resident bald eagle and had to step across a wooden pallet that was a makeshift walkway to traverse the mud in order to get to the overlook where the boat house sits. This overlook gives you a nice view of the marsh.
I saw no ducks which are usually paddling around the marsh, but I did see extensive green pond scum.
Since the Cherry Island Trail was muddy with pools of water, I decided on a trail that was further inland. Yes, this would do just fine. No worries about social distancing since it appeared I was by myself on this trail and thus spent about an hour before I saw another human.
But, just in case I forgot myself, there were plenty of signs describing the distance of six feet apart.
I walked along the overlook as I headed to the boat launch site. My head swiveled around looking for a sign of life … wildlife that is. I said to myself “where are the Herons, Egrets, Geese and Swans?” I guess I spoke to quickly as I next heard the unmistakable screech of a Great Blue Heron, who likely heard my mutterings and left the marsh without further adieu. You can see him zipping by in this shot below, though I had barely enough time to focus on him after hearing his horribly screechy noise.
I continued through the marsh, pausing to take photos of more green slimy algae that had settled onto the water’s surface …
… but here, the water was clearer, chock full of frog-bit and lime-green pond lily leaves.
In the middle of the marsh, sticking out of the still-dormant bulrushes, was this dead tree, which looked like some type of weird sculpture.
Along the wooden overlook, there was a slight breeze and the fuzz was flying … the poplar tree fuzz that is. If those white wisps were not airborne, they had glommed together in a pile. Below, the cottony fibers likely snagged on a rough piece of wood on the walkway.
I headed down to the boat launch area, hoping to see a Seagull or two perching on a buoy – it is always a good photo op when they stand there, swaying ever so slightly on the huge green buoy. The seagulls watch the fishermen to see if they might snag a meal when those guys (or gals) look away for a minute. Those wily gulls probably know what this sign says, so they have to work hard for their meals and be sneaky to snag a fish from a fisherman’s bucket or boat. 🙂
No food-snatching Seagulls and the buoys were all rocking gently with no visitors atop them, so no photo ops there, save getting a shot of the raggedy-looking rope that is tied to a post from the makeshift fence around the perimeter of the parking lot.
Adjacent to the boat launch area is the opposite end of the Cherry Island Marsh Trail.
I checked it out to see if it was dry or muddy here, but it wasn’t too promising from what I could see as puddles and pools of water were just a few yards from the start point of the trail.
It was a great morning, notwithstanding those muddy spots. On the way back to the car, I saw a group of splashing Mallards along the way. You can read about that portion of this trek here in case you missed it.
Soon I will be writing about the water lotuses at this park – stay tuned!
Linda Schaub
WALKIN', WRITIN', WIT & WHIMSY 
Those lake views could almost be here in the UK.
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Lake Erie is really beautiful as are the marshes Andy. You would enjoy this trek, though I never see as many waterfowl as you do in Titchfield Haven. I was there last Saturday to see and photograph the lotus beds. There are several lotus beds – the largest one is easily accessible as it’s right on Lake Erie. As for another smaller one, I began walking that Cherry Island Marsh Trail as it finally looked to be dry – halfway through it was just as swampy as last year. Right now we have torrential rain, with two inches fallen in an hour and another two inches to fall in the same amount of time and severe weather later. It’s a sure bet that I won’t be walking there again until 2021.
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What a lovely tour for me to wake up to! Thank you.
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Glad you enjoyed that tour Anne. I returned here to this park last Saturday and spent 3 1/2 hours at that venue – good thing I didn’t wait until tomorrow. We have had two inches of rain fall in the course of an hour and another two inches to fall in the next few hours. That trail will be flooded til next Summer at that rate. Last week it looked promising and I ventured forth … halfway along the trail it became flooded and was swampy on either side of the trail and the trail itself … plus mosquitoes from the swampy areas were eating me alive.
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Glad you survived the mosquitoes.
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I swear that by August they are big enough to go to work. It will be bad tomorrow so will need to wear pants for sure.
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We are so lucky. Even though there is a little stream behind the house across the street, we have no mosquitoes. I’ve never seen one here.
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That’s amazing! The stream must be very clear and that’s why? The algae was pretty thick at Lake Erie Metropark that day – sometimes at Council Point Park too.
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You are lucky to have such a great hiking place nearby!
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Yes, I do have to admit we have a lot of parks here in this area … there would be more if I didn’t mind driving I-696 as I could go to Oakland County with more parks. Those who drive that expressway go well over the speed limit. I went once to go to the Zoo and that was enough.
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I get it. We have a super highway locally called the Schuylkill Highway. Natives call it Surekill.
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Aptly named! Every day it seems there is a major accident on 696 – wiping out and hitting the wall mostly.
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It’s nice to see some of the different parks and our state has. I think all of the green in nature is very soothing.
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Yes, we’ve got so many parks here don’t we Ruth? I had planned to go to Elizabeth Park tomorrow, but every time we get torrential rain, it floods like crazy, so I’ll hold off until it recedes. You won’t have to water for a long time – we had three inches this morning plus it just rained very hard for about an hours, so I’m sure we got to four inches. What a soggy day! I agree green is very soothing – we need that right now.
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I really appreciated this…
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Glad you appreciated it Ellie.
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Yup. It could.
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Sweet shots, Linda!
“What does 6 feet look like?” That’s a funny poster, but i guess that it is necessary for a lot of people. Dollar bills are exactly 6 inches, so a dozen of them in a row would do the trick. 🙂
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Glad you liked them Tom. If we don’t know by now how far six feet is (not to mention that we should wash our hands), we sure are a sorry bunch. I don’t know why they use a giraffe’s neck as an example – I’ve seen a giraffe maybe three times in my life. We have had such horrible weather here today – four inches of rain and another storm arriving shortly. All the rain will make everything green here in the ‘hood too!
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Yes, Giraffes’ necks… silly!
What they REALLY should have done to have the right impact… is say 6 feet is how deep you will soon be buried if you do not adhere to the scientists’ 6 feet paradigm. 🙂
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Miss Linda…………………………….lets remember all this leafy bright green color come December and winter blah time…………………………………………I love Erie Metro park too but we really only go where the fishing places are……………………………..so you’re seeing a lot more on the hiking trails
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Try to get there along Cove Point in the next few weeks to see the lotus beds, as they are just beautiful Ann Marie. I know the trails will be flooded tomorrow after all this never-ending rain today.
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I just got to your post this evening, wonderful as always. This park looks like some of them around here with the mucky, algae water. Well, at least you did see one Blue Heron, they sure are eye catching when they fly by. And it so nice that they put the signs everywhere explaining what 6 feet is. Just in case we forget. 🙂
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Glad you enjoyed the post Sandra. I was there last Saturday morning for about 3 1/2 hours to see the lotus beds and walk around – it was still a little green with the algae but not near the lotuses thankfully. I saw another heron and he was tucked in a corner of the marsh and then he flew away a little bit later. So hopefully those pics came out – won’t be looking at them til next weekend.
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That’s a huge park! I’m sure the wildlife and vegetation varies from season to season which would make it an interesting place to visit year round. Thanks for the photo tour!
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It is beautiful there Rebecca. The lotuses were in bloom last weekend – it would have been nice to return today as many were just in bud, but we had almost 4 inches of rain today, so that park would be flooded for sure. Glad you liked the tour.
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I always feel like I am walking with you Linda. At the beginning of your post I was going to ask you about the water lotuses. I wondered if they were what we call cat tails? Don’t answer that because I will read all about them in your next post!
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The lotuses resemble pond lilies Diane, only the water lotus flowers rise out of the leaves on tall stems. The pond lilies sit right on the leaves (so do frogs but I’ve not seen them). There are cat tails too – I think I took some pictures last week of them. They weren’t too tall on this trip. Glad you feel like you have walked this route with me Diane. Does it remind you of the Metroparks you used to go with when you took your clients?
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Yes it sure does! I haven’t been back in months.
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I think I would of explored those wet areas more Linda but than that might be because I wear rubber boots all year?
These Parks need to hire you as a guide!
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Wayne – I don’t mind wearing my rubber boots if I am at Elizabeth Park when it’s flooded as I don’t have so far to walk in them from the car, but if I go here to Lake Erie Metropark and have to walk a mile and a half each way to get to the trail, it is not as comfortable for walking long distances. I do have a backpack that I could carry them in and swap boots for shoes when needed, but then I’d be carrying wet boots back with me. I had the camera bag and fanny pack already, so just left them in the car.
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That seems like a awful long way to make people walk to the park……..1 1/2 miles! Normally people drive and park their car and walk a few minutes to get to the Park.
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Well I take the scenic route along the wooden overlooks and the overlooks are over the marshy areas, so it is quite a jaunt from the car. The whole park is about five miles square – it is huge.
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that makes more sense. I should of known you’d take the scenic route.
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You can’t really take a shortcut to be honest. You can drive from one side of the park to the other – last week I went to Cove Point and walked along the shoreline to see the lotus beds, then went on an overlook to see into the marsh. That was a two-mile round trip from the car. Back at the car I drove across the entire park, then left the car at the museum right where Luc is and had to walk from there to get down to Lake Erie. There are wooden overlooks all over the park and they are long, stretching over the marsh areas.
It is mostly all marshes. The alternative is walking in the road, which works if there are no trucks hauling boats, otherwise you have to keep stepping over to the side. I’m trying not to step on the grass – we have a bad tick season this year. Ticks and mosquitoes did not die off as we had a mild Winter.
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you’d think the Park would make the roadway more walker friendly,It is a park after all.
I have inserts for my rubber boots. I can walk all day in them.
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I agree plus they charge to go to the Metroparks … that is a little annoying to me as we pay $35.00 a year (if you buy the pass before the new year starts, otherwise $40.00/year for a pass). I think that all paths should be accessible then. My Totes boots were comfortable, but they were a little wide, so not a lot of support to them. But I did like that they were seamless so no leaks. I guess I could buy a pair of insoles and see if that makes them easier to walk a long distance.
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You should send your observation to the powers that be. Mentioning that you see a dangerous situation where somebody could be hurt? You’ll get their attention with that.
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That;s a good idea. I follow them on Facebook and Twitter and a month ago they asked if anyone had any questions to write and they’d answer the question. I wrote and asked if the lotuses would bloom earlier this year as we had a hot Summer and the sunniest June on record. They usually bloom the first or second week in August. I wrote because the guy who does the responses to the Q & A is the same guy I had on the Eagles Nest boat trip and he spent a good fifteen minutes discussing the water lotuses and how they are “protected” as in you can be fined/or jail time for taking a leaf, pod, seeds, a bloom – they are the largest water lotus beds in Michigan. Anyway, I’m still waiting for an answer and just went myself in the meantime.
I did report the wasp nest to the City because once the leaves drop on that big tree, it will be exposed and someone may get stung, maybe a person who is allergic to wasps/bees.
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Yes,form a constructive letter about your concerns. Who knows maybe something will be done about it!
Leaves usually drop because of cooler weather. Wasp’s will become much slower with the cooler weather and when It gets cold they will die.
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Yes, I was a little miffed as they were the ones asking for questions so they could keep their Q&A going. I didn’t think of that – a fellow blogger lives in Cleveland, OH and there was a wasp’s nest like this one in their apple tree. Her husband drove underneath the tree while on a riding mower and they attacked him – 10 stings! I took Nutter Butters to the Park today for the squirrels – I kept them in the cup they came in, but put it in a bag tied off my fanny pack so I could access them and peanuts easily. I had to remove it as the wasps kept going into the bag, trying to access the cup and buzzing around me. They must’ve smelled the cookies. They were not from that nest – those were black with a little yellow – these were regular wasps or hornets … they were out to get me … first time ever that happened.
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the loudness and vibrations given off by the mower alarmed the Wasp’s I bet!
If he had just walked under and past the nest I bet they wouldn’t of attack!
Wasp’s and Hornets can be trained or “conditioned” to visit eating tables. They know humans have food at these things.
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That sure sounds possible. So when the crew of mowers come to the Park, they could be setting themselves up for wasp stings too. They had a pair of treecutters there last Thursday. They were removing some brush along the Creek bank. I told them about the wasp nest on the other side of the walking loop. The one guy said he was stung four times (three of them on the lip) last week by bees. They uncovered a bee’s nest while trimming brush. There were no wasps there today, or yesterday either, but maybe they were inside. When I took the photos, they were crawling on the outside. That’s interesting – I didn’t know that wasps and hornets were trainable like that. This one sure wanted at those cookies. I had the lid to the cup off inside the bag, so it kept zooming toward the bag and trying to dive into it.
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loud noise and vibration bothers many insects! We simply do not appreciate other life forms as much as we should.
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Yes, most people figure we are a higher being than them, like the woman in the Park today, the same one as before, who walks carrying a small tree branch. When a squirrel comes near, she waves the branch for it to go away. She’s going to poke one in the eye, or hurt it somehow, acting like that. The squirrels will just run away from her, but she does that with the geese and they’ll likely charge at her. I saw her do that and told them to come and see me and took out a handful of peanuts. She asked (like before) “why are you feeding them – they can get their own food and they may bite you.” I said “they won’t bite the hand that feeds them unless they are rabid and they won’t bite you either.”
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some people like to go out in Nature but have Nature controlled! People like this should stick to man made Botanical gardens!
Personally I’d cover her in honey and roll her in peanuts and let the squirrels sort it out?
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I like your idea Wayne. There would be retribution from them. She irked me the first time she went off on me about feeding them and they are wild animals, let them fend for themselves, soon you’ll be taking them home with you. But this time it really got on my nerves. Am I going to feed them if there was a chance they’d run up and bite me? And taking a branch along as you walk is mean as well. They did nothing to warrant being beaten with a branch – granted the small tree branch likely would not hurt them, but it sure could poke an eye out. And those geese sure would not take kindly getting prodded and besides it could damage a wing.
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the Geese would have a field day with her!
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Oh ya! There was a young golfer walked past a Canada Goose’s nest last year. He was concentrating on his game – she attacked him and knocked him down. https://youtu.be/gc7qhk2Lh20
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The lime green color of the lily pond surprises me. It looks like the colors of southern FL. I enjoy your nature photos as well as your pics of the additional manmade signage. Such a weird juxtaposition of ideas and images.
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It gets really bright green from time to time – no water circulation and if we go too many days without rainfall, it covers the entire surface of the water. It happens at Council Point Park too. Every time I turned around I saw green, so decided to go with that color as a theme for the post. They had signs at every twist and turn. I’m glad you like the photos Ally. I spent 3 1/2 hours there last Saturday and was able to get on that trail (half of it anyway, before it was waterlogged and swampy and I turned back) and got a lot of different types of photos besides just the marsh. There is “duckweed” which is tiny aquatic plants and it’s so thick the ducks can barely paddle through it.
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Linda, is the pond algae normal this time of year, for a marsh? Or is it associated with too much or not enough rain? Last summer the pond at the childrens animal farm here was just a yucky sea of lime green algae – no water visible at all – a very strange site – and all of the ducks had gone elsewhere, but I’m thinking maybe it was a dry spell? Not sure about this year as it hasn’t been open.
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You are right … your childrens’ animal farm did not have enough fresh water in its pond, due to lack of rain and it caused it to stagnate. It just sits there and won’t move and Lake Erie has been in the news before for its widespread algae bloom. It’s worse in the marsh as no swift current like a bigger body of water. It is yucky to see and you can’t even see the water sometimes. The birds can’t move in it … plus they have the duckweed, which is green, all very small leaves and it is invasive and so thick, the ducks have to paddle around it, or get caught up in it. With all the rain we got yesterday (almost 4 inches for us), the waterways should be clear of the scum for a while I’d think. I doubt we’ll have anymore 90s (hopefully) as that heat was the big culprit.
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We have very little standing water, but I’ve read that hundreds of mosquitoes can hatch from a bottle cap filled with water.
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Wow – I didn’t know that stat, but last year when the West Nile Virus and then the EEE Virus (from horses) were making people so ill, they warned homeowners not to leave anything out that collects water until it was over. I took away my little weather gauge away – it is a tube on top of a ladybug’s back.
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I was very careful around the house, too. That reminds me that I should change the water in the bird baths tomorrow.
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Do you still have the solar bubbler? I know that keeps it from getting stagnant and drawing mosquitoes. Your hummingbirds like that swirling water too – I guess they are attracted to it. One the hummingbird site I’ve been following, they showed a group of hummingbirds bathing and jumping around in a homemade birdbath with water effects. Very interesting looking.
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Yes, the solar bubbler is still going, but it gets very slow on overcast days. I have never seen a hummingbird show the slightest interest in the moving water. These days they only seem to fight. Sometimes they are so fierce that they hardly ever sip the sugar water. Other birds come to the birdbath to drink. All bathing is done behind the house in the most shallow birdbath. They are all fun to watch.
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A bird taking a bath is fun to watch as it is pure enjoyment for them; even a bird in a puddle in the street or standing under the sprinkler. I miss the bird baths – had to get rid of them per the pest control service. The rat poison makes the rats thirsty so if they have access to water, then the poison won’t kill them. I had two large baths, a medium one and very tiny one. And the biggest birds would go into the smaller baths and the sparrows would sit on the edge of the large baths and were afraid to go in. They had a whole pecking order for going into the bath, just like birds do at the feeder. I’ve not seen fighting since I only have one hummingbird but I’ve heard it is bad. Hope goes from one feeder to the other – no competition. Here they say to keep feeders up until it is two weeks since you last saw a hummingbird. I hope we don’t have a hard freeze as it might crack it though. I’ll have to use my judgement. A few years ago we had a hard freeze the third week in September. I had to hurry and put the hose in the garage 2-3 weeks before the usual time. I learned that the hummers fatten up on sugar water and flower nectar (if still blooming) before their journey. That surprised me but it showed pictures of them roly-poly.
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We keep our feeders out for your birds. They come through here on their way South.
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It amazes me that all the birds know when to get going.
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It’s too bad people don’t have that same sense of when to get going.
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Now that’s funny! We had a relative many years ago, who asked if he could “come to the States to visit on a long weekend?” My mom said “sure – how about Thanksgiving?” He drove over and arrived the day before Thanksgiving; 10 days later, he was still there. I slept in my mom’s bed, gave up my room and he liked to sleep til noon. My mom was beside herself. He was the last guest at this house and that has to be 35 years ago as he’s been gone at least 25 years.
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That was A LONG weekend!!
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It sure was!!
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I saw two bubbler birdbaths this week – one was square, like a raised garden. This one is a round ball and look what fun they are having in it! I used to love watching the birds taking a bath – had four baths, different sizes. https://youtu.be/4Fb0gUTjIeY
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Those hummingbirds were amazing. They wallowed in the water!!
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I know! They were so fun to watch. This woman, whose name is Robbie, lives in Southern California, and has a huge garden with lots of birds and hummingbirds. She has been featured I believe on “Birds and Blooms” Facebook site. She does a lot of DIY garden features –
she posts them to YouTube. Robbie made a bubbling birdbath for the birds/hummers from going to the dollar store, buying a chip dish with a center area for dip and putting a solar pump through the center of the dish. She put a bucket underneath and attached it with an aquarium hose. Within minutes the hummers were flying through it. This video I sent you was a purchased bubbler, but she is supposed to be showing how to make one like it.
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Some people are really talented!
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Yes, and she sounds very conversational in her videos, like you’ve known her all your life. She made it look very easy and was pretty handy with her tools too.
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No feeding wildlife??? I am surprised you go back to that metropark again and again, Linda. You are such a devoted wildlife feeder!
I might be a little hesitant to venture onto a trail where I didn’t see another human for an hour. Be careful out there!
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No, they are adamant about feeding the wildlife Laurie. I keep returning as it is picturesque but the whole critter experience is not there. I took a couple of interpretative trail trips a few years ago and I mentioned feeding the squirrels and the guide said “they can forage on their own and don’t do it here as we forbid it!” People were sneaking into this park as soon as it opened every morning and bringing a bucket of corn for the deer – they were told not to do it or risk being fined.
I decided I was not going to do that anymore. I generally pass other people on the trail, but I think due to the heat, people were not out there. You are right – I am usually more careful
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yes laurie – I agree – be careful
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I do try to stay on the main perimeter path and yesterday morning I returned to this venue as I was looking to get more photos of the water lotuses. I made three trips this Summer, hoping to show the transition from bud to full bloom, but the blooms are not as bountiful as usual. The leaves/pads, however, have been amazing and yesterday they were huge. Thank you Yvette – I agree with both of you … it’s not safe to be away from people. Four weeks ago I went to a new venue, a huge marsh and I got lost in the woods. It was not a dense woods but I walked eight miles that day trying to find my way back to the marsh area. Yikes! It was a very warm day. I will be writing about it later. I have not even looked at the pictures … right now I have four weeks of DSLR pics on the camera I’ve not looked at – my project for this weekend.
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oh how fun to have photos waiting for you! that is a great way to spend the weekend
and it sounds like you have a great balance of not letting fear interfere with adventure and living!!
I look back to see some solo road trips I did in early 90s- and as I look back I wonder “was I ever worried about safety??” and I was not at the time – but I was careful – conscientious and had God with me –
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I looked a photos all afternoon Yvette and my eyes were running together from so many photos – tomorrow I will cull out the favorites and group them into manageable portions to divvy up into future posts. When I traveled in the late 70s/early 80s, I always went with a tour group but was game for anything.
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Looking forward to your lotus flower shots Linda! I remember once I wore chest waders so as to get close up shots of them!
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I really should go back again Wayne. The first time I was there, it was all green, no buds. Last weekend, I got some lotus shots, but I was hoping they would all be out at the same time. That was the reason I wrote to them, to know their peak time. They have the main interpretative director and each of the 13 Metroparks has a person in charge of the goings-on at that park. It is a 32-round-trip drive for me, so that’s why I was asking. I did get some lotuses in bloom and went as close as I could to the lotus beds. The biggest bed is 5 acres, the smaller one is 2 acres. You are lucky you could wade over to see them. We cannot access the water except by boat at Lake Erie.
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yes,you need to stick with it until you get the results you wanted! It may takes years to get the shot you want.
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I will plan on going back this weekend unless we get rain the day before. We have a lot of rain coming again tomorrow again. Hopefully not like last Friday when we got 3.90 inches of rain, and 3 inches fell just in the morning. The lotuses were out last week, but it would be nice to see more of them in bloom.
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Looking forward to some great shots Linda!
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I hope so too Wayne!
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It has been a long time since I’ve been anywhere near a marsh or a swamp. All I can think about is the mosquitoes and West Nile virus. Which, I suppose would be a nice bit of variety as plagues go.
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I know … I never go when it has rained earlier in the week. And I always wear long pants and a long-sleeved shirt. At this venue, the main trail has been soggy for the second year in a row. I do worry about the mosquitoes (West Nile, EEE and ordinary mosquitoes) but this year, due to a mild Winter, ticks are an issue. Three weeks ago I went to Crosswinds Marsh, a huge venue with an overlook that crosses over the entire marsh. Not a single mosquito there, but lots of them buzzing in the woods. My backyard is horrible this year … I go in/out as quickly as possible.
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That’s quite the park. Many of the photos you captured remind me of the parks near my youngest’s apartment. It’s so fun to take a walk with you through nature’s greens and fellow critters and see how our two states are similar. Thanks for sharing.
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Glad you enjoyed it Shelley. I’ve returned since then, and to an even bigger marsh, but not looked at any of the photos yet. Hopefully sometime soon. I will give it a few weeks so it does not look similar to what I’ve just posted, as I know all the marshes look the same.
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Hi Linda – I am getting caught up on a few posts – and skimmed this one for the lovely Lake Erie photos- ahhh and the cotton was a special stand out – not one we see every day 🙂
our dog has a chew toy (and pillows) that he has chewed up and that photo reminded eye of the insides – hahah
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Yvette,those Poplar trees give off so much cotton fibers that for about two weeks you have to wash down the A/C unit if it is hot enough to run it. I thought this wad of “cotton” that was caught on the wooden overlook ramp really showed just how many fuzzy fibers glomming together will look.
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yikes – that sound like a lot of cotton –
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