#Wordless Wednesday – allow your photo(s) to tell the story.
Linda Schaub
FIFTY FAVORITE PARK PHOTOS
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- Parker noshin’ nuts
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- Fox Squirrel
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- Black Squirrel
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- Parker, my Park cutie!
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- Pekin Duck
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- Mallard Hybrid Duck
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- Midnight munchin’ nuts
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- Mute Swan
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- Goslings
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- Mama Robin
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- Seagulls on ice floe
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- Great Blue Heron
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- Parker chowin’ down
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- Mallard Duck
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- Northern Cardinal
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- Great Blue Heron (“Harry”) fishing for shad
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- Parker: shameless begging
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- Viceroy Butterfly
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- Great Blue Heron
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- American Goldfinch
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- Seagull
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- Robin baby (not fledged yet)
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- Mallard Ducks
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- Robins almost ready to fledge
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- Parker angling for peanuts
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- Robin fledgling
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- Parker making a point that he wants peanuts
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- Parker smells peanuts
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- Parker with a peanut
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- Red-Winged Blackbird
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- Seagull
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- Red-Bellied Woodpecker
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- Pekin Duck
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- Starling
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- Canada Geese family
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- Canada Goose and goslings
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- Red-Winged Blackbird
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- Parker says candy is dandy.
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- Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly
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- American Goldfinch
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- Hunny Bunny
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- Parker looking for peanuts
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- The pier just past sunrise
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- Mute Swan
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- Parker in the snow
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- Parker and a treat
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- Great Blue Heron
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- Me and my shadow (a/k/a Parker)
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- Fox Squirrel
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- Seagull
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- Canada Goose
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- Mallard Ducks
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- Mute Swan
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- Fox Squirrel – Parker
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- Northern Cardinal
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BADGES
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- 02-02-2018
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- 03-13-2018
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- 03-25-2018
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- 03-26-2018
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- Year #6!! 02/2019
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- 04-13-2019
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- 11-21-19
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Linda Schaub
WALKIN', WRITIN', WIT & WHIMSY 
It always amazes me how they don’t freeze to death, Linda, but their feathers have special insulating properties which oil actually destroys and which is why oil spills are so deadly for wildlife because it’s hard to get the oil off and the birds generally don’t survive even if the oil can be removed. Not that you asked.😂 I wrote about it in my novel, Oil and Water, and for some reason these photos reminded me of that.
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I haven’t had cable or any TV for about a decade now Pam, but I used to like the Dawn Dishwashing Soap commercial that showed the duckling covered in oil from such an oil spill. Then someone bathed the duckling in a sink with Dawn soap and the grease came off and it was squeaky clean again and waddled around. Always made me smile. I like to read and hear about wildlife Pam – when I retire I’d like to subscribe to “Curiosity Stream” the nature show I hear advertised all the time. I have stood on the boardwalk by the Detroit River on a frosty February day because the eagles come to fish off the ice floes at one area and people came with binoculars and cameras. There would be a hundred ducks, mostly in the water and paddling or preening, some walking around on the ice. I always feel sorry for them, though to me ducks look perpetually happy. If only everyone cared enough to not let these accidents happen. That’s a commercial, but sadly many perish due to carelessness.
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If only is right, Linda. ♥️❤️
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Such great pictures. Looks like they are de-feathering themselves. Ha
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Thanks Peggy – kind of like plucking a chicken! What made me laugh with these pictures when I looked at them later was this goose up front was frantic to pick out all those feathers and the goose behind was calmly grazing and paying him no mind at all.
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Yes, I saw the one goose grazing. The one plucking feathers must have an anxiety disorder. Ha Ha
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Ha ha – yes, it looked frantic to yank those feathers out didn’t it Peggy? Interesting how it shut its eyes while pulling feathers and the eyelids were white, not black.
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I never knew their eyelids were white. Learn something new every day.
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I have noticed it before if they are sleeping Peggy – I sometimes get to Heritage Park early and the ducks and geese are still lazing around, half asleep. It was funny as this goose shut its eyes in each of the pictures – odd to have white eyelids on a totally black head.
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Great captures of those white eyelids. Perhaps I can see that someday.
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Hope so too Peggy. I see it sometimes if I am early enough at venues where there are geese roaming around near the water. The ducks and the geese will snooze and they have a “lookout” duck or goose watching over the others so they can sleep. But interesting they close their eyes while pulling their feather out – they are intent on doing it right!
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Beautiful photographs all.
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Thanks Anne – this goose seemed frantic to pick out every one of his feathers while the other goose was intent on grazing.
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I love geese. Many folks don’t, but I do. So graceful.
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I do too Kate and I never get sick of seeing them in formation, or taking off and landing. This goose up front seemed frantic to pick those feathers out – I know the feathers get wiggly and don’t always fall out on their own.
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I wonder if, over time, you could collect enough down from them to make a comforter? I imagine they’re not plucking it out now that winter is here. Nice close-ups, Linda!
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Wouldn’t that be something Barbara! There were piles of feathers everywhere as many geese congregate on that strip of grass near the Riverfront at Dingell Park. My great-grandparents owned a small farm and my great-grandmother did just that. My parents had a dark gold-covered down comforter she sewed together and stuffed it with feathers from their geese. I was allergic to feathers so I couldn’t have the comforter on my bed. She also used to quilt as well. Glad you liked the pictures – I was very close to them and they acted like I wasn’t there.
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Oh no, that’s too bad you couldn’t enjoy snuggling under your grandmother’s goose down comforter! But hopefully you got to take joy in one of her quilts. 😊
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Yes, I felt badly and my mother was making shaking the down comforter vigorously and a seam broke and I remember seeing feathers flying everywhere! We had two of the quilts – a patchwork and a starburst and I can picture them as we had them for a very long time.
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Miss Linda………………………………Out with the old and bring in the new!(feathers)
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That’s for sure Ann Marie – you know all about molting with Digger. I used to think each of my canaries must have thousands of feathers swirling around while they were molting.
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Usually, I love to watch Canada geese. Before Thanksgiving, however, we visited Bend, Oregon before traveling north to visit our son in Corvallis. The running paths in Bend were so covered in goose poop in some spots, we had to detour! Yuck!!!
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I hear you Laurie – the worst is going to Heritage Park as the geese live near Coan Lake and walk all over the pathways, as do the ducks, but every so often, even where I walk daily, I check the soles of my shoes for a “poop check” – otherwise I have to look down when I walk.
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That’s a plucky goose! I was allergic to the feathers in sleeping bags and pillows as a child, but I think modern down products are much more hypoallergenic. They don’t seem to bother me.
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It sure was Eilene – it seemed like it was frantic to pull those feathers out! I was allergic as well and couldn’t have feathers near me but I think I’ve outgrown it as well. I was allergic to the stuffing that was in stuffed animals. I have one photo of me as a baby next to a big bear, then no more.
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Scarlet, my scarlet macaw, is molting now too! Red feathers all around the cage bottom! It’s that time of year! 😊
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It’s amazing how many feathers they lose isn’t it? My white canary would hop from perch to perch and feathers went flying out of the cage, in the dishes … the dark canary wasn’t as noticable – poor babies. Male canaries don’t sing while molting, nor for about six weeks afterward. It takes a lot out of them – we used to tape them singing, then play it back to get them inspired to sing again. Do Scarlet and Tweety stop talking while molting?
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Little pet birds are the worst! Their feathers fly out of the cage and go all over the floor. My two large parrots are manageable. Their feathers, fortunately, stay in the cage.
They do talk a bit less while molting but not much less. Scarlet lost a bigger feather today and it was on the bottom of her cage. I said, “I see you lost a big feather.” She casually looked down on it and matter-of-factly said, “Yeah.” 😊 I can hold Scarlet upside down in my arms like a puppy. She is amazing! Tweetie is too! You should drive over some time to see them.
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Your birds always sound so companionable and loving Tom. And, of course intelligent from different things you have told us/me over the years. I felt so sorry for my little guys when they were molting, so listless and it seemed they didn’t care how many feathers were drifting around the cage, they just sat there, not really enticed by treats either.
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You’ve captured some great shedding photos! At first glance, I wondered oddly to myself, who is the little elf that runs behind to pick up the feathers for the down blankets/pillows?
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Thanks Shelley – that goose was frantically picking those feathers and didn’t seem to know I was there. Lots of feathers on the grass and boardwalk just there for the taking. 🙂
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I bet he was fun to watch!
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Yes, he didn’t even come up for air once!
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🙂
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These are charming photos. I love the first feather one. The contrast in textures is great.
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Thanks Ally – glad you liked them. In that first shot, it was like the goose thought opening its beak could grab a few more feathers. That goose sure was fitful and frantic about picking those itchy feathers out.
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Are they making room for their winter coat?! I know Moose went through a little stage when he shed more fur than usual and his fur came back thicker. It’s pretty awesome nature just knows what to do!
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That’s a good question Mackenzie. My canaries used to molt and feathers were a’flyin’ everywhere for about six weeks. Mother Nature is amazing. The squirrels put on an extra layer of fat and get thicker fur, courtesy of Mother Nature. They have gotten so chubby, they look like they waddle now. 🙂
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Oh that’s so interesting! We have a lot of squirrels around here, so I’ll have to pay better attention next time I see them!
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Betcha that Moose will be paying lots of attention to those squirrels (and they to him). 🙂
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Oh YES! It’s when I have the hardest time controlling him on the leash, lol.
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Squirrels are a real draw to dogs … they see them and try to take off after that and chase the squirrel up the nearest tree!
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Yes they are!!
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Have to wonder why the one goose seems intent on removing feathers when you’d think he’ll need every one to keep warm for the next four or five months! We have a gaggle or two of geese that visit a nearby pond. Love to hear their squawking arrivals and departures–my que to look up in anticipation for their V formation to pass by. (Those who have to endure the noise all day probably don’t love them as much!!)
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You would think they’d hang on to those feathers for dear life Nancy. I have to say as many times as I see geese in V-formation in the air, taking off or getting ready to land, it always fascinates me how they travel. They are a close-knit bunch in the Spring when the goslings arrive. The parents are always attentive to their brood, but I’ve seen the goslings, once they get a little older, stray from Mom and Pop’s watchful eye and another “group” will keep an eye on them, especially when humans are around. A couple of years ago, two geese got in a fight – hissing and wing flapping and the youngsters were watching “Dad” – they started to imitate him as if to scare off the other goose. It was very cute to watch. You’re right about the news – it sure is loud sometimes!
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Fascinating observations, Linda! Wouldn’t it be fun for two bird-loving Schaubs to sit somewhere in one of your parks and view them together! : )
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Yes it would Nancy – we may not even need binoculars to do so! These two were bigger than life. I could have gotten even closer as one goose was busy pulling feathers and the other one was busy eating grass, both seemingly oblivious to me.
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Love the way you led us to the feathers in the last two photos – so creative
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Thanks Yvette – I wanted people to see that those downy feathers were small, making the piles of feathers around the goose all that more impressive!
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You showed that so well
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This is one smart goose! He figures he will give his down freely so the humans don’t kill him and take it! Lol
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You’re right Diane – I never thought of that way. Yes, all the piles around his feet sure looked like he was saying “come and get it, here for the taking!”
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Had no idea geese did this. Great photos!
And of course…the cleverly worded title. Love it. 🙂
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Glad you enjoyed this post (and the title) Esther. This goose was plucking its feathers frantically, like it had to have them all gone that day!
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