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 
Wow – great photos Linda. I have never managed to photograph one of these birds with a fish in its mouth.
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Thank you Peggy! I used to see Harry the Heron all the time at Council Point Park; now it is a rare occasion, then he usually bolts. But on this morning, I think he was really hungry. He ignored me altogether. My original title was “five in five” because he downed five fish in five minutes. He was on a roll!
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What a hungry bird he was. Ha
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Yes. The herons always look like they could use a good meal!
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Great photos! BTW, I realize that your blog disappeared from my WP reader somehow. I had to find it and follow it again.
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Thanks JP! I have had that happen with a fellow blogger – Pam Lazos. I’ve had her blog disappear twice on me. Well, I’m glad you’ve hooked up with me again!
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You got the whole sequence. Marvelous!
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Thanks Anne! Harry was pretty quick once he walked over to the other side of the cement landing. He got five fish in five minutes. Burp!
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Herons are so pretty. Somewhat prehistoric looking but huge and beautiful! Great shots.
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Thanks Kate! Harry usually squawks and takes off and does not even show up at the Park as much as he used too. So this was a lucky day for me. He was okay with me standing there as the fishing was good that morning – he caught five fish in five minutes (which was going to be my original title.)
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That’s a lot of fish!
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Herons are so great and I agree with your friend, they are prehistoric looking.
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They amaze me how they look a little gawky looking standing there, weighing only five pounds, but in flight they look so streamlined. Harry is this Park’s resident heron and usually bolts once he sees the whites of my eyes. The fishin’ was too good to pass up – he caught five fish in five minutes.
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They are super good at fishing aren’t they?
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Yes, they are. I was Huroc Park a few years ago and the Huron River flows through this Huroc Park and there is a dam. Where the water gushes out, was a sloped cement bricked area and a heron was standing there lopsided watching the fish flipping out of the water from the dam. He was catching fish left and right. I came home with tons of pictures of him. A fellow blogger had a video or pictures of a big fish the heron swallowed whole and the fish was moving around as it traveled down the heron’s neck. Really something to see!
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Harry scores! I sometimes wonder how does it feel to have a fish flipping about in ones stomach?
It doesn’t get any fresher!
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Boy did he score Wayne! Harry got five fish in five minutes (I almost used that as my title.) I believe it was Sandra had a picture once of a heron gulping a fish and you could see it thrashing about as it went down the hatch!
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I think that might of been Babsje? She is the Heron expert! She has the best Heron pictures I’ve ever seen and one of them is swallowing a huge Pike!
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That very well could be Wayne. It was pretty amazing as you could see the fish flip-flopping around in its throat after swallowing it whole. Here Harry was catching and downing fish at the rate of one a minute.
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he’s a lean mean fishing machine!
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Yes and food was more important than evading m!
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These are all great photographs, Linda.
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Thank you Anne – this is the resident heron who lives at this Park. He usually screeches and flies away, but the fishing was good that morning.
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You are an amazing nature photographer, Linda. Maybe that’s your retirement job??? 😉
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Thank you very much Laurie! I was lucky that morning, because Harry usually sees me and takes off screeching and squawking. He got five fish in five minutes. I am really looking forward to retirement for long nature walks and using the camera more. That would be a dream job for me! Thank you again (and welcome home).
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Cool
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Glad you liked him Ellie. Harry was on a roll that morning – he caught five fish in five minutes. And he stayed in place for a while, instead of screeching at me and taking off.
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Good job, Harry!
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He was on a roll that morning Ally; he caught five fish in five minutes.
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It’s amazing how adept they are at catching fish! 😁
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You’re right Tom – he caught five fish in five minutes (which I was going to use as my title). He was cooperative and didn’t screech and take off like he usually does.
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“Gotcha!” Says the heron. Nice sequence of shots. Our river is running so muddy right now that I suspect the herons are having a real challenge catching anything at all.
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Thank you Eilen. Yes Harry got five fish in five minutes – he was on a roll that morning. I have seen him fishing from that same ledge and bending down without going into the water, usually when the water is very cold.
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I shooed him out of my pond for days. I’m glad he came to see you! Lol
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He’s already a pest so early in the season! I’m glad you banished him to Michigan so I could watch him fishing!
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That was great! I’m so jealous as I’ve never seen any kind of a heron.
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Thanks Joni – I was at Council Point Park one weekday morning and Harry usually leaves once he sees me while screeching loudly, but I think he was so engrossed in fishing, he didn’t care if I was watching him. He got five fish in five minutes – he was on a roll. We have Green Herons and Black-Crowned Herons around here too, but they are small and not with long legs. I have seen only one of each of those herons but the Great Blue Heron is more common.
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Well done, Harry! Great photos, Linda! I’ve never got that close to a great blue heron before, let alone one on a fishing trip!
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Thanks Barbara! Usually, when I round the bend at Council Point Park and Harry sees me, he lets out a screech that could wake the dead, then he flies away. But this time, he must have been really hungry and just ignored me altogether. He caught five fish in five minutes, so he was on a roll! I was fairly close to him, maybe 20 feet. Have you returned to the Nature Center at Mystic to look for your little family?
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Haven’t had a chance to check on the goose family in a few days but I have my doubts they’ll be back…
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I hope they were just MIA that day Barbara. I know my heart sank when I couldn’t find my family either. Fingers crossed they are okay. Here at the Detroit Zoo, a Wallaby joey was lost last weekend. He had just began having out-of-pouch privileges but was still nursing. He was the size of a rabbit and the Zoo officials have concluded he likely was taken by an airborne predator, likely an owl or hawk. They should have been more careful with that youngster. The mom is doing fine (though how do they really know for sure … surely she misses her baby).
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Oh no, Linda, that is so sad about the wallaby joey. Life is so precious and precarious. I’m sad about a little 7-year-old girl who died in a house fire this weekend. Her father was badly burned trying to save her. It’s so tragic when any parent loses a little one.
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I feel badly too Barbara and wonder why there wasn’t netting or protection over the area?. We have so many house fires, especially in the Winter months with people using space heaters – sometimes the parents get out, but not the children. These incidents take their toll on firefighters when children are involved. We also have so many young children die from random shootings or freeway shootings. I am just 13 miles from Detroit and most of the shootings happen in Detroit or area freeways. A man was just sentenced to 70 years in prison for a road rage incident that killed a toddler.
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Hungry Harry! Great shots of him and his fishing techniques, Linda!
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Thanks Terri! Harry usually bolts and takes to the sky as soon as he sees me, but the fishing was good so he ignored me and had a nice shad breakfast!
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A great series of photos Linda.
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Thanks Ruth! Harry decided to just ignore me and fish instead of bolting and screeching like he usually does. He must have been hungry – he caught five fish in five minutes!
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What a treat to see Harry catch some fish! And what a treat for you to get so close and capture it all.
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Thanks Sabine! You’re right – Harry bolts every time he sees me and rarely ever stays to fish once I am nearby. I was fairly close to him and able to see his interesting fishing techniques.
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Miss Linda……………………………………..Ha Ha Ha ……………….waiting all that timeand Mr Heron only got a little snack……………………………….I sometimes get to see him or his cousin……………………………………eating a bigger fish for a dinner meal…………………………….mmmm………………..or is it for his breakfast!!!
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Well Ann Marie, those little shad fish all add up and he caught five of them in a row. Probably just an appetizer to him, but I think he was feeling proud of himself. 🙂 Your pond has fish in it now?
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This was fun
The fourth photo down was my fav because of the foot placement
Like posing for us
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Glad to give you a smile Yvette. I almost used that picture as the header because the heron was walking over to the edge and stepped into the water. I thought those long legs and splayed toes looked interesting!
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🙂
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Nice job catching the fishing show! They are such funny birds to watch. I’m amazed by their eyes on the side of their heads and that they can catch a fish as easily as they do.
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Thanks Shelley! Harry the Heron usually flies away, squawking at me for interrupting his breakfast, but the fishing must have been great as he tolerated me and caught/downed five fish in a row. I was lucky to get so close to him. A fellow blogger once had pics or a video of a heron swallowing a fish whole; the fish was flip-flopping around as it traveled down its throat.
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You’re welcome. You have mastered the sneak up on Heron technique.
That must be interesting to watch – their stomach acid must be SO powerful otherwise it would be weird to walk around with a live fish in one’s stomach.
I remember watching a snake eat a mouse…ew, that’s gross too.
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I think the shad must be running at the Creek. Remember the wall-to-wall shad in the Creek last Winter? I was fascinated how the Creek was thick with fish and the ducks were paddling through it. Eww! That area is also a prime location for people to fish off that ledge. There’s a guy named Jacob who fishes there all year around – he throws them back, no matter the size. I think the snake eating a mouse would make me feel sick. I was walking at the Park the other day and there was a half-eaten mouse on the path – ugh. A hawk must’ve dropped it. Better a mouse than a squirrel.
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Yes, I remember the wall-to-wall from last winter. Jacob reminds me of my son-in-law, he loves to just go fishing for practice in improving his technique.
Yes, a snake eating is quite the sight to see or close your eyes to.
It’s sad to see, yet, there’s a pecking order and each animal serves a purpose I guess.
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Jacob bundles up in the dead of Winter too. He had a young girl with him, a granddaughter/daughter? She was maybe two or three years old. But she had caught a fish and already thrown it back. I took her picture to use in an upcoming post.
The circle of life is hard to take sometimes.
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You have a gift of observing and story telling, Linda, keep sharing and caring.
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Thank you Shelley – my walks, especially those in Parks, is keeping me sane in a sometimes insane world. Then there are the critters – like the bird building a nest inside a lamp post head. Always something to smile about. 🙂
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I agree, the walks are excellent therapy. Speaking of lamp post nests, we have an eagle family that built on top of the warning siren for our neighborhood. Thankfully it doesn’t go off often, but can you imagine being a small eagle not quite ready to take flight and have that LOUD thing go off? 🤔
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I get a picture in my mind of that small eagle using its wings to cover its ears! 🙂 A few years ago an osprey family built a nest on a electrical utility pole. It had eggs in it. So DTE had to move the nest as they were afraid the family would get electrocuted or their presence might cause a power outage for neighboring residents/businesses. They decided to move the nest and eggs to a specially built pole. The osprey parents were watching the entire time. DTE removed the eggs, put them aside for safekeeping, then returned them after they relocated the nest.
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Aw, that’s a cute picture. Wow – that’s incredible and heart-warming.
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Fun photo sequence of Harry in the action, along with your story telling, Linda. The Great Blue Heron is one of my favorite in the sea water to watch! Enjoyed your post today!
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Thank you so much for saying that TD. I’ve been walking at Council Point Park since 2013 and this is the first time Harry, the resident heron, stayed in place for so long allowing me to get those photos. He usually bolts and squawks and screeches when he sees me, unless his back is turned. He caught five fish in five minutes – he was on a roll!
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You are lucky with these action shots!! It’s like a moment by moment snippet of the Heron catching its fish. Nice photos.
The sole long feather on is crown is distinctive and good looking.
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Yes, I was mesmerized by his fishing prowess Esther. Usually he takes off, but this time, he patiently kept fishing … five fish in five minutes was quite the fishing expedition for him. Herons are so distinctive looking. In the air, they have a streamlined appearance, legs and feet out behind them and quite the wingspan – they only weigh five pounds at the most, in part due to having hollow bones.
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Hollow bones…that’s magnificent.
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Yes, isn’t it? All larger birds like shorebirds, egrets, heron, etc. have hollow bones, but birds like ducks are more solidly built, so do not have hollow bones.
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God designed nature brilliantly and practically! He’s a good designer.
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Yes, it comes naturally to Him.
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