… Nuttin’ Honeys – OH MY!
Hits and misses.
Up until Labor Day I hadn’t taken more than a handful of photos at my favorite nature nook, Council Point Park, after inundating you with images charting the goslings’ growth from nursery to teenagers back in the Spring. The truth is, nothing much has been happening. As hot as it was this Summer, I was sure I’d be sharing shots galore of “splooting” squirrels long before now, but, believe it or not, I never saw a single “splooter” until Labor Day weekend. More about those splooters later.
As mentioned in my prior post back in the Spring, once the goslings were old enough, they followed their parents, paddling down to the Detroit River, as the adults gathered in the water, safe from predators, while awaiting the growth of their flight feathers. The molting process takes several months from the time we first saw large quilled feathers laying around the perimeter path, until the parents return in early September with their new flight feathers and their offspring who are now young geese. During the lengthy absence of the geese, it is poop-free and drama-free along the perimeter path from Memorial Day to Labor Day. I find it odd, that “our geese” remain MIA, having not returned to their home turf and now a homeowner who lives on the fringe of the Park has stopped providing dishpans of water and corn for the geese and other critters.
After Harry the Heron wowed me (and you too) with his fishing prowess back in the Spring, he has similarly been missing. Is it a big-time attitude on his part, or the fishing has not been great at the cement landing? I beg to differ about the fish biting as Jacob and his little lady friend, that sweet toddler, have been fishing on multiple occasions this Summer at that location, she with her dark sunglasses and fishing rod in hand, a rubber worm dangling from a string (no hook) and Jacob unhooking shad and pitching them back into the murky waters of the Ecorse Creek.
I did see a Great Egret, first time ever, fishing at the other side of the Park.
Even the turtles have not been sunbathing on the fallen logs, ready to plop into the water as soon as they see the whites of my eyes – truthfully, it’s been a rather unremarkable Summer.
I didn’t know what to make of the absence of the regular critters – hopefully climate change is not wreaking havoc on my slice of paradise, as I shudder when I see the huge patches of algae bloom and green gook on the surface of the Ecorse Creek after multiple bouts of very hot and humid weather.
But some critters showed up to provide a photo op over Labor Day weekend. Below are a few of them.
Bunnies …
I saw this Cottontail Rabbit pawing the dry grass and then digging a hole. I wondered if she had a nest of babies. After taking these pictures, I looked every time I passed by that spot and she was gone, but I found no babies, so I figure she was channeling the squirrels’ zeal about storing peanuts for Winter. I contemplated using the bunny for a Wordless Wednesday post and entitling it “social media be like going down that ol’ rabbit hole.”
Duckies ….
I follow a few non-profit animal sites on Facebook, one which is the Michigan Duck Rescue and Sanctuary. I began following this worthy organization in South Lyon, Michigan where Matt and his wife Theresa, plus a team of volunteers, will go anywhere, at any time of the day/night to rescue waterfowl, mostly ducks. The Sanctuary is a big barn and pond and home to hundreds of waterfowl, mostly those born with birth defects, or wounded and sadly, domestic ducks that are tossed out like yesterday’s trash when they have grown out of their cute duckling stage.
I learned about Matt and Theresa’s sanctuary after two large, light-brown ducks were nuzzling my knees for treats as I made my way along the perimeter path back in December 2019. I took pictures and sent them to Matt and he told me they were domestic Khaki Campbell ducks and obviously abandoned. He told me to call him immediately the next time I saw them and someone would come rescue them. I never saw them again and worried for their welfare throughout that bitter cold Winter.
I also reached out to Matt after our duckling rescue from the sewer last year when Mama Mallard waddled off without counting her ducklings and one was still squeaking and peeping in the sewer. After this duckling’s eventual rescue, Matt was happy to take this little girl and a volunteer came to pick her up.
So, while I walked around the perimeter path on Labor Day weekend, it piqued my interest why a young man was sitting on a park bench, lost in thought, a blue tub nearby and a pair of oversized ducks waddling around him. I suspected he was not taking his ducks on an outing, but was preparing to leave them there. Should I approach him and tell him about Matt? I knew I should not assume anything, nor did I want to insult him by suggesting he would abandon these ducks. The young man left the park bench and walked along the pathway, his ducks waddling behind him, clearly enjoying their outing and happy for the change of pace. People were whipping out their phones as he walked by, snapping shots of the ducks, me included. I stopped him and asked what their names were – the Rouen (brown female) was Maria and the Blue Swedish Duck (large gray/white/black male) was Benjamin. He told me he had to get rid of these ducks which were pets that he had since they were ducklings, because neighbors were complaining of the noise and mess. I gave him Matt’s contact info and he pulled up the site on his phone. He said he thought of taking them to the Petting Farm at Heritage Park, but had not yet made up his mind. They followed him to the parking lot and he placed them carefully into the tub. I’ll have some pictures of those happy-go-lucky ducks for Wordless Wednesday.
I sent Matt a Facebook message and the ducks’ photos and asked him to let me know if/when they were at his place – not yet as of this writing and I stopped at Heritage Park last weekend, but they are not there yet either.
Nuttin’ Honeys …
Thankfully my Nuttin’ Honeys are still there … as is Mr. Hawk, a fact which disturbs me greatly.
Henry, one of the regular walkers, stopped to tell me he saw a huge hawk swoop down one morning and three squirrels ran for their lives successfully evading the raptor. I caution my little buddies to watch their backs and stay under the pavilion or Safe Haven Tree or to dash into the bushes where I leave a pile of sunflower seeds and peanuts nearby, but, because they are already in gathering-and-burying mode as to any peanuts doled out, who am I to suggest that running clear across the grassy “donut hole” to bury a peanut for Winter, rather than enjoying it on the spot, is not a great idea due to the watchful eyes of Mr. Hawk?
I hope to never see a hawk snatch up a squirrel in its talons.
I wanted to take pictures of the Safe Haven Tree as the branches almost hit the ground. To me, it seems like a little fortress – it is impenetrable to raptors like the hawk. The Jays, Chickadees, Cardinals and Woodpeckers land up top, then hop down to gorge on treats.
For me, that convenient side opening, allows my easy access to make the “drop” and scurry out again. I did not take pruning shears with me – it just happened to grow like that with an opening. Once under the canopy of the tree, look inside how roomy this area is, just waiting for hungry birds and squirrels to dine.
Soon, the leaves will begin to turn and fall leaving the tree bare, but its sturdy branches will still tickle the ground and no hawk is going to go inside.
The moderate drought we had for most of July rendered the grass yellow and crispy to walk on. Just like the yellow-toned grass, the rest of the landscape has been a bit wishy-washy and devoid of color. The few Spring Beauties wildflowers I photographed under the trees that line the Ecorse Creek are long gone and Chicory …
… complemented by Queen Anne’s Lace have taken its place.
The Goldenrod lights up the pathway with splashes of color and the Sumac leaves along the Creek side of the Park were blotchy red in spots with the bright-red flower springing out of the leaves – that was it for color.
There were less thistles this year which translated to less goldfinches flitting around. I missed their cheery song. Even Rex-the Red-bellied Woodpecker has been scarce and I suspect he’s happier to see me when his live grubs are no longer available, so peanuts, sunflower seeds, even woodpecker suet will become his go-to treat once again.
A black squirrel scurried across the field and I shoved my hand into the peanut bag to call out to him, then jiggled a few peanuts in my palm. But my little pal rebuffed me and got a firmer grip on a black walnut still in the husk that he clenched between his teeth.
I only learned about these “tree treats” a few years ago and still don’t know what Park tree tenders these squirrel goodies. I do see piles of green on the trail where squirrels have chewed off the rind to get the prize nut inside. So, this black squirrel saw me and realized it should take its prize “to go” lest I try to grab it. I was only interested in grabbing a photo and waited patiently for that squirrel to settle into the tree to chomp on the treat. I liked what I saw.
But, after he finished that walnut, he was looking for peanuts and sunflower seeds, as you see below as he shimmies down the tree …
Below, a Robin suddenly appeared (looking almost like a ghostly apparition). It seemed inquisitive while wondering “is Linda passing out worms today?”
An Eastern Gray squirrel decided going headfirst down the tree could guarantee a peanut for its effort.
I brought along some whole almonds – I’d rather not break my teeth on them; the squirrels grow new teeth all the time. They were given the sniff test, then promptly scarfed down.
Yellow Poplar leaves litter the perimeter path. Falling face down, they remind me of little hearts. But these little hearts have jagged tears in them – climate change infiltrating my little nature nook? It seems crumpled Poplar leaves as early as mid-August have become the norm now. Remember that I have been walking here for a decade, so have become accustomed to seeing which trees drop their leaves first.
Just one picture of a young Fox squirrel – you can tell the young squirrels from their skinny tails. If you ever saw a picture of a “kit” or baby squirrel, they are just about an inch long, weighing one ounce with a skinny tail that resembles a mouse tail. Mom nurtures her hairless, pink babies who have their eyes closed for about two months. So these little guys are easy to recognize. I think Mom tells them the “safe humans” to approach and I feel honored they finally approach me after turning back initially. They know I am not the lady who walks around with a golf club if any squirrel gets near her. I’ve remarked to her that the squirrels mean no harm and are simply begging for peanuts as people indulge them, but I am insulted for my thoughts, so happily I have only seen her once this season.
I will be writing a separate post about a baby squirrel here at Council Point Park, an event that occupied my thoughts on the Friday before the Labor Day holiday and Saturday as well. I took a slew of photos and there will be a tale to be told, with videos from a fellow walker, so that will be next Monday’s post. Well, I saved the best for last – the splooting squirrels. It was very hot over Labor Day weekend and several squirrels were stretched out, like frogs, letting the cool asphalt path or grass cool down their little bodies. I admit the first time I saw this happen a few years ago, it was disturbing.
Hope you enjoyed this potpourri of Park photos taken over Labor Day weekend
Linda Schaub
WALKIN', WRITIN', WIT & WHIMSY 
Such a feast for the eyes!
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Glad you liked it Anne!
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Wow – what an array of creatures, plants and everything in between. Very nice photos.
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Thank you Peggy, glad you enjoyed them. I thought it was funny that I was there all Summer and saw all these things on the Saturday of Labor Day weekend, but when I should have had the camera with me the day before, it was at home.
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Wonderful photos, I love that tree cascading to the ground. How pretty is that and the black squirrels. 🙂
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Thanks Sandra, glad you liked the photos. More of these sweet ducks on Wednesday. My neighbor had/has a Weeping Mulberry and because they have pruned it, it does not touch the ground like this one. This is almost like a Weeping Willow, but the branches are very rigid. There are a lot of black squirrels at this Park and in the neighborhood. When we moved here in 1966, we only saw Fox squirrels which was a first for us as we’d only seen the black squirrels in Canada.
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I love the potpourri of Park photos, Linda. You see so many fun things, and I’m glad you share them with us. It’s sad about the guy and his two duck friends. Wild animals made into pets and then released back into the wild when they don’t fit the human lifestyle are not a good mixture. It was kind of you to suggest the refuge place – I hope he did seek that help.
Enjoy all the fall adventures…frost and snow are on the way. I hope you have a great week!!
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Thanks Shelley – I am glad you enjoyed them. And to think, this was all in one morning. Unfortunately, the day before it was hot and humid and I said “I’ll leave the camera at home – nothing is going on these days.” The camera case straps on my fanny pack for goodness sake.
That was the day I SHOULD have taken it. I went home and got it and still got some cute shots, but still … kicking myself sometimes. As to the guy with the ducks, I had an inkling about it, as he was sitting on that park bench quietly and head bent down … it just seemed like something was going on. I don’t think he’ll just leave them somewhere – he was reluctant to do that in the warm weather and he loved them as they were pets since ducklings. They were very affectionate and loved all the attention they were getting from people at the Park. Not much leaf color here yet – how about you? It feels cold enough for frost … we are 10 degrees below normal; last week it was 10 degrees above normal. SMH.
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Yes, I enjoyed the photos. I know exactly how you feel when you regret not having the camera ready for the perfect moments.
I hope the guy found a home for the ducks that keeps them safe from harm.
We are starting to see colors – our favorite Maple trees are turning bright oranges and reds. We had a hard frost two mornings, so that kick started the colors here. It’s a beautiful 61 degrees here today. The last fall hurrah I guess. Gotta get yard work done before the snow falls! I hope you’ll get many more walks in before then too.
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You’d think I/we’d learn and not let it happen again … but I/we don’t. So for the next few weeks I diligently carry the camera, nothing happens. 🙂 I have not heard anymore about the guy with the ducks. Matt said he would let me know if he contacts him. He or a volunteer would come to pick them up to make it easier.
Our leaves are about 90% green. Maples are my favorite trees for colors. Next to that are the oaks at Elizabeth Park – if I time it right, I see nothing but gold and it’s gorgeous. I went to a new venue yesterday hoping to see some color as there was lots of woods – nothing. I saw our colors are about a week to 10 days behind. I was going to go to two places today but decided against it – the wind was 15 mph, same as yesterday when I was at the Water and it was hard to stand there as a gust would come and made it difficult to steady the camera and I’m not a small person (I’m 5′ 9″ tall). We may get a frost Thursday – guess I have to bring in the hose and shut off the water before then.
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I don’t know if I’ll ever learn to have a camera ready. Even if I have my smart phone camera with me I have moments where I find myself saying, “Dang…why didn’t I have the camera ready for that moment?!”
I hope the ducks are doing well.
The colors are popping here. Further north I bet they are almost done changing. We had beautiful weather yesterday. I cleared some garden beds of the flowers that didn’t make it through the frost. We need a bit dryer weather to dry out the planters so I can store them for the winter. I guess we have to admit it, fall is here and winter is near. I hope you have nice weather this week so you can get your hose in and shut off the water.
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It seems like there is always something to do outside doesn’t it Shelley? I like this line you said: “fall is here and winter is near.” So true. I had to nudge the heat a little higher as it was freezing in here. Like you I am in one spot all day. Two days of warm weather and then some rain, so I will likely do the hose, etc. on Wednesday so I can put it away dry. Not much room in the garage. I could not believe I went to that big woodsy area Saturday and did not see anything but green leaves!
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Yes, and isn’t that why we live in our section of the states? To enjoy the four seasons. I think I’d adjust to all warm temps, but my heart would miss the other 3 seasons.
We still haven’t turned on the heat. It got warmer, mid-upper 60s so the house has stayed warm enough with layers on here. Mr. is chopping and splitting wood so we have some emergency heat available.
My daughter visited Michigan this past weekend and had a wonderful time. She said the same thing, the trees by their campsite were all green but when they were paddling around the lake area the trees on the shoreline were gorgeous.
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Yes I admit I would miss the four seasons Shelley, having lived with them now since I was born. I just bemoan the fact that the seasons all seem to run together. We’re having warm weather for two days, then a 37-degree drop in temps … how is this possible? “Weather whiplash” they say. Good idea to have the emergency wood stacked up in case of a power outage. I saw a post on Twitter yesterday by the Michigan DNR how Michigan ranks up there with New York and the New England states for leaf peeping. They showed some photos – beautiful reflections on the water. Sorry your daughter missed the peak colors – you can’t estimate it. I took a week’s vacation years ago, early 90s, just to go up north for the leaves, no color at all.
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The weather whiplash is real. We had 80s yesterday – hopefully that weather is headed your way for the weekend!
That’s interesting about MI and NY. Humans tend to share the best photos, especially travel/DNR entities.
My daughter wasn’t too bothered by it, they had great weather and a wonderful time, the colors they saw were just icing on the cake.
It is hard to plan when the peak colors will be ready. Sorry your plans didn’t work out.
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Weather whiplash – it’s crazy. We had your nice weather today Shelley – it got to 78 and one more day of “September weather” as the weatherman defined it, then Friday we have “November weather” – ugh. The weekend will be sunny and in the 50s. At least it’s not raining. I’m thankful for that. Well, that trip was a crap shoot figuring out the colors and when to go – everyone had an opinion on peak times, so a co-worker had AAA insurance and asked for a travel planner where to go for colors, the best route and peak time, then gave it to me, so I kind of thought we were good to go.
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Our weatherman said the same thing! Hmm 🤔
I’m sure you made the best of the trip despite the disappointment.
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Well the weatherman said the bottom falls out tonight – kiss the plants goodbye if you don’t bring them in.
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He was right. It froze and the flowers not close to the house are done. 😭😭😭
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All of a sudden they are calling for a hard freeze tonight … according to Wunderground, we are at 36 from 2:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m., the coldest time, so should be okay. Now, have to start thinking about frost and leaves and slick roads. Weren’t we just saying how hot it was?
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We had the hard frost last night. 64 in the house and 32 outside. Yes, I agree, we have to now worry about the slick roads. We will miss the warm weather, that’s for sure!
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I walked a lot this weekend – the colors were vibrant this week for the maples and locusts – the other leaves are muted so far. But I took a ton of pictures in the woods, worked outside about four hours, soaking up the sun, knowing what’s ahead.
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Aw, YAY, that sounds like a wonderful weekend. We had a very chilly Saturday. Sunday was great though. We did get a couple walks in too. Maybe one more week of nice weather is in store for both of us?
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I ended up being off Monday as well, which wasn’t planned and it was gorgeous – almost 80 degrees, same for today. I have hit up all my favorite parks, but Heritage Park, so have lots of pretty leaf pictures (at least I assume they are good shots). I wished I made it to Heritage Park too – the weatherman says we are having two days of very gusty winds – 35 mph+ so I think a lot of leaves will be on the ground then. My favorite season, but those very warm and sunny days are fleeting sometimes.
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Yay for extra time at the parks. I hope those moments fill your thoughts when it’s cold and your blog when you need some photos to write about!
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Shelley, I was keeping a grid so I knew what I had and when I wanted to use it … I figured at two posts a week, I will reach 1,800 by my 10-year blogiversary on February 11th. I have been thinking, however, that maybe long Summer treks non-stop, then Fall foliage treks non-stop may all run together, then with a few holiday posts thrown in between, so I think I may jump back and forth from Summer to Fall to keep things from getting boring and too similar. I spent about five hours on Saturday sorting through pictures to make some shorter posts over the next month until I can park myself down and sort through the longer treks. (And I wonder why I get nothing done in the house and I’ll have leaves to rake as well.)
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Yay for another goal on your 10-year blogiversary. I just met my 6-year blogiversary according to WP.
I’m confident that you’ll come up with very creative posts from the selection of photos you have!
Blogging can take time…it tends to be more enjoyable than raking leaves. 😉
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Good thing I took so many pics and walked so many miles last weekend as this weekend is not looking so nice. You’re right about blogging taking up a ton of time Shelley – keeping up is getting more difficult daily.
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🚶🏻♀️🤗😉
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Love the cute bunny pictures! That was nice of you to let the man with the ducks know about Matt’s duck rescue. I do hope he follows through. Lovely to see some autumn flora to enjoy before the leaves turn colors. I can’t get over how striking that black squirrel looks! The black walnut was a treasure to him. I hope I get to see one some day. That robin does seem to be surveying the scene, checking out options. 😉 Nice captures of the splooting. My sister’s cat does that, too, when it gets very hot outside.
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Glad you liked the bunny pictures Barbara. I struggled whether to save them for a Wordless Wednesday post and include the duck shots in today’s post, but I’ve had a run of birds on my Wordless Wednesday posts this Summer, so I didn’t want to break that streak yet. I still have more bird shots for Wednesdays. (I am on a roll!) I hope the young man contacts Matt or the Farm. The ducks were very affectionate and people were smiling watching them waddling around.
We have a lot of black squirrels, although when we moved here from Canada we had no black squirrels or gray squirrels, just Fox squirrels. In Canada we only had black squirrels – my grandmother could not get over how large the Fox squirrels were when she came to visit. Our black squirrels are more timid than the gray squirrels and especially the bold Fox squirrels. The black squirrels may want a peanut, but they usually will run up a tree and watch where I put it, or will give me wide berth first, then sneak closer. They are striking looking with their glossy fur. The Robin looks like an apparition to me … I wonder if it landed as I took the black squirrel’s picture and the battery was slow and it appeared faint in the photo. I bought some new batteries but have to charge them up (that was six months ago – I procrastinate sometimes). I had never heard of splooting until a fellow blogger who is a wildlife photographer gave me a link and asked if my squirrels did this. I think dogs do that too – I never knew it had a name.
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I never heard of splooting before, either, until I read the word on one of your posts. I thought you had made it up! But then I googled it and found that it is actually a thing. 🙂
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And when Wayne sent me the link I got a kick out of it Barbara. It’s a fun word. Shortly after I was at the Park and saw a squirrel in a tree with all four legs hanging down – I think I got a picture of that little guy. There was a story in a San Francisco online news magazine when it was so hot this Summer. People were worried as they saw squirrels splooting and thought something was wrong with them. Another fellow blogger sent me that link in a comment saying she hoped not to see this as it was scary looking.
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With climate change I suspect we will be seeing squirrels and other creatures splooting a lot more often.
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Sadly so Barbara. I feel badly for the lack of clean water to help the birds and other creatures as well. The water at many of the creeks and marshes was not all that clear. Our weatherman gave the stats on the last day of Summer, coincidentally our last very hot and humid day. We had eight consecutive days over 90 degrees in Summer of 2022.
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I need to try splooting when it’s hot. Maybe it will help! 😉
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Yes, who needs a fan, A/C or Popsicles – this is faster and cheaper!
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I don’t see herons around here, but there are plenty of bunnies and duckies and squirrelies. I like your photo of the squirrel splooting, it seems like the perfect way to handle hot weather.
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Ally, I think I should have used “squirrelies” because “nuttin’ honeys” may have ruined the cadence of the title. I had to consult the dictionary as the word “honies” didn’t look right and neither did “honeys” … I’m thankful for the online dictionary sometimes. I had never heard of squirrels splooting until a fellow blogger sent me a link to a story and asked if my squirrels splooted. What a way to cool off!
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First, you are an excellent writer!!! This is my favorite post yet! I felt like I was reading a storybook about park animals and their daily life. So sweet.
My heart! So sad to think someone would have to give away pet ducks because of neighbor complaints. I had pet ducks and they were the best kind of pets.
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Thank you very much Jessica! I love writing about Council Point Park – this is my favorite place to walk and I have been walking here most days since the Spring of 2013. Every so often I have a day that a lot happens … next Monday there will be another story about the Park over that long holiday weekend and a sweet baby squirrel. I think this young man was upset about having to give those ducks away – he said they were pets he had since they were ducklings. I could sense his anguish about it. Perhaps he just decided to keep them and find another means of taming the noise (if that’s possible). They were very sweet, waddling around and going up to people and people taking their pictures.
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Oooo, I love baby animals!! Oh gosh, maybe he kept those ducks and they lived happily ever after. Wow, love that you’ve gone there since 2013. Must be interesting to see the seasons change every year.
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I love the baby critters too Jessica and with the squirrels, this baby was so small, yet scampering around so the other walkers (whom I just met that day) and me assumed it was older than it was. There’s one tree when you start on the path and it’s the first to turn and drop its leaves every year – a burnished gold. I was there this morning and decided I had better take some pictures because a few windy days like we’ve had and no more leaves. It is not peak here yet – peak color will be the weeks of October 3rd and October 10th. I actually did a post standing at the beginning of the trail for each season to capture the leaves. I wish I could remember what I called it – if I remember, I’ll send it to you. I think it was a Wordless Wednesday post.
I try to time it just right for Elizabeth Park. There are all oak trees at that park and to see them all ablaze in gold is gorgeous. Sometimes I have to keep going back to get those colors at peak.
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I found it Jessica – I thought it was a Wordless Wednesday. I have all four seasons pictured in here plus an earlier collage I did of the same place. The Winter walking is not always great – sometimes the City plows it and sometimes not and the sun melts the snow and ice and refreezes – a real slick mess. So I don’t walk as often then.
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Excellent pictures and story Linda! All good in the hood!
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Thank you Wayne – what a morning this was … as hot and humid as the weather was, all the critters gave me lots to photograph, even the splooters! P.S. – I like that expression “all good in the hood” and may have to borrow it sometime. 🙂
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Loved your egret photo, Linda. Those birds look so majestic – all white and beautiful!
I hope the young man in your story does contact the waterfowl rescue if he decides to release his ducks. It could be a long cold winter for his pets if he doesn’t.
I understand that seeing squirrels all flattened out along the path for the first time could be a little unnerving for a squirrel lover like you. You probably thought the golf club lady got them!
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Glad you liked the egret photos Laurie. The first time ever to see one at Council Point Park. I was at Lake Erie Metropark a few weeks ago and I’ve never seen so many egrets on one outing. They were everywhere and I got a few close-ups plus I saw a group of them gathered together at the marsh and in the trees. It was quite a sight and I’ll likely do a post just on the egrets as I took a ton of photos. (Hopefully they came out – I don’t usually mention photos I took until I see them in case they are blurry, etc.) This was quite an experience seeing all those Egrets. Unfortunately, not long after seeing/photographing them, a loud motorcycle went by on the vehicle road and they flew up, most of them to the other side in the trees, then they were too far away to photograph. What an amazing sight!
I don’t think the young man will leave the ducks as he said they were his pets and he had two options. When I told Matt and sent the pictures, he said he’d welcome them. They have Pekin ducks at the Farm, so they’d fit in there too.
Yes, the first time I saw a squirrel splooting, I thought it had fallen out of a tree and broke its back or legs – I was pretty freaked out about them. Yes, the golf club lady graduated from the big stick she carried to a golf club. SMH
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Wonderful nature shots, as always, Linda. I do hope the duck owner took them to someplace suitable (the one he mentioned, perhaps). He didn’t sound like he wanted them to suffer in the wild. (Though with all the people in the park like you, it must not be as bad as true wild.)
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Thank you Eilene – glad you liked the nature shots. I think the duck owner will do the right thing – he sat there on the bench, head bent down, quiet … that demeanor made me think something was not right. I was glad to give him Matt’s info and the Farm is also a good place as they have Pekins there. Those ducks were very friendly, (but so were the ones I saw that WERE dumped back in 2019). This guy was only looking to re-home them due to his neighbors’ complaints. I felt badly for him with this decision. I’ve been walking here for almost ten years. In that time, we’ve had a a fox, a raccoon, a deer that was passing through the Park after a swim in the Ecorse Creek and a family of coyotes – parents and one pup. People saw the coyote family at night due to street lights and lights at the Park. One adult coyote left the Park in daytime and a police officer shot it in the foot and the family left that night and never came back. I didn’t see any of these critters – wrong place, wrong time unfortunately.
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It was an enjoyable post Linda – lots of variety! That tree does look like a safe haven, and it was a hot summer for the splooting squirrels.
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PS. The duck owner had a pool with him? Maybe he was too ashamed to abandon them after confronted?
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It was a soft plastic tote Joni – I should have said a tote bucket. It has handles. I actually have one I roll my hose into for Winter I keep in the garage. They are soft and pliable. In the Wednesday photos you will be able to see that it comes to the ducks’ shoulder but they can see out. I think he was contemplating what to do as they were pets. I hope he goes to one or the other of the places.
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Glad you liked it Joni. I really don’t think the hawks can zoom in there – they are too big and won’t walk on the ground to get in there as they are spooked by ground predators. I’m glad I got some splooting squirrel shots – they look funny, but the first time I saw them do this, I thought that squirrel fell out of a tree and broke its bag or legs.
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A blue Swedish duck? I love it!
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Bonnie Rae – these ducks were beautiful and so friendly. In tomorrow’s post you can see them up close. They had quite an audience as they waddled on by. 🙂
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That was a nice wildlife tour, Linda, despite the apparent lack of it this year. I can never get enough of those splooting photos (our daughter’s cat does this every now and then – cracks me up) so keep on a-clicking. As for ducks as pets, that’s a new one on me. It’s apparent from your young friend they endear themselves to their human parents. I hope they found a new home.
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Thanks Dave – I was lucky I took the camera on the Saturday of Labor Day weekend, having had to hightail it home on the Friday after the baby squirrel discovery and sans camera. Lucky I am only one mile away from the Park. The splooting squirrels crack me up too – not the first time as I thought the one I saw fell out of a tree or had been injured and was just laying there – its head was raised, so I knew it was alive. I got closer, my heart beating and tears welling up, worried and it suddenly jumped up and ran over to me for peanuts. What?! Sometimes they stretch out on a tree branch, legs dangling down. 🙂 I know that young man was attached to those ducks – I’m curious what he does and Matt is happy to take them with his many ducks and assorted waterfowl living out the rest of their lives without fear of predators or starvation. P.S. Predators are even snapping turtles – a Pekin duck lost half its bill as a result of a snapping turtle recently.
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I must say I am green with envy that you have access to so much Nature. Living in Mexico city with its 20+million inhabitants can take a toll. Last rabbit I saw was last summer in Paris in the ditches around Napoleon’s tomb. LOL. (They are quite happy there)
Take care.
Brian
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And I am green with envy for all the traveling you do Brian as it’s been many years since I traveled. I found it interesting that you have abandoned the fancy camera and its trappings for an iPhone – several fellow bloggers have told me the same thing. I only take the DSLR on longer treks, using the smaller camera I strap on a fanny pack. It’s faster and I don’t waste as many shots it seems – that’s what I used for this post. I also worked at an ad agency, in the Creative Department at Y&R-Detroit. We lost our major account (Chrysler) when Lee Iacocca decided his ad agencies were doing a crummy job and fired them both the same day (Ross Roy who did marine ads also got the boot). Everyone should spend some time at an ad agency – “Mad Men” was not far off the mark with their portrayal of ad men/women from the late 60s. My tenure was the late 70s. Thank you for following my blog.
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The Iphone is ideal for what I do. Urban photography. Outside? Nature? Hikes? Animals, I would need a real camera.
Y&R? (And creative to boot. Art or copy?) My, my. One of the best five… Iacocca was a fool in some respects. 😉
I do agree everyone should spend some time in an Ad agency. Our branch here was quite crazy. There were water pistol fights in the corridors. LOL.
Late 70’s was a golden age, definitely. My “tenure” was later early 90’s, when agencies still were agencies and the media buyers had not appeared. (Martin Sorel had, unfortunately. Met him a few times. Tough cookie. Impressive memory)
Pleasure to meet and follow you…
🙏🏻
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Your choice of the camera phone makes sense Brian. I must come and explore your blog soon and see what our friend Yvette didn’t cover – she does very thorough interviews. I am perpetually behind here.
Iacocca was very demanding. There were actually three agencies doing Chrysler-Plymouth work. I can’t remember the third one because it was not based in Detroit. Ross Roy did marine ads and we did the luxury cars, compact cars and all the local dealer ads. Our art directors and writers would take several versions of ads to him at 7:00 a.m. – he would only meet at Chrysler headquarters at that time. They’d do their storyboard presentations and sometimes he was so petulant, he’d would wave them off halfway through the meeting and say “garbage – do better and be back here tomorrow morning!”
The day he fired the three agencies (March 1, 1979) was known as “Black Thursday” in the ad world and the next day he wooed away Kenyon & Eckhardt, Ford’s ad agency for decades, to replace the three ad agencies. After losing Chrysler, we were without a major account for several months, then acquired Lincoln Mercury, which interviewed several agencies after floundering around without an ad agency after K&E’s defection. It was rumored that Iacocca, who had been fired by Ford Motor Company, stole their ad agency to spite them.
I went to Y&R with my newly minted print Journalism degree, hoping to work my way up the ladder from a secretary in the Creative Department to a junior copywriter, but that didn’t happen. I did have a mentor and wrote a post about him years after we both left Y&R. You know it is a transient business for the creative people and Ford wanted creative control of everything, so the writers/art directors could no longer go to L.A. or N.Y. to produce their own work – Ford didn’t allow that. They had their own people. We lost over half of the Creative Department shortly after getting the Ford account, my mentor as well and I left but sadly into an unrelated field (legal secretary).
We did have some crazy happenings in the Creative Department. It was all fun and games sometimes and the “teams” were buddies until someone criticized another’s work, then it got volatile, as in throwing things, like a telephone sailing out of the door into the hallway and smashing into a thousand pieces, or throwing Exacto blades against the corkboard to prove a point. When they “played nice” a half-dozen of the guys sat in one office and played “Classical Gas” on their guitars. They played hard, but worked hard too. It was an experience.
With Martin Sorel, whom I was not familiar with and had to Google, it appears being in charge of such a large conglomerate of ad agencies loses some of the personal touch perhaps, no matter how brilliant you are?
Brian – it’s fun reminiscing with another person who worked in an ad agency.
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Hi Linda, I can well imagine how you can relate to Madmen.
I see Iacocca was a despot. 7AM? Come on? But then big talents tend to develop big egos.
You should write about your experiences in the Ad world. Very different then. Imagine today’s CEO looking at car dealer ads. LOL.
And yes, they played hard but worked hard. Everybody did then.
Did I mention it? Never worked the Chrysler account, not in Ad, but I did work a few accounts on the market research side: Fiat, (Car clinics!) Peugeot.
How did you switch from journalism to advertising to legal? Must have been quite a series of changes…
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Hi Brian – I wanted to see Madmen during its original run, but I cancelled my cable back in 2010, so I didn’t watch it until last year when I streamed it on Amazon Prime. I enjoyed it immensely.
That show mirrored a lot of what I saw while I worked at Y&R, also a male-dominated profession at that time (late 70s). Y&R Detroit had 150 people working there. In the Creative Department, maybe 35-40 people; we had one female copywriter, one female art director – the rest, including producers and, of course the Creative Director, were men. Yes, they often had two-or-three-hour lunches on a regular basis, but worked long hours and had trips to the East or West Coast for weeks at a time shooting commercials and then producing them … until Ford said “we use our people – you won’t have total creative control like before.” Then Creative lost most of their talent after Ford’s proclamation. I worked for nine people, one writer, the rest were art directors. I typed scripts and storyboard captions and did expense accounts – lots of expense accounts.
Jerry, my writer boss (before we lost Chrysler), wanted me to use my degree, so he suggested I offer to do a company newspaper, which I did. I worked on the college newspaper so was familiar with writing, layout, photos, etc. So he helped me launch the newspaper which I published two editions, then we lost the client and Jerry left. Lots of goodbye lunches as our Department lost their “teams” and I saw no reason to stay. I found a job at Plante & Moran writing their company newspaper, a newly created position; the *newly created position* was not a stellar idea. My first day of work, I was told that I would be a fill-in for the absent statistical typists, typing numbers all day on an electric typewriter that was about four feet wide. I went to lunch and didn’t return. I took a job as a legal secretary until I could decide what to do. Here I am 42 years later.
When I graduated from Wayne State in 1978 with my degree, the market was flooded with print journalists. Everyone wanted to be the next Woodward and Bernstein. I was not even placed in a newspaper internship for the last quarter of school before graduation – there were no openings, so the school placed me in a P.R. firm writing “news shorts” about Detroit. There were no jobs, even as a stringer for $0.25 a line, (a line!!). The university was of no help placing any of its journalism graduates. At least I finally got to write here.
Fiat and Peugot would be interesting accounts to work on. Since you speak French, the Peugot account would have been “up your alley” but I think your interview with Yvette mentioned you spoke Italian as well – enough to work on the Fiat account? I admit people who speak more than one language. My years of French in college and growing up in Canada where it was mandatory to study French were never used in my job unfortunately.
Jerry was on the luxury car accounts, so he did the shoots with Ricardo Montalban for Cordoba and Hal Linden for Newport, both whom were in hit TV series at the time. My other boss did the dealer ads with a young actress in the “Mean Mary Jean” series. When they switched to Lincoln-Mercury, Jerry did the ads for Lincoln-Mercury with the cougar who posed on the Lincoln-Mercury sign/logo and growled. We had the cougar and bobcat visit the agency with their handlers. That was a fun photo op. I should look for those pictures. I digitized all my photo albums back in 2017 but I didn’t do those pics.
I did write a post about Jerry. I used to be in a blogging group called “Patch” which was an entity owned by AOL. They had hyperlocal/online newspapers across the U.S. and so I used to blog in one in a nearby city. I met other Patch bloggers and we had a Facebook group where we got to be friends. I enjoyed it because my first 4 1/2 years of blogging, I had two followers who were friends of mine. AOL sold Patch to Hale Global and they changed the blogging platform and you could only use photos gallery-style at the top of your article, then only horizontal photos – I said “no” to that notion and stopped posting. It was a hobby posting there. I was on the blogroll at the local newspaper until a few months ago when I asked the editor (my former local Patch editor) after eight or nine years to take me off. They put up a paywall at this newspaper and I didn’t see the wisdom of advertising my whereabouts to the non-blogging world, i.e. I walk every morning before I start work (I work from home). Too much crime and craziness these days.
I did write a post about Jerry – the only one about the advertising world … I shared it with a few bloggers since then when they spoke about past jobs.
This is the post Brian. (It is about as long as this comment.) 🙂
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Thanks for the post. And the comment. A look into a not-so-distant past.
Ricardo Montalban, and Pumas and typewriters…
The late 70’s were a bad time for work. I finished my MBA in ’79. Spent 3 years in NY looking for a job. No dice… Such is the way of life…
Have a nice week-end Linda.
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I think I covered everything. 🙂 I sometimes wonder “what if” we had not lost the account? Jerry went to J. Walter Thompson which was later acquired by a British company. A good friend of mine was a P.R. Manager at that agency and left, as did others, after they rebranded themselves as JWT. While typing this last sentence, it dawned on me, having Googled Martin Sorrell after your recent comment, that JWT might have been under his direction – yes it was. I didn’t keep up with ad agency goings-on after a few years, as people I knew were scattered to the wind.
I’m sorry that even with your credentials and an MBA you spent three years looking for a job in NY. That’s terrible. I’m sorry I settled and didn’t try harder at a later time to get into some type of writing biz – as you say, such is the way of life.
I’m glad it is the weekend – a lot of walking to meet my year-end walking goal (2,022 km) and enjoy nature. Enjoy your weekend as well Brian.
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Did I say three years? No! I would have run out of money. Three months. And I ran out of money. LOL.
Good luck with your goal. I am impressed. (Keep walking.) ( Always wondered what agency invented that…)
🚶♀️
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I went back and looked Brian because by this time of night, my eyes are often fuzzy from being on the computer for nearly ten hours. Yes – you did say three years. Three months is bad enough!
Thank you. I used to just aim to walk one mile more than the year before, but a Canadian blogger suggested for 2020, since it was a new decade, why not set my goal at 2,020 km (1,255 miles). It was more miles than I was used to, but I took on the challenge and made it. With this wacky climate change I am often still dealing with icy patches in April, or stray snowstorms in November. I am on track to complete the 2022 goal. Now my goal is back to one mile more than the previous year, the excess miles walked are “gravy” as the saying goes. It is good for your heart – heart disease ran on my mother’s side so I try to combat all the sitting I do with a daily promenade. 🚶♀️
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Years? My bad. Sorry.
So this year it will be 2022kms? 😉
Compliments. I need to find a way to do that. Mexico city is not ideal for walking.
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No problem at all; I believed you! Thank you and yes, this year 2,022 kms and it may be more walked if we get the warm Fall we are predicted to have. I sit too much, even with walking – on weekends, I try to sit less and move around more. Some of the walkers at the Park where I walk during the week have treadmills or walk at the mall once the weather turns bad. They rarely, if ever, plow the walking path there. You would like where I went today – a venue I’ve not been to since I was in my teens. I drove 63 miles to go to a beach and a state park. I hope I captured good images of the waves, which I recall from your interview you enjoyed seeing them racing up to your terrace when you were young. When I left the house, the wind was not strong, but it was 15 mph (24 kmh) at the park and beach area. There were no boats out, one person on the beach, but those waves were really crashing onto the shore. They had a six-mile trail which I walked, but saw only one egret and one butterfly.
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Parks in the US are great. I remember staying at a couple when I was in ‘Bama. Have you posted your pix yet?
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There are some wonderful national parks and I learned from a fellow blogger that people have a “passport” to document visits to national parks in each state. Each park stamps their passport at the time of the visit. I wrote a post about taking a lighthouse tour and met some wonderful people on a Midwest lighthouses tour. The group visited this lighthouse and they similarly collect stamps in their lighthouse passport from each lighthouse visited. That’s how I learned about the national parks.
This was a state park yesterday and I went to my regular park today and learned from another walker that there are deer that gather at the bridge at this park – did I see them? (I didn’t see a bridge, let alone deer.) Apparently the six-mile hike I took did not cover another part of this park, so I will return there before the snow flies. Interestingly, I also learned that people surf at this park, so that gives you an idea of the waves yesterday – they were huge! I assumed it was the wind as there were no freighters that would have created large waves.
Brian, I am very behind in sorting photos and have photos on the big camera card from 4th of July weekend and several treks in September – at least 10 long walks I’ve taken and only cherry-picked the sunflower/goldfinch pictures from the camera card for my September 19th post about the end of Summer. I didn’t go to a big park today as I’m waiting for the leaf colors to change and we are about ten or so days behind. Everything is still green. I have been taking photos with the small camera – it is less cumbersome sometimes. I have a lot of photos on that card too I’ve not seen. P.S. – I am perpetually behind in everything since I began blogging and I’m always behind in Reader. I need a clone or to retire.
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A park passport sounds nice…
(I too am way behind my photos. Barely finishing Brussels where I spent a week in August.)
Cloning would be good.
Cheers.
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I have never been to Brussels in my travels. My boss will be in Amsterdam October 15th through the 22nd. I’ve never been there either – someday hopefully. I’ll send you a photo of the waves when I go through them. Cloning would work for me. Cheers.
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Amsterdam. Hmmm. I lived there for 3 years, between two African assignments of my father’s. We’re nomads… LOL.
Been back often, for work or pleasure.
Look forward to the waves.
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I understand English is widely spoken in Amsterdam, so no language barrier for them on their visit. Being a nomad is good – you got to see the world and your life became diverse because of it. Friends of the family were similar to your family. She was born in Spain so spoke Spanish; he was from Germany so spoke German and they both spoke English. They lived in various places due to his job. I went to visit them in Puerto Rico for 10 days in 1973 and stayed with them in Spain for three weeks in 1974. It was a great trip as we visited, stayed in, or ate in small, non-touristy towns, so great for soaking up the culture and there was never a language barrier. For you – some waves … I’ve only got one more week of photos for a post and then I have to deal with that camera card.
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Nice friends to have.
Good luck on the camera card.
(I’m done with Brussels. Halfway through France…) 🇫🇷
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They were very good friends to have and after he retired, they finally settled down and moved to Madrid. She bought a small apartment building many years before. There were four apartments and they lived in one of them.
I need a couple of rainy days to catch up on photos. I’m trying to make the most of the good weather on weekends and weekday mornings before the landscape turns blah and the weather turns ugly.
You’re making progress with the camera card and it looks like you discovered a photo of yourself to use for a new profile picture.
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A “blah landscape”? I can visualize that…
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The blah landscape will be here soon enough, by mid-November when all the leaves are down. I spent about 16 hours outdoors this weekend, walking and yard work, soaking up the sun. Suddenly the maples and locust trees erupted into color and are at peak; the others have a way to go. Soon the frost is on the pumpkin, c’est dommage.
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C’est dommage indeed. But that’s how it goes. November (in France) is one of the reasons I left the “North” for the “South”.
🍁
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A friend of mine was in business for himself and his wife planned to retire in a few years. They were both tired of Michigan winters. So Terry researched to find the U.S. city/state that had the most sunny days in a year. I always thought that was San Diego, California with near-perfect weather, but it was Las Cruces, New Mexico. Terry was in his mid-60s at the time and had not used his high school and/or college Spanish in decades. He got an apartment for six months and hired a tutor to teach him Spanish. He had no textbook, no apps on his phone – she taught him by putting sticky notes on items around the apartment and going to the market with him, pointing to items and speaking the corresponding word … he just needed enough Spanish to get by and that system worked. They bought a house there. In Winter, the temps could be well over 100F but very low humidity. I could live with that – humidity here combined with heat is no prize, probably like you had in ‘Bama.
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New Mexico must be interesting.
And dry. Which the South isn’t. In the summer, you have temperatures in the 90-100 and veeeery humid.
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It sounds perfect to me – very dry and 102F but not breaking a sweat. And for landscaping … no worries about your grass being brown and crispy. He was happy he had no more grass to cut, as there were stones and pebbles instead of a lawn, cacti instead of flowers and he said instead of weeding, he could use a flame thrower in the pebbles. (I was never sure if he was pulling my leg with that last comment.) They do have dirt devils blow up though which made it dangerous for driving sometimes.
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Wow – seeing the squirrels stretched out does seem odd – yet it makes sense to cool the body!
☀️😊looking forats to the story up and coming about the baby squirrel
—
And you sure know a lot of flowers !
Love that large yellow leaf too
Hope you have a great day
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A fellow blogger said maybe we ought to try that to cool off. I”ll be using videos for the first time ever – something different. I will send the post to the walkers who gave me the videos. An imperfect heart. I’ve been watching Ian’s destruction. Too many of these “storm events of the century” these days – whew.
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Oh, now I understand the duck story! Odd what people can complain about. How much noise/smell can 2 ducks create? (In a fair world, maybe removing the neighbours would be the better choice.) 😦
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People are chronic complainers Jeanine (more so since Covid it seems). Roosters crowing at the crack of dawn … okay maybe, but ducks are not a nuisance. I don’t see what the issue was either and I totally agree with your statement about the neighbors.
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With all the squirrels around my house, I don’t recall ever seeing a baby squirrel. What a treat! I enjoyed all the critter photos. 🙂
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Thanks Rebecca – It was a good morning picture-wise. The day before I SHOULD have had the camera with me and missed some fun shots, but I went back home to get the camera and get some shots of that cutie pie. From now on the camera and I stay joined at the hip. 🙂
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People unfortunately release ducks around here too. I will say this, as sad as it is (because the ducks are use to being fed by hand most of the time)… ducks are build for cold weather. They can handle the snow, ice, and all the things that come with it. I typically have my ducks and chickens forage for food (unless they’re sick or injured) up until autumn and winter when foraging becomes more scares. I currently have 8 ducks on my farm.
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The young man said he had them since they were ducklings and now the neighbors were complaining, so I’m guessing they were probably fed and didn’t forage like your ducks do at your farm. LaShelle, I have taken some photos in the Wintertime when the poor Mallards are lined up on the ice, alternating standing on one foot, as it is so cold. And also down at the Detroit River. I feel for them. I know the ducks’ feet are constructed to withstand the cold but I still feel for those poor babies. I like ducks – going to Heritage Park and Elizabeth Park I see lots of them, especially the Pekins and Mallard Hybrids (half Pekin/half Mallard).
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Yes he probably fed them. I read that part ❤️ I don’t winterize my coop. In fact, my ducks free range. Which keeps them healthier. So come winter time they do what all the other ducks do. We do get snow and ice in north Georgia but it usually doesn’t last long. The winds aren’t typically as bitter as they are up north. Still… You can’t take animals who don’t know how to fend for themselves and let them go. It’s extremely unkind.
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That happened a few years ago when I saw the two Khaki Campbell ducks at the Park in the Winter. Matt said to contact him immediately as they were dumped, but I never saw them again and worried about them all Winter. I follow a Michigan blogger and her chickens free range too … she lost a few of their new chicks this year due to a predator but they like doing free range for their chickens – they have a new coop her husband built last year and I imagine they have to winterize it – it is already going to the 40s at night!
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Free range chickens are healthier than ones cooped up. Disease spreads quickly I’m a tight coop where as my ladies roost in the trees and do well. I have 5 roosters watching over the hens. 3 of them will be butchered soon. They do a great job but there’s too many hen to roo ratio going on.
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I didn’t know you could eat roosters – wow. My great-grandparents had a farm in Ariss, Ontario (it is near Guelph, Ontario). They had nine kids. My mom would say they went to visit her grandparents at the farm and were told by her great grandfather never to get attached to the animals as they might be Sunday dinner.
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Roosters are the best ones to eat! Theu don’t produce eggs. I’m actually a vegetarian though 😋. I raise meat for my husband but my son and I eat the eggs
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Well I learned something tonight LaShelle!
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Glad I could help 😃
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Great shots, Linda! 😁 I love almonds too! They seem to help ease my osteoarthritis, which is awesome! They are great, healthy snacks! 😊
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Thanks Tom. I like almonds but I buy the slivered or chopped ones to put in my oatmeal. I’m not a fan of the whole almonds – afraid I’ll break a tooth. I had bought some trail mix which was on sale and rather than smash the almonds in the mix, I decided to treat my little buddies.
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Try the healthy walnuts and pecans that are in the produce section at Walmart. They are soft and tasty! (For you… not the critters!) 😉
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Now soft walnuts I would try Tom – the other ones you’d break your teeth on them, that’s why I usually get them slivered. The critters grow new teeth all the time. 🙂
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Oh that baby squirrel is so cute! I have never heard of ducks following it’s owner like that, how cool!
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He told me they were pets that he had since they were ducklings. They were very sweet, waddling along behind him and going up to people at the Park and those people were taking their pictures.
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You got a lot out of this trip to the park. Golf club lady doesn’t sound very pleasant. The hawk at least has the excuse that it needs to eat.
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You’re right JP – sometimes I have an action-packed day going on with lots of photo opportunities and sometimes none. It is often like that at the big parks on the weekends as well. I’ve had some interesting critter interactions this year. It is shameful about the golf club lady as there is no reason to act like that – they mean no harm. The hawk is doing what it is supposed to do … eat to live, but I wish it would choose another venue.
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I wonder what has caused you algae bloom and if that has driven off some of your wildlife. I know you see people catching fish, but perhaps it’s fewer fish or only up by your fishing pier? Worrisome.
My brother has a bulldog who sploots. Splooting squirrels are cute. Splooting bulldogs are hilarious.
Thanks for sharing, once again!
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Zazzy, I asked the Fish and Wildlife folks this Summer – they had an event called the “Ecorse Creek Clean-up” – this creek runs thru three parks and Council Point Park is one of them. That ranger told me it was not harmful but a good sign – hmm. I said the other side of the Creek that gets all the sun, with our days and days of zero rain, the algae bloom just stays in one spot. The ducks and geese are gone from the Park due to molting and missing their flight feathers, so they go to places along the Detroit River where the water has a faster current so there is no algae bloom. They return in September when it’s cooler – no algae bloom then. They have closed a few lakes here for swimming when it was so hot and the algae bloom was so thick. It is worrisome to me too.
A bulldog is funny enough, but a splooting bulldog would be hilarious. Before I discovered Council Point Park, I used to walk down a street in Wyandotte which was lined with trees on both sides. It was cool and refreshing on a hot Summer’s day. So, a young woman took her two Bulldogs out every morning for a walk and I actually took pictures of them one day because they both would walk 20 steps and just plop down (not splooting though) – just plop down and refuse to move. She’d coax each of them to stand up and two minutes later they’d stop in their tracks, so she would pull out their water bowls and fill them. I really wondered why she bothered with the walks. Unlike most dogs who love to go for a walk, they always acted like they were doing HER a favor. 🙂
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