Wordless Wednesday – allow your photo(s) to tell the story.
Linda Schaub
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Linda Schaub
- “Spring is sprung. The grass is riz. I wonder where the birdies is?” ~ Anonymous
- Bewildered and bedraggled Snowdrops. Angry Robin bemoaning frozen worms. #Wordless Wednesday #Weary from Winter #3 years of Wordless Wednesdays for me!
- Ahh – Spring arrives today!
- Why a Duck? Why not a Seagull? #Wordless Wednesday #Marx (Bros.) Madness!
- Humbug Marsh was hummin’, not humdrum on this trek.
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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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WALKIN', WRITIN', WIT & WHIMSY 
How exciting — I’ve never seen or even heard of a Pied-billed Grebe before! I looked at a range map and it looks like we don’t have them here in Connecticut. Thanks so much for sharing these pictures. Do you see them very often? What a handsome bird!
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Hi Barbara – this was actually a first time seeing this bird for me and I was excited to see it! I could I.D. it right away, as I follow the Detroit Audubon Society’s birding trips on Facebook and they post pictures of their “finds” and identify them by name. I don’t always remember those birds/waterfowl, but this bird is unusual looking with the stripe on its bill (almost like a Ring-billed Seagull). I was at Lake Erie Metropark on Saturday and looked in this area and saw a few of them diving together, but too far to take a photo. My Birdie Bucket List is growing for birds I’ve seen, but never put on the list. 🙂
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This is a delightful sequence.
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Thank you Anne. This was a first-time sighting for me. I follow the Detroit Audubon Society’s birding expeditions on Facebook. They post photos and idntify all birds, so I was able to identify it right away. I treated myself to a Michigan Birds guide which arrived today from Amazon. I still have the “North American Land Bird Guide” downstairs in my desk drawer, but not readily accessible and I’ve been on a roll with local birds this Summer.
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Very interesting little bird to watch.
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A first-time sighting for me Peggy. I could ID it as I follow the Detroit Audubon Society on Facebook. They post photos from their birding expeditions and identify each bird, so I recognized it. Interesting to look at and it kept diving and coming up to the surface somewhere else, like a Cormorant does.
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Wow! Your camera finger must have been clicking away to get the photos of the grebe diving. Great shots! I don’t see grebes too often.
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Thanks Laurie! I was lucky to be standing on an overlook when this little Grebe popped out of the water, held that pose, then dove again! If I didn’t follow the Detroit Audubon Society’s birding expeditions on Facebook, I don’t know if I’d have been able to identify it. They post pictures and identify all the birds/waterfowl they see. I’ve had a lot of new bird encounters this year and I’m finally gong to do the Osprey and its nest post next week. (It was back in July I first told you about it.)
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That’s a pretty birdie! I’ve never seen a grebe in person. There’s something – I don’t know, kind of peaceful about it. Or maybe it’s the wise owl eyes it has. Or it’s just a pretty birdie. 🙂
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It was a first for me seeing one in person Zazzy. In fact, I would not have identified it on the spot, except I follow the birding adventures of the Detroit Audubon Society on Facebook. I see where they go and they post pictures and identify what birds they see. I had to move fast … a quick pose, then it went diving deep in the water again. It does have some unusual eyes and that ring on the beak and a really short, stubby body.
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Nice action shots. Very pretty bird
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Thanks Ally – I was lucky I was on an overlook when it surfaced, posed, then dove again. It has a distinctive look.
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we have the Western Grebe but not these guys. Good eye Linda!
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Thank you Wayne! I had to Google Western Grebe – they look very different, much bigger and skinny compared to this Grebe which was short and stubby! I was lucky as I was on the overlook and it popped out of the water, then posed (thank you for that), then dove back in the water. A first for me seeing this bird and I wouldn’t have recognized it, except I follow Detroit Audubon Society on Facebook and they post pics of the birds they see and ID them from all their birding expeditions.
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you’ll soon be the local park birding expert!
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That’s a nice thought Wayne, learning on the fly (pardon the pun).
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I love watching these little guys. They are really good a slipping away underneath the water.
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It was a first for me Rebecca. I follow Detroit Audubon Society’s birding trips on Facebook, so they have posted photos and identified them, or I would not have known what it was. He/she was sure on the move.
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Wonderful images, Linda! I’ve seen grebes in California, but it’s been a while. Love that face! This one looks young? Or is this their adult appearance?
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Thank you Terri. This was the first sighting for me. I was lucky to be standing on an overlook close by where it was diving. This is an adult as their beaks become light colored and develop the ring on the beak as they become adults. I think it has a unique look too.
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How adorable! Great series of shots.
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Thanks Esther – lucky me standing on the overlook so I had a bird’s eye view of this bird. It’s a new bird to show the kiddos!
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You were lucky with that shot. Amazed at the variety of birds out there in the world! Andy Finnegan posts a lot of bird photos too…and we tried drawing a few of them to keep for identification purposes. Drawing the shape is not bad but the feathers..forget it. too hard.
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Yes, it is unusual looking isn’t it? Andy has lots of shorebirds and I don’t know a lot of them. I have had a good run on birds this year – I still have a few more bird pics just for Wordless Wednesday, funny pictures.
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You have, and I hope you have more finds of interesting birds to share!
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Me too Esther. I have never seen so many different birds in one year before – I saw some birds today that I have seen in pictures, but never in person which is quite hard to believe. They will show up in a month or so. I think I’ll push ahead the pictures I took today as they have a Halloween and Harvest-type theme. Then I’ll concentrate on the longer walks after the Thanksgiving holidays when the weather gets ornery.
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Oh right, your weather will get severe with colder weather! You gotta get your outings in while the weather cooperates. Stay safe on your walks.
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One more nice weekend (I’ve kept saying that each weekend) and then I’ll call it done … I have to intersperse Fall outings with Summer outings so they don’t all seem the same. Thank you for saying that … I saw yesterday on the City Facebook forum two dogs were fighting in the street, one attacked the larger dog … a fellow blogger was bitten by a dog. Ugly bite, no rabies shots, but still … there are always worries.
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So pretty!
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Glad you like it orthodoxmom3 and not only pretty, but unique looking.
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That bird has a very cool looking face! You caught a good snap shot, Linda. I’ve never seen one of these. How fun to see it here!
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Thanks TD and I thought it is a very cool looking bird, short and stubby and that face! I was fortunate to be standing on an overlook when I saw this bird pop out of the water, pose and then dive back in. 🙂 I wouldn’t have been able to identify it, except I follow the Detroit Audubon Society on Facebook and they visit venues around here and post pictures and ID the birds. I have had a lot of luck seeing different and unique birds this year!
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I once watched a pied-billed grebe eat a fish four times as big as its head. I swear that bird folded the fish in half TWICE before swallowing it! Even then it looked impossible.
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That’s amazing. That was enough to keep it fed for a long time. There was a video shot by a wildlife photographer a few years ago of an osprey carrying a fish so large it weighed the osprey down and it started dropping lower and lower from the sky until it was gliding on the surface of the water, talons still holding onto that gigantic fish which was floundering the entire time. I can just imagine the feast it had when it finally alighted and found a place to dine!
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I was watching an osprey carrying a small fish a couple days ago (we live on a hillside above the Animas River). It seemed he was going to fly around forever before perching to eat. I think he was waiting for the fish to quit wriggling. Once the bird sort of bobbled, and I thought it was because the fish was still moving so much.
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That’s interesting to see isn’t it? A fellow blogger captured some photos and a video of a heron enjoying a fish and that live flailing fish went “down the hatch” and you could see the heron’s neck vibrating as the fish traveled into its stomach.
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Nicely spotted Linda! How are you going with your list this year?
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Thanks Jeanine. I am doing well with my list and have a few birds I’ve never seen before, like this one and the Sandhill Cranes and back in the Winter the Canvasback Ducks, which I’ve been looking for for several years. I am still hunting for an owl to cross my path, or an eagle. Both are on my wish list. 🙂
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Fab! I’ll be waiting for that peacock next year!
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I’d better get on it and also put it on my Birdie Bucket List!
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So cute Linda! I can’t believe the different ducks you have seen this year.
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It is so unusual looking with the eyes and stripe on its beak Diane. I have had a good run on seeing new birds, ducks this Summer, especially those Sandhill Cranes. Too bad the cold weather and flakes will be a’flyin’ soon to break my streak!
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Those cranes were my favorite!
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Mine too Diane. I think I will compile a gallery of 2022 favorites again on New Year’s Day like I did this year and they will be the #1 favorite on the list. They are migrating through Michigan right now and I returned to Lake Erie Metropark last Saturday looking to see if I’d find them, but no luck this time.
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Aw, such a great selection of photos to go with that title! Thank you for the morning chuckle 🙂
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You are very welcome! This little guy moved at the speed of sound!
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🥰😍
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I’ve never seen or heard of this bird before, Linda. I guess he/she fishes for his/her dinner?
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This was a first sighting for me too Hugh. I follow the Detroit Audubon Society on Facebook and they post photos of the birds they see and identify them, or I’d have not known its name. This bird does dive for fish and frogs and there are plenty of them and aquatic plants in the lagoon where I took the picture.
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So cute! I love the white on its beak and the black ring. Did it come up with a fish?
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It sure is unusual looking isn’t it Janis? No, it didn’t come up with a fish – I suspect it ate it while underwater as it was down there for a while. First sighting of this bird for me!
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Great shots! I keep learning how little I know about waterfowl. Or birds in general.
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Thanks JP! This has certainly been my year for discovering unusual waterfowl and/or birds. I am sorry to see the great weather finally come to an end, as my “finds” will likely be limited now. I follow the Detroit Audubon Society to see where those birders visit locally. They post pictures of the birds they see and identify them. Otherwise I would not have known the name of the bird unless I do a Google reverse image search.
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