… as I enjoyed one of the last lazy, hazy, crazy days of Summer. Fall would officially arrive on Saturday, September 23rd.
As I flipped the page to December, the last month for “The Great Outdoors” nature calendar, with a featured locale of Mount Ranier National Park in Washington, I was pleased to see the quote was about walking and the words resonated with me.
I have written in the past how my morning meanders revitalize me and reset my soul, whether it is tripping along the walking path at cozy Council Point Park or traversing trails and crossing marshy overlooks at larger venues like Lake Erie Metropark.
My weekday walks are always in the early morning by necessity due to my work schedule, but even when I don’t have a watch strapped onto my wrist on weekends, I am lured to larger parks on the same schedule since mornings there are so quiet and peaceful.
I always wonder what winged or furry creature I will encounter first?
On each trip to Lake Erie Metropark, as I set out on my walk, I am curious what nature shots will fill up my camera’s memory card that day. It’s a sure bet my early arrival will glean some shots of critters foraging or waterfowl fishing in the still waters not yet choppy from the wake of motor boats or faraway freighters. I have a few favorite spots like an overlook by Cove Point where I always head first to glimpse Heron, Egrets, Swans or dabbling Mallard ducks.
Sometimes the still-sleeping Mallards are lined up on a log, with one “sentry” watching over its brethren and, if I’m extra quiet, on another log I might get a shot of turtles in a neat queue – that is before they catch sight of me and plop into the water.
This year I’ve been extra lucky to have multiple sightings of the pair of Sandhill Cranes.
Yes, this is my definition of a peaceful morning.
So, who else is a morning person, er … critter?
Along the Cherry Island Trail I saw a diving Cormorant – here he/she surfaced just long enough to get its picture taken.
There were a few broken trees, not the work of Beavers as I’ve shown you in the past. Yes, no whittling here, just the effects of strong winds, perhaps the tornado that touched down on the other side of the park on August 24th.
This bare trunk, minus some bark might have been the work of beetles.
And this wooden fence meant a graffiti artist with a penknife had been by.
In this swampy area I saw movement in the water. Figuring it was likely laden with mosquitoes I took this shot, then started to walk on by.
But the persistent wiggles in the water made me step closer and I saw this. I zoomed in on these critters, but I’m still not sure if they are larvae or baby minnows. I did an Google image search to no avail.
There were geese galore, all flying high and honking their heads off. These were in a sloppy formation – maybe practicing for the long haul down South, although I think most of our Canada Geese just stay put.
My Barn Swallows were gone – no more swooping and diving or perching, but I was pretty lucky getting up-close photos of them this Summer. I still have some shots of them to share with you.
Wildflowers were blooming and Cabbage Whites were taking advantage of them.
I spotted some Pretty-in-Pink Knotweed.
These Black-eyed Susans were blooming, but a bit bedraggled.
The resilient Goldenrod was still thriving and adding bright spots along the trail.
This pair of Bumblebees appreciated that Goldenrod.
The reeds were still green, but I saw no Red-winged Blackbirds nestled in them.
As I rounded the corner on this overlook, I saw these “hangers-on” creeping onto the walkway.
At the overlook I watched a Mallard ponder whether to eat some funky-looking green goo reckoning that if it’s duckweed, then it’s for ducks? She did a “sniff test” first like the squirrels do. 🙂
Great Blue Heron and some Egrets gathered together, co-mingling perhaps to share fishing tips?
This was a peaceful sight – I do love reflections, even with dead, bare trees.
The reality that Fall was not far off was this exploding Cattail. A fun factoid for you – only female Cattails explode into white, fuzzy seed-heads.
Red-tinged leaves and …
… a fallen heart-shaped Poplar leaf hinted that Fall was on the horizon.
HawkFest and some more fun facts for you.
I took this walk on Friday, September 15th, the day before the annual, two-day HawkFest Event held on the grounds next to the Marshlands Museum at Lake Erie Metropark.
My Metroparks newsletter told me between 2,000 and 4,000 people attend this free event every year. I always buy an annual Metropark pass, so what stops me from attending? Well, I am still cautious about being in crowds due to COVID – perhaps next year I’ll visit.
When I went to visit “Luc” the resident eagle …
… I noticed the set-up had already begun for the event.
Bales of hay were being unloaded and I know from photos of past events, they are used as seats for visitors to watch lecturers speak about various raptors while exhibiting and/or holding them.
HawkFest is held in September because this is the month which coincides with the largest Broad-winged Hawk migration, wherein sometimes, depending on wind velocity, tens of thousands of raptors may pass by the boat launch area in a single day. If there are steady northwest or west winds producing updrafts, the strong air currents are favorable for these predator birds. Broad-winged Hawks (like Red-shouldered Hawks or Cooper’s Hawks) prefer light tailwinds which enable them to travel 200 to 300 plus miles (320 to 480 km) in a single day, wherein winds over 15 to 20 mph (24 to 32 km/hr) can be too strong for them, so they will not move in large numbers then.
You may recall my recent post about the large groups of Turkey Vultures migrating through the area as well and that was the reason for my visit on that particular day.
To clarify, this area where HawkFest takes place is not where the migrating raptors are counted; instead the counting and viewing takes place in the boat launch area near the docks as you see below. Here, the official count takes place alongside photographers with long lenses and tripods or birders with binoculars pressed to their faces, all awaiting the anticipated arrival of these birds of prey.
I wanted to include the Detroit River Hawk Watch official counting website, but the link is unsecure.
Here it is if you’re game: detroitriverhawkwatchdotorg.
The signage near this “Count site” details what raptors will pass through from September through November.
I have stopped by this viewing location many times during the raptor migration since I bought my first Metropark pass in 2018 and unbelievably have not seen a single raptor pass overhead.
This day was no different, so I moved on ….
I decided to walk along The Trapper’s Run trail where I had the nice encounter with the doe … so did I see a doe? No doe, but there was an unwelcome visitor, not far from the tips of my walking shoes – ugh! I was nearly at the end of the trail and had already put the camera away when in my peripheral vision I saw movement on the path. A huge snake slithered by and into the ground cover. No photo – probably my hands were shaking and heart pounding too much anyway even if I had the camera ready. I know Eastern Fox Snakes are common around Southeast Michigan, so I shouldn’t have been surprised. Come to think of it, I used the expression “an unwelcome visitor” to describe the snake, when in reality, perhaps I was the unwelcome visitor in Mr. Snake’s territory???
It HAD been a peaceful morning until the snake discovery. I wasn’t far from the car, so that was a relief … not because the snake would follow me, but I was overdressed in my sweatsuit, so, unlike Mr. Snake, I had no layers to shed and a blast of cool air from the car’s A/C would surely be welcome.
Peace does not exist around the world, but there is peace to be found here.
I am joining Terri Webster Schrandt’s Sunday Stills Challenge: #Waiting for Peace.
Linda Schaub
WALKIN', WRITIN', WIT & WHIMSY 
Pingback: Sunday Stills: Waiting for #Peace – Second Wind Leisure Perspectives
A peaceful morning interrupted by a snake? That’s a little funny, Linda, but I get that feeling. Wow, some gorgeous shots of your views of what peace means to you. I really love the images of egrets and herons and their amazing reflections (I hope to see some interesting birds next month at the Gilbert Riparian Preserve). Something peaceful about those reflections. The Hawk Watch sounds like a lot of fun, if crowded. Judging by the pics of the signs, I’d say we have most of those species of birds in the Spokane area as well. There are a couple of preserves in Spokane and I need to get to them next spring. Thanks for joining Sunday Stills again, your posts always capture the theme just so!
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The early morning hours are peaceful and the best times to see the birds, foraging animals before it gets crowded. Plus there are awesome reflections. There is a road to the boat launch area which runs along the lagoon and the trucks hauling boats make a lot of noise so that’s another reason to go early before too many noises spook the birds. I hope I am more successful getting raptor photos, but I’ve chatted with birders who say they stand there for hours and get nothing. Glad to join up with Sunday Stills again. We had a rainy day today, so I’ve already written next week’s post with the red and green theme. 🙂
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I look forward to that post, Linda!
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A little Christmas and a little nature Terri.
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Beautiful you sharing nature Wow, some gorgeous shots of your views of what peace means to you. I really love the images!“The Great Outdoors” nature calendar, with a featured locale of Mount Ranier National Park in Washington,
Excellent photography.
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Thank you Raj. I am glad you liked the photos of peaceful scenes.
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Most welcome,Linda!
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I love all the reflections and animal shots Linda, you live in a beautiful area. I’m also mindful of snakes where I walk especially now that it’s summer and warming up, you just never know when one will slither on by! Unlike you, I see lots of kangaroos when I’m out walking 🙂 so I love seeing where others walk. #Sundaystills
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Hi Debbie – I do feel lucky to live in this area. Michigan is known as the Great Lakes State and we don’t have to travel far to find water. I did not have any photos of Lake Erie in this post unfortunately. I do like to come to this park on weekends as there is so much to see. I would love to see a kangaroo while out walking – it would sure beat seeing a snake! Your kangaroo reference had me going to your site to see if you lived in Australia, which you do. I have been following Brian (Bushboys World) for a short time and have learned a lot about Australia’s flora and fauna. I also like seeing where other people walk and what they see, all part of the wonderful world of blogging. Thank you so much for your comment Debbie.
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Lots of fabulousness within. A great place to walk and take in what’s around.
Maybe they were water beetles having a mass meeting
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Brian – I am amazed at your picture – it looks just like mine, right down to the darker blue water! So this is what those critters were … hmm. The water was full of them that day, as if there was a fresh hatch. Thanks for sharing your photo. It is a great place to walk and since they closed the pool and concession stand on one side of this park, now I cut through and with less people/cars about, I see more deer and Sandhill Cranes. One of the Metroparks, not near me, has a nature center where songbirds, even woodpeckers and doves, congregate and you can put seeds and peanuts in the palm of your hand and they will alight on your hand and eat. I’m working on the birds doing that where I walk during the week – it is a process. 🙂
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That sounds like a lovely place. I hope the birds aren’t fed all the time as this makes them less reliant on their natural food. If the feeding suddenly stops, most of the birds may not survive
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Yes, they have some farm animals at Kensington Metropark as well and, because the hand feeding is a novelty at that park, people do feed the birds all year around, plus I’ve seen photos of feeders at the nature center. At the Metropark in this post, visitors are forbidden to feed any bird or animal – there are signs everywhere. I took several of their interpretive walks here and the guides are adamant about no feeding any wildlife. One guide said someone was coming into the park very early with bucketfuls of corn for the deer and the deer were going up to the car to meet them. They put a stop to that and threatened to revoke the visitor’s park pass.
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That’s great 🙂
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A great smorgasbord of pictures Linda! I’ve found If you go looking for something, the majority of times you won’t find it but If you just go exploring, sooner or later you’ll run into it.
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Thanks Wayne – I was surprised that by the time I sorted down the pics from this walk, I had about 40 shots, so I had to eliminate a few for this post. Too bad I didn’t get the snake’s pic, but then I might have dropped the camera in surprise! Those egrets and heron hanging out together in that small lagoon have been a good spot to head to. You are right – there were no Sandhill Cranes that day, but I had no complaints either. I felt badly for Luc because he would be so close to that event with all the raptors the handlers bring in, but essentially on the outside looking in.
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Poor Luc, I always feel mournful for the poor chap.
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I know what you mean Wayne. I couldn’t help but think that he was feeling a bit wistful … I was wondering if people visited him that day. It’s just down the hill from the event.
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Wonderful photos, as usual. I used to see cormorants on my morning walks beside the water in NY.
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Thanks Anne – it seems when cormorants are in the water, they never stop moving except to come up for air. If the water is clear enough, they look like torpedoes beneath the surface.
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I’ve never seen one under water
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They move very quickly – all you see is a flash of black and I was amazed to see how quickly they travel from one spot until they surface again.
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Yes. Cormorants are amazing.
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Just this morning I saw a pair of hawks swooping down on a field. I rarely see them travel in couples so it was a special treat (as long as I wasn’t on the menu for breakfast!
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Some of those hawks are huge – be glad you are not on their menu for breakfast Kate! I have never seen a pair before.
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You have a great area for different birds to come through. I do love Cormies although I know they can be destructive. I love your last line “Peace does not exist around the world, but there is peace to be found here.” I completely agree, anywhere in nature takes away all the bad feelings and gives a sense of peace and calm.
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Yes, it is a prime area for watching raptors and there is another point they pass, which I believe is at Point Mouillee. I’m going by memory since I was disappointed the “count site” was shown as unsafe. It had a nice gallery and official counts on there when I looked a few years ago. When I go to Humbug March, the Cormies roost in a stand of trees – there are always a lot of them but they don’t stay put like these birds did, so it’s difficult to get a shot showing just how many there were. Walking in parks as we do does instill a sense of peace and calm which is sorely needed these days.
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Great nature photos once again, Linda!
Hawk Fest sounds like an event I would enjoy. Maybe next fall, we will make the trek out to Michigan to participate. I think it is about an 8 or 9-hour drive for us.
I used to be a morning person, but since returning from a 2-week visit to our Oregon son and his wife, I seem to want to stay up late and sleep late. I can’t get back on East Coast time!
Your egret photos reminded me of seeing a “flock”(???) of egrets on one of our Oregon runs. They were in a wet meadow. Maybe they were migrating. Egretts were long gone from PA, but I’m not sure what the migration timeline is in Oregon.
Almost forgot – love your opening quote. It does sound like you. And me too!
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Laurie – I am sorry to say I found your comment in SPAM; go figure why that happened after all these years and I found another blogger’s comment also in there. WP has been tweaking a lot of things on their platform, not always good things and SPAM comments don’t show up in the dashboard the same way they used to. I finally had to close comments after 30 days to avoid getting up to 200 SPAMS a day.
I have not been back to Lake Erie Metropark since October and I went twice that month to catch the colors. I have one more post on October to share over the Winter. Since it’s deer rutting season and that park is out in the sticks, I try to stay away during November/early December as there are a lot of deer/vehicle accidents. It is amazing that I’ve never seen any raptors pass overhead, yet they have the strong wind days and there are so many. I don’t even see the Turkey Vultures.
I am a morning person after so many years of getting up early and it works better for at the various parks I go to and I can avoid crowds too. I figured you were traveling again. Was this a Christmas visit? I remember one year your extended family gathered together out West (maybe Arizona?). Yes, that was a great quote, my favorite from the entire calendar.
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Linda, thanks for the explanation about my comment. I wondered if something weird was going on.
This was an extended Thanksgiving visit to my Oregon son and his wife. I love going out there. I would even consider moving there.
You are right – my extended family congregated in Arizona one year at Thanksgiving. Now, sadly my sister’s husband cannot travel. He is in the advanced stages of Parkinson’s disease.
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You’re welcome Laurie – I found another blogger in my SPAM folder tonight.
So WP has been having a lot of different issues lately. I’m not the only one saying that even if logged into WP, we cannot comment on another person’s blog, even if we follow them, without logging in and then it’s iffy. They changed some formatting for comments – I stuck with the traditional way of commenting as the newer way you can add formatting (bold/italics/underline), but the comments area displayed funny. Plus we have often become unsubscribed to bloggers for no apparent reason. But we have some AI features we didn’t have before. (I don’t use that AI feature)
A fellow blogger who went on a blogging break after getting shingles in her eye a few years ago and has not returned lives in Oregon. She had an amazing garden with lots of butterflies and hummingbirds, was a great photographer and loved walking as well. She was taking painting classes so was featuring some of her paintings. Where she walked in Oregon was always very nice. I wouldn’t blame you for thinking about moving there.
You did tell me about your sister’s husband – they live in Cape Cod where you always visit at Fourth of July?
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(I am replying here because I don’t have the option of replying to your comment!)Yes…my sister and her husband live on the Cape in the summer and Florida in the winter.
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Hi Laurie – I did forget that your sister and her husband went to Florida every winter, as did you and Bill for a nice break from winter weather.
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I never thought about cattails being female, Linda. I like the photo though.
And the first photo of the bridge captured my attention. I do feel peace when I look at that particular photograph of yours.
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TD – I was a little surprised to read that too about the cattails. Awhile back I referred to cattails as bulrushes – that is how I always knew them. So someone mentioned they were cattails. I learned there was a difference. So when I was writing the post, I wanted to verify cattails was one word and that little factoid popped up. I had no idea. It’s been many years since I had botany classes in high school. 🙂
They have those overlooks throughout the metroparks and I like that first one as it goes the entire length of a long road that leads to the boat launch area. That’s a busy road as there are a lot of boaters and fisherman launching their boats from there, so that’s safer to go on there, plus you can look into the marsh. There is a marina for larger boats on the other side of the park. So you get to where the boats are (and the counters are here too), then you have to go onto the grass, walk the trail until you get to another overlook (that was the one with the flowers hanging out).
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A great post Linda with so much to see. The wigglers photo is interesting. We have minnows in our pond but I have never seen them on the surface like that. I have seen bull frog tadpoles swim on the surface occasionally but never a group like that. I didn’t know that about cattails. Didn’t even realize they were male and female. I’m sorry you didn’t get to see any raptors. My husband spotted a bald eagle near the farm just two days ago. The quote is correct – that’s something you just don’t get from walking on a treadmill.
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Thank you Ruth. I do like Lake Erie Metropark, but didn’t make it there in November due to deer rutting season. Too many deer/vehicle crashes and that park is out in the sticks. I thought the photo was interesting too – there were a lot of them, like they had just hatched. I learned that factoid about the cattails after I Googled to see a photo as last time I called them bulrushes. I always see them burst open with all the fluff and seeds hanging out in Fall, so I found that tidbit interesting. I wonder if you have an eagle’s nest nearby as I think you had a post where you showed an eagle in the sky or mentioned it. I liked the quote this month – it was very true. I am glad I did the calendars this year, copying from your idea Ruth. They actually included a January 2024 calendar as well, which was a nice quote by Walt Whitman, but it referred to sleeping in the great outdoors, so I won’t be using it.
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I did mention the eagle I saw earlier this year fly up out of our neighbor’s pond. There are a lot of wooded properties in our area and a lot of ponds, small lakes and the Belle River so I’m sure the nest in our area.
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I thought you mentioned a sighting Ruth. You’re lucky to see them there.
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We have a nesting pair of red-tailed hawks living in a tall eucalyptus tree in our neighborhood. I love to watch them fly together. Your walk looks lovely and peaceful, Linda. I imagine the landscape looks a little different now that it’s December?
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That’s interesting Janis as another blogger just said she saw a pair of hawks. I have never seen a nesting pair before, though we do have Cooper’s Hawks in the neighborhood and I don’t live in a rural area. This is a peaceful place to go and it is usually my go-to destination on weekends when I have more time. It was beautiful in October with the leaves, but once the leaves are down, it does look blah. The reeds in the marsh die off and don’t green up until May or June; same with the huge Lotus beds. I don’t usually go in November/early December as it is deer rutting season and this park is out in the sticks so there are many deer/vehicle accidents. I’ll be going in a few weeks though if the weather is good.
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Yes, I think they are beetles, I think called boatmen. Rusty memory from field zoology class. Snakes really only disturb the peace by making people scream.😉
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I just Googled boatmen beetles Eilene – thanks for that info because the pictures they showed looked like these when I zoomed in. In fact, I read an article that people in Coachella Valley had many of these bugs in their pools and birdbaths, some needing extermination remedies to be able to use their pools. A blogger from Australia sent me a photo of what appears to be the same beetles. That’s as bad as our fishflies (a/k/a Mayflies). They hatch all at once, live 24 hours and die, but they cling to everything and cover the streets making them very slippery. It’s a nightmare for those who live near the water during fishfly season.
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Beautiful photos as always!
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Thanks Linda! It was a beautiful walk. (For some reason your comment, as well as another blogger’s comment, ended up in my SPAM folder. Since I close comments after 30 days a few months ago, I rarely get SPAM anymore and it no longer displays the same way as before. WP has had some odd issues lately!)
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A very nice selection of flora and fauna photos! I seldom walk early in the morning but can see from your morning nature walk that I am missing out.
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And I see what I miss by not walking in the evening with your sunset shots Rebecca. There was a lot of flowers still blooming for mid-September, making it more photogenic for that walk.
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I’d adore walking there in the morning – you see so many wonderful moments to capture. How do you ever decide what photos to keep or delete? I noticed in the work of beetles photo that you also captured a spiderweb!! Your walks contain an endless amount of fodder, well done on focusing on peaceful moments to treasure and share for this Sunday Stills prompt!
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You would enjoy it a lot Shelley. It was difficult to decide what to keep or delete. There was a swan in the middle of the lagoon in a group of reeds and more egrets and heron but I thought they looked too much alike, so I deleted them. I didn’t see that spider web when I took the shot … only o the computer screen! I was lucky to be able to incorporate this post for Terri’s peace theme. And now it is onto “red and green” next week.
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I bet it was difficult to decide. There are many options when you have such a cool place to visit. You get to see way more birds and critter activity than I can see in our local park. I need to go there while the Christmas lights are up and on before they turn them off for the season.
Well done on Terri’s prompt! I look forward to what you find for Red and Green!
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It was difficult Shelley. A fellow blogger who walks with her husband in a lot of woodsy places told me she limits the photos on her post to 24 … when she reaches that point, she has to make choices. I am lucky to have a lot of parks to walk in. Right now Heritage Park is all messed up as they have a light fest stroll and so you can’t get near the lake. You went to a place and took photos of a large park once – is this the place with the Christmas lights for the holiday season? Thank you – so far I’ve been able to do all the prompts since the groundhog debacle story. 🙂 I actually have done the Red and Green prompt already when we had a rainy day Sunday, so I wrote it already. I have not been ahead a week in a while. I have a special post I want to do for the following week (17th – Festive) and have to take photos for it this weekend
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You have more parks close by than I do. I have two.
The two parks that I’ve written about are the one where we go on Labor Day weekend for the race we’ve run and then this one in Chippewa Falls. I’ve written about Irvine Park that was donated to the community and is supposed to be forever free to enjoy. They do take donations though. Here’s the first post I did about it. https://www.quaintrevival.com/side-roads-lead-to-main-attractions/
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We do have a lot of parks and one that I’d like to go to is Kensington Metropark where you can feed the birds from your open palm near the nature center. Everyone feeds the birds (and not just Chickadees or Cardinals, but Doves, Woodpeckers too). I would like to go there someday. It is not near to me.
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Yay, a bucket-list place to plan to visit!
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I send a separate comment here since comments were closed as I wanted you to see if – I also “liked” but can’t tell if it worked or not. Grrrr. This is beautiful with the lights Shelley. I would go often if I were there. The Christmas light show is spectacular; you should visit this year and take some more photos.
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Thank you, Linda. Yes, it’s a beautiful place to visit. And…you read our mind, we’re going there tonight to walk through it. I wish there was snow on the ground as that adds to the ambiance, but it’s nice temperature wise so we’ll take that and walk our way through with it! Yes…I hope to take my camera too!
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That sounds fun Shelley. Yes, snow would give some ambiance but the warmer weather is a treat for sure. We will have temps tomorrow around 60 and may break a record from the 40s. Strange weather … it was beautiful this morning.
We have a big park (Hines Park) where there is a roadway that goes thru it. In the Summertime, they close that roadway to traffic every Saturday for walkers/runners/rollderbladers and bikers to use. Then at Christmas they light up Hines Drive (roadway) for miles. They start putting up the lightshow in October and charge by the car to see it. Before it opens to the public, one night they allow walkers and runners only to see the lightshow; the second night is just for bicyclists. I’ve not been to it – it’s not that close to me and doesn’t open until dark. Hope you get lots of pics.
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It was fun to see how the display had grown over the years. SO many lights. And so many people. In WI if the temps at night are over freezing people come out in droves. It was packed at the park. The kiddos were so excited to see the lights. I’m positive the Irvine family who donated the park originally with the intent it would always be free to the community would be so happy to see everyone enjoying the park and the lights.
I wish Hines park was closer so you could go visit it. I’m going to check my SD card soon!
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That’s great that the Irvine family asked that the park always remain free – we only have that with our city or county parks – the rest you must pay a fee on your license plate or buy a pass. I wish it was closer too – I traveled part of Hines Park a few years ago on a Saturday to take advantage of the roadway being closed on the Saturday, but I know it stretches out for many more miles after that through several citis.
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Yes, it’s a great family park. Of course, they find ways to accept donations and charge for rentals of pavilions, but entry to the park is always free.
I hope when you’re retired you’ll be able to venture out to other parks.
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That’s nice it is free admittance – if you don’t have a yearly pass for the Metroparks, it is $10.00 just to enter one park – you can re-use it at other metroparks, but just on that day. Willow Metropark used to have a beautiful and picturesque pond and people could rent rowboats or paddleboats (plain ones and also the type that were shaped like swans or dragons and other critters). Then an underground pipe broke and all the water drained out, no more pond – no big attraction now at Willow Metropark. But yes, there are other parks to visit when I have more time. 🙂
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We have the state park pass option here in WI too. I remember your post about Willow Metropark, that’s so sad. Do they have plans to fix it or are they just leaving it as is?
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No, they are going to let the area where the pond was grow in with grass or fill it with dirt – they weren’t sure of which to use when I was there a couple of years ago and asked one of the park employees. The underground pipes could not be fixed they said – too bad as that was the highlight of that park.
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Aww… 🤗
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The contrast in our circumstances brought a smile, Linda. I spend my early mornings on my laptop at our breakfast table, with windows in several directions looking out to our horse pastures. All I see are squirrels scurrying here and there, whether up and down the pine trees or on horizontal runs along our fence tops. I know you appreciate this “critter” in particular, but they pale in comparison to the variety you’ve shared in your post today. Thankfully though, no snakes!
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Dave, from the biggest critters to the smallest critters, our morning perspectives are interesting aren’t they? At my local park it is all about the squirrels and the songbirds and on weekends, it’s all about the critters at the marsh.
It’s been many years since I went horseback riding, (another story ….), as I loved riding and went with my father to a stable in Amherstburg, Ontario sometimes after our family went to nearby Holiday Beach for a picnic . My mom did not ride. My friend had never ridden. Her sister and her friend and my friend and me decided to go to the beach and horseback riding afterward. My friend didn’t want to go – all three of us convinced her to and her horse brushed past mine, mine got skittish, reared up and struck her in the shin with its hoof. We ended up crossing the border back into Detroit and going to the hospital. Her lower leg was just swollen, not broken thank goodness, probably due to her heavy jeans. I felt badly as I had egged her on. The incident spooked me, then Boots and Saddles had an electrical fire and burned down. That incident happened the day that Nixon resigned as I remember sitting the E.R. and clips were playing on the TV.
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If you ever run out of blog topics Linda, just reference comments like this one and add a few more details. You had some adventures back in the day!
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You’re right about that Dave – I have collected some interesting blog fodder through the years. 🙂 My friend was Debbie and her sister and her friend were older and had taken that day off work to go on this outing which ended so poorly. They had given Debbie a small horse and we teased her that it looked like a pony next to our horses. It scared me when my horse reared up as well – good thing I was hanging onto the pommel at the time or I might have gone flying off. Most of the horses at horseback riding stables mosey along the trail, just picking up speed when they get near to their barn, but mine was a bit high spirited the rest of the trip on the trail. (I also had a camel ride at the Pyramids, which I believe I told you about before.)
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The reflection pics are wonderful!! My favorite photo is the curved path with the wooden fence (is that a fence or barrier?)
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I like reflections too Esther so I was lucky to find some that day. This is one of the overlooks that goes right over the marsh. They have several overlooks in this park. Another overlook is where the wildflowers were peeking out of the bottom and that one goes over a different marsh. Some of them look like you are disappearing into oblivion.
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I like how you describe it as “disappearing into oblivion.” Very well articulated!
Yes, the reflection pictures are nice and it was good you got there early. Even though nature is not as lush as spring or summer, but there’s a different kind of beauty in these cold months.
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Thank you Esther! I always like reflections, especially with the Egrets or Mute Swans – it makes the photo come alive doesn’t it? In Winter, though I’m not fond of snow in the least, a bright and sunny day reflecting on the snow or ice is gorgeous.
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Yes, the blank slate of the snow or ice highlights the subject of the pictures!
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Indeed! That is a lucky day and lucky shot!
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Yep!
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Was the red leaf poison ivy? It seems nature loves mornings just like you Linda. I’m curious, have you ever walked in the afternoon or evening? If so, did you notice any different wildlife at that time opposed to morning?
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Wow, I hope not Diane. You pointed out poison ivy to me before and I was near it, but didn’t touch it. I should get more familiar with what it looks like!
I do i like mornings, but going later it seems there are more people and less critters, plus Lake Erie Metropark has a lot of picnic shelter areas and one is near a playscape, so there are always more people/kids, dogs and cars. So another reason to go earlier – the critters vanish when the people gather in groups. I went to Council Point Park just once in the early afternoon. It was very foggy in the morning and had rained, but it was a Winter’s day which felt like Fall (kind of what we are getting the next three days – maybe you too – temps maybe to 60 degrees Friday). So I decided I would go walk there – there were kids riding big wheels or bikes with training wheels on the path as well. I saw no squirrels at all. They must forage early and return to their nests and there was no reason to stay up in their nests as it wasn’t cold. I took my camera and came home with long shadow pics and that was it. 🙂
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I did not know that only female cattails explode into white, fuzzy seed-heads. That explains a lot about the cattails I used to see down by the beach pond. Great picture of the cormorant! They’re hard to catch bobbing up and down out of the water as they do. The breaks in those trees look fresh, perhaps it was the work of that tornado. If that snake felt you were the unwelcome visitor I guess you can be glad that it chose to avoid you! You’ve got so many great places to walk, Linda. Thanks for sharing your late summer/early autumn adventures.
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That was news to me too Barbara. I did a post awhile ago and misnamed them “bulrushes” so I wanted to Google an image of cattails and found that factoid. The things you learn on the internet are amazing sometimes. Those cormorants are very speedy when underwater. I have seen them go beneath the surface of the water and while I have the camera trained on it to take a photo when it emerges, it comes up across the pond where I’m not looking. I thought it might be the tornado’s strong winds too. Of course I didn’t have the camera ready but maybe that’s good as I might have dropped it when it startled me! I figure I will long remember these nice adventures in the depths of Winter, while now that you’re in NC, you may still be walking in the woods in the Winter.
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Fall seems like a hundred years ago now! I would not like running across a snake one little bit!
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It does seem that way JP with the trees bare and a chill in the air, although we had 57 degrees today in Michigan! I didn’t like that snake either and I’ve not been on that trail since that day!
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