How many shades of blue are in this photo? I counted five with four different shades in the sky alone. I am reminded of the lyrics to “Blue Skies” by Irving Berlin.
“Blue skies smiling at me. Nothing but blue skies do I see.”
The sun has emerged sparingly this month in the Great Lakes State as brutally cold Arctic air enveloped most of the U.S. “Ineffective sunshine” is what the meteorologists call it. I know that just a hint of the sun’s rays can put a little pep in my step, but any steps for me have been sparse since January 12th. I intended to make my way to the Park today to feed my furry and feathered friends, but it was still bitter cold, they never plow the path there and we had snow, rain, a flash freeze and two more bouts of minimal snowfalls. Sigh. I decided not to take any chances. We are in the 40s mid-week, so then I will venture forth.
This long walk was taken on October 8th and is a companion to a post where I wrote about the drab brown marshland of Sterling State Park. I told you how the marsh was nondescript but for the bevy of beautiful Mute Swans, several Great Blue Heron and elegant Great Egrets that graced it on that day. It was not until I looked at my photos many weeks later that I realized I had taken shots of Trumpeter Swans, a species long-coveted on my Birdie Bucket List. Click here for that post in case you missed it.
The Sterling Marsh Trail encircles the large lagoon at Sterling State Park. The actual trail is 3.6 miles (5.8 kilometers). While on the Sterling Marsh Trail that day I took a ton of photos, so many it took an afternoon to go through them. This is the second of what will be three posts – the next post will focus on the Lake Erie shoreline which was just across the street from where I parked the car.
During the pendency of this three-hour marsh meander, the skies went from aquamarine to berry-blue and, at the end of my long excursion, the last picture I snapped was the header image, mostly for that contrail that sliced through the multi-hued sky. I thought the clouds looked like marshmallows!
I began this excursion at the trailhead, near where I parked my car.
There is signage everywhere, to ensure you don’t miss anything the woodsy area of this 1,300-acre state park has to offer.
The light blue signage caught my eye.
This sign made me veer to the left …
… where a solitary angler sat fishing on the pier.
I neared the bridge, but not before pausing to take note (and a photo) of this sign and momentarily remembering the 60s song “Ode to Billie Joe” about the fate of Billie Joe McAllister. Have a listen here if you have never heard this song.
The trees and bushes had erupted into vibrant shades of red on one side of the bridge.
It was a beautiful Fall day and I encountered several people along the way, like this woman with her dog …
… and this guy with his long lens trained on a eagle’s nest. He must have sensed my presence as he turned around and said “I just saw an eagle taking a stick to its nest.” So I was excited for this potential photo op, but alas, the eagle never exited the nest again.
You may recall I wrote about the uneven pavement on this asphalt trail. I had encountered a lot of raised areas, that were difficult to see due to the leaves and finally I stepped off the trail onto the grass for a break from it, then walked toward the water as I saw a lot of white birds. There were swans and egrets.
Elegant Egrets.
I know Great Egrets are often the subject of my excursions to Lake Erie Metropark, but here in this marshy area were all the Great Egrets I would see that day. So they were evidently having a gathering of the clan.
These were my favorite egret pictures from that day.
I’d like to include a special treat for all the birders out there. Fellow blogger JP commented on the previous Sterling State Park post by sending me a link to a historical film about the sad practice by poachers of killing Snowy Egrets to strip them of their plumes. In the early 1900s, it was popular in that era for fashionable, wealthy women to don hats adorned with the Snowy Egret plumes, which caused thousands of these beautiful birds to be killed for just a few of their decorative feathers. The plumes, ounce for ounce, were worth more than gold. Also in this film you will see President Theodore Roosevelt, often referred to as the father of conservation in this country. He spearheaded the Migratory Bird Act of 1918, a law making it a federal crime to kill non-game birds or to collect bird parts, including feathers.
You will see “Teddy” Roosevelt relaxing on a beach and watching the birds enjoy their freedom. You can view the film by clicking here.
Thank you JP – I enjoyed the film, as will the birders/nature lovers who follow this blog.
I decided to give my shutter-happy self and the camera a rest by returning to the trail where I saw a few informational signs about the marsh waterfowl, including mention of poaching of heron and egret plumes and the Migratory Bird Act of 1918 as mentioned above.
There was also this sign about bird migration at Sterling State Park. I like the “bird watching” aspect as opposed to the “hunting” aspect. In the Fall, I can hear hunters at Point Mouillee when I am at Lake Erie Metropark and hunters are permitted to go onto the Humbug Marsh shoreline. Well, that is unfortunate.
Continuing on this lengthy excursion ….
… while stepping carefully because of the dips, cracks and bumps on the asphalt path and there was even a sign to warn walkers about them. Hmm.
This pathway is bumpy – if you look closely you can see it. It looks like a carpet that wasn’t laid properly.
Likewise, there were “hills and valleys” on this pathway – on a highway maybe, but on a walking path it was not so great.
Ruts and uneven pavement kept me looking down more than around most of the time.
There were dabs of bright red along this trail.
There was this information sign about marsh mammals. I would have liked to see a deer, but I would pass on the raccoon, skunk, weasel and wolf. It didn’t matter as I saw no furry critters, not even a squirrel.
The blue signage at the trailhead told of a wooden overlook and an observation deck, but there were no signs along the Sterling Marsh Trail to point me in the direction of them, so I just kept walking. I found that overlook which was okay, nothing to see but the dried-up lotus leaves and the observation tower, while interesting and would give me a bird’s eye view of the park, I passed on climbing it. I’m not even sure my younger, more-adventurous self would have climbed it, although I did stand at the base of it and took a shot looking up. I do concede it had railings, but it was still a hard pass.
I finally exited the trail and then crossed the street to walk along the shoreline and that will be the subject of another post.
I am joining Terri Webster Schrandt’s Sunday Stills Monthly Color Challenge: Aquamarine.
Linda Schaub
WALKIN', WRITIN', WIT & WHIMSY 
The colors were beautiful, especially the pop of red.
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Fall is beautiful isn’t it Anne – my favorite season and that red tree between the two tall trees really stood out.
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Fall is my favorite, too, followed closely by winter. Most folks don’t agree with that.
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If I was not fearless about driving in snow, I probably wouldn’t mind Winter so much, but I have never honed my driving skills to drive in this weather. Walking in it is tough enough.
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I was always hesitant about driving in snow, but I had to. Lived through it.
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You had lots of snow in New York. Quite a difference from where you grew up. When my mom and I went on a little trip down South in 1992, we met lots of nice people in Kentucky, North Carolina and Tennessee, so I said “we should move here – the people are friendly and we’ll NEVER see snow” and now look, all these states get snow. Back then I think it was rare.
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The weather patterns changed!
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Yes, in a not-so-great way either!
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I had seen some aquamarine-colored signage the other day but didn’t bother to take the pics, LOL! Nice catch, Linda! Cool shot of the fisherman surrounded by the soft blue of the water. I remember that song from Ode to Billy Joe and loved Bobbie Gentry’s version. Such a sad movie! Gorgeous egret pics, but sad to read many were slaughtered for their feathers 😦 You have some beautiful areas in which to walk, I’m jealous! I’m hoping some of our snow melts a little by the time we get home in about 2 weeks.
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Well Terri that’s a good excuse to go back and get pictures of that signage to use in a future Color Challenge. 🙂 That fisherman’s spot looked very peaceful. I remember seeing the movie too. I figured I’d better include the song, because many had not heard of it, but it was kind of a unique song at the time. The historical film was interesting but very sad at the beginning with the Snowy Egret and her young, then killing her for a few feathers. Funny seeing Teddy Roosevelt lounging on the beach watching the birds though. This is a beautiful park, about a 60-mile round trip from my house. I hope our snow is gone courtesy of the warm temps and rain this week.
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“Blue skies smiling at me. Nothing but blue skies do I see.”
Excellent photography! Really Love different four shades in the sky alone. You way to the Park today to feed your furry and feathered friends, but it was still bitter cold.
Very nice & lovely nature beauty photography!
Thanks,Linda ☺️
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Glad you liked the photography Raj. It was a beautiful Fall day in Southeast Michigan, my favorite season of the year. The blue skies were a real plus along with the leaf colors.
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Thank you so much, Linda! I am so….so …glad too! Yes,The Blue 💙 skie along with the leaf colours. It’s so pretty & Beauty!🥀
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I am ready for Spring to arrive Raj … I wish I could say “any day now” but that is not true.
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Okay,But why no true? Linda ☺️
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Such a wonderful place to walk and great photos to remind us of how the weather can be nice enough to be out admiring nature! I love all the photos, but the last one of the observation tower is so cool – it captures the color challenge well and all the lines and shadows make me smile as I can see you pausing to take the photo wondering when you’d use it! Well done, Linda. Hang in there, this week’s predicted warming trend will remind us that the bitter cold part of winter is hopefully behind us!
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When I look outside in Winter, I marvel that the landscape can ever look any different in a matter of months. We have freezing rain coming in at 2:00 a.m. and off/on til 7:00 p.m. This is a nice way to look back at a sunny Summer day. Would you climb up that observation tower Shelley? I don’t think I would have when I was a few decades younger – what a chicken I am.
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Yeah, it is hard to imagine what the scenery will look like when we get past this winter. The arrival of spring will be a welcome sight.
I think I might climb up that tower. It would be fun to look down on the nature that we can only see looking across at. I bet birders and people with big cameras take advantage of it?
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We have two more days of rain, some it it freezing rain and fog and 40s. Now there are flood worries, but everything will be bright green in Spring. I thought you might try climbing up the tower, but you’d use two hands to hold onto the railings, so you wouldn’t hold onto the camera til you reached each platform. I didn’t see anyone there that day and a couple were on the wooden outlook just looking around, not taking photos.
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I bet there could be flood warnings with that crazy weather. I’m with you on looking forward to the greens of Spring!
Oh, yeah, I’d use both hands!
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I’m not going out to run the car this morning. The fog is so dense here and pouring raining – why get dampness in the garage and car? I’ll go tomorrow morning. I see no walk in sight until Friday … January walking stats hit rock bottom. 🙂 I’m going to try and catch up here … I’m three days behind in Reader. I’d have to be tied to the railing like window washers and roofers are tied to the rig.
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Yikes, the weather sure hasn’t been kind to your area. I hope February is better!
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I hope so too Shelley – I’m not happy about the wintry mix Sunday morning, so I hope it is good weather on Saturday.
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Yes – plan a LONG walk for Saturday!!
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My fingers are crossed the fog and rain get done as Sunday morning we have some snow … crazy weather.
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Thank goodness, Spring is on its way!!!
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I sure am glad to see the ice disappear … now they are talking about how foggy it will be overnight and tomorrow morning again. At least it is warm thankfully!
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Yes, indeed, the ice being gone is a treat! It’s been foggy here – I hope your fog isn’t too bad.
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The ice is gone – yay, but we have had a wintry mix all day … it may transition to a little snow, but probably will not stick. I am glad I got out and walked at the Park Saturday morning as I went out to run the car this morning and it was slippery again. Sigh.
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Yay! I’m glad to read you got out for a walk. I bet it felt great!!!
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Yes, it was wonderful. Hope it can happen again soon.
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🥰🤗
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I am envious of all the water surrounding you! And I especially love the great egrets you found in the marshy area. I can see why Audubon called them “The Lady of the Waters.” That’s quite a lens that guy had at the eagle’s nest! Well, even if you didn’t see any mammals I think the chance to enjoy those blue autumn skies and the dabs of bright red foliage made it worth the trip.
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I do feel lucky that I have so much water around me Barbara – and a varied choice of water venues. Those egrets sure are beautiful and so elegant. Yes, it was a huge lens and he was really intent on getting photos. It was a beautiful day to out and about.
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Sterling State Park! It’s been on my list forever to visit. I’ve seen all sorts of great bird images (yours included) from there. I just haven’t made the trip down there.
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That was the first park we visited when we moved here to the States Dawn … in fact in my part 3 post, I might include the photo from there back in the late 60. I would like to go back when the trees leaf out. I am sure there will be a lot of birds there in the lagoon plus they have a lot of bluebird nesting boxs too.
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There is a lot of blue there! We could use some now. The sun just came out but for the most part, our winters here are cloudy and overcast.
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Yes, January is the worst month here for gray skies. Our skies today are gray and gloomy with freezing rain and rain falling all day.
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A beautiful walk. Your photos are so colorful and a wonderful reminder of how this brown, gray muted winter world is temporary. Billie Joe McAllister! Hadn’t thought of that ballad in years.
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Ally, sometimes I look at the bleak Winter weather and wonder how we ever get back to the warm and beautiful seasons. I remember this song was very popular back in the 60s. I listened to it to put the link in the post and amazingly remembered all the words.
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I love seeing the contrail of a jet plane as you captured in your first photo. What a delightful fall day with a walk in the park!
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Yes, Fall is such a beautiful season isn’t it TD? My favorite season for the colors, chill in the air, smells and tastes too. I always like to capture a contrail if I see it, especially in a bright blue sky like this one.
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I love your Fall photos, I miss Fall! This winter has gone on long enough lol. Snowing and blowing and cold, blah. When asked the temperature, I always say ” too cold to go out degrees” That video was so sad, I guess I never thought of Egrets being used for their feathers. You know how you see something but you don’t REALLY see it. What we humans do to animals is unconscionable; the egrets, beavers, elephants, rhinos, Secretary birds, and more, all for vanity. It’s very sad and those poor little Egret chicks. But I do thank you for sharing, it’s pretty cool watching old videos like that ! Stay warm Linda!
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The Winter seems like it’s been going on forever and we had a mild Winter until two weeks ago. 🙂 We were getting spoiled with that weather for sure Susan. Yes, that video was sad but thankfully some good came with the Act. It’s such a shame that birds and animals have to become the prey of humans for their whims. You stay warm too Susan; think happy thoughts of the action-packed Summer you have ahead.
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That eagle must have been shy. It was preparing the crib.
That pathway is like that because of roots and frost.
Fall time with the Maples is something everyone on earth should expierence!
Really good shots Linda!
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Thanks Wayne – I’m glad you liked the shots. The egrets are very graceful and to me don’t seem as skittish as the herons are with humans; but loud trucks/cars/motorcycles do spook them. I was wondering if roots tore up the paths and made the asphalt heave like that. I guess since there is a sign or two along the way, they figure people will be aware, but the ruts, hills and valleys were pretty bad. I wouldn’t want to walk there if it was covered with snow. The Maples are beautiful. I have some photos of my neighbor’s red maple taken on November 12th – it looks amazing. They had a huge grove of Poplar trees here and an informational sign about them. They said the Cottonwood leaves wiggle in the wind, like Aspen leaves do. They were scattered on the ground. I had some pictures of them, but decided to omit those pics at the last minute. I wonder how long the photographer waited for the eagle? It is a circular path so I didn’t pass by him a second time.
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Wonderful colors in your photos, Linda. Loved seeing those egrets. They are so pretty!
I’m sorry to hear that you are unable to get out to feed your critters. They must miss you. Hoping for a warm up later this week so you can go to the park.
We are in Florida visiting my sister and I am not missing winter at all!
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Thank you Laurie, glad you liked the photos. I do like those egrets and decided they should have their own post since I featured the swans the last time. They are such elegant birds.
Yes, I feel badly, but this time the snow with its embedded ice made me think twice about going, not so much the City streets, but the Park path which is never plowed. We have had freezing rain, then rain and two more days of rain and temps in the 40s, so I should be okay by Friday or Saturday – they will be happy.
I don’t blame you for missing the snow and Arctic Blast. That was perfect timing for you and Bill.
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Beautiful choices in photos. So pretty.
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Thank you Kirstin … Fall is my favorite season of the year, even when it gets to the end and the colors aren’t so vibrant. I also like the reflections which made the egret look even prettier.
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That is so sad about the killing of the Egrets and Heron! Why does man think we are entitled to kill nature for our satisfaction of making us look better. It makes me so angry. Anyhow, this post gave me spring fever Linda!!!
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I know – it is sad Diane. For a silly old hat, you’d kill a beautiful bird … and one tending to it chicks is even worse. Humans are cruel predators sometimes aren’t they? Yes, thinking about paths with no snow or ice is a happy thought. We had a lot of slippin’ and sliding’ today here in our area.
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Miss Linda………………………thank you for letting me view Roosevelt’s bird film from long ago………………………………………it is very sad to watch but I’m happy to know about Roosevelt’s love for birds……………………………..
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I thought that was a very interesting film Ann Marie. The fellow blogger had just listened to an audio book about Teddy Roosevelt and learned about how important he was to the well-being of birds and gave me the link to the film. That film was sad in the beginning when the Mom was tending to her chicks and killed for her feathers. I am glad President Roosevelt was interested in the birds’ welfare.
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That would be one walk I would do quite happily. I enjoy capturing the egret on our local estuary via a lens. Lovely images.
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Thank you Suzanne – it is a beautiful and very large state park. The same day (in a different post), there were several mute swans and I saw my first trumpeter swans (but not ’til I got home and saw them on the screen). You know how that is, you’re looking all around. I like the egrets, so regal and elegant looking. Thank you again for your comments.
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Beautiful skies you have there! What a sad story, with a happy ending, about the egrets. I had never thought of where they got all those feather but if asked, I would have thought they were picked up from molting or that they were birds used as food and the feathers were taken from them. But to kill all those birds just to stick a feather on your hat? Revolting! Teddy did a lot of good things for nature and wildlife, didn’t he?
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I agree with you Zazzy – it is revolting and to tell you the truth, I assumed those fancy feathers were fake – I would never have thought they came from a bird, nor that someone would kill a bird for a few feathers for a hat – how frivolous is that! I knew that Teddy Roosevelt did good for wildlife by establishing the concept of national parks, but I never knew the extent of it until after I saw the film and Googled around a bit. I wonder why we never learned this in American History class back in the day? I also never knew the extent of Henry Ford’s infatuation with birds and how involved he was in protecting them until I started researching in conjunction with my visits to Fairlane Manor. Apparently when Henry Ford was a young boy, there was a sparrow’s nest that fell out of a tree and his father showed it to him and his brother – they saw the eggs and and they placed the nest back in the tree and that fostered a lifelong affinity for birds.
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I’m still looking for the “berry blue” shade – as in deep, dark blueberries – but hopefully it looked that way in person vs. through the camera lens. I had “Blue Eyes” (Elton John) instead of “Blue Skies” on the brain the whole time I read this one. And “Ode to Billie Joe” – oh my. Didn’t listen to the song but it brought back to mind the movie, which was a difficult watch EXCEPT for the lovely Glynnis O’ Connor. Haven’t thought about her in a long time, or Robby Benson for that matter. Remember “One on One”? 🙂
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Dave, it was a darker blue sky, maybe not a blueberry sky, although admittedly more noticeable due to the contrail. But on the other side of the trail I was on you can see Fermi 2 Nuclear Power Plant with its twin “stacks” puffing out thick steam into the air, so not so vibrant of a sky there. It puffs out so much steam in the Winter that the water doesn’t freeze there so the local Audubon Society takes tours to see all the Bald Eagles fishing in the open waters. It’s too bad that this is the sight you see from Sterling State Park and it mars the horizon at the Lake Erie Shoreline. I took several pictures from different angles for another post about this park. I forgot about “Blue Eyes” by Elton John. I like that song -I like all of his songs for that matter. I listened to “Ode to Billie Joe” and honestly, I remembered all the lyrics and haven’t heard that song in decades. It seemed it was playing all the time on the radio. I did see the movie and yes Glynnis O’Connor was so pretty in that movie. I just Googled “One on One” and I don’t think I ever saw it, but it showed a current image of Robby Benson – wow do I feel old now. 🙂
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“One on One” was THE Robby Benson movie for me because I was so into basketball at the time. Then “Ice Castles” came along just as my wife and I got married and Melissa Manchester’s hit became our wedding song. I hardly recognized Benson in his current photo!
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I just looked on Amazon Prime Video and they have it available to rent, so I will have to rent it. I have a lot of movies I have not seen and TV series I have never watched through the years … I have a lot of catching up to do. Right now fitting “All Creatures Great and Small” on PBS in every Sunday night is tough and it is only a seven-part series. I don’t have TV as I cancelled my cable back in 2010, so I have to stream it live. Yes, I wouldn’t have recognized Benson either – what happened to that boyish face? [P.S. Sherrone Moore, who took over for Harbaugh those four games, was just named the new UM Head Coach.)
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Autumn, my favorite! Beautiful blues and fall colors and egrets. 🙂
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It was a really picturesque day there Rebecca – Fall, my favorite season. I’ll have one more group of photos taken along the Lake Erie shoreline, picturesque but no critters, not even a seagull unfortunately.
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Wonderful shots, Linda! Great! 😊
What’s that eagle photographer got hanging by his hind-end? I sure hope that it’s not a gun holster. Maybe it is a pepper spray holster.
Please be careful when you are out there, Linda.
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Thanks Tom, I’m glad you enjoyed the photos. I will have one more post coming up about the rest of the day. It was an especially long walk then I went to the beach area along Lake Erie’s shoreline. I was the only one there which was nice for walking and picture-taking. I went back to the post to look at that photo of the eagle photographer and I remember wondering the same thing. It was October, but not cold enough to need gloves and they were stuffed there in his pocket – maybe a tripod carrying case? Like you, I hope not a gun holster. The pepper spray holsters work better on a belt I would think. Thanks Tom – this place was not too dense but the long and winding uneven trail seemed very long to me.
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I always enjoy your photos!
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Thank you Linda – this was a long and picturesque walk!
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Your most colorful post yet! It’s azure thing that you really captured those blue skies. 🙂
And I’m always happy to inject Teddy Roosevelt into a conversation.
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There you go again JP – I have to expand my horizons, blue skies or not. 🙂
Teddy Roosevelt and his love for birds was perfect for this post and I thank you for giving me the link for others to enjoy as well.
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