Wordless Wednesday – allow your photo(s) to tell the story.
Linda Schaub
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Linda Schaub
- Mr. & Mrs. Cardinal (and a pal) partake of peanuts at the Park. #Wordless Wednesday #A favorite vintage ornament.
- Lean, mean and green.
- Which way is Santa Claus? #Wordless Wednesday #Remember those days?
- When there’s wicked wind, wildflowers and …
- Before and after a cup of Joe. #Wordless Wednesday #Sadly, we don’t ALL rise and shine!
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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 
That’s dramatic!
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I thought so too Anne! Those Red-winged Blackbirds will pick on any bird, no matter the size and even with those huge talons!
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great shot Linda!
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Thank you Wayne! Those Red-winged Blackbirds have no fear, no matter the size of the birds they are chasing after! In this case it was the one of the Ospreys at Lake Erie Metropark.
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whenever a bird attacks another,It’s always from above and behind. The only way to defend Is to flip around exposing their talons!
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Those Red-winged Blackbirds are little buggers … they go after those Sandhill Cranes and I don’t see any nests in a big field … the Red-winged Blackbirds only build in the reeds in the marsh.
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Gosh! What happened next? Was that a bird of prey?
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Hi Matthew – it would seem that the bigger bird, an Osprey, would have been “picking on” the smaller bird, a Red-winged Blackbird, but it was actually the other way around. Red-winged Blackbirds are mean. They swoop down and peck on other birds, even geese, if they get too close to their nests, so I’m thinking that’s what happened here. But neither of them was hurt, though it makes you wonder from the shot, doesn’t it? I have some photos of Red-winged Blackbirds swooping down onto Sandhill Cranes and they are really big birds!
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Wow! Ospreys are my favourite. I’ve never seen one in the wild though. What a dramatic coming-together! Thanks for the detailed description. What a privilege to witness it unfold! Yes, I’ve seen Jackdoors chase away birds of prey where I live. Two or three pick on them at a time. I guess, they must be look out for their young or something. Fascinating.
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Matthew, I have two places where I go to see Ospreys. One is a fire station next to a large park, where the Ospreys have built a nest on top of one of the sirens. Luckily, it is a satellite fire station, so they have shut off the sirens and allowed them to stay. The second is a nest that the same park built on a platform as they relocated the nest which was on an electrical pole and it was a fire hazard. They sure are fun to watch. I looked up jackdoors – they look to be about the same size as the red-winged blackbirds. They are brave to pick on those larger birds of prey, but they figure there is safety in numbers!
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Wow! I would never have thought such birds would take nest in an urban environment. Lucky for them they have such caring firefighters!! We had a pair of ospreys pass over our island last summer. They stayed for a couple of days and then moved onto Scotland. Their location was kept secret so they wouldn’t be disturbed!
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I was surprised too Matthew. I was there a couple of weeks ago and took photos of them, so I will put them in next Wordless Wednesday’s post so you can see them. That was very nice keeping the location secret so no one disturbed the pair of ospreys and just let them be. Birds are often skittish as it is!
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I look forward to next Wednesday!
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Thank you Matthew. I hope the photos don’t disappoint. I drove by there today and they were both out and chirping!
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Miss Linda……………………..thank you for the Osprey pics………………I’ll never get to see a real one!!
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Ann Marie – it was incredible to see how close they came to one another. It would have seemed they would collide!
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If only we cold see their expressions! Great capture, Linda!
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Thank you Terri – I was sure I was going to witness a big fight mid-air, but they both kind of swooped away and that was it!
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Wow, Linda! This is a great shot. Did the birds get a memo that you were showing up with a camera??
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Thank you Esther! It was a lucky shot for me … I happened to look up and this Red-winged Blackbird was chasing after the Osprey – if that was me, I would take one look at the Osprey’s talons and turn around and go back to where I came from. I think they were so intent on this interaction they never saw me. 🙂
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You did great with that shot! I’m glad you didn’t have to stare up long at the sky or else the neck ache would kick in.
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Thank you Esther. Yes, that was fun watching them and I was surprised how the photo looked when I uploaded photos. Yes, I do get a stiff neck staring at things like the Osprey nests, or other birds, waiting for them to remove themselves from the sticks or twigs they always seem to like to perch in when I want to take a picture. 🙂 [I’m sorry for the late reply – my internet was out for about 20 hours, but thankfully it is back now.]
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That is so frustrating your internet goes out!! And for that many hours. I hope it stays on for good and doesn’t give you any more problems. Once the weather turns cooler for you in Michigan, oh dear, winter woes.
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It is always something here Esther. For two days the weather folks warned of volatile weather, possible tornadoes for yesterday, so naturally, since I am a weather worrier, I stewed over it. We got nothing, not a drop of rain, although there was flooding everywhere. While I am very grateful we had no severe weather, the angst over weather worries, is killing me.
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I believe it! The weather is fickle and the weather people don’t always get it right and give wrong information. Ugh.
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Well we got nothing the other day and we have another torrential rain/storm/hail event tonight and through the day tomorrow. I sit on pins and needles worrying, especially with tornadoes and am relieved, but kicking myself for trusting them. The weather everywhere is scary. As for Florida, I would worry about living there with hurricanes and flooding like they expect from “Debby”.
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Wow! Ominous. Great photo.
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Thank you Ally – I was lucky to be in the right place at the right time when that Red-winged Blackbird went after the Osprey. The Osprey’s talons didn’t seem to deter it any – yikes!
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Beautiful Red-winged Blackbird. He very Big Bird, he pick any other small birds any time.
Excellent photography. I like.
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Thank you Raj.
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Wonderful photo, Linda!
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Thank you Rebecca! I’m happy to say the Red-winged Blackbird came close but did not attack the Osprey.
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Thats a very cool shot.
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Thank you Dawn – it was fun to watch too! The Red-winged Blackbird never pecked the Osprey, just followed it closely.
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That is an awesome picture Linda!
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Thank you Diane – it was amazing to see too and thankfully, the two did not fight in mid-air, but went on their way after I took this shot.
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I always amazes me when the larger birds are flying in mid air and the smaller birds go after them.
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Me too Diane. I have some photos of the Red-winged Blackbird attacking a Sandhill Crane to use in a future post. I had a similar photo I took last year but the crane was just grazed. The Red-winged Blackbirds are bullies, especially during nesting time. This photo is like David and Goliath for goodness sake!
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Those red-winged blackbirds are aggressive! they will attack bigger birds, even if they have sharp talons and beaks like the osprey.
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Laurie, I am amazed how the red-winged blackbirds pursue any bird and this Osprey was in a field, nowhere near a marsh. I see them attack sandhill cranes and I will be posting photos of that attack in a future post. They are fearless. [I thought of you and Bill today and quickly Googled to see how far you were from Jasper National Park and this big fire – looks like you are safe for now – hope it stays safe for you.]
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I like the composition and black and white contrast of this photo. It almost looks like it was a paper cut out of the birds. But I understand this is a photograph of the birds in flight as one attacked the other. That would feel a bit frightening for me to see! I like the title that you gave this photo too!
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Thank you TD – I am glad you liked it. Yes, the smaller bird, the Red-winged Blackbird was in pursuit of the Osprey, but it never attacked it. Remember a few weeks ago I had a photo of a Red-winged Blackbird on the cattails and wrote “Bad Boy of the Marsh”? They are bullies, always pecking or chasing away other birds, especially if they are near the reeds where they nest. As bad as this looks, no attack took place.
I did hear/see a Peregrine Falcon in pursuit of a medium-sized bird a few years ago. The smaller bird was shrieking and I looked up to see what was happening. I was sorry I looked because I realized what was going on. I didn’t look up again and the shrieking finally stopped. Being a bird lover, I didn’t like that.
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Smaller birds will (from beyind) pursue large preditory birds to harass them (in order to get them to leave their territory). 😉
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It’s pretty amazing to see this Tom. The Red-winged Blackbirds are famous for doing just that, even when it is in a field, like when I saw them attack a pair of Sandhill Cranes. Amazing – David and Goliath. In this case, the Osprey was near a wooded area, not near a marsh, so I wasn’t sure why it was so angry.
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I searched through the comments in vain for “silhouette”; an apt description of the photo. Kind of a cool word there. I remember a childhood game of the same name, where you used basic black pieces to puzzle together more complicated shapes.
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You know Dave I was going to use the word “silhouette” in the second part of my title, then figured I’d identify the two birds instead. It was interesting to see and the sky was dark, so I ended up with this image, the only one I took of these two. At first I was going to discard it, then decided to use it. I’m trying to remember if I played that game – perhaps we didn’t have it in Canada. We moved to the States when I was 10.
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