On this August 23, 2024 visit to the Humbug Unit of the Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge, it was a walk filled with a lot of oddball occurrences, from my early morning arrival until my noon departure. It was the final day of a nearly week-long cool spell and I had made the most of those days, seizing the opportunity to take long walks with the camera before the heat and humidity came back.
Returning to the Refuge.
It was my first visit to this venue since late February when I bopped by to take photos of the candy-cane-striped twin smokestacks at the DTE power plant before their demolition on March 15th.
After parking, I decided to meander down to the Detroit River to check out the Cormorants who like to roost in the trees across from the fishing pier. It’s a bit of a hike from the parking lot, down the slope and then along the 700-foot (213 meter) Korneffel Fishing Pier which juts out into the western Trenton Channel at the Detroit River.
Cormorants are a wild and crazy bunch!
There’s something a little weird and wacky about Double-Crested Cormorants, the skinny black waterfowl found in abundance here in Southeast Michigan. They are easily identifiable, not only by their profile, i.e. they ride low in the water like a Loon, with just their long neck and head visible, but they also have a pronounced hooked bill.
At the shoreline, as soon as Cormorants step out of the water, since they lack sufficient oil in their feathers to repel water, they will stand with their wings outstretched to dry them. They remind me a little of Dracula waving his arms in his flowy black cape … or a flasher. 🙂
I’ve never been lucky enough to see these unique-looking birds up close, but birders who post photos of them usually spotlight their bright yellow face and brilliant turquoise eyes.
And there they were ….
Sometimes there are so many Cormorants it is hard to count ‘em all, but the flock frequently congregates together, black dots in the trees. Oddly enough, they don’t congregate in the live trees, only the dead trees. I took many photos across the water, but they weren’t all that close to get those unique facial features. These are some of the shots.
Every so often one of the Cormorants would launch out of the tree, likely to scope out breakfast.
As my camera lens followed that one …
… I whirled around and saw a passel of Cormorants perched on two logs on the opposite side of the pier.
Evidently Cormorants like each other’s company, which is more than I can say for all birds … keep reading and you’ll see what I mean.
Goings-on at the Monguagon Delta.
I’d already taken a ton of shots as I walked back up the pier, slope and across the parking lot to check out what was happening at the Monguagon Delta. I generally stop here first and on occasion, enroute home from Lake Erie Metropark, I do a drive-around to see if any Egrets or Great Blue Herons are lurking about in that marshy pond and if not, I just continue on my way.
I don’t venture along the Delta walkway if it’s windy as it has no railings. Even on a calm weather day, the large Carp chase each other, their big belly flops creating a large splash, often catching me by surprise on this somewhat narrow walkway. Even though the pond is not deep, I’d rather not topple into the drink.
So, on this calm morning, I stepped onto the walkway – at least here if you make a misstep you only end up in the reeds.
I saw a Great Egret that looked elegant in the morning light, its body casting a perfect reflection on the water. The water was so still that I took several photos of that Egret as well as the local industry, all casting pretty reflections. Those photos were used in my September 11th post.
Most times when I am photographing an Egret or Heron, they are so engrossed in fishing, they are oblivious to me standing there on the walkway. But then while chomping on their catch-of-the-day, they spot me and freak out, flapping their wings in a grand escape.
Well, after a few photos, the Egret saw me and took flight.
But, unbeknownst to this Egret or Your Roving Reporter, a Heron was just rounding the bend to look for its breakfast at the Delta. The trees along the Delta shoreline obliterated what happened next as all I heard were screeches and squawks and I saw a Heron flying across the Delta …
… then a blur of wings as that Heron dipped through the trees.
I guess there was a mid-air collision and I missed it as it was out of my range of vision, but wait … soon, each bird took to a different perch, putting distance between them, then glared at one another (and the Egret probably had a few choice words to mumble about me as well).
Here’s the Heron after it alighted …
… and here’s the Egret.
Obviously, being “best buds” doesn’t apply to Herons and Egrets like it does to Cormorants and what had been a peaceful morning just a few moments earlier had deteriorated into two pouting waterfowl and a photographer who knew it was time to leave and continue on her walk.
The wildflowers along the path were pretty.
I didn’t see any beekeepers at “Bees in the D”.
My next stop would be Humbug Marsh and The Old Growth Forest.
The wooden bench looked inviting …
… but I continued on, hanging a right and that is when the Vole scurried in my path – yikes, right at this sign.
I cautioned “okay, buddy – yes, you live here, but next time, wait ‘til I pass, okay?” I know I let out a small scream. Yes, you’re thinking the Vole is more terrified of you than you are of it – not necessarily true! But my brown furry forest pal dashed into the brush so I kept calm and carried on. I was alone in this not-so-dense forest, so no one came to my rescue … good thing, as I’d have been embarrassed.
Part of my prolonged absence at the Refuge was due to all the rain we had in July and early August. The Old Growth Forest has some elevated walkways but some are not and they tend to be muddy. Nothing like slogging along, being mindful of the mud and meanwhile watching for Eastern Fox Snakes and oh yes, ticks too. After all it was while visiting the other Refuge, just five miles away, I got the tick in my ear.
The Vernal Pool, usually a haven for frogs and aquatic plants in the Spring, had become overgrown with weeds, likely due to all the rain, heat and humidity.
As I headed to the end of the walkway, I spotted a few red-tinged leaves on this Shagbark Hickory tree trunk.
At the end of the walkway, it was lush with Cattails, reeds and Purple Loosestrife which made a nice background for the spotting scope, that is, if you ignore the green algae scum on the water.
I saw no birds – usually there are more Egrets or Herons here, so I just kept on walking.
Two’s company, three’s a crowd.
This idiom applies to our feathered friends as well as to humans.
This log is where I always stop to take photos of the turtles sunning themselves. But on this day, the log was occupied by only one turtle and two Mallard ducks. The heavy ducks weighed down the log. I thought of the turtle as being on the other end of a teeter-totter and hoped it didn’t flip up in the air.
Either the trio spotted me, or, this unlikely threesome was awkward, as first the turtle slid off the log, then one of the ducks departed …
… leaving one lonely Mallard, perhaps a bit anti-social, or just enjoying the solitude?
I was nearing the entrance of Humbug Marsh as I saw the weather vane on the visitor center.
It was getting warmish, just a preview of the coming days ahead … we sweltered through a week of the muggies, then plunged back into coolish temps for the long holiday weekend.
I am joining Terri Webster Schrandt’s September 29th Sunday Stills Photo Challenge: Oddballs, Wild and Weird.
Linda Schaub
WALKIN', WRITIN', WIT & WHIMSY 
I enjoyed reading about your walk on that late August day. All your photos were wonderful. 😊
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you TD, glad you enjoyed this rather unusual post. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
I started giggling when I read “Humbug unit,” Linda! Wow, those cormorants! What is the collective noun for them, I wonder–(its a flight). I saw three cormorants from the trail Friday, fanning their wings out, and now I know why they do. I couldn’t get a decent image because the background of the water was rippled. You hit the bird bonanza on your cool day walks with those herons and egrets! Those egret reflections are amazing!
My dog loves to find voles and can actually catch them. They live under our outbuildings and are hard to get to but he’ll spend the entire day trying. I would be scared to see a sign warning about ticks. Ugh–that is one bug I will freak out and run away from!!
LikeLiked by 1 person
The name Humbug Marsh cracks me up too Terri. In Canada, there used to be Laura Secord candies named “Humbugs” – they were striped just like a bee and tasted like butterscotch mint. So I always think of those candies when I’m at Humbug Marsh.
I forgot to use the collective noun for Cormorants and used flock instead – thanks for the word “flight”. The Cormorants look funny with their wings outstretched drying them. Turkey vultures do that too – you might recall a photo I had a few weeks ago of one doing that. Cormorants in dead trees only – weird. I knew I’d use this walk when you posted the September Challenges.
I’m so wary of ticks and snakes here, so I can’t fully enjoy myself in a rustic setting like this unless I’ve looked on ahead and both sides to stop and take a photo, so the vole scurrying in front of me freaked me out. I need a vole-catching dog to accompany me on my walks!
LikeLiked by 1 person
That looks like a lovely walk. “Humbug,” indeed. Funny that you heard the commotion but didn’t see what happened between those two birds.
LikeLiked by 1 person
It was a perfect day for it and I got the nice reflection photos. I like that name “Humbug” too Janis. I took a photo of tiny Humbug Island which is across from this Refuge. I left it out though as it’s pretty nondescript, uninhabited and I had a lot of photos in this post already. But they do have a pair of Bald Eagles that nest on Humbug Island, though I’ve never seen them. As to the commotion, I have to figure they either brushed by or slammed into one another from the noise as they rounded the bend. They went to separate trees, rather than come back to the Delta.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I can never understand how those Cormorants can perch in trees as they have webbed feet?
I remember those candies, never liked them. They were for Grannies.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes, big webbed feet just like a duck. But our Wood Ducks nest in trees and that was the first time I ever heard of waterfowl perching in a tree. Now I see Egrets and Herons do it. Cormorants always seem to perch in dead trees. There is a forest here of live trees and you never see them there.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Adrian told that Buffalo Heads and Golden Eye do the same thing!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Really!? I will have to start looking up in trees more often then because I follow the local Audubon site and the Metroparks Photographers site on FB and they both have posted pics of those two ducks in the past … I have never seen them around here though. Down at Dingell Park where the Bald Eagles used to go in the Winter to fish, that plant closed down so now the steam is not warming the water to break up the ice, so not as much “bird action” in Winter. I didn’t get down there last year as they had construction going on near Dingell Park for ages – now they demolished a restaurant near the park to enlarge the parking lot, so hopefully that does not take all Winter to repave it, etc.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks for the nature tour! 🙂 It’s interesting the cormorants prefer dead trees to live ones. Humbug Marsh? Shades of Ebenezer Scrooge! 😆 I would be leery of snakes and ticks. Having a tick in your ear must have been nasty! 😲
LikeLiked by 1 person
Glad you liked the nature tour Debbie. I never see cormorants perching in live trees or flying to them either. That’s odd in my opinion – maybe it is just the cormorants I come across? At this venue, I spend more time checking out the ground while on the trail, so I usually walk pretty fast, get my pics and get out of there to another part of the venue, like the fishing pier or the Delta area but that long walkway with no railing and those big Carp, especially at mating season, wig me out! Luckily the tick was on my outer ear and it didn’t attach. I plucked it off with a Kleenex, put it in a bottle and thankfully it did not materialize into Lyme Disease. [Speaking of Lyme Disease, did you hear Kris Kristofferson passed away from what they said was a “heart event” – he was living in Hawaii. He battled Lyme Disease a while ago and doctors diagnosed him with Lyme Disease and/or dementia. He recovered from Lyme Disease fully according to a story I read in “Rolling Stone” once. He was trending on Twitter/X a while ago and they mentioned the article and his divorce from Rita Coolidge and I guess he was pretty destructive to causing the break-up.]
LikeLiked by 1 person
Good thing the tick didn’t attach! I didn’t know Kris Kristofferson has died! 😲 Thanks for letting me know. I’m a fan, so it makes me sad. 😔 I knew the breakup with Rita was nasty. Back then, so many people were into drugs etc. and he may have had a drinking problem as well. But, he overcame those things, I believe. Didn’t know he survived Lyme disease either. I was looking for you on X actually, to share your lovely nature posts, but couldn’t find you. What’s your handle? Or maybe you’re account is private?
LikeLiked by 1 person
Debbie, yes, thank goodness it was clinging to my outer ear and I grabbed it and stuffed it into a bottle before it could get away! I figured you might have liked Kris Kristofferson – I did as well. What a voice! A few months ago he was trending on X – I don’t know why. Maybe his birthday. There was a video of them singing together and people commented that not long after that video they divorced. Rita Coolidge said it was drugs, alcohol, other women and very abusive (mentally). I’ll see if I can find the story. Someone posted the article that day KK was trending. I don’t go by my name on X. I rarely post anything, but I get a lot of my news/weather and some nature stuff there.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Well, that’s too bad. I Googled to find the RS article and there is a paywall up now … there are three articles including one from three hours ago. Also my ad blocker is not allowing me to read it. KK’s death was just announced three hours ago here – it is Saturday night in Hawaii where he died.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks for the Twitter info. I followed you now and am @DebbieDoglady. You don’t share blog posts on there? That’s mostly what I use it for, to share my fellow bloggers’ material plus my own. A lot of us do that and ignore all the political crap, etc.
I actually have a subscription to Rolling Stone and will look for the KK articles. Thanks again for those updates!
LikeLiked by 1 person
You’re welcome Debbie. I do not interact with anyone on Twitter/X to be honest. I have posted, retweeted or sent a photo to a DNR site maybe five or six times since joining a decade ago. I keep up with the “Trending Topics” area on X and listen to an all-news radio station periodically throughout the day as I don’t have TV, not interested to have it as I am able to watch the news reports on X or on YouTube. If I watch a movie, it is on Amazon. I followed a local birder and Twitter (it was then Twitter) was putting every birder in my state and other states into my feed, so I now follow her on Facebook – too much clutter in my feed. I spend too much time on other social media as it is. I have a good friend who feels the need to post 35 to 40 times a day on Facebook – stuff she reads, stuff she eats … it’s all too much and most times I just skip it as it it never-ending videos or jokes. I didn’t have time for it back when I worked and I don’t have time now. As for posting my blog posts – never done that. I spent a lot of time on each blog post … taking photos on my walks, going through the photos, writing the post and creating it then interacting with others about that post. I may appear to have 1,161 subscribers … that is hardly true. Truthfully I have about a dozen people who follow and comment on my blog. I follow about twice that many I would say. Hope you found the stories about KK.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I totally understand! Social media can be a real time suck, which is probably why I spend way too much of it online. 😆 I learned the blogging ropes from a pro and social media was always preached as being important, so I started the habit early on… Let me know if you’re not cool with having your posts shared to X. You seem to have a good following anyway and probably don’t need the “publicity”. Like you, I spend hours and sometimes days designing and writing my posts as well as the interactions PLUS the social media blitz. All extremely time-consuming, for sure! I guess you don’t want to be Facebook friends either then. 😉 (Not that I post a whole lot there anymore…) You’re only the second person I’ve met who doesn’t have a TV. I think that’s amazing! And probably conducive to a much healthier lifestyle. 👌We’re hockey, soccer and news junkies, so would find it difficult to do without. Yes, I did find several articles about KK on Rolling Stone and enjoyed reading them. It’s still a bit of a shock! 😢 Thanks again for letting me know about the sad news.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hi Debbie – I’m finally here after a storm this afternoon and a power outage and subsequent internet issues – a critter or a bird got into a substation and caused an area power outage in multiple cities. RIP to the bird/critter as well.
Yes, social media hogs up a lot of time and before I retired six months ago, between work, social media and blogging I was online for about 10 hours a day. Sitting all that time isn’t healthy, even with the walking that I do. So that is one reason I’m trying to spend less time online, but always taking more time for blogging than social media. I was supposed to retire the end of 2023 and “gave in” to my boss and stayed an extra three months while he moved offices and found a replacement (nine months after I gave him notice I was leaving). So, it was my goal to enjoy a few new hobbies when I retired – I have done nothing toward that goal. I wanted to clear out a room for my hobbies and declutter my entire house for that matter. I have made some progress, but not as much as I wanted to. As a teenager I took some art classes. I want to join a group of plein air painters who go to the same parks that I frequent and paint, mostly watercolors. I have met the group twice, done a post or two about them, been invited to join them and I bought all my art materials and some art books two years ago, but had no time to take classes, online or otherwise. I am in the Facebook group so I see where they go and the paintings they create and post. The group’s last painting session is this Saturday, so I hope to join them next year, if I feel confident enough to do so. Part of me thinks I’d rather just do sketching in charcoal or pastels, rather than painting … I sure have nowhere I’d hang any artwork. But I did buy so me watercolor paints and heavyweight paper. And I attended one watercolor class in a park that I also blogged about. So that is one goal/hobby.
In trying to step away from so much time behind the computer I also wanted to begin yoga – I have the DVD, some flash cards, all things away from the computer. And reading … I have stacks of books … but I hardly sit down and read. It’s funny about the TV … I don’t miss it at all. I cancelled my cable in 2010. I have Amazon Prime and watched “Mad Men” and “Everwood” that way and loved both of those series and watched some movies as well. My TV is a relic, bought in the 1990s – a 19″ TV with a bulbous-looking back on it. I’ve even taped movies before I cancelled cable and could probably watch them and don’t. I am a newshound and follow the news on social media or my all-news AM radio station. I saw a nice tribute by Willie Nelson to KK on YouTube where I go for my full weather reports.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Sorry about your internet issues and that’s a shame about the critter.
As for making plans, I know what you mean! We all resolve to do certain things and they either don’t get done or they take forever to complete. I’m there with the house decluttering. I told hubby that would be our project once he retired (2021) but we still haven’t done that. Oh well!
I bet you’d enjoy painting or sketching in the great outdoors. I can tell by your photos you have artistic talent. 🙂
My house is full of books too and I was a voracious reader BC (before computers), but now? Not so much. Loved “Mad Men”, but I haven’t seen “Everwood”. I’d like to get rid of the expensive cable bill too, and switch to streaming only, but need to do more research.
I saw a couple of tributes to KK on YouTube, including this one:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-2smYDAAY20
LikeLiked by 1 person
I never heard any more news about the critter – they usually say what it did to cause the damage. I don’t know what happened with my internet … I think it was a result of the outage. In February 2023, I lost my internet for three days because of a bad ice storm. I was behind 14 days in Reader, then behind in everything, but it was a great opportunity to read and I polished off several books. I won’t even mention the basement – it is bad and I have been putting things I want to shred into Rubbermaid tubs for 15 years now and not done it yet. Perhaps a bonfire would be a better idea!
Thank you – this is a nice group of people and I like seeing their paintings they share of the places where I go. I intended to hook up with them all Summer. They used to just paint on Saturdays – now they have “paint-outs” Wednesdays and Saturdays. The head of the group is leaving – he is teaching several art classes, so others will take over, but I saw him painting by himself this Summer at Lake Erie Metropark.
I would love to sit and read again … not going to happen for the reasons I explained unless I get up before dawn or late night … (and certainly not at this moment anyway). I loved “Mad Men” because I worked in the creative department of an ad agency right after graduating college, so I enjoyed seeing the many similarities. Just like the show, our office was so non-PC and sexist, it wasn’t funny. “Everwood” was four seasons long and I ended up binge-watching the last portion as I was so into it.
I like that tribute too Debbie – thank you for sending it. The photos of KK in latter years blew me away as I’d never seen him that gray before, although his beard was gray for years before.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Our basement is a disaster too and we have several large garbage bags full of paper that needs to be shredded. 😆 I keep saying I’ll take them to a bulk shredding place but never do. Sigh…
Glad you enjoyed the KK tribute! He was very grey in his later years.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I do have a shredder (I wonder where it is in the basement). My mom used to do all the shredding of financial documents and before the shredder, she cut them up by hand. So she would sit at the kitchen table feeding the documents into the shredder, that is until we got our canary. He was in the kitchen during the day and was terrified of the shredder, so my mom said “well maybe you could shred everything downstairs so Sugar isn’t scared?” So I had a new task, but it didn’t last long as the shredder was loud even downstairs and Sugar didn’t care much for that, so I’m guessing, the pile originated a very long time ago. Sugar is long gone, I had another canary and he is long gone as well – so I have no excuse. We have organizations that have free shredding events, but the cars line up around the block and down the street. I did enjoy the tribute and I guess I had not seen KK in a while then as to how gray he was.
LikeLiked by 1 person
That was so fascinating about the Cormorants! I knew none of that and loved the tree picture! I love the walkways but the vole, not so much! Lol
LikeLiked by 1 person
Cormorants are unusual-looking birds Diane, but I understand they are excellent at fishing. I follow a Metroparks Photographers site on Facebook, photographers who go to Michigan’s 13 Metroparks and I see up-close pics of them, catching and gulping down fish. I only see them drying their wings on a shoreline or sitting in the dead trees – I never see them in the live trees. I did not like seeing the vole and that’s the first time I ever saw one … I only know what they look like because of the Metroparks Photographers site as some of the photographers will show a hawk nabbing a vole. I don’t particularly like that visual – they look like mice, only plumper and a short tail – ugh. Right by the sign about respecting nature. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
We have voles, mice and moles. I used to find dead baby voles in the pond, so gross!
LikeLiked by 1 person
You get the trifecta Diane – lucky you! I am not envious and I already had my rodent find, hopefully the only one this year. I am inspecting the perimeter of the house daily for groundhogs making burrows. We had those cooler days, but then back to hot days, so he/she was not thinking of Winter – yet. Baby voles in the pond would gross me out too! I follow another blogger who moved to a new place a few years ago. She loved her pond, but said she was glad to be rid of the maintenance and the heron who came to fish daily there.
LikeLike
Interesting you sharing you walk & beautiful all photos.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Glad you liked the post Raj.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Welcome my friend,Linda! 😀
LikeLiked by 1 person
I can see why you asked if my photo were cormorants 😀
That is a wonderful place
LikeLiked by 1 person
They are amazingly similar aren’t they Brian? You usually tag the name of your birds/critters if you don’t ID it/them in the post, so I had to ask. It is wonderful here and I understand there is a pair of Wood Ducks and a Kestrel Falcon live here but I’ve yet to see them.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I enjoy the tick warning sign 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
It is pretty funny Anne. They have another tick sign on the other side – a different message. With humor, often the message is more clearly conveyed.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Cormorants stretching their wings remind me of Dracula, too. It took me forever to get a close up picture of one and when I did I was surprised how detailed the patterns on their feathers are. They aren’t solid black at all. I like the pictures you got of them on the logs in the water. Egrets look so pretty when they take off flying. Their water reflections are lovely, too. Those yellow wildflowers are cheerful looking autumn accents. 🙂 That tick warning sign is pretty clever! I wonder what that turtle thought of the two duck intruders — never a dull moment. Perhaps the last mallard on the log was feeling like he won a battle of wits and was enjoying his victory.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I never realized they weren’t solid black Barbara – hmm, I usually only see them from afar. I’ve never seen the cormorants lined up on logs like that either and found that odd. I always see them in the dead trees at Humbug Marsh. The first time I saw them in the trees was late Fall, so I figured the leaves had dropped, then the following Spring I noticed the trees were all dead … I wondered if they do that as a colony and can see one another that way? Very social birds. Have you seen them with the two feather crests on their head at mating season? The cormorants get tufts on either side of their head which resembles a baby bird when their head feathers are growing in. They are like the herons and egrets with their longer plumes.
I think egrets are such beautiful birds – graceful with the legs streaming out behind them on takeoff. It was a perfect day for reflections, calm water. We’ve had so many windy days this year, but this was a perfect day. I like the tick warning sign too – it gives you cause to pause and they have another variation at another location. I thought the turtle might flip off that log as it was so unbalanced by those heavy ducks. I think both species claim that one log near the shoreline as their own, on a first-come, first served basis. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
I don’t believe I’ve ever noticed the two feather crests on cormorant heads before. How interesting! The more we learn about them the more fascinating they are. But, I agree, the great egret is one of the most beautiful birds, both standing still fishing, and flying away. But take-offs and landings can be a little awkward. 😉 Now you’ve got me curious about what the other tick warning sign says!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Those are unique feather crests on those birds and I had always wondered why they had the words “double-crested” in their name. I learn a lot about birds between Jocelyn Anderson’s site and the Metroparks photographers site. I will do a search on my blog for another trip to this venue if I got the other sign in there. I don’t think it was at the other unit of the DRIWR site – I don’t think they even had a sign (but should have).
LikeLiked by 1 person
Lovely pictures!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you Kate!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Miss Linda………………………..I love your pictures of the beautiful Egret………………………….thank you………………………….
LikeLiked by 1 person
You’re welcome Ann Marie – I’m glad you liked that beautiful Egret, made even more beautiful by its stunning reflection.
LikeLike
Oddballs! I like that theme. You’ve captured it brilliantly.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you Ally. As soon as Terri posted the Challenges for September, I knew just the walk to use for this post – the cormorants’ behavior is a little unusual, in my opinion of course, but the other waterfowl’s behavior that day was also odd.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I have never witnessed a mid-air collision between 2 birds. THAT would have been an amazing photo. Too bad it happened out of your view.
Double crested cormorants are one of my favorite birds. I like how social they are. I love to watch them fishing. I have seen them eating fish that I never thought would fit down their gullets, but somehow they get them down. I even got to watch cormorants recently in Europe when we took a cruise down the Rhine River. German and Swiss cormorants look exactly like American cormorants! 🙂
Thanks for sharing your walk with us.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Going by the noise afterward, I have to image it was quite a collision, but you know how loud herons can be when they are disgruntled. I hear them squawking whenever a human interrupts their fishing and they fly away. I also noticed a significant amount of preening going on after they landed in their respective trees – that makes me think that even if they sideswiped each other, that preening would be done. I remember our pet birds after a vet visit or nail/beak trim, would be preening away any “human touch” on their feathers. How exciting to see those Cormorants on your Rhine River cruise. A friend of mine and his wife took a similar cruise not long ago. He said his Babbel courses had helped him learn enough German to communicate with others – I thought of you studying when you planned to go to Portugal (before COVID reared its ugly head). An Australian blogger I follow posted a photo of a Darter yesterday. He didn’t tag it by name, so I asked him if it was a Cormorant – when I Googled Darter it looked similar, right down to the wing-drying routine! I am glad you enjoyed the walk Laurie.
LikeLike
No lack of fun and interesting things to photograph here. This looks like my kind of walk. 🙂 Beautiful photos, Linda.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you Rebecca. Yes, some walks are just walks and seeing a bird or a critter here or there and then there are interesting, fun walks like this one. You would definitely enjoy a walk here. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
You had a tick in your ear?! I detest ticks, and the thought of one in my ear is nightmare fuel.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Luckily it was on the edge of my ear and not inside. I almost died when I saw it and I grabbed a Kleenex so fast, afraid it would go into my ear while attempting to grab it. My HVAC tech was at the house doing a furnace inspection the other day. She spends a lot of time outdoors and we were talking about ticks. She told me she was in Georgia earlier this year and got three ticks – Lonestar Ticks. And she told me about how a bite from them could make you allergic to meat. That was some news to me. She was able to get them “unattached” and did not get sick, but told me she routinely sprays her clothes for her job as sometimes she goes to rural areas and SE Michigan has a tick infestation this year as we had such a mild Winter, the ticks didn’t die off.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’ve heard about the meat allergy after tick bites. I’ve found three ticks on me this year. Fortunately, none of them had attached.
LikeLiked by 1 person
That amazed me. You were lucky those three ticks never attached – hope you can keep that record!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I like that Welcome sign with the animals on it. I like Cormorants but I’ve been told they are very destructive especially to trees. Your wildflowers pic is so pretty 😊
LikeLiked by 1 person
I like that sign too Susan. It suits this place to a “T”. I didn’t know that about the Cormorants being destructive to trees, so maybe when I only see them perching/roosting in dead trees, it is them who caused the problems? When this venue opened in the Fall of 2020, it was mostly all grassy areas which weren’t woods or the Delta. They planted pollinator gardens the first year and it has taken three or four years to have them look nice. I did not see many butterflies though, despite all the flowers.
LikeLiked by 1 person
We used to see a lot of butterflies when we were younger.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes, I have only seen two Monarchs this Summer, a few Swallowtails – mostly Cabbage Whites (not to disparage Cabbage Whites but you wonder how they are in abundance?)
LikeLiked by 1 person
I would only think fishermen may think Cormorants are destructive.
LikeLiked by 1 person
You mean as to stealing so many fish Andy? I guess they are excellent divers and fishermen.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes Linda, but I think the birds have more of a eight to them .
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yikes, between ticks and voles, you had almost the full-nature experience!
LikeLiked by 1 person
You’re right JP – I go to these places for a nice nature walk and to take photos and it ends up as a walk on the wild side.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Cormorants that is a lot of birds Linda
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes Andy and they always roost and/or perch together in dead trees. It looks a little odd.
LikeLiked by 1 person
See then like that herebut think the most I have seen is about 8.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Really – I usually see them in a group here at the tree, but mostly just by themselves on the shoreline.
LikeLiked by 1 person
How beautiful and fascinating all those big birds are! Nice parks, too. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you Zazzy. There was so much going on that day – the beautiful egret and heron which ended badly for them and those Cormorants which always strike me as a little bizarre in their actions. This is where the metal animal/bird structure is located. I didn’t take any photos on this walk. They have another similar structure located a few cities over. I wanted to see it this Summer, but the park where it is located had a toxic chemical situation and the park has been off limits while they clean up the mess.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Well that’s rather scary. I hope they get it cleaned up and safe to visit.
LikeLike
Yes, I wanted to not only see the statue, but it was the best place to view the new Gordie Howe Bridge being built – it opens in the Fall of 2025.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Fun choices. Thank you for taking us along!!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Glad you enjoyed it Kirstin – lots of bird odd bird happenings that day!
LikeLike