… and remember that life’s a great balancing act. ~Dr. Seuss
I fed the birds on New Year’s Day.
I’ve written before about the Scandinavian custom of feeding the birds on the first day of the new year because it will bring you luck the rest of the year.
Since the expected snow and sleet from New Year’s Eve did not mess up sidewalks and streets, off I went, on foot, to mark my first five miles of 2025 and feed my feathered and furry friends at Council Point Park. My Park pals didn’t recognize the holiday as a new year, (although I’m sure they were glad to leave the old year behind), but they likely had their ears blasted bigtime by the fireworks going off in the area in the wee hours of January 1st.
Last week’s blog post was chock full of what I did (or didn’t do) in 2024. I mentioned how much time I spend on photos. While I don’t spend any time editing my photos, (I’m not that much of a perfectionist yet), I consider that most of the time I am just a lucky photographer, being at the right place at the right time. I’m going to start exploring Windows 11’s editing features though because there is always room for improvement in everything we do, right? I spend loads of time on the trail(s) stopping and taking photos, then sorting through them later. I also spend a lot of time scratching my head WHY I take SO many photos, many which are duplicative. 🙂
With my furry friends, there will be perfect shots when they are patiently posing while munching on peanuts or walnuts, but then there are times I return home with squirrels missing snouts, or an up-close picture of a furry tail and nothing else. Squirrels are quicker than the eye sometimes and, in the gloomy and bitter cold Winter days, often the flash is slow to fire, so that “Kodak Moment” is lost forever.
My “Birdie Bucket List” for 2025.
It has become my annual tradition to update my list of coveted birds to see and photograph and, as you see below, they are the same old-same old “wants” plus I’ve added White Pelicans which were inadvertently not included before. I know Sterling State Park is the White Pelicans’ favorite stopover when migrating south, but in 2025 this park will be undergoing a much-needed rehab to their trails, which is good news since there are trip-and-fall hazards from tree roots all along the 3.6 mile paved loop trail. Depending on how extensive the rehab is, I might not get to see those big white birds in 2025.
I photographed a few new-to-me feathered friends in 2024.
As a result of countless excursions, mostly to Lake Erie Metropark, I was able to add the below trio of new birds to my “Birding Life List” making a grand total of 58 birds seen in my lifetime.
I’ve seen female Wood Ducks with their ducklings before, but never the male with its extraordinary plumage. Too bad this fellow was way across the marsh, meandering amongst the lily pads and reeds.
Seeing a raft of American Coots gathered at the Sterling Marsh at Sterling State Park had me clicking away. I had seen photos of them on birding sites and instantly recognized these birds by their white bill.
On a trip to photograph about-to-fledge-the-nest Ospreys at Pointe Mouillee DNR Headquarters, I was lucky to see these unique-looking “bonus” birds with their orangey-red bills and black caps. They are Caspian Terns.
There were also a few birds I encountered/photographed, which you have not “met” yet. Whenever I go on longer excursions at larger parks, once I get online, I write a quick summary of what the walk entailed because it may be awhile until I pair the photos taken to the summary and compile and publish that post. So, after quickly perusing those summaries, I will tell you that as my posts about 2024 excursions unfold, you will meet a Bank Swallow, an American Bittern and a Black-crowned Night Heron.
Who doesn’t love babies?
Every April I am on baby watch at Heritage Park. I ensure I get there to see if Mama Canada Goose is sitting on a nest, at her favorite place, on the boulders near the bridge. It can’t be a comfy place to nest, but she evidently feels safe and Papa is there to shoo away gawking walkers and nosy dogs who dare to stray near his mate. After scoping out this venue weekly, the blessed event happens around Mother’s Day and my reward is a passel of lemon-colored, sweet-faced goslings like these two.
When the initial phase of the Council Point Park Project began on May 8th I swore off taking my camera to my favorite nature nook until it looked halfway-decent once again. But my mindset changed three weeks later when I arrived at the Park early one Saturday morning to see a Mama Robin feeding her one and only offspring. Instantly my resolve fizzled, my heart softened and I hurried home to grab my camera. The pictures may not be the best due to sun and shadows, but they were among my favorite Kodak Moments in 2024.
Unfortunately I only had a few days to enjoy those tender moments …
… because soon the nestling became a fledgling and the nest, which had been nestled in the barbed-wire fence, suddenly was empty.
I made multiple trips to Lake Erie Metropark in search of anticipated offspring.
First, I craned my neck to find a Sandhill Crane colt, the offspring of the pair of cranes I always see at Lake Erie Metropark near a fishing bridge, but I had no success; however I did get some close-ups of what I believe are a mated pair – this is one of them, checking out me who is otherwise known as the pesky photographer.
Repeatedly I scoured that park, in all the nooks and crannies, for does and their fawns; I saw only one pair and the fawn was pretty big. The pair got separated after I must have spooked them. Mama headed over the fence, but the fawn had to find a place to leap and join its mother as it could not jump that high and there were bushes which hindered it as well. I was as panicked as the fawn was, but, as it loped along parallel to the fence …
… it gained speed and finally found a “jumpable spot” and those spindly legs soared over that pesky fence. Whew!
Other fun foto finds …
I smiled when I saw this Muskrat chomping on a Lotus Leaf along the Cherry Island Trail at Lake Erie Metropark …
While on an early Spring jaunt at Elizabeth Park, I found a lot of these guys singing away in a large puddle in a low area in the grass. How nice to be serenaded while I ambled by.
Here is a slideshow of the rest of my favorite shots from 2024.
This is week two of Terri’s Sunday Stills Photo Challenge: “Your 2024 Year-in-Review!” (in photos).
Linda Schaub
WALKIN', WRITIN', WIT & WHIMSY 
what a great tradition!
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Thank you Pam!
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Thank you for sharing part 2 with Sunday Stills, Linda! Amazing collection of photos, wow! Love the goslings and baby pics! I can’t pick a favorite they’re all fantastic! I had to chuckle at “I fed the birds on New Years Day,” because my brain went immediately to the song, “I saw three ships come sailing in…on Christmas day in the morning…”
I like the idea of inviting good luck when feeding birds on New Years Day. In Scottsdale we saw a lot of quail and a coyote running down the street next to my brother’s house. No pics though. We’re currently enjoying 73F temps in San Diego with my daughter. Can’t complain.
Have a wonderful week, my friend!
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Thank you Terri – I’m glad you liked the photos! It was hard for me to pick a favorite for the featured image and I settled on the alpaca as it looked like it was walking. The baby pictures are my favorites – those goslings are so sweet!
I remember that song and yes, I did copy for it for my title. 🙂 There’s a site on YouTube, where a photographer has a trail camera and in the Winter he/she puts a low sled out in the woods and places a wooden box which is divided into portions and filled with different seeds, nuts and fruit for the birds and squirrels then he/she posts the video. It’s relaxing to watch the critters at this feed station.
I could take 73F temps – I went out in a “real feel” of single digits this morning, but the wind wasn’t bad and the sun was out – the sun made the difference. You have a wonderful week too Terri – enjoy family and fun in the sun!
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You take the best wildlife photos! Beautiful!
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Thank you Kate – my favorites of the bunch! It was a good year for photo finds for me … especially for babies!
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❤️
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Your photos and the stories with them are superb!
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Thank you Anne! It was tough narrowing down what to use, especially for my header image … then a light went off. It’s about walking Linda, so your alpaca walking is a logical choice! The baby pics are my favorites!
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I didn’t realize that feeding the birds gives you luck for the year. I like that better than our PA Dutch custom of eating pork & sauerkraut on New Year’s Day for luck. I’m sure the birds appreciated it.
I used to worry about taking so many photos, but then I got into the habit of going back through them and deleting the ones that were too similar or ones I just didn’t care about. Not like the days of film, right?
Amazing to me that you have yet to see a kestrel and especially a bluebird. They are so common here, and we don’t live THAT far apart. A good place to spot kestrels is on electric wires near farm fields.
Loved the osprey pictures from the slideshow!
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Laurie, I like the tradition of feeding the birds on New Year’s Day for good luck. I had not heard of the PA Dutch tradition of pork and sauerkraut for good luck. I worked with Southerners for years while at the diner – they always had black-eyed peas and collard greens for dinner on New Year’s Day for good health and wealth.
The days of film and spending a small fortune to develop your film are mercifully gone for good. I know I take duplicates sometimes when it is a shot that I really want and perhaps I shook a little, etc. but I often go home with 300+ shots and it is a massive undertaking to sort thru them, then go thru them again and cull the ones I’ll use for the blog post.
I keep returning to Humbug Marsh as there is a nesting Kestrel there and someone even pointed out “its tree” but still no luck. Hopefully one day and nope, I never have seen a bluebird. We have them around SE Michigan, but I’ve never seen one.
I did have a lot of luck with my osprey pics this year after visiting three different nests!
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Congratulations Linda, you are fully fledged when it comes to being a Wildlife Photographer!
Some fine shots in here and I wonder what lays in the coming year for you?
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Thank you Wayne – coming from you, a wildlife photographer, that makes me very happy. I wonder too what I’ll find and take photos of in 2025? Will I find some fawns, or a Colt or those elusive birds?
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these are all beautiful images from 2024! I hope you have just as much fun in 2025!
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Thank you Dawn – I hope so too!
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like the idea of inviting good luck when feeding birds on New Years Day. Wonderful photo collection. Have good new week. God bless you,Linda.
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Yes, it is a good tradition Raj. I’m glad you liked the photos. You have a good week too and God bless you as well.
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Thank u so much,Linda. Iam so happy!you to good health & wealth. God bless you.
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Same to you Raj now and throughout the new year!
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Most welcome,Linda. Yes, Throughout new year. How are u doing? ☺️
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I am doing well so far this year … could be a little warmer, but no snow is very nice. I won’t complain about the weather seeing the devastation in the California wildfires – just horrendous. Are you hearing about them in your country Raj?
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Iam so happy u are well. Weather is warmer . Here’s comfortable weather. Yes,I heard & watch TV news in California wildfires – just morning. It’s very sad. Many people leave the area and some died. God blessing all of . I will pray them. Where u live?
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I have been watching more videos tonight – just awful. All the people who have lost everything. I live in Michigan, nowhere near the wildfires, about 3,000 miles (4,800 kms) away.
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Very bad had some peoples lost everything 😢! I will pray to God all is well & good live. . You live is very far that wildfire place. Thanks Linda, but you Tack Care. God bless you.
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Yes, it’s very sad and not over yet. Thank you very much Raj.
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Lots of wonderful photos Linda, that Squirrel flat out always makes me laugh
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Thank you Brian! I just had to put that squirrel flat out, or as we call it here “splooting”. I think the squirrel was hot because it turned out that the day I took the photo of it was the hottest day on record worldwide. He needed a fan!
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You have taken some lovely photographs. I hope you manage to tick off your bucket list this year.
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Thank you Anne! It is a lot of birds to see, photograph and still hope to see … I will never see as many new birds in a decade as you see in your regular “bird reports” – that is amazing to me. We have 456 species of birds here in the State of Michigan! You and an Australian blogger who sees a lot of birds in his backyard flower garden and area (parrots sometimes) and also cute wallabies have a virtual paradise!
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I love that head (and long neck) shot of the sandhill crane! And the fawn gaining speed for his jump was a great capture! I remembered most of the pictures in your slideshow, what a good way to walk down memory lane. Good luck with your birdie bucket list — I wish you could be here to see the bluebirds that visit us occaisionally. It’s going to be interesting seeing what you do with your new photo editing skills. 🙂
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I’m glad you liked the photos Barbara and I was hard pressed to pick one for the featured image; it was a toss-up between the sweet goslings and that fawn with its amazing jump that once again got him close to his mama. I was pretty excited to see that photo. 🙂 I decided to focus on babies and put the alpaca and Dr. Seuss’ quote up top instead – sometimes my posts take a different turn completely. The pair of sandhill cranes I am able to get fairly close to – they are grazing or just meandering along most times when I visit this park. I am hoping they have offspring someday and don’t hide them away somewhere. I like seeing Jocelyn Anderson’s colt photos. Some day hopefully and I almost put them on my list as well. I know there are bluebirds in SE Michigan as the Wild Birds Unlimited store I follow on Facebook (owned by my former HVAC tech and his wife) Phil shows them in the nesting boxes in his backyard … they live 10 miles from me. I wonder what the new year holds in store for nature photos – we’ll see once Spring arrives!
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You have become an accomplished photographer of wildlife! It is hard to imagine how you will top 2024, but I bet you will.
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Thank you JP! I hope to expand my horizons and see what else is out there, feathered or furry, to capture with my camera. Despite not getting to photograph the birds on my wish list, I was lucky to see what I did last year.
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From your first sentence to your last I had “Feed the Birds (two pence a bag)” from Mary Poppins on the brain. Will always be a fan of Julie Andrews for that role, as well as for Maria in “The Sound of Music” (of course!)
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Dave, I gave you an earworm by power of suggestion, not even hearing that song. 🙂 I remember seeing “The Sound of Music” with my parents and it was probably the first musical I ever saw. In fact, recently there was a video clip I saw of Maria von Trapp giving Julie Andrews pointers on improving her yodeling. It was pretty funny as Julie Andrews pretended to be such a novice, but she could keep up with Maria. I found the short video and will put it in a separate comment in case you’ve not seen it before.
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Dave – have a listen and take a look at Maria and Julie yodeling together.
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I’d seen this one before – wonderful!
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Okay, I was hoping it was new to you Dave and would give you a big smile. Julie Andrews is a natural yodeler! 🙂
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Julie Andrews is “practically perfect in every way” 🙂
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Yes she is Dave – I loved “Mary Poppins” too!
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Your photos are always wonderful!
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Thank you Linda – I am glad you liked them!
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Hi Linda. Esther from Sing Like Wildflowers sent me link to your blog and I am so glad she did! I recently moved to Michigan and your photos are wonderful. Don’t stop clicking, even those repetitive shots. That’s how we learn and improve. Heading over to see more of your posts. 😁
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Hi Pepper – it is nice to meet you. Thank you to Esther from Sing Like Wildflowers to send you here. I was just reading your “About” page . I also have a point-and-shoot camera which I bought in 2015, two years after starting my blog – almost like your situation. Before that I was just using no pictures for my short, paragraph-long posts, or using photos from “Dollar Photo” (one dollar for each photo). Things changed for me too, once I had the point-and-shoot camera in hand and truthfully many of my pictures in today’s post were taken with that same camera, not the DSLR, where at least I know the pictures may come out looking like what I saw. 🙂 Where do you live in Michigan?
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What fun I had going through your recap of the 2024 excursions! When one can capture so many beautiful moments without any photo editing, I believe it is photography at its best! I have several favorites here. If I had to select the most exciting surprise, it would be the fawn!
Onward to the photos of 2025!!
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Hi TD – I am glad you liked my photos from my photo excursions. I had a tough time deciding whether to put that leaping fawn or the sweet goslings as my header photo and decided to write about the babies instead and use the alpaca and the Dr. Seuss quote and go in a different direction than originally intended. My favorite photos here were lucky photos – being there at the right place and right time. I do want to learn to edit the photos and make them better, but then the blog is not about photos, but excursions, so that’s why I’ve not made much of an effort so far … besides, I have so many photos in each post, it would take forever to play with each of them. I come home with lots of boo-boos too. I hope to find some of the feathered friends on my list and more babies, feathered or furry.
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Miss Linda…………………………………i always learn something new reading your blogs……………………………You are an excellent photographer and story teller………………………………..nice to read on a snowy cold January day……………………………..
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Thank you Ann Marie – I am glad you enjoy my stories and the photos. For me it is fun to be on the walks, take the photos, see the images later on the screen and then compile the posts … it becomes a whole package of fun for me. Yes, it is a day to be glad you have a warm home. No walk for me today due to the impending freezing rain (having got caught in rain and snow on two separate occasions last week) and I’m betting it was the same for you too.
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Linda………………………………..it was freezing cold this morning when I went for a walk……………the wind was coming from the North……………………..I needed my long underwear………………………………….I’m getting it out NOW
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Ann Marie – better count on staying in this Thursday morning as the wind chill will be around minus ten degrees! I went grocery shopping and crossing the parking lot was brutal. I got most of my steps in at Meijer in Southgate, then one more mile at Council Point Park. The squirrels were out, but the birds were not (unusual). I bought fleece-lined pants last year at Meijer – they are toasty!
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Linda, you’ve had a very good year this year with the birds. Though the goslings have a soft spot in my heart, I think the robin and her baby is my favorite. What great pictures. Makes you wonder what the Mother was thinking when she built her nest in that particular spot. Those frogs are the cutest! What fun to see and hear them, and the little squirrel all sprawled out in the slideshow is another favorite.
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Thank you Rebecca – it was a fun year for photos and seeing six new birds and my first Cedar Waxwing, but no picture of him/her; what beautiful birds they are too. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to put the goslings or the fawn as the header photo, then decided to focus on babies and show the Robin and her baby, which also was one of my favorites. Up close the nest didn’t look too sturdy and I thought she must have not been able to find a tree at the Park since this was after they plowed up the shoreline, so “any port in a storm” so to speak. But, believe it or not, that nest is still there, after many gusty winds we’ve had since then, still tucked in the barbed wire that surrounds the maintenance building.
The day the squirrel was sprawled out like that was the hottest day of the year worldwide. It was on one of the trees they had torn down – I saw many squirrels returning to “their” trees, that had been reduced to stumps. But I’m thinking he/she was just plain exhausted from the heat.
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That slide show is awesome, Linda! Thanks for sharing your favorite moments.
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Thank you Eilene – I am glad you enjoyed the photos – it was a fun year and I hope that luck continues for me.
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You’re too modest, Linda! Your photos look fabulous to me, and all without editing? That’s talent! The Windows 11 editing features are much better than Windows 7, 8 or 10, if you ever do decide to try them. This entire photo essay is wonderful, but especially the babies and the photos in the slideshow. I didn’t know goslings were yellow at birth, and I’ve never seen a male Wood Duck before. Do you share these on Instagram? You’d amass a large following in no time.
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Hi Debbie – Thank you and I think any pictures that are good are because I am lucky. I take all pictures on the DSLR on “automatic” so no adjustments are there either. My best pictures are taken with the digital compact. To be honest, I only pick the best of the MANY pictures I take for in the blog posts. I often spend hours going through all the photos I take and it’s especially bad if I have multiple walks and never looked at any of the photos until one time. Good thing I take notes on each excursion. In the Winter, since I don’t go to the big parks and take as many pictures, should be the time I learn how to edit photos. I basically don’t fool with the pictures because I usually have 20-25 pictures in each post – it would take forever to do one post. I feel like I don’t have enough time in my day as it is, so I’ve resisted so far.
The goslings are mostly pale yellow and then within a few days, their plumage color goes to a mottled yellow and gray. In a few weeks time, they are mostly gray. There are a lot of Canada Geese at Council Point Park and we usually have around four families each year (or we used to before the destruction of the Park – hopefully they still nest there in the Creek shoreline). It is nice to watch how quickly they go from fuzzy lemon-colored darlings to gray, canoe-shaped teenagers with an attitude. I have pictures of goslings hissing at me (copying their parents). 🙂 I like this small park as I can watch them grow before my eyes … their personalities too! Then, a few more families emerge and it’s easy to see how quickly they grew when comparing them to the newly hatched goslings.
The male Wood Ducks are very unique looking. Truly, this picture does not do it justice, as it was not near me so you can’t see how beautiful it was.
No, I don’t share them on Instagram, only because I spend too much time on social media already! I am only on Instagram when I pop on once a day, especially since you gave me the wildlife photographer’s name … I like following him. Then I saw a Canadian wildlife photographer and followed him. I will send his name in a separate comment to you so this comment doesn’t go to your SPAM filter. He has some great wildlife pics and I’m enjoying his pics.
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Debbie – two things for you.
First, the Canadian wildlife photographer on Instagram.
https://www.instagram.com/dannyboy_wildlife/
Second, you will appreciate this little treat for dogs at a hotel. I don’t follow this person – it popped up when I went to get the photographer’s link. I wish I could send it to my friend who raised and tracked with Goldens for years, but she is not on any social media, just e-mail.
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What a fun update. I’m thinking maybe I need to make a 2025 photo bucket list…what things do I want to photograph this year.
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Thank you Kirstin – it was a good year for me, the lucky photographer who was at the right place and the right time. You should make a 2025 photo bucket list. I’ve been doing it for a while now and have managed to check off Wood Duck, Trumpeter Swan, Mute Swan with cygnets, Canvasback Duck, Bald Eagle and a Hummingbird. Good luck!
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That’s a good list for this year! I love bluebirds and we have them here but I have never seen one in person. We have an island about an hour from us that always has tons of Snowy Owls, we usually try to get there at least once. We also have Pelicans in Ontario but they are further north towards the Manitoba border.
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Believe it or not, the only owl I have seen is at one of the Metroparks and it is a rehabbed owl that lives in a cage as it is unable to fly. That’s it. They have “owl prowl” events at that same Metropark, but it involves going out in the woods at night and each person carries a lantern. Maybe I have lost my sense of adventure but I’m not keen on going into the dark woods. There was a Snowy Owl back a few tears ago and I went there to find it, Pointe Mouilee DNR Headquarters … it was not there but it was also sighted in Downtown Detroit and people were excited about that as it did a fly by their office windows. We do have Bluebirds, maybe this year?
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What an amazing year of pictures Linda! You may have been at the right place and right time but you still had to get the shot. You never know, maybe the pelicans will move since the park is getting work done, don’t give up just yet!
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Thank you Diane! It was a good year for me and I still have a lot of pictures that I have taken and not rolled out into blog posts. I was looking the other day to see what I had as to new birds for this post so I know right there are many more groups of pictures for new posts. I always ensure I have enough pics to last the Winter, in case I don’t get out much. Today we got some freezing rain which I hope does not make it slippery like last year when we had freezing rain, then snow (which we’re getting tonight) and I didn’t get out for two weeks. I never thought about the Pelicans going somewhere else – that would be great if that happened. That trail at Sterling State Park really needs rehabbing – it is a trip hazard, especially when it is covered with leaves. (Or snow – I wouldn’t go in Winter … Fall is bad enough.)
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