I continue to bemoan the funky weather, which has not been stellar for daily walks at Council Point Park and there have been few long excursions either.
Recently, two severe weather outbreaks in our state brought 11 tornadoes over two days and we had temps in the mid-80s. This week, we were in the 50s with rain for four days straight. Getting out in nature is a welcome respite from the everyday rigors of life, but in watching the severe weather outbreaks and devastation from massive tornadoes, I remain ever grateful to continue to be unscathed from severe weather.
When it seems to be picture perfect, I seize the opportunity, even in gusty winds or when it is stinkin’ hot. I walked so much over two days recently that I ended up with painful shin splints from overdoing the miles in my efforts to glean newborn pics of the goslings belonging to the two Mama geese featured in my Mother’s Day post. Yes, I was successful and will be sharing those cutie pies in future posts.
So with that said, I hope there will be many parks to visit and adventures yet to unfold in 2025.
I admit as of today I am somewhat doubtful I will accomplish my yearly walking goal (1,258 miles/2,025 kilometers), but I will try my best, one foot ahead of the other, onward and upward as I always say!
We have babies everywhere, um … if you can find ‘em!
Because it is the season for nesting and young’uns, I did a 30-mile round trip to Lake Erie Metropark to check on the Sandhill Cranes and possible offspring, as well as the resident Osprey families at this park.
No Sandhill Crane “colts” then, (nor as of Mother’s Day, my last visit to this venue).
You may recall there are two Osprey families at Lake Erie Metropark, the one that nests in the siren at the fire station at the outskirts of the park and the other family that has a fancy-schmancy platform on Lee Road near the marina.
Patience is a virtue.
Well, I was pleased to find the latter Osprey pair were at their nest on this windy and coolish day. I was hoping to get a few in-flight shots perhaps while the male was on a stick-finding mission or triumphantly bringing home a fish breakfast. I wondered if the Missus was sitting on a nest yet and if and when that blessed event would occur.
But instead I found two stubborn Ospreys who decided they had enough of playing patsy to a pesky photographer interrupting their day.
The female apparently WAS in the nest, but had sunk down into it, perhaps sleeping in, maybe incubating eggs, or even evading me taking her photo. She raised her head once as her mate monitored me from his perch on a nearby pole.
As I stood beneath the platform gazing up, did I detect a somewhat defiant look by that male Osprey?
Well, patience is a virtue and you wait and wait sometimes for that coveted shot.
If there was a thought bubble over its head it would read “the pest is back, I’ll let her stand there like a fool while the Missus and I evade her!”
Which is exactly what they did.
First the male Osprey left its post and flew as far away as it could. Sneaky!
Then I zoomed in …
I think he was enjoying himself, taunting me with his antics.
Just then a series of chirps erupted from the nest and before I knew it, the female was enroute to her mate and I was left with “empty nest syndrome” as you see below.
Together they alighted on a branch, with a somewhat precarious landing I might add.
When the bough breaks, the Ospreys will fall ….
These are big birds and there they were, side-by-side, on a not-so-big branch. Hopefully, it would hold them both and they didn’t come tumbling down.
The branch wobbled a bit and I raised the camera to get a shot, should it creak and crack and they bolted for the sky, whereupon they promptly looked in the opposite direction. No one else was there to distract them. Not a single car whizzed by.
Defiance I tell you!
Then they simply took flight and were gone. I waited for them to return, but after about 20 minutes I decided they were obstinate and had no intention of returning to their twiggy abode until I was gone.
I am 100% sure their swift retreat was simply to “mess with me” and not for lack of bravery regarding the big, bad human.
It’s Memorial Day, a time to be mindful.
It’s the final day of the first long holiday weekend, the gateway to Summer. But it’s also a time to remember the bravery of service personnel that lost their lives so that we might enjoy the day surrounded by family and friends.
I visited Memorial Park to take some photos of the flags that were placed in advance of last Sunday’s Memorial Day parade.
I’ll leave you with this quote:
“Courage is not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it” ~~ Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Terri does not have a photo challenge this week.
Linda Schaub
WALKIN', WRITIN', WIT & WHIMSY 
Thank you for doing your best to catch the ospreys. You certainly caught their evasiveness.
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Thank you Anne – Despite what the post says, (I wrote it on Wednesday), I was there again today and got the cold shoulder from the female who kept turning away from me. After standing there a good half-hour I only got a few shots where she actually looked at me. 🙂
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As kind as you are, she should be friendlier.
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Thank you Anne – I guess I have to bribe them with fish next time so they behave. I could toss up a package or can of salmon or tuna to their nest – maybe that would make them engage better.
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With their attitude, they might just chuck the cans back at you. They would engage in war.
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I believe it – they do have some attitude going, that’s for sure!
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Osprey were playing with you. You managed a couple of good photos
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Thank you Brian. I agree with you – they were taunting me. Yesterday I was back there and the female gave me a glance or two and the rest of the time looked the other way. I guess they get sick of seeing cameras pointed toward them.
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Patence is truly a virtue and so is flexibility – and it sounds like you are being flexibile with whether or not you fully reach your steps goal…. also, had to smile with them messing with you – and that branch for perching did seem so small – and reminded me how so many birds have such great balance.
I like how you led us into the Memorial Day thoughts and. agree ” it’s a time to remember the bravery of service personnel that lost their lives so that we might enjoy the day” and enjoy our freedom – ahhhh
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How patient we are when we want a shot and in the case of nature shots … there we are, out in nature, tapping our foot, waiting on a bird or other creature’s whims. It is funny when you think of it. I was amazed at these two Ospreys perched together on what looked to be a sagging branch on a dead tree from their weight. You are right, birds do have great balance and I see the male Osprey sometimes, both feet on a tall, narrow wooden pole, which doesn’t look comfy, nor secure, to me. Thank you Yvette – I’m glad you liked how I went into bravery from the brazen birds to the bravery of our service personnel we have lost. Though I have never had a family member or friend lose their life in a war, I feel that our war dead should be honored properly for giving their lives so that we are able to live our own lives.
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:0)
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Loved your narrative describing the ospreys’ efforts to frustrate you and the perfect pictures to go along with it! And I appreciated your the pictures of the local Memorial Day flags and remembrances, too. So many have sacrificed so much for us.
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Thank you Barbara, I am glad you liked this post. Those osprey were messing with me for sure and I wrote the post on Wednesday and scheduled it, then went back to this park Sunday since we are having three days of rain, beginning late Tuesday night. Yesterday, it was just the female next to the nest and it was windy once again, with her feathers lifting up. She looked a bit “snarly” and only looked my way a couple of times. The male was not around, although I saw it later as I was walking to the car. I’ve never lost any family or friends to war, but I do think that those who sacrificed their lives should be treated with honor and respect and remembered for their service in a somber way.
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With some good weather during the rest of the year, I’m sure you will hit your target! You always do! Lovely shots even if the subjects didn’t want to cooperate!
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I’m hoping I still reach my goal Kate, though the Winter and Spring have not been great for walking. Hopefully I catch up with only seven months to go. I’m not a fan of walking in the rain and I know some avid walkers who will walk, rain or shine. Perhaps I should change my mindset on that, but as I have told them, I took the bus for years and years to/from Downtown Detroit and there were days standing at a bus stop in the a.m. or p.m. in horrible weather. I said I’d never walk willingly in crummy weather again. I’m glad you liked the osprey shots – they were not cooperative at all and I know it was not just my imagination!
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Hopefully you won’t have to walk in the rain. I wouldn’t do that either. Summer and fall are good times to rack up the miles!
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I just can’t get into walking in the rain. A few walkers said to me years ago “it is great, you put up your umbrella, everything smells fresh and you walk.” Nope, it smells like worms and I come home and have to deal with wet clothing. It’s bad enough going out to shovel snow and you come in and snow has drenched your coat and is dripping from your coat hood, or hat – no thank you. We are finally getting some nice weather starting Sunday – sunny and warm (80s) … good, just no severe storms please.
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Wow, that’s a lot of tornados! We got home Sunday, but we could tell we’ve had a lot of rain because there’s still a lot of water sitting in the ditches and our grass is quite long and green. It’s very chilly here today. It’s only about 12 Celsius which is about maybe 45 Fahrenheit, I think. It does not feel like the end of May at all.
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Welcome back Susan – look at what you came home to! That is a lot of tornadoes for us and it is supposed to be higher than normal for many other states as well. I don’t like knowing that as the Summer heat spikes and volatile weather is not even here yet. We have been cold in the morning, not as cold as you though – wow! Today it got up to 70 which was nice. I’m fine with 70s … 80s gets to be too much.
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Those Osprey posed for you I think. They should put a Osprey cam up.
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Well Wayne, they made me laugh when they posed side-by-side on that dead branch, but yet they both looked sideways. I thought “please don’t crack the branch off and you fall to the ground and then I would feel guilty for you bolting from here and sitting on that dead branch!” I wonder why they don’t put an Osprey cam up – they don’t any type of cameras here that I’ve seen while at this park, nor do they mention it in their newsletters. Meanwhile Council Point Park gets more pitiful by the day – not a single bird came to see me and only one squirrel came over willingly this morning.
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put a suggestion in for one, all they could say is ,”no” and you may end up taking it on for there and other places!
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I do think that’s a great idea Wayne – I’ll send them an e-mail tomorrow and ask if they would consider it. I wonder if they would install it if there are already eggs in the nest? How far away can they be? I can’t tell if there are eggs as the nest is pretty high.
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No, they would never install the camera while the nesting season is on.
With eagles they do something like that a month after the young have flown away.
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Will the eagles and ospreys take note of the camera and try to peck at it? Is it that close to the nest Wayne? I was at Lake Erie Metropark yesterday and thought I’d look for Paul to ask about a web cam. I often see him on Sundays. He is an interpreter, but also the main person in charge of this Metropark, but I didn’t see him, so will write an e-mail instead.
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At first they will be curious I’m sure but they adjust very quickly to something benign.
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That’s good to know – I wonder why they never thought of it before?
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The memorial to the soldier who was in Pearl Harbor made me pause… as did the male osprey looking you dead in the eyes. I’d say both had a good idea of what it means to “protect”.
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I wondered if both those soldiers who had their “name tags” on flags were brothers, judging by the ages. I was thinking the Pearl Harbor serviceman saw action that day, but lived another twenty years. Sad either of them had to die. We have quite a few servicemen from our city on the memorial wall from all of the wars since WWI to date. No females though. That male osprey has a fierce devotion to its mate … it sits on that pole and looks all around then flies off. She doesn’t leave the nest too often – it’s high up, so no land predators, but no telling what is flying around and goes to the nest if it is unattended for too long.
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Osprey are so handsome!
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Yes, they are Linda – I’m lucky to be able to get so close to their platform nest to watch them and stand right beneath it – sometimes they build the platform nests out in the water or in the middle of a raggedy, tick-infested field.
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If the forecast is accurate, I think we may be turning the corner this week. We plan to plant tomatoes tomorrow since the nighttime temperatures should be in the high 40’s or higher. You did get some nice shots despite the uncooperative subjects. You have way more patience than I do.
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I think you’re right about that forecast Ruth … Dave Rexroth and Mike Taylor on WXYZ both say 80s for next week and lots of sun starting Sunday, after we deal with the pesky on-off rain. Thank you Ruth. I stand there waiting and watching and finally mutter to myself “it’s time to go.” Usually as I’m walking back from this location to get on the walking path, one or both of them will do a fly by. I know by the big shadow(s) overhead to look up. 🙂
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You have such a variety of birds there…..I’ve never seen an osprey….I doubt if we have them here at all. We don’t have any herons or egrets either. It must be all your parks!
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We have a lot of parks along shorelines which is probably why Joni – maybe your provincial parks would have them if they’re on the water. This is a great place for birdwatchers too and in the Fall, on the other side of this park, the raptors all migrate through from mid-September through December. They have official “counters” there, people logging in every raptor that passes through. I have seen a few hawks and the osprey, once a bald eagle, but they have types of hawks I’ve never seen or heard of. I am lucky to have so many places to see birds. Yesterday I returned here (I forgot to update the post – I had done it earlier in the week and just scheduled it at that time) and I saw a beautiful swan. It was fairly close to me, didn’t see me at all and it was nice to just watch this beautiful creature.
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I love the osprey shots! I was thinking of you in the last couple of days when I saw 3 young foxes in my backyard and when I got to within 5 feet of a woodpecker while I was cutting the grass.
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Thank you JP! I have some more osprey shots as I’ve been back there again (yesterday, but forgot to update the post as I wrote it last Wednesday). You are getting some great wildlife sightings. I was ecstatic to see one fox at this same metropark a few years ago – that was a first for me. I’ll bet they were cute, probably rough housing with one another like puppies would. I spent some time looking for a flicker woodpecker today – I could hear its odd call (sounds jungle-like to me) but could not find it. You are a magnet for wildlife. 🙂
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You and your ospreys are a duo! Great photo. Funny thing about this year’s Memorial Day, no one decorated beyond the usual flags. I don’t know if it was the weather or politics, but around here in this neighborhood it wasn’t celebrated.
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Yes, I am sure these ospreys taunt me Ally and I got the same treatment yesterday when I was at this park. (I forgot to update the post – I wrote it last Wednesday and this was a last-minute trip there.) They try to outsmart me. 🙂 Well I can’t say I saw anyone decorate around here either. People with larger houses used to have the vintage-looking bunting draped along their fence or their house. I saw none of that either this year. But they do have an annual parade in our city, always the week before Memorial Day and then they have a ceremony at the stone memorial where the deceased service personnel’s names are displayed, from WWI to date. It was still decorated today.
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I know what you mean about rain and storms. I’m looking forward to May being behind us. I’m sorry the ospreys weren’t more cooperative. But still, you got some very good photos of them. I love the flags. What a nice memorial.
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I have heard two weather forecasters say we are getting better weather after Sunday – hopefully it is just plain sunny, not heat spikes making it volatile. We have three days of rain to get through starting tomorrow. I’m glad you liked the osprey photos Rebecca. I keep going back hoping I don’t miss the babies peeking out of the nest. Last year, at this nest, I never saw offspring at all and when I went back in the Fall the family was gone. The same pair return to this platform every year so they hid those babies well. They do decorate the park nicely plus they have a parade with a ceremony to place different wreaths for each branch of the service where the war dead’s names are displayed.
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Lots to comment about here, Linda! Wow, crazy weather! I’m glad I don’t live in tornado country. I’m used to the threat of earthquakes and wildfires! I love seeing your ospreys! They do have a haughty look to them don’t they! Great pics!
We’re on our way home this week, driving through Utah, Idaho and Montana tomorrow. I saw my first cardinal in AZ, which I’m posting about tomorrow! My neighbor who checks on our house told me a cat destroyed the Phoebes nest and killed the babies. I’m devastated! Cats don’t come into our yard because of our dog. I found this out the day before my father’s service. 😪
Speaking of, we honored dad with a wonderful memorial service. We thank all the men and women who served. An honor guard played taps at his service. Not a dry eye in the house. I’ll share more about the trip and service soon. 🇺🇸
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Hi Terri, I never was a weather worrier until the “Green Storm” of July 16, 1980. If you Google it, there are articles with pictures. Our sky turned a strange color of green and then the derecho hit at 150 mph. Other states were hit too. Shelley (Quaint Revival) and I reminisced about it once as Wisconsin was also hit hard. Our house was fine, but the end of our street, the City had planted small trees along the median for almost two miles – they were all bent over to the ground.
I was at work in a high-rise office building and sat fairly close to the corner office that belonged to the senior partner. He was away on his annual sailing vacation in northern Canada which was lucky for him. The derecho blew in that morning and hit the corner windows on each side of his office with such force it blew everything out those two windows. There was shattered glass everywhere and the wind was whipping up what mementoes and paperwork that didn’t go out the window. He was in his 70s and had been in practice nearly 50 years and had lots of client memorabilia, not to mention he had traveled extensively and had a lot of mementoes on his brass shelves. Coincidentally, his office had just been recarpeted and the furniture, etc. put back the day before after being out in the hallway. He was devastated when he returned, but grateful he’d been away.
I’m sorry to hear about the Phoebe babies – how sad and yes, what timing to find out. A friend of mine monitored Robin babies, from eggs to 13 days (they fledge at 14 days) and a snake got the babies. She had sent me photos and I had posted them on my blog because we were amazed at quickly they grew from nestlings to full feathered babies.
I’ve been back and got the same attitude and haughty stare from that osprey pair. 🙂
That’s nice you had an honor guard playing taps at your dad’s service. Taps always makes me sad, that lone bugle. Where I took the photos they have a service after the parade and play taps for all our City’s war dead.
Have a safe trip as you work your way back home Terri.
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That’s some nasty weather you had! 😲 I guess you’ll have to revise your walking goal, unless you want to make up for lost time later on.
Those Ospreys sure were determined to be left alone! 😆 You certainly were patient and got some good shots, anyway.
Your Memorial Day services are similar to our Remembrance Day ones in November. Whatever day of the year it is, we should always honour and remember those who fought and sacrificed for our freedoms. My father was a career army officer and a Korean War vet who suffered from PTSD, so it means a lot to me on a personal level also.
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I hate this unsettled weather Debbie. Today the National Weather Service confirmed another tornado from the May 15th tornado outbreak – so now it is 12 tornadoes. We’ve been cooler, which is fine by me – no volatile weather at least, but these ever-present high winds on a daily basis and a lot of rain. Still I just deal with that and walk when I can, but all week they’ve been hyped up about how next week will be Summer-like. I thought “here we go with the bad storms” – sure enough, they’ll be storms Tuesday and Wednesday. No word yet if they will be dangerous storms or not.
Those Ospreys must be having a lot of photographers near them because last year I was there several times over the course of the Summer and often got shots of the two of them together and the male flying around the nest and returning with sticks. It wasn’t an off day as when I was there the other day, it was the same scenario.
When we first moved to the States, that first November 11th, we were puzzled as usually November 11th meant Remembrance Day and was a solemn occasion. Here on November 11th, you honor living veterans – they get discounts at restaurants. On Memorial Day, it is like Remembrance Day, to honor the dead. I know England has Remembrance Day as well on the 11th. A UK blogger I follow has taken pictures of The Tower of London with its trailing poppies that commemorates VE Day. It’s quite a sight from his photos.
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I like the pictures that you captured of the Ospreys…………………………..I have never seen any……………………..The quote by FDR……………………….is for me………………………….
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Thank you Ann Marie – it is fun watching them (even though they ignore me half the time or fly off). I liked that quote by FDR too. It is very meaningful.
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30 miles, was that in one day? That would explain the painful shin splints! I love that the osprey come back to the same nest every year. You have taken some wonderful shots of them. I bet they are calling you by name. Lol
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Oh Diane, I know I would be dead if I did that many, although people walk a lot of miles in the Breast Cancer Three-Day Event. I did six miles each of those days and it was too much. It was 30 miles roundtrip in the car. I did not make it very clear – sorry. I had shin splints one other time when it was a beautiful day in October and I walked too many miles and paid the price for it. That time I couldn’t go down the stairs due to the shin splints, so you’d have thought I’d have been smarter. 🙂 I’m glad you like the Osprey photos – I have been back twice now since then and saw those Ospreys which still had attitudes. You are right – they know me and should say “thank you for taking our photos!”
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