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 
Beautiful capture the Birds. I like.
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Thank you Raj, I’m glad you like them.
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Most welcome ,Linda
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It’s even too hot for the birds to fly!
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Oh I agree with you about this Summer JP. I think the birds are all hanging out at the birdbath or the sprinkler to cool off these days. This one was pretty lively – its long legs make it go like the wind and puts me to shame. 🙂
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What a pretty bird
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I agree – they are striking looking with their plumage Brian. They have long legs and walk very fast … many times I’ve chased after one to get photos and it “outruns” me and I have long legs too! This one paused to catch its breath a few times or I would not have had so many shots.
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Or paused to tease you
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Ha ha – that could be too. This one decided it was time to be a “star”. I have a pair of Mallard ducks that seem to pose on command. I took lost of photos of them last year and still have one set of 2024 Summer pics there I’ve not used. I’ve not been on that trail this year – we have an overabundance of ticks this year and the ER docs say they’re swamped with people with tick bites. So I’ll stay off the rustic trails for a while. Plus we had torrential rain all day today, plus most of Thursday, so they’d be muddy anyway.
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You don’t want ticks
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No, I’m staying on the asphalt paths for the remainder of this growing season … not worth the chance. I had one on my ear last Summer and luckily it didn’t attach.
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Maybe walking takes less energy than flying.
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You know that makes sense. They crack me up as they walk faster than I do. And they do fly, but I see them on the ground more, walking all over the place with those long legs. 🙂
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I love kildeer. There’s a couple pair of them over at our library. They make such a fuss when you walk too close to their nest or little ones. And the babies are soooooo cute! Little fluff balls running around.
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I think they are beautiful birds, so pretty. I was lucky to get some photos of this one as it kept walking around in the parking lot and didn’t fly off. I was at the International Wildlife Refuge back on Earth Day and had that experience of the Mama Killdeer trying to distract me from her babies. I went back a few weeks later, but was not lucky enough to see any chicks, which was amazing as there were about six nests in one field at the Refuge at the time. The rangers had marked them with orange flags so no one stepped on them by accident.
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I guess the moms and babies weren’t bothered by orange flags waving around over their heads!
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I guess not – they were tall flags and the Killdeer had nests all over the area. I was glad they posted about it on their Facebook site as I went there a few days later to see the nests. It is a wide open area, just grass … it’s odd the Killdeer nest that way!
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Very pretty kildeer pictures. Was this bird running to try to lure you away from his/her nest?
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I think Killdeer are very striking looking too Laurie. No, this Killdeer was in a parking lot and running around. I was surprised it didn’t take flight like they usually do, but it was walking very quickly. I was at DNR Pointe Mouillee Headquarters which was basically a parking lot that went to the water’s edge, so no grass, but I did look around to see if there was a nest, even though it didn’t do its feigning a broken wing routine.
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Beautiful bird. Strong looking legs!
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Yes, I think they are very striking looking Ally. Those long, strong legs help them to walk very fast. If you ever see them walking, I swear they can cross a parking lot or grassy area more quickly than I can.
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😅😂 His legs kinda look like mine when I’m wearing pajamas and muck boots to chase my donkey 🫏
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Ha ha – LaShelle, those Killdeer have the longest legs and can they walk fast, much faster than me and I’ve got long legs too!
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He’s cute! I just had that song Saturday night fever and John Travolta walking down the street come into my head when I saw the first photo lol I don’t know why, I cannot explain my thoughts lol
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I think they are cute birds too Susan and yes, it was walking faster than me with those very long strides they take. 🙂 Ha ha – now I “get” this comment about John Travolta because this bird stops and starts, then takes off walking again. Coincidentally I just saw the opening part of Saturday Night Fever on social media not long ago – they said it was the longest opening part in a movie with nothing happening. I had forgotten about how John Travolta was doing that very long walk, eating pizza and went to buy a shirt, all along the way to work.
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Striking bird! 😀 Your knowledge of the various breeds is excellent and I learn a lot here. Definitely too hot to be taking long walks, these days. Stay cool! 🪭
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I think they are beautiful too Debbie. Thank you for saying that and I’m happy to share what I learn on my walks. The Killdeer was one of the first birds I learned about when going to the bigger parks. They have long legs and walk very quickly and if you are near them, they seem to walk more often than take flight. It is comical to watch sometimes. Yes, my walks have dwindled due to this extreme heat and humidity … it will cool off after tomorrow for us, but first we need to get through rain and storms, then it cools down for four days – 80F and low humidity which will be very welcome.
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When they are raising young they definitely get lots of steps in.
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Yes, just like human moms do!!
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Such a very beautiful species, but i sure do not like the name used for it by people.
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I think they are beautiful too Tom – such striking plumage and they have those long legs and run like the wind. They seem to walk quickly, rather than take flight. I wonder who would give them such a name too. After I wrote this last line, I Googled and learned that the name “Killdeer” is because their call sounds like they are saying “kill deer” … I have heard their call many times and recognize it as it is different, but I don’t think it sounds like that at all.
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Funny but sad, Linda! I love walking too, but lately my knees aren’t having it. Great shots of the killdeer!
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Thanks Terri – I think they are beautiful birds and they move like the wind. I was lucky this one just marched back and forth across a parking lot and I could get a few shots. My knees don’t work like they did years ago either and even though walking is good for you, I am not limber and feel it in my knees the most!
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cute little guy! They eat ticks btw!
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I think so too Wayne – very striking coloring. Their legs are so long and they walk so fast … well, if they eat ticks, I wouldn’t mind one as a pet to take along with me when I walk. How many miles could two, long-legged walkers get in I wonder?
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Train one and call her “Twiggy”!
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I like that idea and I like the name too!
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You got competition! This little one looks determined.
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Yes, I know Esther and it is scary! 🙂 The Killdeer go like the wind on those long legs. I’ve got long legs too, but they have me beat!
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Aren’t kildeer amazing. They really get riled if you get close to their nests, and yet, they put their nests in the middle of our driveway! LOL They can have their steps. Mine are longer, LOL! They need to make tiny Apple watches for them. 🙂 xxx thanks for visiting Story Chat this week. 🙂
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Ha ha – yes Marsha, their long legs do go pretty fast, almost as fast as me with my long legs! My walking regimen has taken a hit due to our extreme heat and humidity this Summer. I did get to see the Killdeer defending the nest and feigning the broken wing. I was at a wildlife refuge in April and the rangers staked out about six Killdeer nests with orange flags so no one would step on the nests/eggs. I wanted to take pictures and I was not THAT close. Mom (or Dad) flew down and got pretty dramatic to get me to leave. 🙂 You are very welcome! P.S. – Thank you for the mention. Note to self: Check SPAM before Comments. 🙂
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Here is a post that I updated just for you that I posted 11 years ago. I was so amazed at their drama. https://alwayswrite.blog/2013/05/30/speaking-of-bird-eggs/
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Hi Marsha – thank you for sharing that post with me. I am guessing comments were closed or I would have left a comment on the post. You had some great up-close photos. My photos of the Killdeer feigning a broken wing were from Earth Day this year. I used them as part of a Mother’s Day post this year. I’ll give you the link, but you have to scroll 2/3rds of the way down to see the anxious mom/dad. In fact, I was thinking of using my actual Earth Day walk for Terri’s Challenge next week (tan/peach) – tan will work as it is the color of the Killdeer eggs. There were six nests filled with eggs that day. I’m sorry your Killdeer eggs didn’t hatch. A fellow blogger posted a similar story how the Killdeer put the nest in the gravel driveway and they had to be careful they didn’t run over it. But the chicks hatched and were running all over their produce garden. 🙂
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Linda, this was such a fun post. Your pictures have so much personality, as does the narrative. It’s fun that we have that in common. I think I will post this for Terri’s challenge, too. It is old, but I updated the pictures, which for some reason had gone away. Wow, six nests is a lot. I hope I will see the little chicks in that other posts eventually. I never got to see any chicks We lived out in the country. Our neighbor had 60 feral cats on her 2.5 acres. We had adopted about five or six – maybe more – they didn’t all make it. So we didn’t have much wildlife. No squirrels, moles, gophers, baby birds, snakes. Cats can be pretty helpful to have around. Now, our little (huge) Moji is an inside cat diva as you can see from my pictures. But she still loves to watch birdies. (as she calls them) She makes little tweet noises with her mouth puffed out like someone whistling. It’s hilarious to watch. 🙂 xxx
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I’m glad you liked the post Marsha. I still have the actual walking portion posts I need to do. I thought it would be fun to highlight the three “moms” for Mother’s Day. I have written about the Heritage Park goose the last three years. She probably knows me by now and her mate likely does too. I have pictures of those goslings which I’ve not written about yet – they are always the first at this park to have a family every year so it is easy to find the goslings. They were very cute and I took the pics back in early May I believe. I already wrote on the goslings from the Ford Estate. I have cherry picked some of my posts this year, making them hybrid (for lack of a different term) and mixing and matching portions. That was not intended, but a different spin, rather than strictly “I went on this walk and saw this” and it may be to my advantage as I have not walked as much this year, let alone with the camera. I was disappointed that our brief cool spell the last three days was supposed to be picture perfect, but our wildfire smoke was so bad, the weather folks didn’t recommend being out in it. I would have just masked up, but worried about the camera, so I didn’t get out. We’re back into the excessive heat in a few days and it will last a while. Ugh.
My friend in New York has sheltered and fed feral cats for years. She lives in a little village called Honeoye Falls and lives near a wooded area. Not only does she get deer and racoons in her backyard, but also the same feral cat brings each new litter to Carol’s house to eat and drink. In Winter, she has wooden shelter boxes with battery-operated warming pads and straw and heated dishes … why would they go anywhere else? She used to have three cats that would watch out the window at the ferals … the three of them would park themselves in a row – Cat TV. 🙂 They are all gone now, so she just treats the ferals as she would a pet, trapping them if one is ill and taking it to the Feral Cat Society. She says she needs to trap Mama Cat to get her spayed … she’s been saying that for years, but I think she enjoys having them around the last 10 years or so.
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She sounds like our neighbor where we used to live. Every feral cat had a name – all 60 of them when we left. I’m tempted to go visit, but I know I will bring home one or two kittens. 🙂 Your friend sounds like a lovely person. It also sounds like you’ve got a lot of blogging posts planned ahead. I’ll look forward to seeing them. 🙂 xxx
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Wow – 60 cats and knowing them all by name! That sure tops my friend Carol – she looks like a slacker now. 🙂 I am not sure how many feral cats she has now, or through the years, but she does fret about them in Winter and monitors which of them come to eat/drink daily. She lives near Rochester, New York and they get a lot of snow there. She once had someone drop off a cute tuxedo kitten on her front porch. The person rang the bell and said someone dropped it off on his porch and he didn’t know what to do with it, so he took it to her. She posted on Facebook about the kitten, who was not doing well, having been out in the cold, but she named it Dewey, nursed it back to health and it was put up for adoption. An eight-year old girl became Dewey’s owner. I thought she’d keep it – it was very cute and I did a post about it. Today the Detroit area was the worst area in the WORLD for wildfire smoke. I did not walk, but instead went through all my pictures and all the drafts I’ve written that I’ve not posted about yet and updated my grid. I keep a grid so I can keep it straight and when Terri has a Challenge, I can usually pull from my posts. Thankfully I have some left over from 2024 and earlier this Spring before the bad weather and tick explosion happened. I hope you are not disappointed. 🙂
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Linda, you are too sweet. We blog and read and look at blogs because we love doing it. When it becomes a chore, we have to back off. Life gets in the way, as it should. I don’t read all the blog posts of all my friends. I wish I was a fast enough reader to be able to do that and to write wonderful comments like yours, too, but I can’t do that most of the time. No one can. There are too many of us. So we all have to cut each other a lot of slack. Your wildfires sound awful. Normally we have that distinction in California. We can actually see the mountains, which is very unusual at this time of the year.
I hope Dewey has found his forever home. We are tempted to adopt another kitten to keep our cat and dog playful. The problem, other than having to care for them, is that they live for 20 years or more sometimes. One adoption center wouldn’t even let some friends of our adopt a kitten because of their age. They went to a different adoption center and got two. I think they probably debated about Goldie when we adopted her a year and a half ago. It kind of shocked me, but just looking at numbers, I get it. 🙂
Have a great week, Linda, and thanks for all your lovely conversation.
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Thank you Marsha. It does get to be a lot sometimes doesn’t it? I re-aligned my day the beginning of the year, as part of a New Year’s resolution, re-allocating time for different hobbies, in addition to walking, which I guess is a hobby too. It’s easy to say “I’ll spend three to four hours every day associated with blogging, but it doesn’t always work out that way.” It’s different on days when I post, although Wednesdays not so much as it’s just a Wordless Wednesday post. Adjustments – we make them all the time, going with the flow, adapting for everything anymore. I don’t know how people keep up who follow more people or get more comments than I do. When I was still working, I was 14 days behind in Reader once, then we had an ice storm and I had no internet for four days. It took me weeks to finally catch up. I hope that never happens again.
I know my friend Carol checked and Dewey was doing fine with the little girl – that was back in 2014. She likewise has made the tough decision not to get any more pets. She is 70 and has some health issues and worries a pet might outlive her.
I’ve enjoyed our conversation too Marsha. This afternoon I did my post for Sunday – way too many photos, but …. Terri will scratch her head and say “what a coincidence – Marsha and Linda both did a post about Killdeer nests!”
You have a great week as well.
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LOL! I’d better hide our conversations, or she might get a whiff! 🙂 LOL
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Yes, better do that Marsha! 🙂
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Pingback: Story Chat Digest: July Poetry – Marsha Ingrao – Always Write
They move so fast I don’t know if I ever saw them up close, what a pretty bird! Those are good pictures and caption Linda.
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Thank you Diane! I think Killdeer are very pretty birds and they do like to walk fast. They will fly too, if humans get too close, but more often I see them walking very fast on those long legs. This one kept walking across a parking lot as I watched them, so who was the walker and who was the stalker here anyway? I was standing in place taking photos of it walking! 🙂
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Kindred spirits, you and killdeer need to keep walking! Beautiful pictures!
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Thanks Barbara! I know that you like Killdeer too. Yes, we are kindred spirits, but the Killdeer needs to slow down so I can catch up step-wise. 🙂
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these little beauties do scurry along and so that Is why I liked the photos – get to see details I do not always get to see – and of course it is fun that they got more steps than you
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Those Killdeer do run like the wind and are cute. I need to have one as a walking partner to inspire me so I can get more miles in these days. I fully intended to drive to a bigger park today, but the humidity was 93% and it was already 75 degrees at 8:00 a.m., so I decided to pass. Tomorrow and Sunday will likely be the same. I am sure you are as sick of the heat as I am. I am riding my exercise bike downstairs to make up for lack of steps until it gets cooler.
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whew – so glad you have an exercise bike to make up for the lack of steps. I just got a rebounder and I am so glad I finally got one – really love it –
oh and our last few walks were not so bad – and after watching a few Dog Whisperer episodes in July, we have been walking the dogs every day again – eve if just down the block (about 1/3 mile) and back (1/3) – and I am amazed how even that little bit is so good for them – and we go way later on the hot days – anyhow, maybe next week you can get some walks in!
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I have never tried a rebounder Yvette – I hear that is good exercise and healthy for you. It was very hot today and tomorrow, so I have been working in the house all day, until a short time ago. It was a shame it was so humid this weekend as we had good air quality today and for tomorrow, but I decided it was a wee bit too hot and humid. At 8:15 p.m., it is still 87 degrees. I am sure your dogs miss their walks, even in hot weather. When I walked in the neighborhood before discovering Council Point Park there was a woman used to walk her two English Bulldogs every morning. I always stopped to chat with her as they had multiple “sit-downs” and she always carried portable bowls and some bottled water for them. I know she wasn’t getting much out of the walk, nor were they really, as they took so many breaks. 🙂
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Hi Linda – imagining the lady and her bulldogs walking – and trying to walk in the heat – brought a huge smile.
And oh my goodness – the rebounder has been only in use for a few days and I LOVE IT!
Did I mention that Marsha has been using one and her mention of it was my final straw in ordering mine – finally.
And I went with a 40inch without the bar – because it was mostly assembled except for the legs – and I am not in the mood for assembling bungee cords – etc –
but also – I just wanted to see if I liked it.
and I do – so much – in just three days with bouncing and low jumps – my entire body has beenfitted and I also take these huge deep breaths – naturally – and all that deep breathing has huge perks.
I will share more later- but I do not think I need one with the bar (they have these cool looking 50 inch rebounders with bars) but I really like the one I have – and I highly recommend every home has one – hahah
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That sounds like good exercise and fun at the same time. I once had a stair stepper. I bought it because I had belonged to Elaine Powers, which was a gym in the 80s. I joined with two coworkers who lived in the area and we went out for dinner afterward (negating the exercise I think). 🙂 I liked the stairstepper best. But Elaine Powers went out of business, so I bought a portable stair stepper – it was compact, but had bellows under the step portion. It was very loud, so loud, it was nerve-wracking, so I had to take it back.
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wow – you had a home stair stepper – I have not seen too many of those in home models (but see the bikes and treadmills) and too bad you had to take it back because of how loud it was.
Also, used the rebounder a lot over the weekend and can really feel the core strengthening. There also seems to be many options – can lightly bounce, jump a little – and then I already worked up to higher jumps. Gosh it has been such a workout treat –
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Yvette, the bellows home stair stepper was long before internet reviews about products (not that you can always trust those reviews …), but I am sure someone would have remarked on the noise saying it was a dealbreaker. It was very stable and all, just each time you pressed down on the step, the noise was deafening. I used it in the basement and it reverberated throughout the house. The rebounder sounds like fun and good exercise – a great combo!
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🙂xxx
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I love to watch killdeer and the blur of their little legs as they walk.
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Yes, they run like the wind. I was lucky this one stopped to catch its breath giving me a chance to photograph it!
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