This post is #3 in a series about a walk in Dearborn taken September 10^th.  The January 25th post about the Rouge Gateway Trail, Fair Lane Estate and Jergen’s Meadow is here and my February 1^st post about Ford Field Park’s duck pond is here.

I made the most of this delightful weather day.  After all, who wouldn’t want to be out and about on such a sunny, pleasantly warm afternoon?  I had really missed my long nature outings.

After seeing the toad at Jergen’s Meadow, I continued on to Ford Lake – perhaps there were more photo ops there?  The two times I walked this trail in the Spring, it was all about the wildflowers, goslings and a cranky Heron who shunned me like I was a paparazza and evaded me repeatedly.

This walk was all about the birds.

There are 120 acres of natural spaces and multiple trails in this area, but I like Lakeside Trail best as it gets closer to the water.  I admit I had some trepidation about going on this trail, which is rather rustic and narrow in spots.  I had avoided many of my favorite woodsy venues, not only because of Summer’s oppressive heat, but due to the abundance of ticks.  After the Winter of 2024-2025, many experts weighed in on how the ticks should have died during the bitter cold temperatures, but they were all wrong. Surely they will die off in this current Winter!

I walked in the middle of the trail and was diligent about frequently checking for ticks. Lakeside Trail is wider in places, as much as eight or nine feet, but narrows down to about three feet in other places.  As you know I’ve been even more wary of ticks ever since discovering the tick on my ear in 2024.  Luckily it didn’t attach and I plucked it off my ear but kept it in an empty bottle in case I developed any issues.

I arrived at Ford Lake, but there was nothing remarkable to see except some early shades of Fall as seen in these reflections.

As I neared the beginning of the trail …

… I saw something new.  I follow the Environmental Interpretive Center on social media, so I knew what this wooden post was about.  It is used to position yourself in the exact same location to take a photograph on each visit and it would be handy if you are aiming to capture one shot of each of the four seasons.

If you look closely, you’ll see a dark speck near the knothole.  It was a Daddy Long Legs sunning itself.  As a person who suffers from arachnophobia, I’ll admit this long-legged arachnid is the ONLY spider I’d willingly approach. 

Would there be other critters on the trail today?

Just as I set out, the sun abruptly disappeared behind a cloud, so I wondered if that would put a kibosh on any reflection pictures, that is IF the water would even be clear for reflections.  The week before at Council Point Park , a bright-green sheen had stretched across the Ecorse Creek.

I saw this Great Blue Heron, also pictured up top.  Quickly I hid behind a tree to watch it – whew, it didn’t see me, as it would have spooked and taken off.  I watched the heron as it studied the water, scoping out any movement signaling a fish or frog that might be a potential lunch.  In my haste to evade the heron, there was a branch in my view, but even moving slightly would spook my feathered friend, so I stayed put.  The heron never caught a fish.

I moseyed along the trail and saw another Great Blue Heron – my lucky day!

I mused that I must have taken 500+ photos already and there would be many more when just moments later I saw a Green Heron alight on a log in Ford Lake.  I was in a great place to photograph it, but could it not have smoothed those feathers sticking out of its otherwise perfect plumage?  😊

It stared ahead, those intense neon-green eyes glowing, not looking for a meal, but its brain, perhaps possessing a sixth sense (yes, herons, like humans, possess five senses, some more specialized than others), made it suddenly turn around and it glared at me then flew away. 

But all was not lost for this hapless photographer, as I got a couple more shots with a nice reflection of it, fittingly in the green water.

The Green Heron sighting made my day and I’d have been content if I saw no more critters, although a deer or turkey passing by would have made me smile too.

There was a lone Canada Goose and I almost hesitated taking its picture after my windfall of heron pics, then I chastised myself for thinking that way.

This male Mallard in the muck and mire and surrounded by feathers was tired.  Like so many other ducks, it was molting and, it decided since it was moored on a fallen log in this marshy area, nowhere near me, that it was safe, so it alternately snoozed …

… and then opened its sleepy eyes to see if was still there.

The water had a green sheen, yes, but it was Duckweed, more than algae.

There were a ton of turtles sunning on various fallen logs, most of them on the opposite shoreline.  But these Painted Turtles were close to me, so I was able to get not only photos of them, but their near-perfect reflections as well.

The last time I was here there were lots of wildflowers, but this time, I only saw some Yellow Ironweed, a/k/a Wingstem.

I have been visiting this venue for about three years now and I’ve never seen so many different birds on one outing, so it was indeed my lucky day.

Once I left the trail that runs parallel to Ford Lake, I walked through a woodsy area before reaching the Environmental Interpretive Center (“EIC”).  There had been no further critter encounters and the birdfeeders were empty, so no woodpeckers or jays were hanging around.

I stopped to admire these Sawtooth Sunflowers in front of the EIC, which turns 25 years old in 2026.

I paused at the bee hotel and found no bees here, so I guess they were off seeking pollen.

I had one more stop to make, based on this post …

… and I was eager to see these sculptures and get some close-ups of them.

I was happy to meet the acquaintance of this metal turkey since the Wild Turkey family members were MIA today.

I was still feeling good about the dragonfly photos I’d captured just the day before at Lake Erie Metropark, but I was curious about a metal version of a dragonfly.

Did you have a favorite as to Laura’s two sculptures? I preferred the Wild Turkey.

Having checked out the sculptures I was ready to walk down Fair Lane Drive and head back to the car.  Across the street at University of Michigan-Dearborn campus, students were bustling about, in the newly minted school year.

I stopped to photograph this Hedge Apple, a product of an Osage Orange bush.  It was in the middle of the sidewalk and as big as my hand. 

It was a full day and I came home a bit weary as it was 77F (25C) by the time I got back to the car, hungry and tired … but a good tired.

Terri’s Sunday Stills Monthly Color Challenge is Amethyst.  I will touch on that subject briefly next Saturday, February 14^th when I post a tribute to my late mother on what would have been her 100^th birthday. I will also have a flower post for this week’s Wordless Wednesday to add to Terri’s Flower Hour.