Finally the wintry weather took a hike and so did I.
After weeks of snowy and icy roads, brutally cold temps, having muddled through Winter with a disgruntled mindset directed toward Mother Nature, I seized the day when conditions finally improved, laced up my lug-soled boots and got out with the camera.
Having re-acquainted myself with my furry and feathered friends at Council Point Park the day before, on this Friday the 13th, I made a quick pit stop there, then devoted the rest of the afternoon to visiting two venues along the Detroit River. Just one week before, according to several weather site webcams, the entire Detroit River was still iced over, so I was hopeful to get some fun ice floe photos, just as I did on March 13, 2025, when there were waterfowl gliding along, perched on ice floes that sparkled as much as the water due to the sun’s intense rays that day. I even came home with a sunburn.
So I stopped at Dingell Park first. Unbelievably there was minimal ice, except way across the River, much farther than my lens could handle. Well, that was unfortunate as I could see many swans, seagulls and ducks, too numerous to photograph, let alone count, on the ice.
Count, you ask? You see my visit to the venue was twofold: get some fun photos for a post and participate in the Great Backyard Bird Count, which I’ve been doing for the last few years. It’s fun, it’s easy – you just devote 15 minutes’ time, anytime during a specific four-day period, to count birds, at any location, whether you remain in place, or are moving about. You count birds from each species, then submit your tally to the website. This year I did three bird counts, one which was mentioned in last week’s post.
At Dingell Park, the Boardwalk had not been plowed (likely since the first snowfall in November) and the snow was high, crunchy, ice-laden and dangerous. The pavilion and parking lot had been salted but that was all.
I picked my way along the Boardwalk, high-stepping over goose poop and icy spots, taking some photos, but then I just stayed at the pavilion, focusing on the many Canada geese that were waddling in the snow, paddling in the water or agitated about something, likely me, as they took flight. I’ll save those photos and Bird Count report for a “Dog Days of Summer” post and you’ll appreciate them to cool off, just as you enjoyed the summery pics in the middle of Winter.
I left and drove 2.5 miles (4 km.) down the road to Bishop Park.
Bishop Park was better with lots of birdies! *
Well I’ll clarify * … “birdies” being waterfowl and seabirds, but birdies nonetheless, even one or two with orange feet, your/my favorite! The Boardwalk had been heavily salted, a real plus after my last adventure.
I was the only person on the Boardwalk. Just like at Dingell Park, I could see lots of birds farther out. I follow a few local birders and the Detroit Audubon Society on social media, so I knew Canvasback Ducks were here and congregating in the Detroit River.
Seagulls never disappoint in my opinion.
Five Ring-billed Seagulls dotted the Boardwalk railing, allowing me to inch closer to them while taking photos. They were fairly calm until I crossed that invisible line, thus encroaching into their personal space and the hootin’ and hollerin’ began, this guy/gal in particular.
And then another gull joined in. The more the merrier, right?
Suddenly, for no reason at all, with a noise loud enough to wake the dead, a few of those flighty birds (pardon the pun) flew away in a huff. The two that remained were eyeing my every move. “Okay, have it your way” I told them. “See how many others on the Boardwalk want to take your photo!” (Easy for me to say since I was the only person on the Boardwalk that day.)
Interestingly, later, after I took at least 50 shots of two Mute Swans, as I strolled toward my car, one gull relented, seemingly with a change of heart, as it was calm, even posing sweetly. Was it jealous I had found other subjects to photograph? It’s all about seagull drama – someone has always got ruffled feathers and it is not necessarily caused by the wind.
Yonder, look at that!
I was prepared and brought along binoculars in case I needed them for counting and pressed them to my eyes – yes, that WAS a large paddle (group) of ducks, likely the Canvasback Ducks I’d seen on a local photographer’s Facebook site.
I could see blurs of white – seagulls, swans, but too numerous to count, let alone photograph.
Snow outlined the Detroit River, much like it had at Dingell Park. It would have been quite a sight had I made it here to see the solid ice cover. I’ve seen it before, waves frozen in place, then after a brief warm-up, heavy slabs of ice that have slammed against the shoreline.
Putting the binoculars down, I focused on what I could see under my nose, albeit a little bit too close to photograph, as there were waterfowl hugging the shoreline, just beneath the Boardwalk.
There was flurry of duck activity as a dozen ducks suddenly streamed away from the seawall where I stood; they headed toward the 300-foot (91 meters) fishing pier across from me. Though these ducks might look similar at a glance, I could see Canvasbacks and Redheads, the latter, a duck I have never seen before.
These are the Canvasback ducks …
… and this is a Redhead duck; unfortunately I only got one shot of this beauty.
There are always Mallards down at the River, so here’s a picture of a drake, not to be outdone by his copper-colored counterparts.
Behind me, eight Canada Geese grazed, happy to find some grass where the snow had melted. These are three of them.
My feet remained planted on the salt-encrusted sidewalk, scribbling down bird tallies, binoculars still slung around my neck, as was the camera, both tugging against my turtleneck sweater.
It was then I saw two Mute Swans, likely mates, paddling up close to the Boardwalk, way too close for good pictures. I bided my time, staying in place as one, then the other, gracefully paddled away from the seawall – they are such graceful creatures.
I liked the way this swan seemed to study me. 🙂
What a gorgeous profile they have!
Then one swan approached the ice …
… and began to explore that icy ledge beneath the Boardwalk, inching ever closer, even reaching beneath the ice, perhaps to nibble on any plant life that might have survived our brutal Winter. I was very close to them at this point.
Suddenly, the ice cracked and splintered in spots as one massive, webbed foot pushed against it and a split-second later, one swan climbed onto the ice. I hung over the Boardwalk railing to get these two photos; it was tricky for me to keep the railing out of the shot.
The scene reminded me of the day at Council Point Park, when the Mute Swan I nicknamed “The Ice Cutter” had pushed through the ice-covered Ecorse Creek using its bill as well as its feet to reach the shore. It climbed up clumsily, shaking ice from its feathers and mere feet away, it began preening, seemingly oblivious to me. I had never seen a swan out of the water and standing close to me, I was sure we were both the same height (5’ 9”/175 cm. tall). You can read about that adventure here.
But this Mute Swan had nowhere to go – physically, it was unable to climb up to the Boardwalk without taking flight. I watched as the pair scrounged for food, sometimes upside down with their feathery butts in the air.
I wanted a shot of these two beauties together, so I finished up the tally and walked over to the fishing pier. I still hoped I could hone in on those Canvasbacks and Redheads that had bolted for the pier when they saw me.
Well, that was a disappointment because the wooden pier had not been shoveled or salted. The lack of salt made sense – it would likely destroy the pier in no time. It may look snow covered here but trust me, this was hard ice and plenty of it. Had the trashcans not been there I’d have had solid footing near the railing, but I was not going to fall over the railing and land in the drink.
So, I stood at the entrance to the fishing pier and got this shot of Mr. and Mrs. Mute Swan and a few brave ducks which had escaped my eagle eye from my vantage point at the Boardwalk/railing.
Since Valentine’s Day was the next day, I wished these two Mute Swans would pose bill to bill, arching those graceful necks into a perfect heart. Well, that wasn’t meant to be, but I still had a camera card of photos, along with more tales to tell and my second bird count of the day was complete.
It was time to leave – that would make everyone here happy and less wary. As I walked along the Boardwalk, I saw this park bench with a moving message. There are several park benches at this venue that I’ve featured before in my posts, all with touching remembrances of loved ones.
It was good to get out and feel the warmth on my face and get a walk with the camera in tow, something that I had sorely missed.
Here’s my bird count tally:
Terri has no Photo Challenge this week.
Linda Schaub
WALKIN', WRITIN', WIT & WHIMSY 
Nice to see you have one sunshine. In the UK your Redhead duck is called a Poachard.
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Andy, it felt so good to get out in that sunshine after so much wintry weather. Three days out and about, walking with the camera, then a wintry mix and it got cold, more snow. We’re back to clear and dry for now, but cold. You often do have a similar species … their eyes are very intense!
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That WAS a beautiful weekend! Glad you got out. I LOVE your duck closeup photos. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a canvasback duck or a red headed duck. They are beautiful!
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Thanks Dawn – I’m glad you liked my duck shots. I’ll have one more, a Mallard in the snow, on Wednesday. Yes, that three days in a row, then Sunday was a wintry mix again. I think you took Penny for a walk and had pictures one of those days. I was excited to see the Redheads and Canvasbacks. I see local photographers posting FB pics from along the Detroit River, but they have really big lenses and can get far away shots of them. My first stop that day I saw two Juvenile Bald Eagles, but you have to squint to tell what they were. I will have two more posts from those outings down the line.
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Great shots, Linda. He color really pops after a long winter. 💕
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Thanks Pam! Yes, the ducks were so vibrant – we need those pops of color after dealing with Winter’s gloomy gray all these months.
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🤓
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It amazes me how waterfowl seem so comfortable in icy water that would kill we humans in short order. I love those ducks with the coppery-red heads!
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I am amazed too JP, even more so when they perch on the ice – surely there are better places to gather than on the ice?! Those ducks’ heads really stood out against the still-blah Winter colors. They look so similar until you get a closer look.
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Beautiful shots. No squirrels today but lots of waterfowl.
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Thanks Kate! It was a great day for me at this small park. I wished I’d been able to get there earlier with more ice, but no doubt we’ll have a freeze-over of the Detroit River next year – hopefully not again this year. Most of the squirrels hang out in the neighborhoods, where there are older, stately houses with big trees and probably lots of kindly souls feeding them.
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Wonderful sightings and photos, Linda! I love ducks, of course, but so happy you saw and shared a Redhead! Fab close-ups and great day adventuring and birding!
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Thanks Donna! What a great day this was, part two of two stops at the Detroit River and my first Redhead which was exciting. I compiled and scheduled this post a couple of weeks ago, before our chat about eBird counts. So, I was surprised when I re-read it today to see I submitted my count, as well as the Dingell Park count earlier, at GBBC. I don’t know why I did the Valentine’s Day Count at eBird, but at least I did get it done. I’ll just use eBird exclusively now.
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What a beautiful swan portrait. I love how you caught the water dripping from her beak. And the gull pictures are amazing, especially the first one! Aren’t they fun to photograph? I remember how they seemed to love posing and showing off their different personalities. Looks like you had a fun photo shoot. But I wonder, how can anything be “a little bit too close to photograph,” as you said. Such beautiful close ups of the ducks and swans. I love all the white on white. What enchanted moments you captured there. And you did very well keeping the railing out of the shots. So glad you didn’t fall in.
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Thank you Barbara – it was a great day down at the Detroit River! Next Sunday’s post is all about seagulls. It was from last Fall, when I stopped at this same venue on September 11th. The Boardwalk here has an area beneath it where the waterfowl sit sometimes. I can’t hang over the wooden railing – for one reason, it is really poop spattered from the seagulls and another reason is because then I’m too close to the birds and all I get is their backs and it’s blurry. So I have to wait until they see me and zoom out “to safety”. Also the lens picks up the top of the railing and blurs the bottom of the photo. Those swans were just gorgeous and I really wanted to have at least one shot of them together. I was reluctant to walk the fishing pier as it was shiny, uneven ice and not enough room to scoot sideways due to the garbage cans. You’d think they would shovel it, but it is 300 feet long. I was glad I could see the pair from the entrance to the pier.
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Lots of beautiful waterfowl photos, Linda! 👌 I wasn’t familiar with canvas back or red headed ducks. So unique! 😎 Swans are majestic creatures and very photogenic. Lovely to see! Nice shots of the Canada Geese, but the goose poop everywhere can be annoying. 😝 Too bad they don’t fly south for the winter! 😆 I love the message on the memorial bench! 💖
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Thanks Debbie! It was a great day down at the Detroit River. My stop before was nice for picture-taking too, but mostly involved geese and a lot of snow, which I’ll save for the heat of Summer when we’ll appreciate getting cooled off by photos. I had seen the Canvasback ducks before, just once or twice, but this was nice seeing the Redheads. The two ducks look similar except their head shape and bill. I always am happy to see Swans, especially this close up. I took a lot of photos. The goose poop is terrible and even worse when the geese have a passel of goslings with them. Step carefully and check the soles of your shoes before leaving in case you need to scrape them off on a curb! I like the message on the bench too. I have another bench message for next Sunday when that post will be at the same venue, but back in September.
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Debbie – I’ve been in a long chat session with Malwarebytes tonight … I sent them multiple screenshots of my error messages when I try to access your site sometimes – not always. So, they had me do a log to see what the problem is. I told them they fixed the issue with Julia’s site when I whitelisted her too.
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Whatever their problem is, I hope they figure it out! I sent you a copy of my website’s Safety Certificate by email, so their claims are totally false.
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Thank you Debbie – I hope we can finally put this to rest. Thank you for the Safety Certificate. I was able to get on your site earlier tonight and comment as well. Sigh.
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Wow! What an amazing outing!
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It was a wonderful day Anne! So much to see down at the River!
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Linda, these were all wonderful captures. What a fantastic day you had. 😊
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Thank you Pepper! It was one of those days when everything seemed perfect after weeks and weeks of dealing with our Michigan weather and finally getting out with the camera on a stroll!
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Yay! The best part is . . . there’s more of those wonderful days to come. 😊
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That does fill my heart with joy Pepper.
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In the middle of that flock of birdies I got stuck on your comment about “5′-9”. Was it an illusion or can swans really stretch to that kind of height? Even if they can’t, I’m guessing they’re bigger than we think when they’re standing right in front of you.
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Dave, did you click into that post “The Ice-Cutter”? You can see how tall a Mute Swan is when it is out of the water and for that swan, its neck was stretched out as well while preening itself. We were practically eye to eye. I had a second encounter with a Mute Swan the same year when I was taking photos of a male and female in the Creek at Council Point Park. I was nowhere near them, but suddenly, I heard a snorting noise and the male swan came up the embankment after me. There was ice and snow all over and not great for walking. I panicked how I could escape it – I didn’t want to turn my back on it as it headed toward me, head down and angry. They have big feet and move fast! I planned to climb up onto a park bench to escape it, then suddenly it dawned on me to toss it a few peanuts I had left over from the squirrels. I did so and it stopped to eat them. I backed up and ran to the middle of the walking loop where it was plain snow and ran very quickly away from it before it chased me. They are huge. I had no idea just how big and powerful they were. Here is that post … go 2/3rds down and you’ll see as it chased me, but the better pic of its height is in “The Ice-Cutter”.
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Yes, I read “The Ice-Cutter” as well but the photo didn’t give me enough of the sense of scale. I had no idea swans are so aggressive! Glad to hear you escaped without harm. Clever move with the peanuts!
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Okay, I thought you had just read about the 5′ 9″ me being the same height as the swan. It was taller as it was preening so its neck was stretched out. I wish I could have shown it to scale versus me, but I was mesmerized to be that close to it. It was so intent on picking ice out of its feathers, I don’t think it even saw me. I was lucky with that mad swan – it came after me, snorting and hissing. I thought it was snorting because they go underwater to eat so had air in its nostrils, but I learned online later they snort when agitated. Whew! Always carry peanuts with you – they’re good in an animal emergency!
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I really was your lucky day! Gorgeous photos of the swan, ducks and gulls.
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Thank you Rebecca! It was great being up close to all of them. We had three nice days in mid-February and I made the most of those days after weeks and weeks of dealing with snow, ice and cold.
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Miss Linda……………………..they were the nicest close up of swans and red headed ducks and the mallards just so beautiful……………………….thank your I love your blogs because you know so much about our local birds and fowls……………………….I was at the Taylor Hospital on Telegraph when a furry squirrel jumped up on the window ledge and was eating very close to me and not afraid…………………………….someone must purposely put bird seed on all of the hospital window ledges………………………..I took pictures to send to you but on a text
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Thank you Ann Marie! It was a lucky day for me at Bishop Park with all the ducks and especially the beautiful swans. I had a great time taking photos. I am glad you are enjoying the blog as much as I enjoy writing and taking photos for it. That sounds nice, someone feeding that squirrel, giving not only joy to the squirrel, but to anyone who may be in the hospital looking out the window. I will look for your pictures. I just popped over to e-mail to see if they were there.
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Your photos of the swans are lovely. They are so elegant. It looks like you had a perfect Friday the 13th (including no slips on the ice).
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Thank you Janis! It was a great day to be down at the River and I was happy to be out after weeks and weeks of snow, ice and bitter cold. The beautiful swans and unique-looking waterfowl sure made up for it.
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That great amercian bird count is pretty amazing to be a part of and this was such a fun post.
That bird did seemed to study you!
also, that might be my favorite saying on a bench “It’s a great day to be alive.” That really was awesome to read.
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That swan was beautiful Yvette, staring at me, trying to think if I had a way to climb over the railing and hurt it or its mate. They are very mean if provoked. I had one chase me once, so I keep my distance. This bird count is such a great way to help keep track of wild birds. A fellow blogger and avid birder, Donna, lives in Maryland and told me she submits a daily bird count. I didn’t know you could do that. She takes some awesome bird shots.
This coming Sunday, I have another post, same venue, but last Fall. I was there on September 11th and took a photo of the memorial bench which inscription reads “Live each day as your last.” It was stirring. There are some fun memorial inscriptions too.
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Sounds like you did find a good day to be out and about and counting birds.
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Yes, we’ve had some nice weather days since then, but the landscape is blah, no snow and ice, which helped create a memorable day on the water. We’re in the dull-looking-end-of-Winter scenery now. In fact, when we had a one-day warm-up about 10 days ago, we had an air quality alert because the snow was melting so quickly, it was releasing a lot of dirt into the atmosphere. I had never heard of that – neither had the meteorologists I follow.
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Amazing photos of the swan, others too. The bird count sounds like fun.
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Thanks Monica – it was a great day for me, one of the few breaks we had to get out and actually enjoy a Winter’s day. I have been doing the bird count for about four or five years now and a fellow blogger/birder told me she submits a bird count almost daily. She lives in a high-migration area in Maryland and has amazing photos.
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The winter sunshine looks wonderful in the pics, Linda! Love the seagulls and their various postures and expressions. Glad you didn’t slip on all that ice. Lucky day for you!
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Thanks Terri! It was a great and lucky day, actually three days in a row where I got out and actually enjoyed the Winter, taking pictures in the still icy, snowy venues. I was careful, but the first venue I went to, I took some snow and ice pics and did a bird count and left right afterward – it was way too difficult to walk there. I’ll have more seagulls, a whole post of them this Sunday for “Seascapes” … it’s not technically a “sea”, but with the seagulls hovering overhead, it sure sounds and looks like it. “Seascapes” is about a walk back on September 11th.
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This was a great post, Linda. Beautiful pictures. I always forget about the bird count. We had a good Friday the 13th as well. The chickens started laying more and the bees were alive!
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Thank you Ruth! It was a great day to be out and about, three days in a row for me, to break up this long Winter. All the ice, snow and cold sure kept me from getting out and about as I usually do. We both had good Friday the 13ths. We have two more of them this year, one this month and in November.
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A good day out Linda! I enjoyed being along for the ride. I didn’t know there were different types of seagulls – ring-billed? I guess I’ve never noticed, or they fly away too quickly.
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Yes, it was a good day out Joni and it felt so good to be out and about again. We have several types of gulls in Michigan, but I only have seen the Ring-billed gulls. I will have a whole post of seagulls this Sunday, from back in September. I was the only one there that day too, so they were content to stand on one leg, walk back and forth and do some yoga-like poses. Sometimes I am lucky taking seagulls’ photos, until I get into their “personal space” and then they bolt. I saw a video on ABC news tonight about three deer in Detroit riding an ice floe on the Detroit River. I’ve never seen that before!
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The deer would be amazing to see. I wanted to get a photo of the eagles riding the ice floes but they weren’t cooperative that day!
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Hopefully we both get to see a deer riding the ice floe someday. I did see two eagles at Dingell Park, my first stop that same day, but they were far away, but they had something they caught and were eating it. The eagles go there to fish.
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Lovely photos as always.
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Thank you Linda – it was a great day to be out after staying put due to ice and bitter cold.
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We’re going to have a few days in the 80s this week. I am not ready.
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That’s way too early for that heat. I am not ready either. We will get to 71 on Monday and break a record. Unfortunately, the creepy crawlies will come to life!
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Wow Linda! That picture of the swans looks so cute and soft I want to touch it! The water is clear and no poop. What a great day out this was!
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Diane – they do look soft and fuzzy, especially their necks which always look plush to me. Unlike my picture last week with all the poop on the ice, this ice was not as bad where I could see it and amazingly, the Detroit River shoreline is very clear. At Dingell Park, you can see the rocks under the water and the duck’s feet paddling. The current is pretty strong here.
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I love the Canvasback and Red Headed duck photos ! They are so cool looking. The weather looked fabulous. Spring is coming, thankfully. It has been nice weather here this weekend. I actually saw people riding their bikes past my house. We still have snow though
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Thank you Susan! I was lucky to see those ducks as they’re only here in the Winter, so that was a treat for me. Yes, they are very striking-looking ducks aren’t they? We are having nice weather today, but in the western part of our state they had three tornadoes on Friday. That is about 150 miles from me and the devastation is just horrible – totally flattened towns, four dead and some people are still missing. We had two bad thunderstorms over the weekend, but that was it (thankfully). You did get a lot of snow – ours finally melted about a week ago when we had a one-day warm-up, but after this record-setting day tomorrow (71F/21C), we’re getting a little snow on Thursday!
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Wow I didn’t hear about the tornadoes. That’s so sad, I hope they can recover quickly. We still have snow where we live, but after the rain we are supposed to get tomorrow, maybe it will be completely gone.
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The devastation was horrible – I’m on edge thinking about this evening as it is more in the southern area where I am. A big tornado went through Indiana a few hours ago. The warm weather was nice, but I knew it would be trouble. We are going to have cold weather again Thursday and snow a couple of times … at this point, I’m grateful for that as it’s too early for severe weather storms. I long for normal weather days like we had for years and years!
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