The first day of Summer officially arrives on Sunday, June 21st, BUT, so does Father’s Day and I would be remiss in not giving a nod to all the fathers out there on their special day, (even if some of them are fathers with feathers and they waddle and have webbed feet).

So, I hope you like geese as you’ll see more of them next week. 🙂

Here in Southeast Michigan, just like some of you, we had a mini heat wave in mid-May, with a few days in the 90s fueling severe weather …

… and, while I wasn’t longing for Winter, (if I ever do, please feel my forehead), I sure was wishing we could just kind of ease into Spring like we used to do. All that torrential rain, not only put the kibosh on my walking regimen, but it caused the grass to grow like crazy and suddenly everything was green.

When that weather whiplash subsided, in late May/early June we had 12 days in a row of perfectly glorious weather, blue skies, coolish temps and low humidity. It was picture-perfect, so I scrambled to get outside and walk and take photos because inevitably the effects of this Super El Niño we will be having this Summer will not be great for long walks in large parks. We had a preview of such coming attractions last week when we zoomed to the 90s with “real feels” of 100F in between severe weather. If not for several torrential rains that accompanied that severe weather, our lush green grass would look brown and crispy!

Time is zooming by too fast sometimes – on June 21st we begin our slow crawl toward Winter with shorter days. Wow – it seems like just a handful of months before, I was ecstatic to get out of the house for a few Winter walks as you will see below when I rewind to February.

Finally, there was a respite from the wintry weather.

After weeks of snowy and icy roads, brutally cold temps and, 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 13^th, I made a quick pit stop there, then devoted the rest of the morning/early afternoon to visiting two venues along the Detroit River.   

Just one week before, according to several sites with weather cameras that I follow, the entire Detroit River was still iced over, so I was hopeful to get some fun ice floe photos at Dingell Park just as I did on March 13, 2025.  On that day there were waterfowl gliding along while 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 arrived at Dingell Park, the first stop on my mission. 

My mission was my official bird count for the Great American Backyard Bird Count, something I participate in every mid-February. I did three “bird counts” over the four-day counting period, one at Bishop Park, one at Council Point Park and this one here at Dingell Park along the Detroit River.

Our Southeast Michigan weather had been all backward and topsy-turvy since our first snowfall in early November. The weather, like this pole light on the Dingell Park Boardwalk, just wasn’t right.

Even though the wind was relatively calm when I left the house, a stiff breeze was blowing.

I didn’t care so much about the breeze – I wasn’t going to tumble into the brink as there are guardrails. I was just happy to be out and about and clicking away, even though at a glance, I knew this venue’s count would not fare so well because there were just too many birds, most which were too far away or on the move.

Unbelievably, there was minimal ice near the Boardwalk, just way across the River, much farther than my camera lens could handle.  Well, that was unfortunate as I could see many swans, seagulls and ducks milling about, too numerous to photograph, let alone count.

I first headed to the pavilion area, which, unlike the Boardwalk, was salted and snow-and-ice-free. I was hoping to see waterfowl near the cove-like area. Nope, nothing to see here except the frozen Detroit River, the only large area of ice nearby.

Well, I wished these geese were closer, but they had apparently strayed from the frozen area to the open waters, close enough to count, but too far away for close-up shots.

As I stepped away from the pavilion I turned around when I heard a voice … there had been no one here when I arrived a few minutes earlier. A man hurried over with a flyer in his hand. I recognized him immediately from social media and the news. His son, Tyler Bojanowski, had gone missing; he seemed to have vanished into thin air, his truck abandoned four miles away and his passport found in the pavilion area at Dingell Park a few hours later. He started to show me the flyer and I told him I knew the story and I was sorry but knew nothing of Tyler’s whereabouts. For most of the time I was out and about on this day, the Coast Guard helicopters made a constant hum in their search for Tyler. For nearly two months this story made local and national news while volunteers and search parties scoured the area looking for Tyler and finally his body was recovered on March 30th, once the ice melted, near a dock not far from Dingell Park.

I started walking over to the Boardwalk where the snow was past my ankle-high hiking boots, all of it crunchy, ice-laden and slick.  The Ring-billed Seagulls were grouped on ice floes across the River. Using my binoculars I could tell there were a lot of Canvasback and Redhead (Ducks) paddling around the open waters. The many Mute Swans, while larger and easier to count sort of blended in with the ice.

Well, counting these three Mute Swans was easy-peasy, but how many ducks were lurking in the brutally cold water?

Thus, my notations for those species on my bird count are as you see below …

I saw a couple of juvenile Bald Eagles fishing from the ice and trained my binoculars on them to ensure they were indeed eagles – they were. The current was strong. Look how the water seems to appear turquoise in these shots.

I didn’t see the eagles catch any fish, but maybe there was a hole in the ice. I wanted to shout out a suggestion that standing closer to the edge of the ice might yield more fish, but that’s what their parents are for, right?

Surely there was a better place for these Canada Geese to have a snooze then on a frigid ice floe!

There were lots of Canada Geese in the water near the Boardwalk and even that species count became a challenge when a huge group suddenly took flight, spooked by something, perhaps me – it was hard to tell.

They were fitful and loud, some flying over to the ice floe near the cove, but evidently the others were hungry and didn’t go far, just plopping, one by one out of the sky and onto the Boardwalk.

There were scant patches of grass between the icy areas of snow on the Boardwalk – perhaps this delighted the geese, but for this human, the snow was crunchy, icy and dicey, so I picked my way along the Boardwalk, high-stepping over goose poop and I decided to move to the grass for easier walking, but, I was met with disapproving looks and a few pink tongues hissing at me between mouthfuls of grass, so I scooted back over to the Boardwalk. Evidently, pickin’s were slim here unless you liked nibbling grass through the snow and this human was an annoyance!

I’m sure their tender tootsies didn’t enjoy traipsing through the snow for a meager bite to eat either.

I didn’t stay long and was rewarded with better results and close-ups of Canvasbacks and Redheads, a pair of Mute Swans, plus some cooperative and photogenic Seagulls when I drove 2.5 miles (4 km.) down the road to Bishop Park. If you missed that post, you can find it here.

I am joining Terri’s Monthly Color Challenge: Evergreen and Dark Green and Pepper’s One Step at a Time.