Originally, I planned to entitle this post “Mayfly Mayhem” but I decided perhaps that was a poor choice and, besides, the mayhem would be momentary, only as to those creepy-looking, featherweight creatures called Mayflies and/or Fishflies.
Besides, it wasn’t like I didn’t know about the influx of Mayflies descending on the western shore of Lake Erie. Michigan Storm Chasers, one of many weather sites I follow, had posted about the Mayfly swarm on radar as to this area just days before.
So yes, it was inevitable I was bound to run into a few on this walk. Quite frankly I had forgotten about MSC’s post when I left that morning. It was sunny, bright, not too hot and I was just eager to get out of the house, give the car a good run, get a long walk under my belt and take some photos, so off I went.
But, having pulled into my parking space and exited the car door, a few Mayflies flitted away, having already glommed onto the side of the car, probably enamored by their reflection.
It’s difficult to get up-close photos of Mayflies when they land on you … zooming too much makes them blurry and, if they’re too close, you can’t detect those filmy wings with bodies that appear to be golden if the light hits them just right. I got this Mayfly photo a few years ago at Bishop Park. I was looking downward, the fanny pack and camera pouch in the background.
I had an agenda for the morning of June 19th. I thought a nice walk along Cove Point would be refreshing. Part of that stroll would take me along the rocky shoreline, then through a shady area, past the marina and ending up at the Osprey nest where I could gawk at the Osprey and their offspring and they could snarl back at me. Then a slow walk back to the car.
After battling and batting away a handful of Mayflies from the front of my shirt (and once again the fanny pack and camera pouch) …
… one alighted on my sleeve where I had turned up the cuff.
One nervy creature had the audacity to land right on the camera – eww! I plucked that Mayfly off, said “enough already” and then turned my attention to a row of Mute Swans that was far from the Lake Erie shoreline.
They were having a meetup of sorts, in a neat little row, some preening, some stationary. Hmm – must zoom in to get photos of them.
However, as I walked toward the shoreline, I saw so many Canada Geese, all different sizes/ages, that this greedily grabbed my attention. I put any swan pics on hold … after all, inevitably most images would be a white blur of birds since they were far away.
I ended up spending an hour wandering the Cove Point area, marveling at what had to be 60 to 75 geese. These are some of them; there were more beyond that rocky area that juts out into the water where you see the dead tree; those geese will be at the end of the post.
The trick would be to approach this group quietly to try and get shots of as many geese as possible. Sure, that might sound easy, BUT, if I raised the hackles of the “lookout goose” my own goose would be cooked as the expression goes as they’d all bolt at the same time.
Cautiously I approached the shoreline, taking baby steps, trying to limit my hand movements, pretty much deciding not to look down as Mayflies landed and clung to my clothing – eww.
Soon I realized there was still another challenge: the Canada Geese seemed to blend into the shoreline, those big boulders and trees that had fallen long ago, their bark stripped and trunks bleached and weathered. All the colors melded together and it was difficult to tell the geese from their dull-colored surroundings. As I zoomed in, I could see many grayish-colored goslings embedded in the boulders.
I craned my neck to see them all …
… knowing I wouldn’t have a leg to stand on once they saw me.
They were “chillaxing” …
… oblivious to humans. I was actually the only person there that morning and it was also unusual that there were no freighters or pleasure boats around, even on the horizon, to create a wake. Pure bliss for my geese friends.
That is, until the sentry goose that watches over the flock spotted me, the unwelcome intruder to their morning bliss.
That goose faced its brethren with a plan to “get outta Dodge – the paparazza has arrived!”
The instructions were given, the lead goose turned around and thus began a semi-orderly exodus, which I did my best to capture.
This fuzzy-looking gosling gazed at its siblings (above), reluctant to move along and give up a coveted sunning spot on a flat rock.
But, mom and dad must have said “get down here” as that gosling soon waddled down closer to shore, but obstinately it soon found another flat rock where it perched and preened.
Some of the geese began migrating over to the fallen, long-dead trees …
… while other geese still hugged the shoreline.
A few geese thought it might be great fun to mix and mingle with the swans …
… so how did that work out?
Well, not surprisingly, the swans were feeling fractious with the geese invading their personal space …
… so, why not take your frustrations out on another swan? Yikes!
By now the majority of geese from this area had dispersed and headed out too far to get good shots of them, so I meandered along Cove Point to the other rocky shoreline that jutted out, as mentioned above. I was hidden from their view so I was able to get some closeups, but they’re hardly distinguishable from the boulders.
The last two geese, just like the swans above, clearly needed an attitude adjustment. Well, don’t we all sometimes?!
I am joining Terri’s Sunday Stills Challenge: Animal of Bird of the Month and they’ll be another bird for Wordless Wednesday. I will also join Pepper’s #One step at a time hiking challenge.
Linda Schaub
I wish different groups of humans could get along as much as flocks of birds!
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I sure agree with you Wayne. I wish I could have shown all the geese I saw that morning – there were just too many of them. And, until I happened upon the scene, they were peaceful, content and enjoying one another’s company. I almost hated to disrupt that peace by letting them see me.
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That’s a lot of geese! And I think I prefer mayflies to cicadas.
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Yes there were JP and many more that weren’t in the photos. I hated to disrupt them by getting closer as I knew they would bolt. I agree – mayflies are featherweights if they land on you and they don’t bite, but cicadas look like creatures from another planet.
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Love the pics. Nature has a way of fitting out critters for camouflage. I used to have a gray tabby cat with long fur. Quite distinctive. One day I couldn’t find her. She was sitting in front of a tree and her coloring blended in perfectly with the tree trunk. Not a fan of mayflies although I haven’t seen them in my area.
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Thank you Kate – these were the geese pics I mentioned to you awhile back. There were many more geese that I couldn’t get into my photos. They do seem to blend right into the boulders along the shore. I can deal with the mayflies, though I don’t care for them landing on my clothes and camera, so I flick them off. What I can’t deal with is the large centipede that ran down the hall when I turned on the light this morning and is still at large. 🙂 Your kitty knew just where to hide where she would look invisible, probably just like the centipede!
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This is a wonderfully fun post! Photos of mayflies and so many geese and swans. What could be better other than being right there to see it for myself? Well done, Linda.
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Thank you Pepper – I’m glad you enjoyed this post! I came home with many shots of mayflies that were blurry as they were too close to take a good picture. I’m not so fond of having bugs clinging to me as I’m walking along. It was fun watching the geese and I really needed to have a panorama shot as you can’t see many of the geese I saw with my eyes. I’m sure the swans didn’t appreciate the intrusion by the geese (or me) in their morning preening session! 🙂
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You did a wonderful job on these, Linda. 😊
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Thank you Pepper.
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I must admit Linda that I have never heard of Mayflies? They are interesting looking creatures, and look quite large? Do they bite like black flies? That is a lot of swans…..I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many together….and geese too!
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Joni, the Mayflies do look a little weird to be honest – their long body and they are very lightweight, so you don’t feel them landing on you. They are about an 1 1/2 inches long and mostly all wings. In fishfly season I’ve looked down at my clothes and have seen up to a dozen clinging to me and I had to flick them off. They don’t bite, just cling to you. The swans were beautiful – unfortunately too far away to see all of them and I wish I could have gotten more geese into the photos because there were way more geese than you see here, but, once they saw me, it was over as they started to get up and paddle away. So I not only made the geese mad, but the swans too!
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Wonderful photos.
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Thank you Monica – glad you liked them!
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Birds and insect definitely have a love-hate relationship with each other, right Linda? That radar shot of the mayfly swarm is remarkable! And ick! Great close-up of the mayfly, and once you showed that pic, I have seen these fellers before. Your post reminds me of a visit we took the Mono Lake near the Eastern entrance to Yosemite NP one summer. We watched a film showing how the Cal seagulls that nest at the lake get their flies. They literally run along the shore with their beaks wide open! Too funny. Don’t forget to link to my post 🙂
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Terri, once you see a mayfly, you won’t forget them, so I’m glad you remembered what they look like. They are kind of weird looking and that day they landed on the car, then me … I flicked them off, but still …. I decided to post that radar photo because that was right where I was that day. I went back in my feed and got their post photo for this post. When we have them in abundance in cities right along the water, there are so many of them, I’ve seen pictures of street sweepers having to come through and clear them off the street as people skid on the pavement since they are so slippery. That would be funny seeing the seagulls running along with their beaks to catch flies. They would have to eat a lot to feel full!
I will go right now and post on your site.
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You got some great photos of the Mayflies and I love your photos of the geese and swans mingling. The water is so blue.
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Thank you Rebecca! The Mayflies were out in force that day, that’s for sure. Unlike my fear of spiders and centipedes, I’m okay with these Mayflies, though it is somewhat daunting to look down and see them sticking to my clothing! I was surprised so many geese approached the swans to mingle … I was thinking “were they in that much of a hurry to get away from me?” But they are molting and so I know they can’t fly right now, but still…. It’s surprising with all the freighter traffic in Lake Erie and also on the Detroit River that the water is as blue and clear as it is.
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Love the first picture with all the geese looking in the same direction. I’ve never encountered a mayfly swarm. I wonder if the mayflies bother the geese or swans? You got some great pictures of the Canada geese – it must have been fun having so many cooperating with you until sentry goose got back on the job. But even the exodus was a good photo op. I didn’t realize swans are so much larger than geese. A very nice post, Linda.
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Thank you Barbara! The geese were beautiful, all lined up and down Cove Point along the shoreline and embedded in those boulders. I wish I could have taken a panoramic shot of all those geese before they left once they caught sight of me, as my photos don’t do justice to just how many geese were there. They were so content just basking in the sun or preening away before I arrived and then they saw me. The mute swans are very large and once I was at Council Point Park and a swan got out of the icy water to preen away the ice particles and it was standing fairly close to me and it was as tall as I was the way it was standing and I’m 5′ 9″ tall.
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Wow! That’s amazing how tall that mute swan was!
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Yes, it was tall Barbara – that swan was like a gentle giant as it was distracted with preening the ice off its feathers, but the male mute swan that chased at the same venue, was hunched down, neck to the ground, as it approached me, stomping its big feet, in some type of attack mode.
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Yikes!
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Thank you for taking us on your walk with you! Those geese found a great spot for some camouflage protection among those rocks. No wonder there were so many! Plus, safety in numbers. I’m surprised they moved in on the swans’ territory. I too am surprised the swans didn’t more directly express their displeasure!
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Thank you Nancy! I wish I could have taken a panorama shot of all the geese before they got moving, but the geese would have been so tiny and then they bolted for the water once they saw me unfortunately. They were molting, so without their flight feathers for about eight weeks, so they gather at the water to evade land predators. Those rocks were perfect for them, especially the goslings which did not have as much black plumage as the adults. That one gosling had a mind of its own and I find that often in a big group of geese. There is always one rambunctious gosling which does things its way. I thought to myself “surely the geese are not that afraid of me that they’ll get close to that line of swans” but they did. Those geese went quite far out to be near the swans.
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Yeah, mayflies really can give one the creeps! At least you had the geese and swans to make things better.
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Mayflies are really creepy looking, I agree Eilene. Interestingly, even though the graphic I included in the post makes it appear they will swarm you, I’ve never seen a swarm, but will happen to look down or to the side and there they are, scattered all over my clothing – definitely an ewww factor. Yes, the geese and swans made it a good outing!
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These are great.
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Thank you Kirstin! I needed a wide-angle lens to get all those geese in the photos as there were so many. I hated to disturb them as I knew they’d bolt!
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wonderful – i love the closing pnes you got when you were out of view – and the green on the boulders adds to the beauty – also, you are so right that in the earlie images – the “Canada Geese seemed to blend into the shoreline” – they do camo there
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Thanks Yvette! When I see ducks or geese, (even turtles) gathered enmasse like this, I almost hate to approach them for photos because it is such a calming scene, until they see me, then they all leave immediately. Then the moment of tranquility is essentially gone.
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And that is why your photos are even more special. Because it’s hard to get close-ups of them in their habitat and some of the photos when I look at them again I see even more detail. Simply beautiful just stunning and these one-of-a-kind moments snapshots and time that are so beautiful and while they have so much the same every photo is still different
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Thank you for saying that Yvette. Often I contemplate on how many photos I should put into a post … will people think it is the same photo or not, even though, to me, I see they are not similar. Especially here, since it looked like geese everywhere!
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Yeah! And if I followed a lot of nature bloggers (who walk and share quips) I might not appreciate the variety
But ever since I stopped doing the big photo challenges on my blog –
I have had more writing in me feed! This means your posts bring even more needed beauty – or I appreciate it more if that makes sense
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That does make sense to me Yvette. I’ve had a lot of people leave blogging this year, just give it up. A few were nature bloggers, with blogs similar to mine, so I was sorry to see them go. One, luckily, has gone to Facebook and now posts there instead of having a blog, but I do see what you are saying here. The photo challenges are great, but if you’re going to participate in them color-wise, or with a certain topic, you have extra work to do as you have to keep all your photos logged into some type of order, unless you are able to go out that week and find pertinent items for the challenge/topic.
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What a great series of photos, Linda. They really did tell the story. It’s amazing how those geese blend in with the rocky shoreline.
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Thanks Ruth! Yes, especially the goslings as they don’t have any black feathers, so they blend in even better than the adults do.
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Great photos Linda, especially the zooms. I’m not a fan of Canadian Geese (and their messy you-know-what) but this was sure an interesting read. You called it when the sentry caught your eye but I wouldn’t have expected such an orderly exit to deeper waters. And the swans are so impressive when they spread their wings in rapid departure. My favorite photo is just below the line “… while other geese still hugged the shoreline”. There’s something about the composition – and the geese with the lake as their background – that’s really appealing. Finally, your comments about mayflies were an education in themselves. I didn’t realize they are so big and complicated. Are they messy/sticky when they land on you, or just a nuisance?
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Thank you Dave! I do feel sometimes when I come upon a large gathering of geese – even ducks or turtles, that sadly I will spook them and they quickly depart. It’s a shame I ruined their peace for a few photos. I’m glad you liked that first shoreline picture and it is amazing they leave in an orderly fashion, almost as if the shoreline was a staging area, then the exodus begins and they follow the lead goose to safety. I was amazed they went all the way to the swans, that they felt the need to get that far away from me. The swans weren’t happy to see them either. The mayflies are interesting to see. They are probably the only insect that I’m fine if they land on you – you often don’t know they are there unless you see them out of the corner of your eye clinging to your clothes. One landed on the camera – wasn’t happy with that, but I flicked it away. They are not sticky or messy and they don’t bite (they don’t have mouth parts to chew) and these creatures hatch, mate and die, all within 24 – 48 hours. In cities near the water, the streets and buildings are covered with them and sometimes street cleaners come several times a day to sweep the street as so many of their bodies slicken the road! I’m glad I used the graphic to show the swarm on radar – fascinating!
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We took visiting friends out to Belle Isle one spring, many years ago. We saw lots of adult geese eating along the road that circles the island but no babies. Yet i knew it was baby season and I couldn’t figure out why we weren’t seeing any. Then we drove on an interior road, next to and around a lagoon…and there were dozens, maybe hundreds of baby geese, little round poof balls, with a few attending adults. I don’t know if it was baby day care or what. Probably they were just safer there than they’d be out in the river. But it was crazy.
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That’s interesting that they do that. Occasionally at big parks I’ll see two adults with far more babies than one family would have … do they give their friends a “date night” and watch their offspring for them? 🙂
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I wonder. Though last year there were 3 or 4 families of geese on the little pond across the street. One of the families had 15 babies. !!!
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How do they get all those babies to toe the line and not escape?
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