Marsh Madness.

Of course, at first glance, you thought why is Linda writing about the college hoops frenzy known as “March Madness” ... I sure do wish it was the month of March instead of just sliding into the tail end of November. The weather when I walked this morning was more like January, not November. When I left the house it was 25 degrees, with a wind chill of 14 degrees and NW winds gusting at 15 mph.

I arrived home after my walk with cheeks as red as my squall jacket. My boss was out at a meeting so I had a little wiggle room and got six miles walked this morning – push, push, push to the end.

There weren’t many of my little furry friends greeting me along the perimeter path this morning, and I wondered if the blustery weather had them hunkered up in their nests. Those few squirrels at ground level munched their peanuts, seeming not to care that the wind was whipping through the fur on their tails. Likewise, the reeds that line the banks of the Ecorse Creek were waving wildly with each breathy gust of wind.

Meandering around the marsh.

This post is about my trip to Council Point Park on Sunday. That day I lingered as long as I could, not only because I knew my outside tasks awaited me, but also because it was mild ... a far cry from Thanksgiving or today’s temps.

I arrived early at the Park since the day’s agenda involved more than just walking, taking a slew of photos, picking through them, then writing a blog post. No, I had that dreaded yard work to do, plus I wanted to do a post about being peeved about leaves (because I was).

So, I had my ducks in a row ...

I gave the squirrels some TLC and lots of peanuts, then set about on my six-mile meander.

The first stop was the marshy area. The reeds and invasive grasses, wheat-colored and long dead since that first hard frost, now just bend in the wind and provide an interesting backdrop along the banks of the Creek.

The most interesting of the tall skinny grasses is the Phragmites which has large seed heads hanging off each stalk.

I have a wild imagination, but, if I squint just the right way, I don’t see large seed heads on this invasive wetland plant, but instead I see something resembling squirrel tails – do you see it too?

Perhaps I went a tad mad at the marsh?

But, I wanted to snatch one of those seed heads and give it to Stubby, the squirrel who is missing half of his tail. Winter’s coming and squirrels use their long and furry tails like an umbrella to shield them from the snow.

The marsh may have appeared a little desolate, but I turned the corner and the wider part of the Creek was full of mallards, quacking and splashing away. I’m sure they were enjoying Sunday’s very brief respite from the wintry temps and there must have been a couple dozen of them playing and paddling away. This mallard was splashing and riding the waves.

I like to watch the ducks that sit on the half-submerged log because it is like they are giving themselves a break from paddling without having to come up onto land. Unlike the geese or swans, the ducks never come up onto land at this venue. They do at Elizabeth Park and Heritage Park, and are a delight to watch as they waddle around, but you’ll never see them on land here.

These two ducks were perched on a log making it appear as if they were standing on top of the water.

I stood and watched the tranquil scene, camera in hand, but mostly just enjoying the peaceful morning. Unfortunately, that peace and quiet did not last long because suddenly a flock of Canada geese announced their impending arrival with a series of honks, then splashdowns that sent the ducks and a heron beating a hasty retreat.

Many of the ducks took to the air, and the heron did as well, making his trademark screeching noise, his body a bluish-gray blur as he vamoosed. After the geese landed, soon there was a parade of geese floating down the middle of the Creek, just like a flotilla of ships, following one another in perfect form. And now that I’ve teased you with that image, I’ll devote an entire post to them as they really looked spectacular and I took lots of pictures.

You can catch up on my blog posts before I started blogging at Patch in August 2013 by going here: http://lindaschaubblog.net