Topsy-Turvy.

Today was not the usual jaunt for me – it was kind of backwards, actually.

I follow the Detroit Audubon Society on Facebook, and earlier this week, a local photographer posted a series of shots of a snowy owl he saw at Pointe Mouillee. Several people besides me were oohing and aahing over those pictures.

Since beautiful weekend weather was predicted, I planned to go to the marshland area this morning and see if I could see this beautiful snowy owl – I’ve never seen an owl, let alone a snowy owl. So I looked at the map as I’d only been there once before and I was all set to go, but then last night, the weatherman had concerns about overnight/early morning freezing fog and black ice, especially along Lake Erie ... exactly my destination. Those conditions were expected to last through mid-day to early afternoon.

So that essentially tabled my morning jaunt and I figured I was not going anywhere, by car, or on foot, where I would be dealing with black ice. The past few days at Council Point Park have been dicey with huge patches of glare ice formed on the perimeter path.

So, I decided to wait it out for my walk ... by 2:00 p.m., I was good to go.

Today was like a breath of fresh air.

Since it was much later than my usual gallivantin’ time, I just headed to Council Point Park, my favorite stomping grounds. Enroute, I unzipped my coat, and stuffed my gloves in my pocket – it was 55 degrees after all. I could have left the hat at home, as well as the bag of peanuts – no squirrel experience today, as not a single squirrel came down to visit or nosh on some nuts. They must’ve been in bed for the night!

What I did see on this gloriously mild and sunny January afternoon was reminiscent of that first warm day in late March or early April ... motorcycles zoomed by, music blared from cars with the windows rolled down, and homeowners’ front doors and windows were open, welcoming in the fresh air. Santa and his reindeer collapsed from all the warm air and a garden gnome mooned me!

Further making it seem like Spring was seeing someone in shorts and a couple of guys were kicking around a soccer ball.

Today is National Bird Day.

Though I didn’t get to see and take photos of a snowy owl, I knew there were birds to see and enjoy and Council Point Park didn’t disappoint:

I saw the heron across the Creek. No fishing for Harry today; he was just standing there, almost statue-like, enjoying the warm day.

There were Canada Geese who plopped down into the Ecorse Creek, still in their V-formation from the sky. How graceful they were and they stayed together a minute or so, then began to disband.

A beautiful mallard duck gave me a couple of once overs, then that drake decided I was a threat, turned his back to me and gave me “the side eye” as he sped away.

The seagulls are still out chasing the shad bait fish – at least the Creek wasn’t frozen over.

And I saw a sweet little woodpecker way up high drilling away. I never saw his face, though I stood beneath the tree, poised with the camera, waiting for him (or her) to look my way, but no luck.

Well, all that bird activity was there for the enjoying in the first loop. When I stepped over to the cement landing to watch the seagulls and ducks, I noticed my shadow as I approached the landing. So, I had a little fun taking photos of my shadow as the sun was at a different angle than in the morning ... talk about a Long Tall Sally! From afar the landing looked like this, and up close you get a better idea of the graffiti

I walked two full trips around Council Point Park – then headed home. The sun was dropping slowly in the sky. Since I rarely wear a watch on the weekends, I thought I’d head over to Memorial Park and check out the marquis to see what time it was and the current temperature – oh my ... this is Michigan for goodness sake!

So, what turned out to be no-go morning, morphed into an enjoyable January day. We got up to 55 degrees today after starting out with ice this morning - that's why our state's slogan is "Pure Michigan!"

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