Crosswinds Marsh

A quite place to rest and reflect (only if the bugs will allow it)
Woodland path



The marsh



Two barn swallows on a fence

Mute Swan and chicks

Crosswinds pavilion

Blue Vervain

I spent a lovely few hours out at Crosswinds Marsh the other morning. Here is the story of the marsh as I understand it. When they built a new runway at metro airport they were required to replace wetland that they used in the building of the runway. It was all farmland and was flooded(I believe there are at least three drains that provide the water) and planted and they waited and the wildlife came. This acreage is located in Huron Township off of Oakville Waltz Rd. next to the biggest mountain of trash that I have ever seen. This is the mount built out of Canadian garbage. It is so flat in that area that the height of the mountain really boggled my mind. Canada keep your trash at home!

None-the-less, when you are in the marsh area you can't see (nor did I smell) the trash mountain. The marsh is beautiful with anywhere from a small trail (.3mi.) to long 4+ mile trails. There are areas of marsh, meadow and woodland dotted with benches and picnic tables.

The frogs were in fine tune and there was a huge swallow population. I saw at least 6 Great Blue Herons, Mute Swans and chased around a Baltimore Oriole that I heard but never did see.
I enjoyed the marsh very much and look forward to going back. Fall will be beautiful there.

The Meadow

The meadow gets more beautiful every time I go there. It is a mass of yellow and even the birds match ;-)

I love going from the marsh to the meadow with a little bit of woodland as well. Went to Lake Erie Monday and to Cross Winds Marsh on Tuesday. Have to work around the weather even if it's early in the morning. Will post marsh pictures soon.

Water Birds

Common Tern

Double-breasted Cormorants

Big River Meander

Detroit Light House
Marks the Detroit River from Lake Erie. The light house was built in 1885, initially being lite by whale oil. Now the light house is unmanned and is run by solar-power.
Channel Marker
Marking Livingston Channel on the Canadian side of the Straights of Detroit. (Detroit River)

Channel Marker

With welcoming committee of Double-crested cormorants

Tug boat pushing barge

Tug pushing barge

Fermi Two

Old Boblo

Canadian side

Near Amhurstburg

Gerry

Discovery Cruise Boat

Went on a 4 hour cruise of the Detroit River today. Very hot with overcast skies. Lake Erie and the river were crazy with boats and other pleasure craft.(more on that with my next post)

Check out all the "downriver" markers like Boblo and Fermi. We were really into the lake when we went out to the light house. The fog horn was going....eerie sound. There must be another fog horn up my way because often at night I hear it....very lonely sound.

Lily

Rachael Ray always says that she wishes there was "smell-a-vision". I wish there was smell-a-blog. These lilies smell so sweet. They scent my whole back yard and when you step out the back door you know it is summer.Wish that you could all take a whiff.

In Bloom!

Prairie Coneflower's
Garden Coreopsis


The meadow at Lake Erie is in full bloom with coneflowers and coreopsis. It is beautiful. Took this picture Saturday early morning when Jim and I went for a walk. I posted these pictures on flickr (see right) and they look so much better when seen on their viewer.

A Very Hot Visit To Michigan

Really enjoyed having Jim and Mary Ann visit. It was so hot we didn't even sit on my front porch, but we did get out and about to dinner and a drive.We also went on the Rouge Factory tour and my brother got to see where his truck was built. Love having company. Thanks for coming guys.

A huge THANK YOU to Jim for taking care of a few jobs around my house. I have no one to help me out unless I hire someone so to have a man around for a few days is great! Jim put in a new pole lantern as my other one (that I loved so much) got broken. The new one is pretty and went in pretty easily. Thanks Jim!

"Dude, we should have won that game".
Respect yourself. You played a game to be proud of.
You are still the "boys of summer"

It's All About the Team

On The Field

At the Plate

Wild