Wood Stork

I was so lucky this morning to see a Wood Stork. It was on the salt water marsh side of the causeway. Amazing looking bird. I think Hooded Mergansers in the back ground. Have more to post of Snowy Egrets and Herons.

Birds of a feather.....

 ....flock together....like these Cedar Waxwings..........

 and several groups of ducks on the brackish side of the causeway at Huntington Beach State Park. Murrells Inlet, SC. Any birders out there that can help with an ID? They look like Ruddy Ducks to me.

 There was a group of Blue Birds but I caught only this one.

I hope that everyone had a nice Christmas as we did here in South Carolina. I'm enjoying getting out with my camera and surprised at all the birds that I am seeing. Hardly seems like Christmas with the temps in the 70s.

Night of a Thousand Candles.....

.....at Brookgreen Gardens. We arrived while it was still light so I was able to get a few OK pictures. We had dinner in the biggest tent that I have  ever seen. The meal was delicious and by the time we were done it was dark.

Impossible to get any decent pictures without a tripod. It was so beautiful ... a huge amount of lights dripping from the trees.....a  real fairyland. It was also very crowded and cold....not cold by Michigan standards but chilly non the less.

Enjoyed the evening very much.... with my daughter Amy and Allison and Jacob (above)

Brookgreen

Iron Coffin

It doesn't look like this is in current use....could be though.

Delray

 I couldn't find out any info on this church other than it was Hungarian Orthodox. 

You can see the fire stack from the mill behind the gray house

 Wonder if they got in....

Out and About in Detroit

 When my son was in town I asked him to drive me around so that I could take pictures. I was particularly interested in seeing where the new international bridge is going to be built. It was a very dark and gloomy day as you can see but it added to all the industry, blight and just plain sadness.

 This ship, the Wilfred Sykes, was docked on the Rouge River and was being loaded (or unloaded). I saw on facebook that we just missed the mail boat delivering mail to the ship's crew. The JW Westcott carries mail to all the ships that come thru Detroit....zip code 48222

 Zug Island

Vacant building may have been a bar/club

 St. John Cantius

Built in 1927 and closed 2007....  there is a fence around the whole property and right in front of the church is a waste disposal plant. Really so sad to see but even more disturbing is that the church will probably be torn down when the bridge is built.

The area of Delray is mostly all industry now and the neighborhoods are a mere shadow of what they once were but some folks do not want to move. They were offered homes in a swap for swap owned by the Detroit Land Bank Authority. The homes are newly renovated. People that owned homes in the path of the bridge were bought out but people on the outskirts of the bridge had the option to swap homes.

Christmas 2018

Industry

Let's try black and white

Still October.....

 ...in my heart. I love this pavilion. One of my favorite on Belle Isle.....recently restored.
Just wishing that this snow would melt so we can get on with the job of raking leaves, then it can snow away. I don't want to be stuck with 8 bags of leaves leaning against my garage all winter.

Berries

 Nature provides......

Autumn Day

It was a hazy but warm November day when I took this photo of the Detroit skyline. Today we have 8 inches of snow on the ground mixed in with piles of dead autumn leaves. It is a real mess. Down to 5 degrees tonight.

Snow!

I posted this photo five years ago on facebook so today's snow is not that unusual. It is strange to see snow on the leaves though....both on the trees and the ground. It is still going strong out there and is sticking on the street and drives. Can't believe it will stick around for that long except the high for tomorrow will be only 25 with a low of 8 degrees...ugh! Well, since I am retired and have nowhere to go  I will work on a couple of  my projects and enjoy the view.

Detroit.....

From Belle Isle....

Still lots of color out there and a lot of leaves waiting to be raked but guess what???? Big snow predicted for tomorrow. They are calling it the Veterans Day Storm. Depending on what news channel you are listening to the amounts range from 1 to 3 inches to 3 to 9 inches. It should be a real weather adventure.

I got out in my backyard and did some work this morning...cutting back perennials and vines and also putting some seed out for the birds. Still work to do but, oh, my, snow tomorrow. I guess that I will have to stay in and craft.

Snow!

November 7th, first snow......not much, like sifted powdered sugar. It was coming down pretty good for awhile but it was all gone by noon. Just a taste of things to come. It's 36 degrees right now but the sun is shining here in Southeast Michigan. Note the snow on the leaves of my Japanese Maple. You think Mother Nature would have the decency to at least wait until the leaves are off of the trees....lol!

Fall

 The last of my photos from Lower Huron Metropark.......snowed this morning but leave still falling.