St. Francis Red Flash at Eastern Michigan Eagles

 So on Friday night I went to the Eastern Michigan game.  It was the first in person game for me since the pandemic began.  It was pretty cool to go to.  The crowd was decent for an Eastern game but not overwhelming.

I got there early enough to catch some of the practice.

As the practice was going on, this flight was leaving Detroit Metro and passing by the Stadium.  I think it was the flight to Amsterdam.

And then the band took the field.  I watched a few games last year and most of them didn't have the band.  And that seemed off.

And then the rest of the band took the field.

The drum major tried to back into the field but it didn't quite happen.

As I said, it was cool to see the band.

The ROTC color guard lining up for the Star Spangled Banner.

The band during the Star Spangled Banner.

They had the eagle again.

And the eagle's handler.

One more picture of the eagle.

The band as they were marching off the field.

I think this was the band during halftime.  They played a couple of Disney songs.

One more shot of the band.

I think this was my favorite of the game.  If you want to see more pictures, go to Hustle Belt.

College Football Returns to Ypsilanti

So Saturday was the first home game for Eastern Michigan.  They played their first three games on the road and only have four more home games this season.  I'm not sure what I think about this.  On one hand, they need the money they get from traveling to other places but it is nice to see them play in front of their fans.  As always, for my game shots go to Hustle Belt.

 The band takes the field for the first time this season.  They looked pretty good.

 The drum line.

 I didn't get a great picture of the eagle in flight, she made a beeline for her perch.  I do like this picture though.

 One of the band members.

 I'm not a huge fan of the wall but I do like this picture.

 Willie Parker making a cut during one of his runs.

 A shot of the band during halftime.

 Another shot of the band.

 Swoop got a makeover.  I'm not sure I like it.

The game had a wild finish.  Central Connecticut scored first.  Eastern matched.  Central Connecticut struck back.  Eastern matched again.  Eastern would then score two more times to go ahead 28 to 15.  At that point, there was a delay because there was lightning in the area.  After play resumed, Central Connecticut would score twice to go ahead by 1 point.  Eastern had the ball with enough time to score had they not sputtered.  The defense stood tall and forced a punt with 17 seconds left.  If you look at probabilities, Eastern had a 0.1% chance to win the game.  As Central Connecticut launched the punt, it was blocked by Mathew Sexton above, it bounced up and landed in his weighting hands.  At that point, there was noone between him and the endzone and he would bring victory to the Eagles.

Unfortunately, the Eagles are not home again until October 12.

A Return to Magee and Ottawa

After catching the ship in Toledo, I continued on my way to Magee Marsh.  I was hoping that I would see the eagle this time.

 As I was heading into the area where I normally see eagles, I saw this guy flying nearby.

 It was one of the juvenile eagles that live in the nest.  I'm not sure how old he is other than he is not quite five years old yet.  As eagles get older, they start to form their white head.

 It was flying by and looking pretty cool.

 I kind of like this shot.

 But I think I like this one better.

 It took a flight by the trees.  I think it was seeing if mom or dad was home.

 I kind of like this shot of the eagle climbing.

 I was about a foot from getting what would have been a cool shot.  I wish I had pulled the camera out a little bit.

 and she flies away.

 I continued around the marsh a bit to get some shots of the egrets.

 But they were a little jittery and flew away.

 But it made for a cool shot.

 Then we headed back to Ottawa.  I wanted to show my mom the American lotus flowers.

 They were still mostly in bloom.

 They still looked pretty cool.

 A cormorant flying away.

I think I like the lighting on this one.

 I think the purple flower is a loosestrife.

I was trying to get a better angle but without a boat, it proved difficult.

Sadly, these flowers are leaving us.

Amongst the Eagles at Magee and Ottawa

So I went to Magee and Ottawa last Saturday.  It has been a while since I've been down there.  I wasn't sure if part of it would be under water because of all the rain we've been getting.  Fortunately it wasn't.

 Before going to Magee, I stopped at Ottawa National Wildlife Preserve.  I saw this heron as I was heading in.

 I'm not sure what kind of flowers these were.

 Another shot of the heron.

 As I was taking some pictures of other birds, I caught this eagle as he flew over.

 A Canada goose family.

 This family of swans was crossing the road.  I was reminded of "Make Way for Ducklings".  Apparently that was my favorite book as I was little.

 An egret.  Unfortunately, I couldn't get a better picture.

 the swan family in the water.

 A butterfly.

 And then I headed over to Magee and saw these eagles in the nest.

 I think they were waiting for their parents.

 As the winds started to pick up, this eagle started to kite.

 Occasionally, he would take a brief flight.  It mostly amounted to hopping up in the air and hovering for a bit.

 Kiting again.

 I kind of liked this shot.

 I think he was kiting again.

 And then I went to the other eagle's nest and saw this guy flying around it.

 There is something about an eagle in the wild.

One more shot of the eagle.