Arista Ramblers: Point Farms, June 19-21 2015

We seem to be heading to the right towns this year to take in the festivities that are going on. Goderich was hosting a Multi Cultural Festival in the town square on Saturday so we enjoyed some of the music and dance that was going on.
Friday was a little cooler than it had been so it was a pants day for heading up to Point Farms. We arrived to a very wet and muddy park in spots due to all the rain they had been having. Fortunately for us our site was just a little damp in spots. We did a trip into town to make a stop at the bakery to place a Saturday morning pick up order. We must have some fresh donuts to enjoy while we are there. We picked out a dozen cookies to tide us over until our donuts were ready the next day.....lol When we arrived back at the park we drove around to check things out. Duncan mentioned that we had not seen any deer here since our first trip to this park. It wasn't long before we spotted one trying to hide in the thick growth along the road. The tulip tree was in bloom so I finally got some photos of the flowers. I went for a walk along the beach before dinner and we spent the evening at camp enjoying the fire.
Saturday we hung out in Goderich for most of the midday. We shopped at the market and a few stores and enjoyed listening to a Scottish pipe band, some Gaelic music, a Mexican mariachi band and a native group performing some of their dances. Back at camp I found a nest of Red Starts in the trees behind our site with 2 new babies. I was able to observe mom and dad feeding them and get a few pictures to share. There was also a mom red squirrel doing some renovations to her nest in the pine tree. Her little ones were out and about playing and looking for food. On our trip back to our cottage from town I saw a thrush near the gate so I got out to try and photograph it. They are very hard to get pictures of as they are very elusive birds and are usually in thickets and brush. It happened that there were two of them and they got rather vocal so they must have had a nest near by. I was able to get some photos and enjoy some of the communication between the pair. Our evening was spent relaxing at the fire. It was the warmest evening we have enjoyed so far this year.
Sunday morning I went for a two hour walk through the park enjoying the sights and sounds. We enjoyed brunch and a relaxing time at camp before heading to the beach in the afternoon. While we were walking along we came across a spotted sandpiper that became very vocal so I figured there was a nest nearby. I didn't find a nest but I did find a wee one out and about. It was a really cute feather ball. While reading about the spotted sandpiper I found out that the males are the ones that sit on the nest and raise the young. They are one of a few birds that do it this way. After a wonderful time at the beach it was time to hook up and say goodbye to Point Farms.
Duncan read that there is going to be a Celtic Festival in August in Goderich and we have lucked out with our booking and will be there to enjoy the music and activities from that. Next week we are off to Rondeau and if everyone is well, Emma will be joining us for the weekend. She will enjoy exploring the park and all it has to offer.