Inverhuron, Oct. 3-5 2014

This was truly a fall weekend. High winds, cool temperatures and rain. We even had a bit of hail thrown in with the mix. This is the first weekend in all of our travels that we didn't put out the awning for fear of damaging it with the gusts of wind. Our site was quite protected but we were not taking any chances. I must say that we had many firsts to add to our list. The first weekend with no campfires as we were both still recovering from our colds and the rain was so sporadic that it wasn't worth trying to get one going. The first time that there was no beach to walk on as the water was so rough and high that the waves were actually washing away the banks. I was also able to photograph three birds that I had not seen before. One at our campsite one by the bridge in the park and the other which was a Rough-legged Hawk that was at the side of the road between Inverhuron and Macgregor Park. We were able to drive up to it slowly and get pictures of it on the edge of the road and then it flew a short distance. I got out of the car and took a number of shots of it in the tree. It kept an eye on me but didn't fly away. What an amazing experience for both of us. This hawk lives and breeds in the Arctic and comes south for our winter months. I went for a walk along the rocky part of the shore on Sunday morning and did a trail hike in the afternoon before we headed out for our journey home. It will be so nice to spend 4 days up at Awenda for Thanksgiving weekend. We head out Thursday afternoon and return Monday evening. I am looking forward to the opportunity to spend time in the fall colours and I hope to take a few wonderful photos of them. We will celebrate our Thanksgiving dinner with family next Thursday evening.

Surfers out on the waves at the main beach

The sun made a brief appearance so I 

could get a few early sunset photos

Chickadee on a Sumac tree branch

Blue Jay collecting some peanuts

Fall colours appearing on the trees along the road

Rough-legged Hawk at the edge of the road

Sitting pretty in the tree

Keeping an eye on me as I enjoy its presence

Lighthouse at the Southampton harbour

Happy red squirrel at our site

A pair of chickadees getting a few seeds

A first for me. A Golden-crowned Kinglet

Lots of this type of mushrooms in the park

Red Squirrel enjoying a peanut

Field Sparrow by the bridge on my hike

A water bug leaves an interesting pattern in the water

Still a few flowers in bloom

Rough but lovely waters all weekend

 

 

Washing away the sand banks

Even the park garbage can got taken into the lake

A huge piece of bracket fungus. 

I placed a quarter on it for comparison.

MacGregor, Sept. 26-28 2014

We finally made it back up to Port Elgin. We planned to have a visit with John and Joanne before there trip south but since we were both sick with colds we just had a short chat. We will have to get together on our next trip up that way as long as the weather lets us. Lets just say we had a low key weekend. We made a trip into Southampton on Friday after we set up camp so I could pick up my order of hot chocolate. On our way back we stopped at the market to get some of our squash for the winter. During the evening we spent some time out at the campfire but not as long as usual. Duncan was in bed early as he was not feeling well.
 Saturday we slept in a bit and had a relaxing morning. In the afternoon we traveled up to Sauble Falls to check out the scenery and the fall colours. On our way back we drove around Sauble Beach. It was busy at the beach with the weather being so nice. We stopped near the bird blind at Macgregor before heading back to our campsite. Just before we had a late supper the fog started to roll in so I went and got a few pictures. We spent the rest of the evening enjoying a campfire and playing some games on the ipad.
  Sunday was spent at our site. We had a pair of red-breasted nuthatches and a few chickadees enjoying the sunflower seeds I had put out. We also had two red squirrels. One of them was smaller so it must have been born this year. Both mornings we had a hairy woodpecker that was by as well. We went and parked by the beach area after packing up and enjoyed a walk to the visitors center and the pond area before heading home. It was an amazing warm weekend and hopefully not the last one of the season. I am looking forward to enjoying all the fall colours that the trees are starting to show.

My favourite colour is appearing on the leaves

Enjoying a peanut at our site

Trying to help himself from the supply

One of the flowers still in bloom at the park

Sauble Falls on a warm fall day

Milkweed seed that looks like a puff ball

Green Heron out fishing along the river

Having a good shake after eating a fish

The bees are still working to collect pollen

Fog rolling in at sunset

A tiny red squirrel at our campsite

One of the friendly Chickadee's that came to visit

Male Red-breasted Nuthatch getting a 

seed out of the crack on the picnic table

Female Red-breasted Nuthatch
Her eye is half closed

Enjoying some time in the sun

I was able to hand feed them as well. 

Check out his tongue

They are quite small but feisty as well

Canada Geese in formation heading south

A pair of Mute Swans on Lake Huron

Frog trying to hide in the grass

Feather with dew on the pond

Autumn colours along the pond edge

The turtles were basking in the sun

A feather and circles in the water by the boardwalk

A Few Of My Friends

We are lucky that Emma, Ian & Brittany come over once a week for dinner so we get to see how much she is growing and progressing. It is always lots of fun and she makes us all laugh.

Crawling on the table trying to get some dessert from someone, 

anyone, but she is still to young for this sweet stuff

But she is able to use her sippy cup and enjoys the water

This is short tail who comes to visit almost every day

Mr. Cardinal is molting but still comes 

to the deck for some sunflower seeds

Quite fluffy looking from the back

He is getting quite comfortable with me sitting there

Port Burwell, Sept 19-21 2014

What a great weekend! The weather was wonderful and we enjoyed lots of adventures on our last trip to Port Burwell for this year. Friday was warm and we enjoyed a wonderful pasta dinner and an evening at the campfire.
  Saturday we traveled up to Talbotville to make a stop at Picard Peanuts. We then ventured on to Pinafore Park in St. Thomas. They have some amazing gardens and I was able to get a few photos of them as well as a pheasant. After leaving the park we headed to Port Stanley for a tour of the town. The water was very rough and there we lots of people out trying there luck at surfing. Not something I would want to be doing considering the waves and undertow. We then traveled through Port Bruce on our trip back to Port Burwell. After a bit of relaxation we enjoyed a delicious dinner which included squash baked on the bbq. It is the best way to enjoy squash. After dinner we headed down to the beach for sunset and spent the rest of the night at our campsite taking in the warmth and glow of the fire.
  Sunday we had a relaxing morning and after packing up we headed down to the beach on a search for Monarch butterflies. We were able to see a few of them as they are migrating south for the winter. I was also able to capture a few pictures of the big dragonflies that very rarely land. Lucky for me there were quite a number of them as they are also making there way south.  I waited patiently and was rewarded with one landing for a few minutes. The water was still very rough so we were not able to enjoy any time wading into it. By about 3:30 the dark clouds started to roll in so we decided it was time to head home. We passed through a bit of rain on our way home and it was raining when we were unpacking but we had a great sunny weekend away.

This butterfly greeted us at the filling station

Feather with water drops in the evening sun

Early sunset from behind the beach grass

There were lots of deer prints on the beach

Sunset from the boardwalk

 

Memories from Pinafore Park

Sunflowers in the garden

Pheasant in his coat of many colours

What an interesting face

Pretty in red

Yellow jacket doing its work

Birds head in the tree bark

Still lots of blooms to come

A little boy with his arm up on the bark

This reminds me of dog and a mouse 

with a dress and hat from a cartoon

Waves crashing on the pier in Port Stanley

A beautiful day with rough waters

Milkweed releasing it seed pods

Large mushroom with oak leaves

Seagull doing the two step at the beach

Rough waters Sunday at the park

Carolina Saddlebags Dragonfly

Quite amazing to see close up

Monarch's on the move to southern warmth