"Rare" Hike, Oct.12 2016

Out for another hike at Rare at the Langdon Hall end of the trail. It was another wonderful day for a hike in the woods with my Mom's Lunch ladies. We enjoyed a leisurely stroll through the woods and onto some of the Langdon Hall property. The leaves were turning to a golden colour on some of the trees but there was still a lot of green. The milkweed plants that had nourished our monarch butterflies were bursting open and releasing their seeds in hopes of producing new life for the next season. When we left the woods and headed on through the countryside I spotted what I thought were a couple of sandhill cranes so we stopped to get a few photos. I, being an adventuresome person climbed a barb wire fence to try and capture a few closer shots of the cranes. I did manage to get much closer to them before they flew off over the tree line. These are my first photos of Sandhill Cranes so I was excited to see them. We enjoyed a great outing as we always do when we set off on a Mom's Lunch Adventure.

Langdon Hall

Seeds for next years monarchs

I always think of them as angels for the butterflies

Sandhill Cranes in the field

She is getting to close, time to leave

Awenda, Oct.7-10 2016

 Spending time out in nature does my soul a world of good and this weekend was no exception. Since it has been a few weeks since we had been out on an adventure I really was looking forward to replenishing my body with all the wonders of nature. We arrived at the park to 28 degree temperatures and very little fall colours. This was the first time that we had been to Awenda for Thanksgiving weekend where the trees were still in their summer green. It was lovely to see all the trees with their canopy still attached but I was looking forward to their magnificent array of fall colours. As we explored the park we were amazed by the amount of mushrooms and fungi that were growing everywhere in the park. I had never seen so many varieties in so many areas as there were this weekend. One day we spotted a few large puff balls but by later that same day they were gone. I guess someone had a good feast with them. We enjoyed a wonderful campfire that evening as it was  still quite warm.
 Saturday the weather changed and we had more seasonable temperatures We did a bit of exploring before heading into Midland to meet Mike and Wendy for lunch and do a bit of exploring around the area. We enjoyed a turkey lunch with all the trimmings at the Riverhouse Restaurant right on the river in Severn Falls. Wendy and I shared a delicious desert of warm lava cake with ice cream, whip cream and topped off with a cherry.  I can still taste how good it was!! A special thanks to Mike and Wendy for treating us to a late birthday lunch. That evening we spent relaxing and watching the movie The Polar Express. What an awesome movie! If you have not watched this I recommend you take the time and enjoy a wonderful story.
 Sunday was a wee bit chilly and windy but that did not stop us from enjoying a few hikes in the park. We sat by Kettle Lake in the sun and out of the wind and it was beautiful. It was hard to believe how much warmer it was there compared to being down by Georgian Bay. Later in the afternoon I went for a walk through Turtle Campground which was closed for the season. It is a nice area with pine trees in one section and the ground is covered in pine needles at this time of year. It is always nice to hike where there is no one else around. I was almost finished the loop when I noticed a large bird fly from one side of the road to the other. The forest then became rather noisy as the jays, chipmunks, squirrels and other birds began to send out distress calls. As I walked along looking for what bird this was I spotted it in a small tree. It was an OWL!!! A barred owl. I snapped a few photos before it flew a short distance to a larger tree. I followed it and was able to spend almost an hour watching it. It was quite thrilling to observe it as it went about preening itself, having a few scratches and even pooping. It kept a very close eye on me but was not bothered by my presence. It was my first time observing an owl out in nature so close to me as well as having the opportunity to get some wonderful photos. I thanked the owl for allowing me to spend time with it before I headed by to our site with an extra bounce in my step. Awenda always offers me a surprise encounter of some sort that brings such joy. That evening we enjoyed another wonderful campfire as we listened to the Jays game on the radio.
 Monday morning I spent time with the birds and chipmunks at our site before we did our last tour of the park. We enjoyed a wonderful brunch and packed up for the ride home. It was wonderful spending time at this beautiful park and I look forward to our next adventure at Awenda.

My first photo of the Barred Owl

Busy preening under its wings

Someone enjoyed this puffball mushroom

Still not much colour in the trees at Kettle Lake

Even the mushrooms have faces

Morning sun rays through the trees

Hermit Thrush at our campsite

Fallen but caught in the morning sun

Shaggy Mane growing down by the beach (edible)

Sunset over the bay at the park

Flowers in full bloom at the Midland Dock

Yellow-crowned Kinglet (a first for me)

Coral fungi by our campsite in the woods

Close-up of the reds on a maple tree

Chippy enjoying an acorn during our hike

 

Scarlet Hood Mushrooms

Keeping an eye on me

Winter Wren (another first)

Reflections with a tinge of red

Peeking out of it burrow

Mushrooms aplenty on a decaying birch log

Wow, look at those talons

A hike in Turtle Campground

Keeping it eyes on me. Just had a poop and tail is up

Overloaded, I will make this fit

Let's Go For A Walk In The Woods

 On September 30th Nancy and I went for a 3 hour walk in the Rare Woods along Langdon Dr. in Blair. This was the first time we had been to these trails and it was an amazing adventure. There was a large flock of blue jays near the entrance to the trail and a number of turkey vultures circling
overhead. The forest floor was covered in very young maple trees once we descended into the valley area and we slowly made our way into more heavily forested area. We traveled through an open area and into the butterfly meadow before re-entering the forest at a pine plantation. As we traveled along we met up with a red squirrel that let us know we were not welcome in its territory but it was kind enough to stay long enough for a few photos. Some of the maple trees were huge and there we a few that grew so straight and tall that we had to get some shots of them. The butterfly meadow area had a number of sulpher butterflies fluttering about but we managed to spot one monarch that was busy collecting nectar for his journey south. Once we headed back out of the woods I spotted a larger bird sitting in a dead tree just up the road so I slowly walked that way to try and get a photo of it. The merlin was quite cooperative and I got some amazing shots of it. I must say that it really kept it eyes on me and did move a little lower in the tree at one point. After watching the merlin for a while it was time to head home. This is definitely a trail that we will visit more often now that we explored some of it.

The beginning of our hike

Turkey Vulture soaring in the wind

One of the straight and very tall maple trees

Lots of moss and fungi throughout the forest

Chattering at me to move along

Found a number of these in the open field

The yellow jackets were busy on the flowers

 

The butterfly meadow was covered in flowers

Very busy collecting nectar

 Found an old piece of fence along the trail

I liked it with the flowers in the background

Mr Monarch was very busy

There is always something smiling in the woods

Not often you find blue fungi

One of the many blue jays

Merlin landing on a branch

It's keeping an eye on me

Walk In The Woods

 On Thursday Sept. 22 my Mom's Lunch Group went for a walk along the Grand River in Blair at the rare Charitable Research Reserve. It was a beautiful sunny day and the company along for the hike was cheerful and we had lots of laughs. I never knew that there were so many interesting things to explore on the property. Growing up near here most of this land was farm land as well as wooded areas that were privately owned so we never explored along that rivers edge. There were two young osprey that were perched on two separate nest boxes that are on the property so I was able to get a few good photos. The other ladies in the group were concerned that one of the osprey might come after me since it was making so much noise as I was taking pictures of it. It did fly off the nest but returned right back to it so I was able to get shots with its wings spread out. As we walked through we past a number of limestone cliffs and also checked out the fossils that are in the rocks that were used to build the rare slit barn on the property. It was a great adventure and we will be back there to do some more exploring.

Close up of one of the fossils in the barns stone

There are many stones with varying fossils

Dew drop on the flower along the rivers edge

Juvenile Osprey keeping an eye on me

Landing back on the nest

Bracket fungi down by the river

The remains of a tree covered in chewed gum

Maybe its a new kind of forest art!

Large piece of Americanum Tooth Fungi on a fallen log

A section of limestone and rocks along the trail

A good example of Shelving Tooth Fungi

View of the Grand River

A natural bouquet at the edge of the trail

A sure sign that fall is upon us

A natural log chair in the woods covered in fungi

Hibiscus flowers growing along the slit barn wall