Brown Hill Tract YRF by mp1964 at Garmin Connect – Details
Trying out the new Olympus Stylus Tough 8010 camera – shockproof, waterproof, freezeproof
An indigenous species until their disappearance in the late 1880′s, the Trumpeter Swan is the largest species of waterfowl in North America. A program to reintroduce the Trumpeter Swan to Ontario was started by Harry Lumsden, a retired MNR biologist, in the 1980′s.
Today, there are over 1,000 Trumpeter Swans in Southern Ontario. The program has been a success!
We recently visited LaSalle park in Burlington, ON to see the wintering grounds of many of these Trumpeter Swans, including the pair from Six Mile Lake in Muskoka. I’ve never seen such a wonderful sight – hundreds of Swans, Trumpeter & Mute, plus hundreds of Mallard Ducks and gulls. It was loud, colourful and beautiful. Off in the bay on an ice floe sat two adult Bald Eagles. They were too far to get a decent photo with any of my lenses, but we could certainly see them.
Beverly & Ray Kingdon and Kyna were there checking on the birds. They volunteer for the program are have been instrumental in it success. They are there daily, feeding the Swans and tracking which ones are present. They deserve a lot of credit for their committment as they are there, no matter what the weather brings!
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Mark and I went for a very enjoyable 4km hike through the York Regional Forest on a beautiful Fall day. We were in the HQ Tract, which meets up with the Hollidge Sidetrail – it is part of the Oak Ridges Trail Association and is quite lovely.
It’s hard to believe winter is just around the corner, when you have days like this – sunny, warm, dry, beautiful. But soon it will be sunny, cold, snowy and beautiful. I do love the winter!
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Northern Leopard Frog
Checking out the shoreline
Catching some rays
Anne, Jenn, Jeff, Vicki, Paul and I took the daytripper out of Honey Harbour to Beausoleil Island. The weather could not have been more perfect, the day was great. It’s always great to hike through a beautiful area with friends………but I still have yet to see an Eastern Massassauga Rattlesnake in the wild. Maybe next time….
Honeymoon Bay
Can you spot the Chippy?
Shadow Darner (corrections appreciated)
Vicki & Anne
Blue Black Spider Wasp with Wolf Spider Prey
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Well, today we had an interesting assortment of canines on our walk. Squeak & Finn (Golden Retriever and Flat-Coated Retriever) were joined by Jaxx (Shepx), Diego aka “The Wiener” (Dachshund), Fernie, aka “The Bullet”, Dora and Betty Boop (all Boston Terriers). Amazingly enough, they all sat pretty for the official photo. As Finn’s recall is not 100% reliable yet, and there was a couple with 3 dogs coming our way, I thought it best to put a leash on “The Boy” during this photo op.
Poor Finn. I had to put a leash on him for this photo - there were 2 people and 3 dogs approaching that he really (!!) wanted to meet.
Western Yellow Jacket
On the way home from this forest, we stopped at the Zephyr Tract of the York Regional Forest to photograph some bugs and flowers.
Queen Anne's Lace/Wild Carrot
The yellow jacket did not mind my macro lens up close, nor did the Bald Faced Hornet (guess who bought a new bug field guide???). The cicada exuvia was really neat – spooky in a sci-fi kind of way. Bugs are really quite fascinating once you get over the “ooh,it’s a bug!”
Bald Faced Hornet
Woodland Sunflower
Aster
Eastern Harvestman
Aster
Cicada exuvia
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Janet and Fernie joined Squeak, Finn and I for a great walk through Eldred King Tract of the York Regional Forest. As usual, Finn could not keep up with “the Bullet”, aka Fernie. 
Who knew Boston Terriers could be so darned fast!
She turns on a dime – I believe she does it to see if she can get Finn to rip a cruciate – and then rips through the mud on her belly when she wants to take a break.
Fernie then morphs into "Mud Puppy".
Thankfully she can swim. For that she morphs into the "Boston Retriever".......is there no end to her talents?
Not to be outdone, SqueakyM decided to usurp Fernie as "Retriever of the Day"
Relaxing
Finn will need a bath when he gets home - Fernie lured him into the mud........He loves Fernie.
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Finn and I hiked through this tract today. What a beautiful forest – I can’t believe I haven’t been here before!
Perhaps it was the drizzly day, but we met only a few people along the trails, so we were pretty much alone for our entire walk through the mixed conifer and hardwood forest.
There were many fungi present but as I do not know my fungi, I will not attempt to name them – something else “To Learn”.
With a dog along for the hike, birds were few and far between but it was a wonderful hike nonetheless. Peaceful, bug-free (due to winds), fungi, wildflowers, ferns, trees – very nice place for a walk. We will return!
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