PHOTO POST
The forest floor is still cold and in many places soggy. But the flowers that live there are in a hurry to bloom before the canopy fills in and blocks the sunlight.
That means there is a lot of beautiful change happening every day – and a lot of delicate growth that might be crushed by a hasty, careless or disrespectful step.
The first blooms of Trillium are just now emerging.
Leaf Over Leaf
Skunk Cabbage is a common Ontario woodland plant but I haven’t seen any within walking distance of home. The one photographed below is along the Seaton Hiking Trail in north Pickering. I saw scores of them popping out of the mud in particularly wet areas. Botanists use the word “spathe” for what most of us would call “that purple and gold pointy-curvy thing that sticks up beside the leaves.”
Let’s call a spathe a spathe
American Goldfinches are singing their songs throughout the neighbourhood, including from the branches of small trees at the edge of the woods.
Sunny As Spring
The tiny perfect flowers of Coltsfoot light up muddy creek banks.
Coltsfoot on Creekbank
Within the woods are many species of mosses. I found that by holding a reading magnifier in front of my camera lens I can get slightly improved pictures of the delicate features. The trick is to get down low enough on the ground so I can look up through the moss. The more detail I see, the more I think “I’d really like to get a more powerful lens.” (If I do get one, obviously, I’ll think “I should get an even more powerful lens.”)
Floor to Ceiling
Periscope
In the marsh next to the woods I was lucky enough to come across this female Common Merganser. (Not a fair name for such a splendid bird, I agree.)
Merganser Watch
This male Wood Duck may live nearby; Wood Ducks nest in trees although much of their diet comes from the marsh.
Marsh Moiré
Tree Swallows spend many hours swooping gracefully over the waters of the marsh while dining on insects. This pair was checking out a prefab house now available in the savannah just between the marsh and the woods. Location, location, location.
Sheltering Swallows 1
Sheltering Swallows 2
Sheltering Swallows 3
Skittering from tree to tree are the squirrels, keeping the forest lively throughout the seasons.
Upon Closer Inspection
For full-screen view of composite at top of page, click here.
