"Out & About" Photo Blog: Out & About in May

This post includes a few outings. We were in St. Catharines to visit Jane's mum.

This is McFarland House. It dates back to the War of 1812. I like the color mix in this shot.

The brickwork intrigues me. The house was damaged in the war but the family rebuilt it. Material shortages after a war isn't unusual. Does that explain the end wall?

The combination of bricks & stones is really something.

Jane amongst the Daffodils at McFarland House.

In a shop window in Niagara-on-the-Lake.

And in the shop next door.

In our neck of the woods, May is the month when nature explodes. Mother Nature hangs jewellery on some of her trees in spring.

Eastern Cottonwood

Manitoba Maple (Box Elder in the U.S.)

Norway Maple with blossoms.

Sugar Maple with blossoms. The blossoms are easy to miss but easy to see if you look for them. Trees close to roads drop the yellow blossoms on the pavement in May. Pavement never looked so good.

Silver Maple with its deep-lobed leaves. The keys are well on their way already.

Dandelion & shadow

Dandelions get a bad wrap. They're really quite pretty in small bunches like this.

Poison Ivy -- well on its way.

But a few feet away, this Poison Ivy has just started. It starts off rich red but all trace of red quickly fades as the leaves grow in size.

Once the silky white blossoms are gone, Pussy Willows look more like spruce needles.

I went to a section of Samuel Wilmot Nature Area that I hadn't been to before. I found the mother-lode of Trout Lilies. There are tens of 1000s of them there, probably a couple hundred thousand.

Trout Lilies are one of the early spring wildflowers, or spring ephemerals as the botanists call them, since they only bloom before the trees are in full leaf, when they can still get some sun.

The forest floor was covered in them, their mottled leaves sparkling in the sun.

Normally I don't shoot wildflowers in full sun but I didn't take a diffuser with me.

Much better results if you find some in partial or even full shade.

Get the nectar, spread the pollen.

You can see the bee's pollen sacks on its legs in this shot.
(Click on the image to enlarge it remember.)

I've probably included too many shots of Trout Lilies but they're one of my favourites... and they're so fleeting. As the blossom matures it changes shape too, which is somewhat unique.

The web did its job... should keep the spider going for a few meals.

I saw my first Trilliums on a creek bank. Only 6 or 7 but a welcome sight. Harsh, harsh light!

This dam is on Foster Creek in the nature area. It's the first beaver dam I've seen in our area. The beavers at the lake don't need a dam. The water behind the dam is a couple feet higher than below it.

I wonder if the large tree was there and they built the dam around it, or did they fell the tree too?

It looks like a real hodge-podge but the thing is that it works! And they brought the branches to the dam one or two at a time, depending on their size. Just branches and mud.

Jam them in where needed to stop the flow of the creek... and they do most of the manipulation of branches using only their jaws. How many branches wash away downstream when they first start?

There was one small outlet (water flow) on the far side of the dam. By design I expect so the entire area doesn't flood.

Water Strider and shadow.

Mayapples and their distinctive umbrellas... amongst the Trout Lilies.

I haven't seen a Robin's egg for many moons... a sad ending here obviously.

Well past the fiddlehead stage.

My experiment with Tinder Conk--from a dead Birch tree. I lit it and it smouldered for over half an hour before I put it out. No flame, just smoke and a few red embers. Not that I ever expect to use it to start a fire in the woods but it would definitely work. You just have to remember to take a spark-flint with you for the spark, unless you can do the "rub two sticks together" thing... or just do the city-folk thing and carry matches and keep them dry. :-)