Petticoat Creek CA & Lynde Shores CA May 25th, 2014

"The human spirit needs places where nature has not been rearranged by the hand of man."                                       
                                                          - Author Unknown 

Today we went somewhere we'd never been. I've been curious about Petticoat CA for a while. It's towards Toronto, a direction we seldom go. There's just too much traffic.

The unusual name is an anglicized version of the French name for the area--"Petit Coté". Unlike conservation areas out our way, there's a manned booth at the gate--$6 entry fee per person.

 

This family found a private spot. It's where Petticoat Creek enters Lake Ontario.

Love it.

When I was about to write the park off as boring, we found a natural area along the lake-edge with thousands upon thousands of Trilliums, spreading through the woods. Have never seen so many pink ones as we did here. The most common explanation is that the white ones turn pink as they age. Whether all do, or only some, I'm not sure.

Since Trilliums take 7 to 10 years to come into bloom, the woods here are full of older ones. 

When you see so many in one location it's a joy to just linger and take it all in.

Lynde Shores CA
On the way home we stopped at Lynde Shores. This young Eastern Grey was enjoying some seeds, compliments of a visitor.

Jane wasn't trying to hide on me here. She was smelling a blossom. A few years back Lynde Shores was a hot spot for Trilliums. There are very few there now. Mayapples have taken over. There are 1000s of them. It's interesting how nature evolves, at times relatively quickly.

A line is drawn... where the Mayapples end, the Ostrich Fern begins.

Mayapples are everywhere.

This was the highlight of the day for me. We weren't sure what this female goose was up to. Rearranging her nest we thought, to make it more comfortable, and to protect her eggs. The nest is only a few feet from the boardwalk so I hope no one disturbs it.

After a stroll down the boardwalk, we had another look on the way back. She was gone and the eggs were completely covered. (The bright white things are some bread someone had thrown her way.)

She'd covered her eggs so she could go for a bite to eat, as hubby stood guard. It's small things like this in nature that I enjoy so much. Things you don't normally see... but things that are going on all the time in nature.

- fini -