"Out & About" Photo Blog: Oshawa Second Marsh <br/>April 30th, 2015

I went down to see how spring was progressing in the marsh. There are tens of thousands of Trout Lily on the forest floor of Ghost Road Bush. Some will soon be sporting their drooping yellow blossoms.

In amongst them were dozens of Horsetail in their pagoda-like stage.

In all my outings in nature, this is the first time I've come across a Chickadee using a nest hole. She was removing material from inside the hole to make her home more comfortable.

I had some seeds with me but she wasn't interested.

Mayapples are definitely one of my favourite spring flowers... probably my favourite. I like the way they start life as closed umbrellas, later opening the umbrella to 'protect' their single white blossom that is sometimes half-hidden from sight, that later becomes its small, single green apple.

I saw a few dozen today. Soon there'll be hundreds.

Reeds in the way and harsh light, but the turtles are out of hibernation.

A pair of geese in the water channel by the berm. The colorful grasses caught my eye.

Father goose on guard as his mate feeds on some water plants.

Nature festoons some of her trees with jewellery before the leaves are out in full. These are Manitoba Maple blossoms.

The vernal pools are murky looking. I didn't see any activity in them but there probably is something stirring in them if you were to look closely.

Unlike dandelions, Coltsfoot bloom first, then develop leaves. Huge leaves at that.

Spring Azure butterflies are tiny, roughly an inch across, but they're a gorgeous shade of blue.. their hind wings that you see in flight are at least, rather than the soft blue of the fore-wings that you see here.