"Out & About" Photo Blog: Oshawa Second Marsh <br/>July 25th, 2015

A pretty hot day but it was cloudy so not bad overall. The first thing I spotted was some Chicory—one of my favourites.

If you look closely at its blossoms you'll see that they attach to the main stem without a stem of their own.

More gates have cut off more access to Ghost Road Bush.

Himalayan Balsam—aka Poor Man's Orchid, etc.

Since access to Ghost Road Bush is limited, I just walked down the berm to the lake today. It's about a mile and mostly sun-bathed, so there's lots of growth along it.

The white stuff on the left is Sweet White Clover. I think we were told as kids out west that it was called Pig's Weed. But that was in a galaxy far, far away and long, long ago so maybe not. The low-growing yellow flower on the other side is Bird's Foot Trefoil.

Named for it's resemblance to a bird's foot. I suppose. But it looks more like a jumbled blob to me.

Thistle fluff

A Red Admiral butterfly. Looks a bit beat-up.

Not much of a shot but I like to get shots of butterflies other than the classic, perfect spread-wing ones we usually see.

Check the shot below. Wild Parsnip (the tall yellow one) is rampant in Ontario this year (see links below). Wild Parsnip is dangerous & poisonous and it should definitely be avoided! It's effects are worse than Poison Ivy, according to some.

To be safe don't go near any weed that looks like this.

Wild Parsnip is invading Ontario big time this year according to these recent links. Check the video in the 3rd link.

http://www.durhamregion.com/community-story/5739665-pickering-boy-11-burned-by-toxic-wild-parsnip/

http://www.kingstonregion.com/news-story/5738594-dangerous-wild-parsnip-growing-rampant-in-eastern-ontario/

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/renfrew-woman-sherry-steeves-badly-burned-by-invasive-wild-parsnip-1.3145694

So add Wild Parsnip to the growing list of things to try to avoid if you're out & about in nature in Ontario. Mosquitoes carrying West Nile virus, ticks that cause Lyme disease and Giant Hogweed are already on the list. And of course Poison Ivy has been on the list forever.

I expect more & more people will just stay out of the woods and nature areas. Sad but understandable.

Red Soldier Beetles on the suspect plant. It's hard to find any of them that aren't feeling amorous. According to the web it also goes by the name Hogweed Bonking Beetle. They say it's a fairly recent resident in Ontario but I've seen them for a few years now, especially on Queen Anne's Lace...

... as here.

The bee/wasp on this thistle has a beak like a bird. Some bees do have them. Or is it a leg?

Field Bindweed

This is Bouncing Bet (love the name)—thanks John.

The petals slope backwards.

This is where Farewell Creek enters Lake Ontario. The lake was pretty quiet.

A gaggle of geese with a few swans mixed in was pretty well it.

Farewell Creek is quite wide but it empties into the lake through a channel only 10 feet or so wide—today at least.

I saw a Great Blue Heron earlier but not until it heard or saw me and was well on its way to somewhere else. This one was far enough away that it could care less about me.

Milkweed blossoms—especially pretty when you catch them as an almost perfect ball.

Joe Pye's name (an Indian healer they say) lives on with this plant named after him... Joe-Pye Weed. The story is that he used it to cure fevers.

Geese were flying in small groups from the bay to a field to the west.

The closer you are to the lake, the heavier the growth is on the berm. This was on my way back. The sky got dark and there were rumbles of thunder in the distance. It sounded far enough away that I didn't rush.