Sunday 23 August 2015

Oshawa Second Marsh
August 22nd, 2015

I was curious to see the current state of the Wild Parsnip along the berm in the marsh. I was happy to see that it's been dealt with. The weeds on the berm and to either side have been cut down and perhaps sprayed as well. Or maybe it's just the time for Wild Parsnip to go to seed. In either case, you can now walk the length of the berm unobstructed, without being concerned that you may brush up against the offending weed. 

Any tall yellow flowers you see along the berm now are mostly Goldenrod. The parsnip is mostly brown.

 





























The parsnip is taller than other plants along the berm.














Himalayan Balsam has spread much further along the berm than in previous years. Over the past few years I've noticed that various species of plant take their turn at dominating the berm.















Bees favor the balsam blossoms.





















They climb inside the blossoms, exposing only their bottoms, which led to someone coming up with one of the common names for the plant—"Bee Bums".




















Joe-Pye Weed is spreading too.















Wild Cucumber is now blooming with its star-like flowers.


















Cormorants in a quiet spot in the bay.
















They're easy to make out as they fly, with their sleek profile.














I used to push through growth to get a better shot in a case like this. Now, often as not, I get what a can from an easier vantage point. It does at least show that there are lots of Cormorants in the marsh now.










Water Lilies in the channel by the berm.















The lake was quiet today other than a bit of push-back here into Farewell Creek.















Silverweed on the beach, with its yellow flowers & bright red runners.
















Purple Loosestrife is scattered throughout the marsh. We do have quite a few invasives but some of them are pretty. Of course they're only invasives from our point of view. As far as nature is concerned, they're just some of her visiting plants that are doing well in our area.
















Caught for a while.




















Farewell Creek always looks quiet. It is flowing into the lake but you can't tell unless you see it at the lake.

Milkweed blossoms are gone. The pods will be ripe and open before long, spreading their fluff-laden seeds on the wind.





















Thistle fluff.



















Gates still limit access to some areas but they're hardly necessary now. Nature is doing a good job of hiding the paths on her own.




























Queen Anne's Lace (Wild Carrot if you prefer) is entering the 'bird's nest' stage.
 



Eye-catching swaths of color.














Maybe I'll catch some Touch-Me-Nots at the popping stage this year. Jane & I did a few years back but we haven't since.


















Not sure what this is but the leaves are large and a rich green—almost looks sub-tropical.





Chicory will always be one of my favourites. There are still a few in the marsh.
There's a look of fall in the marsh. Summer is slowly slipping away.


- fini -



The Friends of Second Marsh web site...
A direct link to a map of the paths/trails in the marsh...

A link to a page that has my past posts re the marsh, in one place rather than scattered throughout this blog...



2 Comments:

At 23 August 2015 at 13:35 , Blogger Jim Ellis said...

Thanks Bob. Great photos as usual.Time to begin tagging Monarchs again!

 
At 29 August 2015 at 09:36 , Blogger Bob said...

Thanks Jim. Have you seen many so far this year? I saw a couple at the marsh.

 

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