"Out & About" Photo Blog: Oshawa Second Marsh <br/>September 20th, 2015

Jane joined me for this visit to the marsh—a bright sunny day—almost the official end of summer. With much of the access to the trails still limited, we walked the berm to the lake. It's about a mile to the lake, so it's good exercise as well as a beautiful taste of nature.

The most noticeable change from my last visit was the appearance of Jerusalem Artichokes, the tallest of the wildflowers in the marsh.

The delicate seeds of some species of grass.

There are still lots of Himalayan Balsam blossoms along the berm. They range from white to light pink to a deep pink. The common names for it—and there are lots of them—range from Bee-Bums (there's a bee in one of these blossoms) to Kiss-Me-on-the-Mountain.

I can't resist popping a few seed pods.

There are quite a few Touch-Me-Nots/Jewell-weeds at the marsh too. They'll soon have their pods ready for popping as well. They're closely related to the Balsam.

Jane spotted the turtles in their favourite spot in the channel by the berm, soaking up the sun. They're a species of Painted Turtle.

"Where we going, Mum?"

Since the trimming of the plants along the berm it's a much easier walk than before.

Burs waiting to catch a ride home or somewhere further afield.

This plant isn't common in our area. Its seed pods are like tiny white pearls.

You never meet many people at the marsh. Jane counted 14 today, and 7 dogs. :-) A record I think.

It's a big lake—about 30 miles across at this point. New York state is on the opposite shore. Its history speaks of lots of rum-running from New York state to Canada.

This bunch of geese had this part of the lake to themselves. Seeing them on such a large lake emphasizes their freedom to me.

They decided to move down the lake a ways. Why?

This fascinates me. I saw this kind of thing a few years back at another spot on the lakeshore. Scientists call them 'ladybug washups'.

Apparently it's common around the world on the shores of many lakes—and oceans too. Most of them are dead, but a small number are alive.

There were 1000's of them, along a stretch of about 30 or 40 yards.

There were several live ones on this log.

Kids or fishermen had burned this log. The ladybugs were a sharp contrast on it.

If you're curious to learn more about ladybug washups, check this link. They've been observed since at least 1873 according to the reference.
http://www.lostladybug.org/archive_5.php

What a happy sight this was. Others have reported seeing more Monarchs this year. We saw about 50 of them at the lakeshore, slowly working their way west, stopping on the Goldenrod to fatten up before their flight across the lake, and eventually to Mexico.

I still find it incredible to think that they make the journey. They're such tiny creatures.