On the PathNovember 24th, 2015

We've had a few small snowfalls the last few days, but the snow has melted fairly quickly. We really can't complain—we've had a very mild fall so far.

But as winter tries to push fall off stage, I thought I'd post one more set of fall images. They're from about 3 weeks ago.

The tree tunnels were still looking good.

A Tamarack (a species of larch) along the path—our only coniferous tree that loses its needles in the fall. It's known as Hackmatack by some. I like the sound of that name.

The woods at the top of the path, filling up with maple, birch and oak leaves. I often go into them for a look. Sometimes I just stand for a minute or two and soak it all in.

Some soft colors.

Though hundreds of the Black Locust seed pods fall to the ground, some make it through winter, hanging on to the branches.

They look leathery to me.

The rest of the shots are from a few days ago. 

The squirrels have some tidying-up to do before it gets much colder. Their nests are looking tattered.

Though the tree tunnels are now bare, the trees themselves are a pretty sight when the late day sun hits them.

Lots of people use the path... especially the high school kids and people walking their dogs.

Dog-strangling Vine—a busy background but I like the colors.

 

Dog-strangling Vine makes its presence known this time of year too, having climbed up everything in sight. It spreads like wildfire.

"I see the moon and the moon sees me..." How does the rest of that go?

We won't be seeing many colorful leaves for awhile.

Winter isn't my favourite season, but spring is 'only' 4 months away. Does 16 weeks or so sound any better? 
 
                                      - fini -

Oshawa Second MarshNovember 3rd, 2015

I try to make it down to the marsh at least once a month. I missed October—one thing and another. October & November are 'fungus months' and with my keen interest in fungi, I always end up taking more shots of them than I know what to do with, so you'll see several in this post. :-)

But how can I ignore them? They're so colorful & varied.

 

Some late sunlight catching some grasses.

A few Wild Cucumber pods are still green. Gotta love the curlicues.

 

Most are long past showing any green, though I do see a hint of green on this one still.

The turtles were in their favourite spot in the channel, necks craned as usual.

Turkey Tails (one of the few I know the name of) come in a variety of colors.

The next few shots of them have a floral look.

I like Woolly Bears. I forget what they turn into—and I'm too lazy to look it up again. Update: They turn into Isabella Moths—thanks Fred.

This buck in Ghost Road Bush was the highlight of the day for me. Seeing a deer always is, since I so seldom see them. He could've cared less about me. Didn't even glance my way. He just slowly wandered through the woods about 100 feet from me. 

Couldn't get a clear shot of him even though I walked along the boardwalk parallel to him for a bit. Wish I could've got a better shot. Which brought to mind a saying my mother often quoted: "If wishes were horses, beggars would ride." I must have done a fair bit of wishing as a kid, since I remember hearing the saying quite often. :-)

The leaf miner tunnels are still obvious in these leaves. To think that they eat their way between the top & bottom surfaces of the leaf—how small they have to be.

The 'bottle-brush' stage of Horsetail. This time of year they look like a swarm of green spiders crawling though the woods. Kinda cool.

Milkweed is doing its thing.

The more seeds that succeed the better—for the Monarchs.

Still a few dandelions around.

I was down at the marsh again last Saturday to see the many volunteers who were repairing the boardwalk through Ghost Road Bush. I have a bad back so I took on the role of unofficial photographer.

The boards are 2x6's so they're heavy.

Volunteers were all ages. It was good to see the young ones.

Someone pointed out this colorful fungus that was growing on the boardwalk.

End of the day.

Colorful undergrowth across the road from the marsh.

Many thanks to all the volunteers who showed up and pitched in.

- fini - 

The Friends of Second Marsh web site...

http://secondmarsh.ca/

A direct link to a map of the paths/trails in the marsh...

http://secondmarsh.outdoorontario.ca/Recreation.html

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

http://rgbell.ca/2/