"Out & About" Photo Blog: Oshawa Second Marsh<BR/>April 22nd, 2019

Easter Monday. Sunshine & bright, blue skies. A perfect day. Speaking of which I figure we get about 25 perfect days a year. Not too hot, not too cold (as Goldilocks would say), no bugs, not too windy, not raining, not high humidity. A glorious day to be out in nature.

I hadn't been to the marsh in what seemed ages. It was great to see what nature had in store for me as she slowly awakens from her winter slumber. The early signs are there.

I was greeted by a Chickadee looking for seeds. I forgot to bring any. Felt bad, especially since the marsh is partially closed so they don't get many visitors these days. :(

The channel by the berm is clear of tall weeds and grasses now so it's much easier to see any life on it. Trouble is, it's too early for most. I thought the turtles might be out sunning themselves but not a one.

Look like pussy willows but they're buds of some sort, ready to burst open.

Turkey Vultures are passing through in big numbers. Birders often refer to them as TVs. This was the best my lens could do.

Father teaching son the ropes?

This is kind of a contradiction I thought. These signs are now on the fence that has as its main sign, "No Entry, Area Closed". Fishermen and a few others of us, just walk around the fence since it's only about 50 feet long.

My excuse is that I'm a director on the Friends of Second Marsh board and I like to check the state of affairs at the marsh now & then. As for others, the city is of course, just covering its butt for liability issues.

Coltsfoot... a sure sign of spring. The flowers appear before its leaves do. It's one of the earliest spring ephemerals... plants that come and go before the tree canopy blocks the sun. Often mistaken for Dandelions, they'll be gone before Dandelions appear, other than a few maybe.

Black Knot Fungus apparently attacks trees of the Cherry family. Ugly, but not as bad as it looks. :)

The boardwalk through Ghost Road Bush has lots of bad spots but sections of stronger ones too. The rebuild will be a major one when it's time.

The Beaver Pond.

Work of Pileated Woodpeckers I assume. They don't fool around.

Another of the spring ephemerals... Trout Lilies. Story is that its name reflects its resemblance to the markings on Brook Trout.

This shot kind of indicates the state of affairs in Ghost Road Bush. School children erected this birdhouse at some point.

Vernal pools reflect the blue sky on a day like this. I've seen ducks and tiny larvae in them in other years. Nothing today.

Can anyone ID these for me? I don't remember seeing them before?

These are the early stage of Fiddleheads... I think. It's interesting how many of nature's plants begin their lives in shades of red. That includes Poison Ivy.

Horsetail.We're told it has been around since the dinosaur days... 65 million years or so. They were several feet tall then they tell us. These are 4 or 5 inches now. They're distinctive in this 'pagoda' stage.

These look like porcelain sea creatures to me. Manta Rays maybe? But they're small. :)

I need help with this one too. I appreciate it's hard to tell from the shot, but could they be Giant Puffballs? The shape is right. I kicked the inner brown part and it was almost like kicking air... and brown 'smoke' (spores?) went into the air.

If they are, it was a first for me in the marsh. Last time I saw one was in the Moose Jaw area when I was a kid.

A reminder of areas of the marsh.

At the GM Tower. Lousy shot... my batteries died on my good camera, so point & shoot time and trying to get a shot without a viewfinder, but it does show how little water is visible from the tower now.

Oshawa has been through some rough times lately for 1000s of GM employees but I like to remember what GM has done for the area in the past. They were/are great corporate citizens.

Sunshine feels great on the face but it makes some shots very difficult. I'm past doing much with Photoshop to doctor images, though if I was still up to it, this one needs work... Turkey Tail fungus.