More northerly water falls

Water is falling, and it's not just liquid precipitation!

A few weeks ago (March 8) I posted about some of my favourite waterfalls in southern and southwestern Ontario. I gave a bit of detail on how I go about photographing the various falls, and some of the danger to be aware of.

On this post I want to share some of the waterfalls a bit farther east and north.

This first one is High Falls, northeast of Peterborough. Several years ago I went in with others to see it. It was at least a kilometre from the road and I don't think I could get to it again since it wasn't along any particular access trail.

More than one waterfall is called High Falls. This is one also known as High Falls, in the Bracebridge area, another municipality which like Hamilton, has a lot of waterfalls in the vicinity. It has a large volume of water going over it most of the time. A small park and picnic area is nearby.

Also in the greater Bracebridge area is Wilson's Falls. It isn't as impressive from a distance, but a trail leads right to the falls itself.

A short distance north of Huntsville is one of the more accessible and impressive falls that one can get quite intimate with. I visit it several times a year in various seasons.

Brooks Falls in February

Brooks Falls in October

A short distance downstream from Brooks Falls proper

 If you go to Manitoulin Island and come from the north via Espanola, you actually drive over these next falls, which are not visible from the highway. You have to get off at the small community of Whitefish Falls to find it. Once you get onto Manitoulin, at the village of Kagawong, is the impressive plunge falls known as Bridal Veil Falls. You can walk right around it, and even swim in the plunge pool.

Whitefish Falls

Bridal Veil Falls

Just west of Espanola, at the village of Massey, is Chutes Provincial Park. The numerous waterfalls there are mostly not plunge type, but more likely to be the cascade type, as shown in the next two images. Cascade types are longer but do not usually have as much of a vertical drop.

A bit northeast of Sudbury is Onaping Falls, which drops about 150 feet in a series of drops. One of the Group Of Seven, A. Y. Jackson, used this site for the subject of a painting on canvas. The next image was taken from the A. Y. Jackson lookout.

East of North Bay, half way to Mattawa is the Eau Claire Gorge Conservation Area, which features the Eau Claire waterfall. It is difficult to photograph, since about the only vantage point is right at the top and much of the cascade goes too close and under the viewing point. Nonetheless it is impressive to see, especially with a large volume of water flowing.

In the North Bay area is a very impressive and accessible falls, known as Duchesnay Falls. It is visible from the Trans Canada Highway, but it much more appreciated from the trail system.

View from the highway

Spring flow at Duchesnay Falls

 This next one is actually one of my favourite parts of Duchesnay Falls, but it is most impressive when the larger falls has a large volume of water, which spills over to this smaller side falls.

Big trees, birds, butterflies.....and snakes!

The last couple of days have been more spring-like, and great to be out! On Wednesday, I went out to Rondeau in search of Big Trees, and found some :-). On this day, I concentrated most of my time in the vicinity of the south half of the campground, as well as the day-use area between the campground and the maintenance area.

There are some big trees there. You've probably driven by this first one on many occasions. It is right along Rondeau Park Ave, immediately south of the campground. It is an Eastern Cottonwood, a fairly fast growing species. It measured 135 cm dbh, which is exactly the same diameter as the huge Red Oak I posted about previously.

Eastern Cottonwood, 135 cm dbh

A large Black Walnut was nearby, but measuring a mere 113 cm dbh.

Both of these two, although they appear to be open grown, are quite tall without any large lower branches. The next two are oaks, and are open grown and the one in particular shows the remains of two very large lower branches, which have been cut off for some reason. Since it was in the campground, maybe they were cut off to prevent interfering with camping trailers.

Black Oak, 120 cm dbh

 Clearly this is not a forest grown tree where the trunk would be straight and unbranched for 6-10 metres or more. The extra bulges where the lowest branches used to be happen to be at the height where official measurements are to be made (1.4m).

Red Oak, 131 cm dbh

Overall I managed to measure about 70 trees, most of which were in the 80 cm to 135 cm range, and would qualify them as representing older growth. So far I've measured about 100 trees, and have barely scratched the surface......the more I look around specifically for trees in that size range, the more I see from one end of the park to the other......I probably have only a couple of thousand more to go! And I am intentionally not measuring anything below 70cm dbh, unless it is a species which seldom grows that big even at the best of times (e.g. Sassafrass), or I would have a lot more to do. While some references on Old Growth indicated that any tree bigger than 50 cm might be an indication of old growth, there are a huge number of trees at Rondeau which are in the 50-70 cm range.

In spite of the snow still on the ground in patches, when the sun was out it was fairly warm at ground level. But I was a bit surprised to see these two Eastern Garter Snakes out basking. I suspect they must have just emerged that day. I noticed a small hole about a metre away, going into an old tree root where they might have accessed a suitable cavity below the frost line.

In addition to these two snakes, I saw my first butterfly of the season...an Eastern Comma, but it was so active and flying steadily away, I didn't get any photos.

This Killdeer was a bit more cooperative, and it was successful in getting some small worm-like creatures to feed on.

Yesterday, I decided to take a break from measuring trees (although in my travels, I certainly was on the lookout for them). I figured with the clear skies the previous night and the southerly winds, some new bird migrants might have shown up. I was successful in finding a few, and even got a few photos of some.

There was a significant arrival of Northern Flicker, as I saw at least 11 in various places.

Eastern Phoebes were widely scattered. I saw at least 9.

There was the typical mix of Brown-headed Cowbirds, Red-winged Blackbirds and Common Grackles in various places.

Brown-headed Cowbird

This immature White-crowned Sparrow was near the Visitor Centre. It might have been the one that was seen coming into the feeder most of the winter, but I hadn't seen it for a couple of weeks. Turkey Vultures have been around for a few days; some were roosting in trees rather than soaring around.

imm White-crowned Sparrow

Turkey Vulture

I also saw a single Tree Swallow flying low over the still frozen Rondeau Bay, and heading south! There were more Golden-crowned Kinglets around than I've seen in awhile, and a Brown Thrasher was scratching around in the leaves at the side of the trail. Black-capped Chickadees and Tufted Titmice were singing away, and it seemed like there were more Brown Creepers around.

I stopped in at Erieau at one point, hoping that with much of the bay and lake still frozen, waterfowl might be a little more concentrated, providing some photo ops. There were lots of Canvasback in flooded fields just outside of the village, with a few other typical species also present.

Gadwall

Red-breasted Mergansers

Bonaparte's Gulls were around in greater numbers than I have seen for several months. There were at least 40, and some were sporting some darker head feathers.

While scanning the marina slip for different gulls, I noticed some movement on the far side. A little distant for a good shot, but still identifiable as a mink.

Camera equipment for sale
A few posts ago, I mentioned that I have a new Canon 100-400mm L II lens. It has been working extremely well, and I am looking forward to using its close focus capabilities for birds, butterflies, dragonflies, etc as the opportunities present themselves along the trails. But this means that my faithful older Canon 100-400mm L lens is no longer needed, and I am willing to sell it. Many of the butterfly, dragonfly and even bird shots of the first year of this blog were taken with it.

In looking at some of the main camera dealers, a brand new version of this lens is $1870.00, plus tax. A used version of this lens on their web site is $1300.00, plus tax.

I am willing to sell my lens, which is in very good shape, and includes a Pro 1 77mm UV filter, for $950.00.

I also have a Canon 1.4X II tele converter. A used one retails for $320.00 plus tax. I am willing to sell mine for $250.00.  Update: this item is now sold.


If you are interested in either piece of equipment, just let me know.

National Take A Walk In The Park day

Yesterday, March 30, I was on my way out to Rondeau. On my way out, I overheard the radio DJ say that it was national Take A Walk In The Park Day.......hey....it sounded like a great idea, so I kept on going. As if I needed an excuse.....

My intent for this visit wasn't necessarily to check off as many birds as possible, although I am always on the lookout for them. I went out the South Point Trail at first, but with the southerly winds off the frozen lake, it was quite cold, and birds were few. There were a handful of ducks in some of the open leads well out from shore, but virtually no land birds put in an appearance along the trail.

Later I went along the Tuliptree Trail....it was considerably warmer and out of the wind. There were a ton of grackles, cowbirds and redwings around, and even a few Rusties, the first I had seen this spring.

Red-winged Blackbird

This upturned mossy Silver Maple root along the western most part of the trail often gets my attention.

At ground level there isn't much greenery these days, which makes things like this moss stand out. I'm not sure exactly what kind it is, but it may be Rock Spike Moss.

 One of my goals this trip was to start surveying the big trees that might qualify as old growth. There are a number of characteristics of a woodland that indicate old growth. Size matters, of course, in the context of trunk diameter. Age of the tree matters as well, but is difficult to determine unless one cuts a cross section to count the rings or has a tool called an increment corer, which drills a very small core out of the trunk. Age and size are not always directly related, as the site a tree grows on makes a huge difference, depending on the growing conditions. But the growth habit also matters, as do the bark characteristics, the amount of fallen log material on the ground in the general area, as well as the lack of disturbance on the ground and the diversity and abundance of ferns. Of course there aren't many ferns visible so early in the season. But on many of my previous hikes, I have noticed an abundance of large diameter trees. So I have taken it upon myself, with the park's blessing and encouragement, to begin to document as many large diameter trees as I can. And since it is much easier to see them when there are no leaves to contend with, and the snow is mostly gone from the forest floor, now is the time to make progress.

I had made up a template to record information such as species name, diameter at breast height (officially at 1.4 m above ground) and GPS coordinates. In many cases, large diameter trees that might qualify for old growth status in the current era would be anywhere from 50 - 100 cm dbh. Anything that would be in that range historically would be considered small, however. Here is one of the largest trees of the last century, a Sycamore. Just before it died in the late 1960s, it measured over 167 cm dbh. The photo was taken in 1908.

 This next one was a White Pine that measured about 152 cm dbh at the time it was cut. Three people were able to sit inside the stump.

I thought that looking for trees in excess of 150 cm dbh might be a lost cause, so I decided that anything over 60 cm might qualify. I knew I could find a few that would be greater than 100 cm since I had noted a few during some hiking last fall.

Checking along roads, trails and such is the easiest way to cover the territory most efficiently. But there are a lot of specimens not visible from any road or trail. That is when it gets even more fun, because it gets one into areas that few people have spent much time in. And so my first area to target was along a wide ridge north of Gardiner Ave where an old access trail from many decades ago occurred. It hasn't been used for anything for at least 30 years, and for all intents and purposes, doesn't exist as a trail of any sort. I had gotten wind of a particularly large tree about a kilometre in from the nearest road, and so that is where I headed.

There were lots of decent sized trees along the way, many of which qualified, and I began measuring. I found American Beech, Basswood, White Oak and Tuliptree that were in the 65-80 cm range, so I duly recorded their vital statistics, And I came across a huge Red Oak. This one measured 134 cm! It was actually in pretty good shape, too. To get an idea of scale, you can see my notebook at the bottom. Next time I will take a tripod and get myself in it for a better sense of scale.

This Red Oak is the largest tree I have measured in the park so far. I did come across a Tuliptree last December that measured 125 cm, although I think there are larger ones of this species, as well as Silver Maple, which don't live long but grow to large size in a relatively short time.

Tuliptree, 125 cm dbh

 I knew there were some large trees in the campground, and thought there might be a few birds as well. This very large Black Oak caught my attention. It measured 102 cm dbh. And there are larger ones that I didn't get to yet.

There were a few birds in the campground, but the brisk cold wind kept them under cover for the most part. A few robins were around, as were many Song Sparrows, and this Red-bellied Woodpecker.

I came across a couple of Eastern Bluebirds, a male and a female. But they didn't cooperate for a photo. While trying to get close enough for a photo of the bluebirds, I came across this colourful nest of a Baltimore Oriole that persisted from 2014. Apparently someone from the campground must have left some deteriorating tent or tarp material behind last year, and the oriole added a few long strips to the nest. It was in remarkably good shape, especially considering how exposed to sun, winter winds, snow and rain it would have been subject to for most of a year. It is certainly testament to the durability of this species' engineering skills.

I hadn't actually been aware of National Take A Walk In The Park Day before, but now I will put it on my calendar!

Avian nesting is underway!

Yesterday I went out and headed towards Thamesville. On my way out of town, I noted that a heronry of Great Blues, a bit north of Longwoods Road and a few kilometres east of town, had some Great Blues flying around, and with some birds on the nest. I'm not sure if the Great Blues were actually nesting yet, but the process is underway. This heronry has been active for quite a few years....at least a couple of decades. There are at least 50 nests in this woodlot, well away from the highway but reasonably visible from a considerable distance before the leaves are out. Binoculars certainly help. It isn't the greatest shot, as it was a long way away. The focal length was the equivalent of 800mm, and it was cropped after I got home. Also the light was a poor angle making the focus difficult, and since the nests are spread out so much, only half a dozen nests are visible here.

 My main reason for heading out this way was to photograph the Bald Eagle's nest which is just a few kilometres east of Thamesville. I posted about it a few weeks ago. It is in an old oxbow between the highway and the river. While passing by it a few days ago, I noted that there was an adult on it, in an incubating position! So the nesting season is underway!

View from Longwoods Road

Closer, but still not as close as I would like.

It will be fairly easy to keep tabs on this nest, at least before the leaves emerge.

I wanted to know if this was the same pair that usually nests a bit farther downstream, closer to Kent Bridge. So I drove along the south side of the river to the north end of Scane Road. The nest is farther from the road and difficult to see except from a very specific angle, so I didn't even attempt a photo. But that nest also had an adult eagle on it, sitting as if it was protecting something. So it is definitely a different pair. It is so nice to see that this species is continuing to thrive, compared to the dismal prospects it had in the 1960s through the 1980s.

There is a fair bit of good habitat along the Thames River, and nesting pairs are popping up here and there. The river is entirely open now, but the levels are a bit lower than normal so there isn't a major current compared to most years at this time. Flooding anywhere was almost non-existent, even in the floodplain areas.

Taken from the edge of a trestle just west of Thamesville

 I looped around to the Ridgetown Sewage Lagoons, but there wasn't much to see. Lots of Canada Geese and three Cackling Geese on the berm, but other than that, only 4 Mallards and 2 Redhead. Most of the ponds were still frozen solid, which may change if the weather prognosticators are remotely correct in the next few days.

Today I took a look around Mitchell's Bay. Finally the lake is starting to open up. I didn't even see anyone ice fishing today, although there were a couple of vehicles in the parking lot which looked suspicious. But in a sizeable open area north of Mitchell's Bay were a lot of ducks. I estimated at least 1200 Canvasback, and a handful of Redhead, Common Merganser, Ring-necked, both scaup, Bufflehead, Common Goldeneye, Mallard and American Black. But they were way too far for a photograph....it was all I could do to see them well through the 'scope.

I checked the Angler Line area, just in case the Yellow-headed Blackbirds were there. It really is a bit too early, but one never knows. I didn't see any, although there were a bunch of Red-wings. There were ducks around, including Wood Duck, Northern Pintail, Blue-winged Teal, Gadwall and American Wigeon among others. I also saw three Double-crested Cormorants fly over.

I continued towards St. Clair NWA. Along Rivard Line just north of SCNWA, there were several hundred Canada Geese feeding in the corn stubble. Some white flashes caught my eye, and they turned out to be Snow Geese....5 of them.

I walked the trail at the NWA. It was really starting to get windy, as I knew a front was approaching. Just as I started down the trail, I heard, then saw, two Sandhill Cranes. They were too far away to attempt a photo, and I saw them land over in the St. Luke's Marsh area. I heard and saw them a couple of other times. Other than that, it was the usual mix of waterfowl, but it is always nice to see Ring-necked and Wood Ducks, although none of them were all that close. And with the deteriorating weather, it wasn't likely to be worth attempting a photograph.

I made it to the viewing tower, but lots of the NWA is still frozen up and there weren't a lot of ducks. I did see an adult Bald Eagle in a tree along the lake. Just as I got back to the car, the wind picked up and the snow pellets started flying around! Winter isn't going to let us out of its clutches quite yet, it seems. And while driving slightly east of the NWA towards home, I saw presumably the same 5 Snow Geese being buffetted as they flew into the wind, and I only got a tail end shot of them against a very bland sky mixed with snow.

 So eagles are nesting, and Great Blues will be shortly. Others will be soon as well, including American Woodcock and American Robins, Mourning Doves, Killdeer, Horned Lark, various waterfowl and raptors.

It's a favourite time of year...

....well maybe not everybody's.....it is income tax time! For some, perhaps many, that will mean a tax refund.

I just recently pulled all of my 2014 income tax information together to submit. And if all goes according to plan, I will indeed get at least a reasonable chunk of $$ back. Part of this is because of charitable donations.

Charitable organizations and volunteers are extremely important. If it weren't for them, our natural resources, for example, would be in a lot more perilous condition than they are.

I expect that many readers already do what they can to support these and other worthwhile organizations, such as:
-supporting financially through membership or financial support beyond membership dues;
-volunteering time and energy in a variety of ways, whether it is towards citizen science, or using ones business, organizational or science skills.

Here in southwestern Ontario, there are many groups making a difference on the landscape or in the knowledge and understanding of our natural resources. One of the best ways to make a difference is to acquire and manage natural areas. During my career with OMNR, I think people within the organization got tired of hearing some of my mantras, such as:

"Dealing with Species At Risk instead of Spaces At Risk is like treating a life-threatening disease with an aspirin."

and 

"If governments at all levels put half of the $$ that has gone towards creating and administering the provincial Endangered Species Act or federal Species At Risk Act into acquiring and properly managing natural areas, many of the species at risk issues both now and in the future would be taken care of."

Unfortunately there is far more bureaucracy to always make the biggest difference on the landscape. There are many provincial parks and nature reserves, but there are way too many significant sites slipping through the cracks. Fortunately, non-government organizations can act more quickly, and have a more active agenda, which has made a huge difference!
 
So those organizations that actively acquire and manage property are high up on my priority list to support in whatever way I can.  

On a national and international scale, it is hard to beat the Nature Conservancy. Internationally seashores, canyonlands, woodlands, wetlands and prairies, where in fact the bison still do roam, are in far better shape than they were before NCC became involved.

Bison on Tallgrass Prairie Preserve, Oklahoma

On a national scale, property has been acquired by NCC coast to coast to coast to coast. For example in southern Ontario, major acquisitions have taken place in the Backus Woods area of Norfolk County, which is the stronghold for the endangered Cucumber Magnolia in Canada.

Cucumber Magnolia

Old growth forest in Norfolk County

at Clear Creek in Chatham-Kent 

Clear Creek Forest

and the Bickford Oak Woods in Lambton, with its large size and mosaic of forested wetlands, just to name a few. 

Bickford Oak Woods

Having worked with various NCC staff during my time with OMNR, I can say I was always very impressed by the knowledge and passion they had towards natural areas. Check out their web site for more information:  www.natureconservancy.ca

Land trusts have many of the same goals and approaches that NCC does, but concentrate on a more local scale. Some of the more active ones in the local area include:

Walpole Island Land Trust, focusing on some of the best quality prairie and savanna they have literally in their back yard. http://walpolelandtrust.com/

Walpole Island tallgrass prairie

 The Canada South Land Trust focuses primarily on Essex but is also interested in Chatham-Kent. www.canadasouthlandtrust.org

The Thames Talbot Land Trust is involved in a number of worthwhile project areas in Middlesex, Elgin and Lambton. www.thamestalbotlandtrust.ca

Skunk's Misery, where TTLT works

Virginia Bluebells, a rare plant at a TTLT site

Carolinian Canada has been around since 1984, and works with a huge number of like-minded organizations, and local governments, as well as private landowners to facilitate positive changes to natural areas within the Carolinian Life Zone. Check them out at: http://caroliniancanada.ca/

Dedicating a part of Skunk's Misery

Wetland along a trail being inventoried by Carolinian Canada

Old field/prairie along a trail being inventoried by Carolinian Canada

The Friends of Rondeau, established in 1985, supports many aspects of natural heritage education at Rondeau. This includes operating a sales outlet featuring natural heritage items as well as hosting birding related events at Rondeau (e.g. the Wings of Spring just a few days ago; birding hikes for several weeks in May), a butterfly festival in September to celebrate the Monarch, the butterfly count in mid-summer, and supports other natural heritage education events. You can learn more about them at: http://www.rondeauprovincialpark.ca/

Scarlet Tanager

Leading a bird hike at Rondeau

Banded Monarch

Bird Studies Canada started out as the Long Point Bird Observatory many decades ago, but has since expanded its vision substantially. It initiates and carries out many scientific projects; it designs and sponsors many citizen science projects relating to birds and wetlands in particular. 

Red-headed Woodpecker

 BSC has been monitoring Tree Swallow nesting success at Long Point for decades.

BSC has expanded its influence across Canada, and is increasingly recognized internationally for its major science-based efforts towards education as well as contributions towards protecting birds and their habitats wherever they may be. Having worked along side some of the BSC staff in inter-agency projects, I can say without hesitation that the staff is incredibly knowledgeable and devoted. For more information see: http://bsc-eoc.org/

There are numerous other groups doing great work, far too many to include them all here. Many local naturalist clubs are doing phenomenal things within their areas of interest and geographic location. And of course the Ontario Field Ornithologists, in existence since the early 1980s, has made major contributions in the documentation of birds (e.g. Breeding Bird Atlas, Ontario Bird Records Committee) as well as education and hosting numerous field events. See more at: http://www.ofo.ca/

So if you can, please give generously to one or more of these fine groups, whether it be financially, via time and expertise or in some other way. If you enjoy natural areas and the plants and creatures that depend on them, you will be doing yourself a favour as well. And you just might get a bigger income tax refund next year!