Osprey Surprise

Springbank Park - June 28, 2017
Sunny, 19 degrees
High of 26.

I went for a morning walk in Springbank.  I decided to walk toward Greenway Park under the Wonderland Rd bridge.  A lot of swallows are nesting under the bridge.  I found a nice weed/wildflower patch plus some milkweed plants along the river in Greenway. That would be a great place to check out in changing seasons. 
Birds I saw - Osprey, Barn Swallows, Bank Swallows, Mallard, Canada Geese, Red-winged Blackbird, Northern Flicker, Common Grackle, Yellow Warbler and American Goldfinch.   

Osprey at Thames River

Osprey

Looking for butterflies.  I saw a couple of Cabbage Whites.

Milkweed with no butterflies

Crown Vetch

Crown Vetch

Crown Vetch

Bladder Campion

Cabbage White

Wild  Blue Phlox

Gorgeous Water Lilies

June 21, 2017
Springbank Park

It was a nice sunny day.  The water lilies are just starting to bloom. 

Pink Water Lilies

White Water Lilies

Foxglove Beard-Tongue

Northern Flicker

Crown Vetch

Thames River

The level of the river is low right now. 

Thames River

Red Admiral

Thrilled to see a Piping Plover!

June 16, 2017

The Piping Plover is the reason I wanted to be at Sauble Beach.  Where I was, I can see the roped off area for the endangered species.  They are protected by both Federal Species at Risk Act and Provincial Endangered Species Act.  I was lucky that a piping plover was feeding near the water and ran up onto the beach.  They are cute little birds.  I enjoyed watching the plover poking around in the sand.  It's funny watching it run!  I then walked to where the roped off area is and didn't see any other plover.  I'm so happy that this one appeared.

Sauble Beach

Sauble Beach

Piping Plover

Piping Plover

Piping Plover

Piping Plover

Piping Plover

Piping Plover

Trip to Sauble Falls

(Bruce County) - June 16, 2017

Northern Flicker

Birdfoot Trefoil

Sauble Falls

Bladder Campion

Snapper

 Kincardine and Goderich - June 16, 2017

I saw this snapping turtle at the side of the highway on the way to Kincardine.  Stopped to take some photos and made sure it was safe if he decided to cross the highway.  He turned around and went back into the long grass.  I felt better that he decided to turn back.  It was a middle sized young turtle...I've seen ones twice his size. 

Snapping Turtle 

Stopped for a rest in Kincardine at the beach/dock area.

Kincardine - Lake Huron

Menesetung Bridge - Goderich

Very nice view from the bridge.

View from bridge (Maitland River)

View from bridge

View from bridge - Salt Mine

Gray Catbird

Menesetung Bridge

Bruce Peninsula (Part Two)

Took a walk at Cyprus Lake in the Bruce Peninsula National Park, part of the Niagara escarpment.  June 15, 2017
There is diverse wetlands and ancient cedar trees, cliffs, and very old limestone rock. 
It was a cloudy day with some rain off and on, high of 16.
Apparently, there was a bear sighted the night before but didn't see any bears.  Didn't see any snakes either.

Red Squirrel

Outlet stream from Cyprus Lake

Large Yellow Lady's Slipper

Large Yellow Lady's Slipper

Star-flowered Soloman's Seal

rock overhangs

Wild Columbine