Lots of Colour At The Vermilon River. A Post to SWF.

 The weather has been crazy. We had that heavy snow fall, then sun, and then snow again followed by rain. The snow was not as heavy as the first storm. I'd say that it interfered with our hiking, except Boom and I hike every day. We just call it Boomer's walk. All these photos are from the woods at the back of us, but its all the Vermilon forest, and it all links through various trails. This is called German mountain for some reason. The trail you see is not the one we use as its too steep. The photos were shot just before, and during sunrise. Click on the photos to enlarge and see the slide show.

From a hit and miss beginning the sky brightened. So you'll see bright backgrounds, grey backgrounds and snowy backgrounds. That was what the three days turned out to be.

 Yup, this is the trail we use to gain access to more forest and wetlands. Its more our speed as you can see. In fact the trails seem to run for ever.

The post is long so we're starting with Huegy our crow frolicking in the snow.

 He's a handsome fellow and since its spring everybody, including him, is a little frisky.

The snow was wet and heavy. The Mourning Doves made it look like Christmas.

Mourning Dove.

Close Up Mourning Dove.

Mourning Dove Mid Air collision.

The Dark-eyed Junco's will soon head further north. They're actually sparrows.

Junco In Slate Grey

Dark-eyed Junco

 They like the Redpolls are tough little guys and will forage in the snow for food. Look how deep this one is.

Junco

 I put this shot in as they're far from a plain bird. Look at those wing markings and that tail. which seems long to me.

I had to include the Robin as he's just building nests and toughing out the bad weather.

 Right in the worst of the storm these guys showed up. He's a Purple Finch in full regalia.

Male Purple Finch.

Male Purple Finch.

Male Purple Finch.

The Tree Swallows are back for another season. They're cavity nestors and are looking for suitable homes.

 We can add another sparrow arrival to the group, as the White-throated Sparrows are here now.

 These Black-capped Chickadees were playing around while they searched out nesting materials.

See they got some moss for the nest.

 This one is a real surprise as I think he's an Alder Flycatcher. There's a yellow cast to his tail in other photos.

 The Red Squirrels were active in the sun as well.

 The day was cool, and windy despite the sun, but he uses his tail as a kind of stole.

This was really weird in all the different weather patterns, a butterfly shows up. He's either a Painted or American Lady. A COMMENTOR LATER POINTED OUT THAT THE BUTTERFLY IS A RED ADMIRAL. APPARENTLY 10000 CROSSED INTO ONTARIO DESPITE THE WEATHER.THEY DID SURVIVE AS THEY WERE LATER REPORTED HERE AND FURTHER NORTH. A post to SWF @ http://skyley.blogspot.com/ Camera Critters @ http://camera-critters.blogspot.com/ and Scenic Sunday @ http://scenicsunday.blogspot.com/

I'm going to answer the track question from the previous post as best I can. But let me thank MNR Canada for the wolf and coyote photos first. If you didn't see the original post go to the bottom of the previous post. As far as guesses go, its not a cat, although we have Lynx, bobcats,  and eastern cougars. In cat tracks the claws are retracted when walking. Its not a badger as they're more resident in our western provinces. I think its too big for a fox. But it could be a coyote, or a wolf. The Ontario coyote population is expanding. They're big as there is now apparently some mixing with the wolf, and they're here as I've got pictures of them, but not as good as the ones shown here. Equally so it could be a grey wolf as they're here also. Boom is here because the track was the same size as his paw and he weighs between 85 and ninety pounds. So its a wolf or coyote track.

Red Fox

Grey Wolf.

Coyote.