Hiking Along The East Track of the Vermilon River. A post to MWT.

The Ridge To the North.

 All these photos except the day Lilly, which is from my garden, are from the East Track area. The weather is so hot it's hard to summon up the energy for a massive hike. Although I must add the temperature and the humidity is not so high today. I think Boom & I felt the heat yesterday, or perhaps just the heat built up. We still have had no rain, and in the NW there are more than a 100 fires burning.

The Ridge to the South East.

The Wetland.

 The Ridge of course surrounds us and you have seen it before in some river scenes. It just seems too hot to summon the energy to climb the ridge to Mystic Lake or any of the other lakes that are part of the uninhabited chain up there.

 The wildflowers are all from this area. The Elecampine is actually taller than I am. The Day Lilly is from my garden. As you can see the fireweed attracts all sorts of insects. The birds were active despite the heat.

A Post to MWT @ http://showyourworld.blogspot.com/

Thistle, Plumeless or Bull?

Elecampine

My Day Lilly

Song Sparrow

Song Sparrow

White-throated Sparrow.

Tree Sparrow

Cedar Waxwing.

Grass Hopper.

Swallowtail on the Fireweed.

Red Squirrel.

Life Along the Vermilon River. A Post to MWT.

Long Lake Wetlands.

 The photos were taken mostly in the Long Lake Wetlands area, although some were taken on the northern part of the river. We are in desperate need of rain but the water never ceases to flow in the wetlands or the river.

Vermilon River at a wide bend.

 The Blue Flags were taken to the north of the Long Lake Wetlands earlier, and are now gone. Toad Flax are popularly called butter and eggs.

This is a post to My World Tuesday @ http://showyourworld.blogspot.com/

Blue Flag.

Toad Flax

Wild Asters

Wild Tiger Lilies.

Johnny Jump Up.

There are actually a fair number of Tiger Lilies in the forest, which I expect escaped from gardens, or were dumped with unwanted earth. There are also day Lilies and roses which have gone wild. Johnny Jump ups come in many colours and grow in the most inhospitable places.

Johnny Jump Up.

Maybe Spotted Joe-Pye-Weed.

Monarch Butterfly.

Grass Hopper.

Dragonfly

Green Butterfly.

Ripe Pin Cherries.

Ripe Dogwood berries.

Male Goldfinch.

The birds were all photographed near the wetland where there is both water, and berries. Although the creek is down, it's still supporting a fair number of  four legged critters as I found fox, and wolf or coyote tracks.

Song Sparrow.

Song Sparrow.

Tree Sparrow

Tree Sparrow.

Juvenile Gull

Ring Bill Gull In Flight.

Crow or Raven In Flight.

Female Northern Flicker

Female Northern Flicker.

A Hike On The East Track of The Vermilon River.

NE Wetland.

 This hike was in and around the east track as a train was actually using the track for shunting purposes when I took the hike,which is unusual and very inconvenient.

Another thing that is inconvenient is Blogger/Google. I like the new format but I could not upload the photos in the new format's post section, and am therefore using the old format. I also appear to have lost my followers on the blog.

Anyway these scenes show the north wetland and the south wetland. The green hump in the centre of photo one is the track which bisects the wetland.

SE Wetland



South Wetland.




Fireweed




Pin Cherries


Fireweed gets its name from the fact that it is the first weed to regrow after a forest fire, and this clearing along the creek bed is filled with it. These are the first blooms. I'll get some more shots later to give you some idea of the colour impact.

The real concern is the pin cherries, not that they're ripe, but that they're eaten already. Of course the Cedar Waxwing below denied that he had been in them. But you can't believe a fat fellow wearing a mask can you?







A Very Fat Cedar Waxwing.




Fat Cedar Waxwing.




Yellowthroat Warbler.





This is only the second time I've seen the Yellow-throats but they're beauties aren't they?





Chestnut-sided Warbler.




Chestnut-sided Warbler.






The Chestnut-sided Warbler is just caught in a major wind storm, and having a tough time of it.


Great Blue Heron





I've sure seen a lot of Herons, so the wetlands must be filled with frogs for them.


Great Blue In Flight.




Male Northern Flicker.




Male Northern Flicker.




None of the Flickers were letting me close enough until this fellow actually seemed to pose for me.



The Song Sparrows were actually together when I started this post, but separated in the posting. I had commented earlier the heavier tree canopy was stopping me from getting close to them. But this guy sure reversed that.


Song Sparrow.




Red Squirrel




I was lucky on the red squirrel as he like the chipmunk is on all the other four legged animals' menu.




Red Squirrel




Eastern Swallowtail.








Song Sparrow.





A Post to My World Tuesday @ http://showyourworld.blogspot.com/


I'm posting this today to see if it goes well, so I'll put it on Scenic Sunday as well.