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.

Some Birds of the Vermilon River. A Post to WBW.

Tree Sparrow

 I was initially going to call this post "favourites of mine", but I soon realized that all the animals or birds that I see become favourites of mine. I suppose I glory in nature. I was also going to call it " Sparrows of the Vermilon", but I hold that one until the wild sunflowers, smaller than the domestic variety, in my garden go to seed. They're growing now and will soon be ready. When they're ready, I bait the whole area with seeds and see what shows up. Last year I got a great collection of sparrows, and I hope it works again this year. So that explains my current title.

Having said that here is a selection of sparrows.

Tree Sparrow.

Tree Sparrow

White-throated Sparrow.

Whit-throated Sparrow

Song Sparrow

Song Sparrow Signing his Heart Out.

Male Goldfinch.

The Dark-eyed Junco should be with the sparrows as he is actually a sparrow. They've left me now and moved further north to the boreal forest.

Dark-eyed Junco

As I said earlier I have seen more Yellow-rumped Warblers this year, and this fellow is perservering in a wind storm, singing nevertheless.

Yellow-rumped Warbler.

Male Purple Finch.

Robin

I never tire of the Robin who wakes Boom & I in the morning. I think this fellow looks especially majestic.

Add caption

Certainly this Grackle looks slightly mad.

 The Buffleheads below are new to me. They're named "Bufflehead" Because the male's head is reminiscent of a buffalo head.


 I put this post together in the new dashboard format that Blogger/Google is so proud of. It then disappears and I have to go to the old format, post a blank, and call up this post and delete the blank. Isn't Google a marvel??



A Post to WBW @ http://pineriverreview.blogspot.com.

Female Bufflehead.

Male Bufflehead.