Scenes, Butterflies, Birds and Squirrels of the Vermilon River. A Post to SWF.

River before Rapids.

 The skies as you can see are not especially vivid. They range from overcast to a bit of sun, although we have had rain, which we needed. So for the post today I included some shots that I like from my hikes, and not much copy.

A Post to SWF @ http://skyley.blogspot.com/

River Wetland showing the Ridge

River before Rapids.

Far Side of Rapids.

Rapids at old Bridge Abutment.

Black Swallowtail.

Song Sparrow

Female Yellow Throat Warbler.

Yellow-rumped Warbler.

Turkey Vulture.

Turtle.

Red Squirrel.

More Hiking on the West Side of the Vermilon River. A Post to MWT.

Subsidiary river

 Today we're hiking on the abandoned RR line on the west side of the river to the rapids. I put the scenes in a sort of order to give you the feel that you're with me. The river is at its widest in the area before the rapids, and feeds both wetlands, and a little area ( first photo) that appears like a stream in a rain forest.The RR line is raised, so we're above the water.

Photo 3 is the wetlands on my right side as we head to the rapids. Photo #4 shows the river as it winds around one of the lower islands. The main current would be on the side away from us. Photo 5 shows the sudden narrowing and then the rapids. The river looks bucolic because the water is low due to lack of rain. The last time we hiked the rapids the water was high, and I said that it would be better to stay away from the the far side of the island, as the current would likely sweep you into the chute between the bridge abutments. Now you could paddle to the far side, and portage over the bridge to avoid the chute.

White Water Lily

River Wetland. #3

Wide Area Above the Rapids. #4

Just Above The Rapids. #5

Rapids

The chute between the bridge abutments.

The Quiet Area at the end of the Island that separates the rapids..

Black Swallowtail

Black Swallowtail

Song Sparrow

Song Sparrow

Yellow-rumped Warbler.

Oven Bird.

Female Yellow throat Warbler. 

Immature Robin

 The Swallowtails are starting to show summer wear. All of the birds,except the Yellow-rumped, were shot just before the wetland in a group of pin cherry trees, where they were feeding. An Oven Bird is a warbler that gets its name from the style of nest it builds. I had to chase the Yellow-rumped around the tree to get him.

I saw bear dung on the trail, which was blue in colour and fresh. There are no blueberries on this trail. So she/he swims the river and crosses here. When I was coming back, there was fresh dung and pin cherries spilled on the trail. Bears love pin cherries too. Clearly she hid out on me, and headed out when she heard me returning. So no bear photos.

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

Warblers of The Vermilon River. A Post to WBW

Chestnut-sided Warbler Fall Plumage.

 In my last post I filed a number of photos and asked help with the identification. Both commenter's to the post, and people from NWO Birds (North Western Ontario Birds) came through for me and I thank them all. NWO birds is a site of amateur and I think some professional naturalists that live to the west of me on the north shore of Lake Superior. They're blessed with all that I have in terms of forest, as well as  the big water of Lake Superior, the largest and undoubtedly the toughest of the Great Lakes. The birds were identified as a Fall plumage Chestnut-sided warbler and a female Common Yellow-throat Warbler.
Fall plumage, the term that is, sent me to the web to find out what it means. I knew the American male Goldfinch changes his bright looks for a duller winter look. But I didn't know warblers have a variation on this theme, in that they alter their spring plumage to a fall plumage, which can be an extreme change. This makes identification all the harder,because you have to know both plummages to correctly identify them. The Chesnut-sided Warbler may lose his chestnut-side as shown here. I would also expect a bird born this year would go to fall plummage directly, and may appear in a flock with older birds in their spring plummage. I don't know if this is correct as none of the web sites say that; rather I just made the inference.

Chestnut-sided Warbler Fall Plumage.

Chestnut-sided Warbler Fall Plumage.

Chestnut-sided Warbler Spring Plumage.

Chestnut-sided Warbler Spring Plumage.

Chestnut-sided Warbler Spring Plumage.

Female Common Yellowthroat Warbler.

Female Common Yellowthroat Warbler.

Male Common Yellowthroat Warbler.

Male Yellowthroat.

The situation with the Yellowthroats was simpler, as it was a gender differentiation only. So with them I have just included the male and female. The photos are almost all new to publication. Both pretty stylish birds though don't you think? The Yellowthroat, male and female is new to me this year. The Chestnut sided is new to me in its fall plumage format. All the information was taken from wikipedia and www.ehow.com/ Further photos of  the warblers, all types all stages, can be found @ http//www.giffbeaton.com/. Go to the Warbler Section.


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