A Hike to the Long Lake Wetlands. A Post to My World Tuesday.

Lower Long Lake Wetlands.

I laid this post out exactly as the hike took place except the scenes are the final destination of the hike. It really wasn't too far today for a few reasons. It's Sunday and the first nice day in four or five days of rain. This means the bugs will be bad, and gloves, netting and heavy clothing will be necessary, but it's also hot, and sunny so you really feel it in all the gear. The first nice weekend day will also bring out the ATV morons and I don't feel like even seeing them.




Wetland.




Tree Swallow




Tree Swallow.



I was really lucky to catch this male  Tree Swallow at the start of the hike.



Female Red-Winged Blackbird.





Female Red-Winged Blackbird.




Same Female.




Male Red-winged Blackbird.





I literally bump into this pair of blackbirds when I take a shortcut to start my hike. I'm going to post more photos of these guys on Wednesday to WBW with the full story. As for the crow I'm not sure its mine,but it sure is strange that there is always one around.


My Crow.




Male Goldfinch.




Male Yellow Warbler in Flight



Same Yellow Warbler.

All these fellows were in the same area, and I chased the warbler around a pine tree getting some good shots.

The photo of the Cedar Waxwing is not great but where there is one there will be a whole flock. These guys like their relatives, the Bohemians, are social and hang out in flocks, stripping the trees of berries. This is my first sighting.

Northern Flickers are a ground woodpeckers feeding on ants, but I caught him in the trees so something must have frightened him.


Male Northern Flicker.




Cedar Waxwing.




Bladder Campion




Coltsfoot.




Wild Daisy.




I always leave the flower photography until the end of the hike as I have to change lens and usually crawl around on the ground.


Devil's Paintbrush.




The First Tree Berries.




Johnny-Jump -Ups




Long-Headed Anemone?




Lupin Patch.




Purple Lupins.



You can see the size of the lupin patch and this isn't the only one. So you easily understand the colour impact in the forest clearings.


Red Clover




Red Clover.




Mountain -Laurel.




Viper's- Bugloss.




Close Up.




The Bugloss is another electric colour in the clearings of the forest. Interesting flower isn't it?


Eastern Swallowtail.



Dragonfly.

With all these blooms the butterflies are pretty busy, and I hope the dragonflies are eating their weight in biting insects. Today I missed shots of Black Swallowtails, and a couple of birds that I had never seen before. Also in the creek where the berries were, there was a four legged creature that I couldn't catch sight of because of the thick bush.

 I was trying to give you an impression of a normal if somewhat short hike, because many of you have expressed interest. This is a wilderness,not a park. There are no rangers or guides. You're on your own. The trails are snowmobile trails, RR right of ways, abandoned tracks, or maintenance roads.  The hike duration was about three hours and maybe a mile there and back, as I said short. I shot about 350 raw photos, and garbaged about 10 percent, which explains my storage problem.



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

A Hike To Mystic Lake of The Vermilon River. A Post to My World Tuesday.

Sides of the Bowl.

I had first taken this hike last year in late November before we got snow. I did this because the trail is rugged with about a 70 degree incline and narrow. I wanted to be able to see off trail so I waited until the leaves were down. The trail has its moments, especially in one area where it dog legs at 90 degrees around an outcropping that you can not see over.As well there is a lot of black spruce, aspen, and birch in the area. They rot out early,while the Black Spruce has a small root ball, and you don't want one coming down on you. Also in late November the bears had gone to sleep.

So here we are again now. Photo 1 shows you the bowl in which Mystic Lake is located, and yes, we'll be that high in areas, and close to cliffs that shear. To the north there are about 7 additional lakes and to the south Mystic Lake flows into the Long lake wetlands, and onto the Vermilon River. All the lakes have wetlands and all are uninhabited so we're alone.

Don't Breath.



Again Don't breath



Mystic Lake looking North

Oops, forgot to tell you about those two rocks. Just walk quietly and don't breath as they're on a rock shelve above us. This is the first view of Mystic Lake looking north. All that short brush along the shoreline are blueberry bushes, and the water is clear and cold, but not potable I would think.



Looking south on my left.



Mystic Lake is fairly large. I came up not just because it's so beautiful, but also because the Vermilon is in flood and the aquatic birds have moved off to find other nesting areas. And I was right, they're up here.


Again Looking South.

We're going south by trail to the narrows so it's further and more rugged than it would be by kayak or canoe. We're actually going to hike to the hydro pole shown in the photo below. In effect we'll be backtracking at the foot of the cliff we came in on. The we'll climb up to that hydro pole.



Moving south to the narrows.




The narrows from the trail to the hydro pole.




We've come a long way, and we're at a fair elevation now. The trail is a difficult one not just from the incline but we're passing through several small wetlands and streams which are gloppy, so we have to be careful.

Small water fall




Stream




These streams are not only pretty but they feed the forest floor, and I included some of the wild flowers in the post.

Blueberry Flowers



Dogwood.




Dogwood.






The first flowers to show are the blueberries, the dogwood and the violets. All of these, except the dogwood, are small flowers. The other one I didn't get a photo of was the wild strawberry flowers, a few of which are out now.



Growth.





The ducks were there, both the buffleheads and the Mallards, and some geese were in one of the wetlands. I didn't take any photos of the aquatic birds as I had hiked quite far, and I had forgotten to take my water flask, so I wanted to get back. Remember I had to back track and pick up the old trail that I came in on.

Just a quick word about insects, they're out in droves. Black flies don't bite me, but mosquitoes do at least for a short while, so I'm wearing my netting and gloves. I wear a hat, with a strap so it doesn't blow off, on top of the netting with a brim so I can get the camera easily under the brim. The hat shades my eyes so I can see. I don't wear sunglasses as they would just be another inconvenience as I have my cane in one hand, with a strap so it never falls either,but I can release it, and the camera is cradled in my arm. But the whole rig is hot, so that cool Mystic Lake water is very refreshing.



I'll be posting the wildlife photos that I took to WBW on Wednesday.

A Post to My World Tuesday.

Scenes, Wildlife, and Flora of the Vermilon River. A Post to Camera Critters and Scenic Sunday.

Clearing N. East Track Wetland.

I wasn't going to include any scenery in this post, but some how these photos got left out of the Friday post. This clearing was according to local history the site of a cabin, which it may have been as the clearing is very well laid out. You can see the effect of what little sun we've had on the greening in the clearings but other areas are just starting.

I included another shot of the channel which was cleaned out and where I always stop by to see if the otters or muskrat are back. See the branches back in the water, I suspect they're back, but I'll have to bide my time to see them.


Otter or Muskrat Channel.




Chestnut-sided Warbler.




White-crowned Sparrow.





Well onto the wildlife. The  chestnut-sided Warbler was a real find and was in the woods just north of the wetland.


I also saw this white-crowned Sparrow along with three or four others in the same area. That means they're back home now.

Female Goldfinch



Male Goldfinch.





And of course no hike would be complete without some Goldfinch photos.


Gray Jay.




This Gray Jay or Whiskey Jack was in the Long lake wetlands actually on the opposite side from me. They're even more playful than Blue Jays. The name Whiskey Jack is based on their aboriginal name which sounds like Whiskey Jack. He's at the limit of my lens reach.

The Raven is a long shot also and at first I thought he was a crow, but the shaggy mane at the back of his head probably means he's a Raven.

Raven



Male Robin.






I always have time for Robins, because they're handsome and such beautiful singers, especially early in the morning.




And yes the female Pine Siskin is fine she's just having a little rest after lunch, and her feathers are puffed against the cold.

Female Pine Siskin



Female Hairy.




I put the woodpeckers side by side for comparison. The female Hairy is recognizable by her beak size and the female Downy by the spots on her tail feathers.


Female Downy.




Blueberry Flowers.




I put in some more flower photos because the forest is starting to come alive in the clearings where the little bit of sun has been able to permeate. These blueberries will provide staple food to me, the bears and other wild life, as well the locals pick them to supplement their income. There is no comparison between wild and domestic blueberries.

Woolly Violets.



Growth.






The Violets grow in patches, and therefore make up for their small size.



A Post to Camera Critters @ http://camera-critters.blogspot.com/ and Scenic Sunday @ http://scenicsunday.blogspot.com/