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/

Woodpeckers of The Vermilon River. A Post to WBW.

Male Hairy

The first series are Hairy Woodpeckers with the red patch distinguishing the male. They are larger than the Downy ( see below ) over all, although they look alike. The beak is the give away as it is approximately the same size as the head. Another difference is the Downy has black markings on its tail feathers. But the colourings are basically the same and they co-exist, but do not interbreed.


Male Hairy Showing Red Patch.




Male Hairy Showing Red Patch.




Female Hairy No Red Patch and no black markings on her tail.



Male Northern Flicker with black mustache off beak.



Both Male & Female Have Red Patch.



Both the male and female Northern Flicker are identical, except the male has a black mustache running off the beak. So both have the red V.
They are ground woodpeckers feeding primarily on ants as well as using the formic acid in ants to clean their feathers. On the ground their plumage acts as a camouflage, so they're hard to photograph because you're on them, and they're away. Some people call them yellow shaft flickers, because the edge of their wing is a gold/yellow, and readily seen in flight. The Hairy and the Northern Flicker are large birds.

Female no black mustache off beak.



Male black mustache off beak.




Female no mustache.




Male Downy




Female Downy.




The Downy is smaller, but the beak is the quick id point. See how small it is in the above photo. In the photo opposite you can see the black markings on her her tail feathers. The Hairy does not have these markings. Sorry the Downy photos are not better. Although they co-exist, I generally see the Hairy's, so I was quite excited even to get these shots.

Male Downy in flight.



Pileated Male with red mustache off beak.





Of course this is the largest woodpecker of all, the Pileated. He's about the size of a crow, and his tapping is aptly called drumming. His call sounds quite wild and I think he is the roll model for the cartoon character Woody Woodpecker.

He's a male because he has a red mustache running off his beak.



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


Just a quick note: I was finding hiking and carrying all the camera equipment a bit of a chore with my old pack sack, so I purchased a proper camera backpack. The thinktank model called a pro streewalker, somewhat misnamed for the forest where there are no streets and few walkers, allows me to carry the camera assembled with the 150-500mm lens, plus tote my tripod and other lens. So far it's working out well; of course, losing 20 years would have done well also.

A Hike to the Long Lake Wetland of The Vermilon River. A Post to my World Tuesday.

North Rock Face of Wetlands.



Shows the Meadering Channel flowing North




These wetlands are a northern continuation of the East Track Wetlands. In other words the whole area is connected by lakes, creeks, and small rivers which form the wetlands. The wetlands are then increased in size by the beavers, muskrats and otters who dam the waterways. Some of these dams are removed by the RR to safeguard their tracks, but really the beaver are both better engineers and better workers,as they just replace them. The main body of water is the Vermilon River, which all this water feeds into.

 In the first photo I'm facing north but looking to my left to show the rock face, which is of course the reverse side of all those panoramas I normally shoot to show you where we're going and give you a feeling of the height of the hills. Effectively we're in the interior of the hills.The second photo shows the meandering channel running north to join the lake above here ,which is Mystic Lake. The photo below again shows the meandering channel


Again Shows The Channel To The North.




From The South End Of the Wetlands




The photo shot from the south end shows the extent of this particular wetland, and the side view should give you a feel for the elevation of the cliffs to the east. So we're in a bowl here.


Entrance of the Wetland




Entrance to the Wetlands.




The bog shots are the entrance to this wetland. Boomer has a fit when we go here, because we actually cross the bog over branches and small logs laid across a narrows. The mud, which is gloppy, sticks to his coat, and Boomer is a winter/ice dog, not a water dog. But the sun is really warm now and this will mean the end of his hiking season until fall and winter.


Pussy Willows




Close up




Robin




Robin




Robin





The robins and the pussy willows were in the clearing on the fringe of the wetland area. It's interesting that what little sun we have had has actually caused the pussy willows to go to seed. Just as we were entering the trail to the wetland these Mallards flew over. So it's shaping up to be an interesting day.


Male and Female Mallards.



Song Sparrow



Song Sparrow




White-throated Sparrow




White-throated Sparrow.




Nashville Warbler.




As I said the sparrows and the mallards were expected, but the warbler was a surprise as I thought he was a goldfinch. But when I checked him out he's a Nashville Warbler, probably attracted to the thriving record industry in the bush. You can tell he's a Nashville Warbler, because he sings country and western. Sorry couldn't resist.

The photos are not great, but the key id markings are the white eye circle and the white area that breaks the yellow on his underside. He's apparently normal for the area but the first that I've seen.



Nashville Warbler.




Northern Flicker



Northern Flicker Showing Red



Again Showing Red Patch



I spotted the Northern Flicker in the tree and then proceeded to chase her all over for some reasonable shots. She's a female because she lacks the black mustache near her beak. These are ground woodpeckers feeding on ants. Since the soil is sandy, they have plenty to feed on.

Close Up



Turkey Vulture




Turkey Vulture




When I had entered the wetland something took off. I didn't see what it was, sort of expecting it to be a Great Blue Heron which hunt here from time to time. But as I was looking around, four large birds took of from the far side of the Wetland, and continued to circle the whole area. At first I thought they were hawks, but they're Turkey Vultures. The first that I've seen. Click on Photo 1 and you can see his red head. All in all a pretty eventful day!!!

A quick note to texwisgirl: I tried to avoid small photos this time. Boom & Gary.


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


Turkey Vulture





Turkey Vulture