Cloudy Skies of the Vermilon River. A Post to SWF.

Cloudy

 The weather has been mostly cloudy or overcast with some rain. Probably as a result of Edna, although we are much out of her reach. Boom & I hope you are all fareing well.

Stormy Clouds

The Chickadees seem more active, and the male Goldfinch is starting his change to fall colours. In fact all around us the forest is starting to look a little more like fall.

Storm Clouds.

Chickadee.

Chickadee Side View.

Male Goldfinch Moulting.

Male Northern Flicker.

Male Northern Flicker.

Sparrow.

Red Squirrel.

A Post To SWF @ http://skley.blogspot.com/

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.

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.

Views of The Vermilon River. A Post to SWF

Morning Dark Sky

What the heck does a sky like this mean- disaster maybe? Then it lightened so I went over to the river trail on a hot, sultry, soggy hike. But I made it home before the big rain.

Lightening Sky.

Island In the River.

 The day was gray, but the forest is still pretty lush. And before you ask; you can canoe or kayak safely to the north for a couple of hundred miles, and further if you want. The river has receded with the lack of rain, and looks benign, but it's still pretty cold.

River to the North.

River Bend

  Tiger lilies grow wild along the river bank in the oddest places.

Wild Tiger Lilly.

Seed pods on a White Ash tree.

Common Yarrow

 This turtle was sunbathing in a wetland on another day,but I thought you might enjoy seeing him. I never tire of Song Sparrows who are around despite the heat. And of course, a four legged creature, the Red Squirrel.

Song Sparrow

A Post to Sky Watch Friday @http://skyley.blogspot.com/

I'm posting this in rather a rush as blogger/google is messing up again.

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.