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.

A Hike Along The Vermilon River. A Post to SWF

The skies on this hike were a deep blue and the clouds were stratus. Certainly not promising rain. But last night, nature came through with a gentle rain that lasted well into the mourning. You could almost hear the earth suck it up. The rest of the photos are various river scenes, but from different angles than I have posted before.

Clear Skies

Showing more clouds

Sky and River to the North.

River To the South.

Rock Face

I have shown this rock face before,but not from this angle. The raspberries were really sweet although I think something had beaten me to most of them. I had mentioned in an earlier post the existence of a domestic rose bush on the forest trail. I only got one photo of the flowers this year, and even then it's a little past its prime. The bush is huge and seems to have adapted to its environement. I included the waxwings who are around because of the numerous pin cherry bushes.

Dandelion Family

Wild Raspberries.

Wild Rose.

Cedar Waxwing

Cedar Waxwing

Cedar Waxwing

Cedar Waxwing

Chipmunk.

The dogs are a different story. They belong to a woman named Gloria who rescues them and either finds them homes or keeps them. She also catches the local bus and tours the upper town with dog biscuits to visit the chained dogs, and if they look improperly cared for, she starts the rescue. Quite a few locals who qualify according to Gloria's rules have her dogs. The black guy who is both a ham and extremely friendly is I think hers now permanently, while the retreiver is new. They've just been in the river cooling off. A post to SWF @ http://skyley.blogspot.com/

Retreiver

Loves having his picture taken.

Pretty Isn't she?

New Friends of The Vermilon River. A Post To WBW.

Unknown 1

 I think roaming around the forest is certainly humbling, and today's post is the extreme. The help with the ID of the Alder Flycatchers in last week's post by Hilke was certainly appreciated. In the case of this post, I haven't got the foggiest notion what these guys are. I think the yellow row of dots on the wings is throwing me off in the first case.

 I'm hearing some snickering from these guys, but what the heck. On this photo hike I missed a rabbit, and of all things, a female hummingbird that came to feed on the fireweed, which, the weed that is, I have included in other posts. I have the clearest shots of a vacant trail in the case of the rabbit, and in the case of the hummingbird, I ended up with my camera strap wound around my hat strap. Then these guys showed up to bedevil me. I used my books and went through the entire Cornell Lab ID birds section. All to no avail. So help me out here anyone, and you will become a friend of the Vermilon River Forest for ever.

Rear view.

Front view.

Profile.

With the tail pose, I thought a wren although I checked everything. So maybe a Marsh Wren?? Bit of a cutie isn't she? I think in both cases these guys are new friends of the Vermilon River. 

Gee my mistake, these are two different birds!!! The photos are not the same.

THANKS TO THE COMMENTORS AND NWBIRD PEOPLE WHO REPLIED BY EMAIL,THE FIRST BIRD IS A FALL OR NON-BREEDING CHESTNUT WARBLER. THE SECOND IS A FEMALE COMMON YELLOW-THROAT WARBLER. I'LL PUT THEM WITH THEIR COUNTERPARTS NEXT POST. THEY ARE BOTH FIRSTS FOR ME.

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

Profile.

Profile.

Chest view.

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.