Saturday, June 15, 2024

Catching up.....Episode 5

27 April, 2024
Benjamin Park, Waterloo, ON

     It was very agreeable to encounter a female Purple Finch (Haemorhous purpureus) almost as soon as our feet hit the trail.


     Yellow Trout Lily (Erythronium americanum) was both prolific and beautiful.


     Mayapple (Podophyllum peltatum) does not have the same wow factor as Yellow Trout Lily, but it is no less valued as it appears in spring.


     Red Trillium (Trillium erectum), on the other hand, punches well above its weight.


     Early Blue Cohosh (Caulophyllum giganteum) was emergent here and there throughout the woodland.


     Bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis) is without doubt one of my favourites of the spring ephemerals; it fills me with pleasure year after year.




     Lungwort (Pulmonaria officinalis) was ubiquitous.


     I am fairly sure this is Black Cherry (Prunus serotina).


     Daffodils (genus Narcissus) are very common and are scattered throughout the forest.


     They are not native, of course, and it's a bit of a mystery how they got there. It's not as though there were just a couple of plants either.


     Whatever their origin they are an attractive addition to the floral landscape.
     Common Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale) needs no further explanation, except to say that no plant is more subject to rampant discrimination.


     It is a welcome addition to my world.
     An American Robin (Turdus migratorius) is almost as common as a dandelion - not subject to discrimination, however!


     A Downy Woodpecker (Dryobates pubescens) is always a welcome visitor.


     Neotropical migrants are expected in spring, many moving farther north where they will find their breeding territories eliminated by wildfires last year - and already fires are raging again. Black-and-White Warbler (Mniotitla varia) may breed locally and avoid such tragedy, although it breeds sparsely in southwestern Ontario.


     Ruby-crowned Kinglet (Corthylio calendula), by contrast is almost exclusively a northern breeder, rarely nesting south of the Canadian Shield.


     Bristly Buttercup (Ranunculus hispidus) is nothing if not cheery.



     And what is more glorious than a Large-flowered Trillium (Trillium grandiflorum).


30 April, 2024
Benjamin Park, Waterloo, ON

     Identifying beetles can be challenging to say the least. The best I can do with this one is to narrow it down to the genus Meloe, a species of oil beetle.


     Red Deadnettle (Lamium purpureum) was coming along nicely.


      These green patches of Herb Robert (Geranium robertianum) will soon be bedecked with beautiful little pink flowers.



      Yellow Trout Lily continues to be a source of great delight.


     White trilliums carpeted the forest floor and impressed everyone with their serene beauty.




     Lungwort thrives as it always does.


     At times it seemed that we could hardly take a step without a Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta) fluttering in front of us.




     Ostrich Ferns (Matteuccia struthiopteris) formed their characteristic fiddle heads, so much prized by gastronomes.


     I saw three Rose-breasted Grosbeaks (Pheucticus ludovicianus), all well hidden by emerging foliage, but I was able to get a picture of one of them.


     I first heard, and then saw a Great Crested Flycatcher (Myiarchus crinitus).


     This is exceptionally early for this species and may reflect changes in its phenology as it relates to climate change.
     There will be more soon. You can see why we like to walk this trail!      



 
David M. Gascoigne,
David M. Gascoigne,

I'm a life long birder. My interests are birds, nature, reading, books, outdoors, travel, food and wine.

47 comments:

  1. I love to see all the beautiful flowers you show today, David! They are all very pretty. Trilliums are one of my many favorite flowers. I liked to see the Black and White Warbler too. It's a special bird.
    Hugs and kisses, Marit

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    1. I was sure you would enjoy this post, Marit. Hugs and kisses - David

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  2. Hello David,
    Beautiful series of photos, I love the flowers and plants.
    I also love the ruby ​​crown kinglet.
    I wish you a nice weekend.
    Greetings Irma

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  3. ...David, thanks for the nature hike, the flowers are just up my alley!

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  4. I would find it hard to stay off that trail. Thank you. Muchly.

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    1. If you lived close by I would make sure you didn’t!

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  5. As you say, that must be a wonderful place to walk and see the changing flowers, butterflies, and bird life. It is hard to understand the extreme dislike of dandelions — the early European settlers who introduced them to North America must have had a different opinion. (That was before the fashion for lawns, after all.)
    best, mae at maefood.blogspot.com

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  6. Hari Om
    Echoing all other comments of delight at the abundance and beauty you share. YAM xx

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  7. So many birds that I have never seen over here...Purple Finch? It looks more like a brown finch to me LOL

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    1. The female’s dull colouration is designed to render her inconspicuous to predators when sitting on the nest.

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  8. The trail has lots of nature's beauty on display. Thanks for sharing!

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  9. gorgeous gorgeous photos. I love flowers, yellow are my favorite but most of all I love the greens. that mayapple is adorable, I want one. it looks like a tiny God made umbrella. love that striped bird.. notice I can't remember the names butt the colors. I love nature no matter what the color, size of shape.. yellow makes me happy and black and white is my go to colors.. such a beautiful trail to follow.. bring on the rest of what you saw,

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  10. I am in agreement with you, David, that the dandelion is so unfairly maligned. One thing we noticed on our road trip to new Brunswick and Prince Edward Island was the fields of beautiful yellow colors which were all dandelions.

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  11. Lovely walking along with you both (I presume), the flowers are pretty and make a walk more pleasant along with the birds too of course.

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  12. as a gardener I love the photos of flowers as much as the birds, especially this post like the trout lilies and the trilliums. I wonder if someone had a homestead there in the past and planted the daffodils. last year, I think it was last year, I saw a rose breasted grosbeak passing through. it caused quite a bit of excitement among the bird watchers on the street as two of my friends saw it too.

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  13. The Red admiral sure is pretty. And we love the purple finches here...they visit our feeders every day. Enjoy your weekend!

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  14. This is a beautiful trail. It's good to see so many flowers blooming. Have a great weekend, take care, hugs, Valerie xxxxxxx

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  15. Preciosas todas las flores silvestres, la reinita blanca y negra y la mariposa almirante roja. que esa vemos mucho por aquí.
    Os deseo un buen en fin de semana David.
    Un abrazo.

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  16. La Naturaleza, está exuberante de belleza.
    Feliz domingo.

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  17. Nice walk with lots to see. Longworth is new to me, thebothers are old familiar, but have been gone from our landscapes since nid-May at the latest. We saw a great created flycatcher here last week, first timebi have ever seen one.

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    1. I think you were drunk when you typed this one!!

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  18. I haven’t seen any trilliums this year so I appreciated those you featured in this post, especially the red one! Gorgeous!

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  19. What's up David!
    what a wonderful walk along the trail! i´m fascinated by every detail, the birds, the serene elegance of the white trilliums... they are the essence of spring. I always love seeing flowers and colorful birds. They are lovely.

    Have a great saturday night & brilliant dimanche 🍋💛🌼🌙🟡🐤🍌
    Bisous et Aloha!

    Bye bye!!

    💐༶⋆˙⊹ 🕊☀️🌿

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  20. How nice to see mayapple and trillium.

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  21. Such wonderful early spring blooms. As always, thanks for sharing your photos. My favorite of this group would have to be the Black-and-White Warbler which reminded me of the first one I ever saw. It was in our own backyard, shortly after we moved here in 1988. Wonderful little bird! I'm sure they are passing through just now but I haven't seen one so far this spring.

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  22. Great photos once again David!
    The birds are beautiful!
    What a variety you show us from the forest!
    Daffodils smell great!
    Have a beautiful Sunday!

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  23. You have a eye to find birds and tiny plants and flowers David !
    And a brain to tell the names (in Latin too)…
    You are a walking encyclopedia ;)
    Have a shinny week !
    Anna

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  24. Yes, I can see why you like to walk that trail.

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    1. And it’s only five minutes from my front door.

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  25. No trilliums for me this year, so I'm glad you saw some. They are just pretty flowers, and always unexpected when you come across them. So many wildflowers are low to ground, but not those trilliums. And nice black and white warbler. At the boat ramp I saw a redstart, but the pine warbler and the black and white warbler that my Merlin song app keeps picking up have been elusive so far. A quick question for you also. Have you traveled to the Gaspe Peninsula in Quebec? My husband and I are planning a trip there in September and I'm looking for any must see ideas that maybe I'd miss online. The only person I knew who went there can only tell me it's beautiful because she can't remember much else of what they did as it's been a long time. Have a great rest of your weekend.

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  26. Everywhere signs of spring and early summer.

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  27. So many beautiful flowers!
    Love the striking Black-and-White Warbler! :)

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  28. I am delighted by all the beautiful flowers, David. I'm surprised about the daffodils. Dandelions are flowers I have loved since I was a little child; we called them "Butterblumen" (butter flowers). You write that already fires are raging again - unfortunately that is the case here as well. As I write this, all our air filters in the house are running because of the smoke of a large wildfire further up north. It's an early start of fire season. Hugs - Carola

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    1. It seems to get earlier and more intense each year, Carola.

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  29. Hello David,
    Finally, I am able to visit and comment. Your post and walk look lovely. So many beautiful wildflowers. My favorites are the Trout Lily and the Trillium. Great variety of birds, the Black&White Warbler is a favorite along with the Rose-breasted Grosbeak. Thank you for linking up and sharing your post. Take care, enjoy your day and have a great week!

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    1. You can always go directly to the blog instead of going through the link. Why those warnings occur, I have no idea.

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  30. That red trillium though! I never saw one in all my treks in the woods in your area. Gorgeous.
    XO
    WWW

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    1. Come on back next spring and I’ll show you one. Guaranteed!

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  31. With all the flowers and greenery I had to go back and make sure whose blog I was reading.Purple finches are a dime a dozen around here. They eat me out of house and home ...all kinds of finches ...house finches ,yellow finches ,purple finches and relatives there of. I haven't seen a MayApple for a long time ...they're usually in the woods around here.
    I think squirrels dig up the bulbs of the narcissus and deposit them here and there.
    I am not familiar with the Back and white warbler. Cute little bird.
    I find butterflies hard to capture with a camera...
    A wonderful trail to walk indeed!
    Fun post David.... Have a wonderful week. Hugs

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    1. Purple Finch is relatively infrequent here. American Goldfinch is very common and House Finch quite common.

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  32. Such a wonderful trail to walk.
    Lovely photographs here.

    All the best Jan

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  33. A wonderful spring collection. There will be an overlap between this post and WBW this week!

    Cheers - Stewart M - Melbourne

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  34. Hello David
    a foray into the flora and fauna, very educational and as always accompanied by great photos.
    Greetings Frank

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  35. Como siempre genial querido amigo David, preciosas aves y plantas. Abrazos

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  36. Espectacular reportaje, he estado un rato entretenido. Un abrazo desde España.

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  37. I'm quite sure you know every park in Ontario (and beyond!) And you always find the best of the bird and plant life. This one is no exception. I'm especially fond of the butterfly in this one!

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