A Sleepy Hollow

A Carpet Below

A Tangle of Tree Tops

October Woods

Our Patient Heron

Autumn Walks

Mild temperatures and plenty of sunshine are like a siren song come October. With so few really pleasant days remaining before the weather turns nasty, the great outdoors is far too appealing and time too precious to waste staring at a computer. Instead of words, I'm just going to post some pictures that were taken during the month of October.

Just before Thanksgiving, the Great Blue Heron paid the pond a visit. Thanksgiving Day, we took advantage of the fine weather and strolled through the woods.

Our Fabulous Trees – An Update

“It is not so much for its beauty that the forest makes a claim upon men’s hearts, as for that subtle something, that quality of the air, that emanation from the old trees, that so wonderfully changes and renews a weary spirit.”– from Essays of Travel, Robert Louis Stevenson

Kettle Creek Conservation Authority dropped in last month to do their Survival Assessment on the 1200+ native species trees that were planted on the property on May 17, 2010. Happily, we can report that KCCA was very, very pleased with the site's progress overall. The trees are doing well, with very few failing to thrive. This is great news. We are absolutely thrilled with our Carolinian “plantation.” Pictured above, one of the little tulip trees.

As for the for the quote above, I couldn’t resist “re-cycling” it from a recent Nature Conservancy Canada e-newsletter regarding Gillies Grove. Gillies Grove is a fine example of one of Ontario’s remaining old-growth forests. Part of a Parks Canada national historic site, Gillies Grove contains some of southern Ontario’s tallest White Pine trees and supports species like the Red-shouldered Hawk and Pileated Woodpecker. Recognized as a natural treasure for its old-growth trees, the Nature Conservancy of Canada, along with the Land Preservation Society of the Ottawa Valley, purchased and protected Gillies Grove in 2001.

So, tree lovers, please visit the Nature Conservancy of Canada to learn more about NCC’s contribution to conservation in our nation!

The Swallows Depart

“What, already?” said the Rat, strolling up to them. “What’s the hurry? I call it simply ridiculous.”

Our swallows have departed, leaving us as dismayed as Rat was to see his swallows readying themselves for departure. But this is how the swallows describe it:

“First, we feel it stirring within us, a sweet unrest; then back come the recollections one by one, like homing pigeons. They flutter through our dreams at night, they fly with us in our wheelings and circlings by day. We hunger to inquire of each other, to compare notes and assure ourselves that it was all really true, as one by one the scents and sounds and names of long-forgotten places come gradually back and beckon to us.”

And like Rat, we wish it were not so.

“Couldn’t you stop on for just this year?”suggested the Water Rat wistfully. “We’ll all do our best to make you feel at home. You’ve no idea what good times we have here, while you are far away.”

...from The Wind in the Willows, by Kenneth Grahame.

The Latest Buzz

It has been a busy summer at White’s Wetland. Consequently, not much blogging! So this September update is all about honey. The 2010 crop is in and it is bee-autiful. It seems that our bees were just as busy this summer, providing us with significantly more honey than last year. The colour is exquisite and the taste divine.

Another Sultry Summer in Canada's "Old South"

A string of steamy, sunny days came to an end overnight with a sudden rain shower, just after midnight. Today it's overcast but still muggy. The air, somewhat stagnant. I am not complaining, however! For this is summer in southwestern Ontario, and while the rest of the country was gasping through an unprecedentedly long heat wave, we who live in the most southerly part of Canada just smiled and took it all in stride. What's the fuss?

This is Canada's "bayou" in a way, the last stand of the remaining Carolinian Forest north of the border and home to more species of amphibians, reptiles, and plant and animal life than probably any other part of Canada.

For that alone, this territory is precious. And I haven't even mentioned the Great Lakes yet! The largest inland waterway in the world surrounds us in its blue embrace. Lake Huron to the west and Lake Erie to the south. A green elbow of lush deciduous woods and rich farmland in between. Can you tell that I love it here? You bet!

So this morning's sightings were a feast for my city-weary eyes: great drops of rain dripped from the majestically tall tulip tree; everywhere I looked, green, green, green, green. And the birds: a flicker, a brown thrasher, a hummingbird, and two tiny goldfinches—a splash of brilliant yellow in the deep green foliage.

Then, from the tall grass along the banks of the creek, our blue heron rose suddenly, slowly, struggling (or so it seemed at first) to carry himself aloft on his great wings. Right behind him, a very vocal, very upset red-winged blackbird. The smaller bird relentlessly pursued the long-legged heron, as red-winged blackbirds are wont to do when protecting their nests in the marshes, until the heron was well out over the pond. Of course, no camera on me at the time.

Last year, the blue heron wintered here. I am hoping, in view of the travesty of the oil disaster in the Gulf, the heron chooses to remain here at White's Wetland again this winter. Even in this seemingly secluded, serene sanctuary that is our wetland the utter horror of the destruction of the Gulf's wetlands and marshes is never far from my mind. I worry. I am concerned about the birds who will be migrating straight into Hell this fall. And I feel so helpless.