Which Way to the Enchanted Forest?

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.