A Visit to Cold Creek

It was a nice warm day for a hike at Cold Creek Conservation Area in Nobleton.  I visited this park with my friend @nigelbanks57 today and as the day progressed it got pretty hot out.

Turtles

Turtles

This could be why we spotted so many painted turtles sunning themselves on floating logs in the pond. This is the best one I was able to get. I definitely had the wrong lens with me to get shots of them. 

Yellow flowers

Yellow flowers

But, I did have the right one for this great macro shot of the Marsh Marigolds.

Check out their trail map here.

Not Just For The Ducks

I’m back at the Humber River Recreational Trail today and I’m hoping to find something a little more interesting than I did last week.

Mallard

I was greeted again by the mallard as I came onto the trail. Maybe I should give him a name so I can greet him next time?

Canada Goose

Canada Goose was not to be outdone, so he ambled up to say “hi” as well.

Cooper’s Hawk

I had a surprise visitor when I headed up the trail on the Humber campus grounds. This gorgeous Cooper’s Hawk was a little too far away for a great photo but I was more than happy to get some shots before he flew away.

Moody Skies in the Forks

I went out on a hike with my friend Linda and her dog, Summer. We decided on hiking at Forks of the Credit Conservation Area. When I drove in, I noticed some very strange-looking clouds. 

Cloudy Kettle Lake

They started fading as we hiked, so I stopped at Kettle Lake to get some shots.

Undulatus asperatus clouds

Other than the weird cloud formations, I spent my time focusing on my hike as this wasn’t a photo outing.

A Challenging Hike at Heartlake

I went out with my friend Nigel to explore the trails at Heart Lake Conservation Area. With the melting snow and the ice formations, it was a difficult trek along the slippery trails.

Bird Feeder

It was a challenging hike and I did not come away with many photos. These little birdhouses were the most interesting things on the trail, in my opinion.

Reeds

I did try to find other things to photograph, but inspiration was not my friend this time around. I hope my next outing will be more productive.

Nuthatch Love

Today I headed out to Claireville to take photos at the feeders just off the main trail/road.

The Old Bridge

I had to get some shots of the bridge. It’s one of the more interesting things to photograph here in Claireville. The shadows from the late day sun from vines and the other side give this photo a lot of character.

Posing

At the feeder, the nuthatches were flying back and forth getting their food for the day.

Grabbing a Snack

They are even willing to land on your hand if you have some seeds to share with them.

I had a lot of fun getting photos of the birds and always look forward to the cold temps when it’s okay to feed them like this. In summer they are too busy to be bothered with us and our seeds when there is so much more to eat.

Caught Red-Handed

My friend Nigel and I went out for a hike at Lynde Shores today. The trails at Lynde Shores are full of wildlife, most likely because they have several feeders on one of their popular trails. The Chickadee trail is only 500m long. On most winter days, you can find wild turkeys, chickadees, nuthatches, squirrels and more on this trail.

Goose Stretch

Under the walking bridge by the parking lot, ducks and geese were congregating in the river below. I got lucky when this goose decided to wash his feathers and put on quite the display doing so.

Mourning Dove

Starting on the Chickadee Trail, we spotted this Mourning Dove sitting on one of the trail fences.

Caught Red-Handed

The feeders are quite popular, and you won’t just see birds here. This squirrel was taking advantage of the free food. Do you think he looks a little worried that we’ve discovered him inside the feeder?

Red-Breasted Nuthatch

We stopped a little further down the trail and decided to take out the seed Nigel brought with him to feed the chickadees. Little did we know that this Red-breasted Nuthatch preferred to be feed by hand. When we put the seed on a nearby bench, to be able to free our hands to photograph, he scolded us from a branch above us. It wasn’t until we put the seed in our hand that he stopped scolding us and came down to eat. Someone’s a little spoiled.

Red Squirrel

We continued hiking, eventually coming to LeVay’s Lane trail, which looped us back towards the parking lot. On LeVay’s trail, we found this cute red squirrel, who couldn’t decide if we were friends or foes. After overcoming some of its fear, it came a little closer, and we were able to get a few photos.

It turned out to be a successful day out.