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.
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.
With the long cold month of February behind us, I finally came out of hibernation to go for a hike. March started as a cold and crazy windy day but it was a little calmer and slightly warmer for a walk with my friend Linda today.
A curvy line
We met at Island Lake Conservation Area and decided to start our hike along the boardwalk portion. As we passed the first boardwalk section and entered the second one I noticed these small open areas in the ice.
Holes in the Ice
We were stumped as to why these holes might be here. We also noticed by one of the holes that there were some tracks. It’s possible that some small critters were using these to get in and out of the frozen lake.
Ice Hole
It was a beautiful sunny day out but the winds were still pretty strong. There were a few spots that were quite open and we were glad to make it back into the shelter of the trees. Winter is a beautiful time of year but it’s the cold winds that get me running back indoors as quickly as possible.
I met my friend Nigel today for a socially distanced walk down part of the Humber Recreational Trail. The first few minutes of our walk we ended up slipping and sliding along the path, so we decided to go back to our respective cars for our ice trackers. It ended up being a good decision since the path turned out to be quite icy for most of our walk.
The Old Tree
You’ll notice from the photo above that this spot might look a little familiar. The last time I was on this trail I did the same section stopping to get a photo of this exact tree. This time, however, the lake was frozen over and I was able to get a much better angle. I wanted the tree to stand out from the background, so when I post processed it I lightened up the tree and the reeds while darkening the tree trunks in the background. This makes the tree pop.
The rest of the walk was uneventful and I didn’t end up taking any more photos. I think I will have to find another place for inspiration because there are only so many photos I can take of this tree.
We’ve been very lucky most of this winter with above-normal temps and only three substantial snowfalls. Winter, however, is no longer messing around. Temperatures for the past week have been downright frigid. Today was the first day that temperatures warmed up enough for me to venture out of the house and take some neighbourhood photos.
Decaying Post
I’m trying to think outside the box to get more creative shots, considering that I’ve been walking the same area for almost a year. This first shot (above) is of a post that has started to decay in an interesting pattern. It’s the only post that has done this along this fence.
Rosette Lichens
I went back to that fence where I found all those lichens growing on it. I wanted to spend more time getting photos of the different types of lichen growing on the old logs. I’m sure I got some strange looks from passersby. They were probably wondering what could be so interesting on a fence. Little do they know just how interesting that fence is.
Star Rosette Lichen
I love the variety of lichens that are growing on this fence. I could spend hours photographing them. Unfortunately, temperatures were dropping quickly, so it was time to head home.
