Gowganda Lake

A few pictures of Gowganda Lake and its many kilometers of shoreline.

Out on the lake today

Have been hoping for a good day to get out on the lake for 2 reasons take some pictures and maybe catch a fish.  Good luck today I bought in my limit of pictures.  Great day for pics around the lake and my luck a female Loon with her chick.  It's getting late in the season for one so young but it will be airborne soon.  When I was taking pics of the young one the adult swam out of sight down the lake, finally the chick looked around for her and headed south swimming.  Maybe the adult is trying to break the bond.

Finally the sun comes out

Here are a couple from near LeRoy Lake.

Rainy days

Lots of rain this week the lake level has come up a bit finally.  Tonight a great rainbow when the sun was setting.

Fall colours

Some of the fall colours coming out.

Trying something new--stop motion

 This is done by taking several pictures of the same scene in this test about 85 pictures and individually timing each one to show for 0.1 sec and making a video of them. It's easier done than said.  Just trying something new.

Viper's Bugloss or Blueweed

Viper's Bugloss (Echium vulgare) still in bloom found along the highways and bush roads.
Viper's Bugloss was said of old to be an expellent of poisons and venom, and to cure the bites of a viper, hence its name.

Mushroom symbiosis

Walking down along the rivers edge is very shaded with lots of moss and very large mushrooms, here is a group living at the base of a mossy tree.

Montreal River north of bridge

With all the lack of water this year the river is very low.  I hiked up the west side of the river at the bridge and took this pic (not an HDR).  This picture was taken with a very slow shutter speed. I ended up hiking up to Burk Lake and never got my feet wet.

Old Rock fall at Diabase Lake

On the west side of Diabase lake there is a cliff that overlooks the lake, in the winter I fish near there.  Went in and took some pictures of the rock fall at the north end of the cliff, it's cool, wet and in the shadows for most of the afternoons.  Lots of mosses, lichens, small plants and mushrooms growing in there.

Edith lake 2

Just working on some pics, this is Edith Lake with a texture as a base .

Edith Lake Winterberry

Around Edith Lake yesterday, the water levels are very low, last nights 7mm of rain will help it a bit.  Cooler today with the wind it is very comfortable.  Along the shores of Edith are shrubs with red berries that look like they have been stuck on the stems, these are Winterberry (Ilex verticillata). The red berry like drupes  remain on the shrub into the winter. It is a member of the Holly family but is deciduous.

Hot and humid

Wouldn't you know that the beginning of September would be hot and humid, we need a break from this.  On top of that my load of firewood was delivered last night too.  Time to sharpen up the chain saw and get at it.

Back again

Out and about in southern Ontario for a few days visiting and a 80th birthday party for an uncle.  Always great to get home, quiet, clean air, my own bed.  Looks like they have had a lot of rain it's spawned a batch of mushrooms everywhere.  I think this is a Fly Agaric, but I am not mushroom smart any takers on what it is.

Hidden Lake

Today I hiked into a small hidden lake left with a buffer of tall Jack Pines and Black Spruce surrounded by cut over.  Along the edges thick mosses with Leather Leaf, Labrador Tea, mushrooms, bog flowers and Pitcher Plants.  Here are a couple of pics

Hummingbird banding in Gowganda

Wednesday birdbanders from New Liskeard came to Gert and Pauls house to band hummingbirds.  The birders were trained to do this in the US and are just starting to band hummingbirds in the Temiskaming area.  Gert had phoned and reported many hummingbirds on her 5 or more feeders which bought the banders to town.

Trapped in a special trap that they bought in the US they banded 25 hummingbirds in about 3 hours, none of the banded birds were trapped again that day. Measurments were taken, age and sex was determined, weight and a band was placed on the leg. 

This is the start of a humming bird study in the Temiskaming area.  They will be back next year to see if any have come back.

Gowganda this evening

What more can I say.

Tansy

Out checking on the osprey yesterday, the two biggest have left the nest now and the smallest one is being tended to by the adults until it can fly off.  I don't think it will be to much longer until it takes flight.

While waiting for the osprey to appear I took some shots of a grasshopper eating this Tansy flower head.

 Adult landing on nest, young bird is tucked down in nest.

Flowers

While out looking at the Ospreys I took some pics of a couple of flowers that were nearby, Spotted Touch-Me-Not (Impatiens capensis) the first one, the second Deptford Pink (Dianthus armeria

Checking in on the Osprey

Good thing I went out today as the young birds are almost the size of the parent.  The one on the right is the adult or so I thought.  Looking at the other pics I can see another head poking up.  I am begining to think these are the 3 young.  There was an adult north of the nest in a dead tree calling to them.  I wish I could have seen the other adult too. 
Update ---Found a pic with 3 heads, I suspect these are all young birds.