Category: Nature photography

Photography of nature we have observed during our travels.

Wood Frog on Algonquin Park’s Mizzy Lake Trail

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wood frog, mizzy lake trail, algonquin park, ontario

Earlier one summer, Bob and I undertook to hike the Mizzy Lake Trail in Algonquin Provincial Park.  It is touted as one of the more difficult trails in the Park but also the trail along which hikers have the best chance of sighting wildlife.  The 11-kilometre loop skirts nine small lakes and ponds while passing through dense forest.  We enjoyed a clear day with intermittent clouds that gave brief reprieves from the blazing sun that threatened to discourage any wildlife from making a show of themselves along the trail.  Still, we sighted many turtles and frogs such as this Wood Frog (Lithobates sylvaticus). Read more

Our Drive Through The Painted Desert In Arizona

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hwy 89 in arizona

Despite having been awake since a very early hour, it was not until about 10:30 a.m. that Bob and I decided to make a run for the North Rim of the Grand Canyon.  It was approximately 200 miles from the South Rim, and the roads were very good, so there was plenty of time left in the day to get there and back again.  One of the striking features of landscape to impress us along the route was the Painted Desert with its myriad formations in all colors of the rainbow. Read more

Moose Cow And Calf Along The Mizzy Lake Trail

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moose in algonquin park swamp, mizzy lake trail

Bob and I cannot get enough of exploring the wilderness in Algonquin Provincial Park here in Ontario.  It was while hiking the Mizzy Lake Trail that we came upon a Moose cow and her calf standing in the muddy water at one end of a lake. Read more

Moose Cow And Calf In Algonquin Park

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moose cow with her calf in algonquin park - ontario 5

Bob and I decided to take a drive into Algonquin Park in Ontario, Canada, one summer, and at one of the beaver ponds along Highway 60 in the park we spotted this moose cow and calf beside the road. Read more

Sunchokes growing wild at Lower Reesor Pond in Toronto

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sunchokes, lower reesor pond, rouge national urban park, toronto

How beautiful is a sprawling drift of Sunchokes fading into the distance!  That is just what we found when Bob and I visited Lower Reesor Pond in northeast Toronto.  This native species of sunflower goes by many different names including Sunchokes, Sunroot or Earth Apple. Read more

Black Bear Mom and Cubs Eat Blueberries In Algonquin Park

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black bears eat blue berries - algonquin park - ontario 3

One summer a few years ago, Bob and I once again found ourselves in Algonquin Park here in central Ontario, Canada.  We had various objectives during our two-day visit to the area, and one of them was to pick wild blueberries.  Having heard that the crop was more plentiful than usual, we were eager to put ourselves to the task of harvesting a few.  It was quite a surprise to find that an American Black Bear and two cubs were sharing the blueberry patch with us. Read more

Wild Coneflowers Growing At Lower Reesor Pond

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coneflowers at lower reesor pond - toronto 7

Bob and I paid a visit one spring to the Lower Reesor Pond in North Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and had allotted a large chunk of time in order that we might pay some well-deserved attention to the wildflowers and plants that had gained a foothold in the area surrounding the pond, which included several groupings of wild coneflowers. Read more

Cow Moose And Calf In Algonquin Provincial Park

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moose calf - in algonquin provincial park - ontario 2

On a drive into Algonquin Park in Ontario, Canada, a few kilometres just inside the West Gate, Bob picked out a cow and calf in the ditch where they were nibbling on tender shoots and having a drink of water. Read more

Skunk Cabbage at Dickson Wilderness Area

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skunk cabbage, dickson Conservation area, cambridge, ontario

It is so much fun to go hiking and birdwatching in the springtime.  With all the migrating birds arriving daily in Ontario, we never know what surprises are in store for us at places like Dickson Wilderness Area, near Cambridge, Ontario.  The same can be said for all the tender new growth that is pushing its way up out of the cold soil.  With each passing day, new treasures are to be found amidst the bleached leaf litter on the forest floor.  Eastern Skunk Cabbage (Symplocarpus foetidus) is always one of the very first plants to emerge from the frozen earth because this plant is capable of generating its own heat and can even thaw its way through a thin veneer of ice. Read more

Turtles killed by Winter in Toronto

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dead turtle in pond_milliken park_toronto_ontario

On a spring visit to Milliken Park in Toronto, we were shocked to come upon a number of dead turtles along the shoreline of the pond that had been killed by what is called Winter Kill.  Read more