Springtime in Algonquin Park

It is spring in Algonquin Park, a large provincial park in eastern Ontario. The snow still (rarely) appears in sheltered pockets but, for the most part is gone. Flowers are blooming. This includes the iconic Trillium, Ontario's provincial flower.

The first image is of a white Trillium along the Mizzy Lake trail in the south-eastern portion of Algonquin. Note the red markings. This is quite different from the more common type of pure white Trillium found in southern Ontario (this one is in Grimsby) as shown in the second image.

The third image is of a red Trillium, also along the Mizzy Lake trail.

The fourth image is of flowers on a shrub that grows quite extensively in the park (and also in the Bruce Peninsula). In the fall, I have seen bears eating the berries. Unfortunately I do not know the name nor did a search produce any results. If you can identify it, please leave a comment - would be much appreciated.

Also along the Mizzy Lake trail is a stream running out of (not surprisingly) Mizzy Lake. A few small falls appear there and two are shown in the fifth and sixth images.

One thing you can count on when driving through Algonquin is when you see cars parked along the roadside, look for a moose. The seventh image is of a young moos with small antler buds. Its winter fir is moulting and thus the bare-looking spot on the shoulders.

Finally, there is the Beaver. In this case it is not the animal but the aircraft widely used to access remote areas lacking roads but with lakes large enough to land and take off from. This model is, I beleive, an Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources deHavilland DHC-2 Mk 3 Turbo Beavers on amphibian floats and is parked right besidethe road. It is perhaps the most widely photographed beaver in the world.

Dandelions, Marsh Marigolds and Cattails

Spring time is here and the new plants are inevitably accompanied by dandelions.

These first image is at a peach orchard on Lake Street in St Catharines, Ontario, (yes that is how you spell St Catharines). These orchards are becoming less common, particularly since the closing this month of the last fruit packing plant in the province. Seems it is cheaper to import the fruit and then use loopholes in labeling laws to claim a deceptively high Canadian content. Go figure!

The second and third images are of dandelions among grape vines. This vinyard is on top of the Niagara Escarptment just south of the town of Grimsby. There is a significant wine industry in this area and that is also adding to the pressure to pull out tender fruit orchards as farmers caught between a rock and a hard place seek crops that can in fact pay the way.

While returning from a family function in the Shelburne area, we passed a marsh with a large patch of Marsh Marigolds. Thanks to that, the fourth and fifth images.

Finally, the last remnants of the 2007 crop of Cattails stood up just a little longer behind the dam in Rockwood.

Spring is here.

Continuing With the Theme - Flower Macros

And here we go again....

The first and third images are Tulips.

The second is a Scilla.

The Fourth is a magnolia.

Yet Again - Flower Macros

The first image is the inside of a Magnolia bloom. Note the small midge crawling about. Flowers are nice. Midges are irritating.

The second image is a blue-yellow bicolour Primula.

The third is a cluster of cherry blossoms about to open fully. This image is one of a very few I have used a diffused flash for.

The fourth image is of the centre of a "Paper-White" Narcissus.