one of my favourite trees

Guelph Radial Trail

Boat at Digby

Looks like a cormorant resting on a boat (perhaps put there by the tourist association) in the bay at Digby. Nice town. Beautiful area. Kitschiest window displays in the province.

August 2006, Digby, Nova Scotia

lichen

August 2006, near Bayfield Inlet

still morning

A quiet canoe slipping through the still morning.

August 2006, Bayfield Inlet, Ontario

cotton top

A few days ago we had a freak snowstorm.
At least I hope it was a freak.

Guelph

banded wooly bear caterpillar

Getting ready for a winter sleep, these banded wooly bear caterpillars will become Isabella tiger moths in the spring.

near Eden Mills, Ontario

muted river

Eramosa River, near Eden Mills

heath aster

These small white asters are still blooming into October.

near Eden Mills, Ontario

shale beach at Craigleith

"A growing demand for artificial light led to the establishment, in 1859, of a firm headed by William Darley Pollard of Collingwood. He erected a plant here to obtain oil through the treatment of local bituminous shales. The process, patented by Pollard, involved the destructive distillation of fragmented shale in cast-iron retorts heated by means of wood. The 30 to 35 tons of shale distilled daily yielded 250 gallons of crude oil, which was refined into illuminating and heavy lubricating oils. The enterprize, the only one of its kind in the province's history, failed by 1863. The inefficency of its process made its products uncompetitive after the discoveries of "free" oil at Petrolia and Oil Springs, near Sarnia." - Historical Plaques of Grey County

Craigleith Provincial Park

magali eating grass

Hmmm, rabbits can do it. Maybe just need to get that appendix working better.

near Eden Mills, Ontario

bucolic

near Eden Mills, Ontario

cool clear water

Craigleith Conservation Area

heading under Gow bridge

A beautiful day to rent a kayak or canoe and cruise the Speed or Eramosa river in downtown Guelph.

Gow Street, Guelph

the sun is angled low

A few minutes before sunset the red light angles through the cedars.

Rockwood C.A.

hiding heron

The early evening sun was bringing the orange and yellows out in the trees reflected in the mill pond. I took a quick pic before heading over to the marsh where I'd seen a blue heron on my last visit - but there was no heron there. When I got home and was going through the shots I noticed that the heron was actually in my first pic but I had not noticed it. I guess the lesson is slow down, pay more attention to the shadows.

Rockwood C.A.

shell in rock

August 2006

Port Joli beach, Nova Scotia

orange lichen

Orange lichen on basalt.

August 2006, Brier Island, Nova Scotia

mushroom

"The mushrooms keep growing in every new bootprint. "

- Allan Fraser


Headquarters C.A.

bubbles and reflections

Bubbles and reflections in the sulphur springs.

Headquarters Conservation Area, near Hanover, Ontario

Sulphur Springs

The water was perfectly clear - the sun could light the sides and bottom of the spring. 27 bathtubs full of 9 degree water flows out each minute.

Suphur Springs at the Headquarters Conservation Area south of Hanover.

Highway 9

Highway 9



Between Mildmay and Walkerton, Ontario

Tew's Falls

Dundas, Ontario

From Dundas Peak

Looking off Dundas Peak into the valley I think of how this rock I'm standing on was the bottom of a tropical sea, south of the equator, filling with coral 450 million years ago. You can see fossils of sea life and then wonder at how the matter which existed on the earth 6 or so billion years ago had evolved into this. Sometimes it's amazing how long the earth was so similar, sometimes amazing how quickly some things evolve and change. If we want to be sure that in 450 million years from now that we'll be more than bone fossils in rock we'll have to smarten up and not kill ourselves.


Dundas, Ontario

Summerville Beach

Sunset, the red shore deepens.

Nova Scotia

black shore rock

near Pembroke, Nova Scotia

300 million year old sandstone

"Numerous areas in Nova Scotia are underlain by Carboniferous strata. These strata are the province's source of coal, oil shale, salt, limestone, dolomite, celestite, barite, gypsum and anhydrite.

The Windsor Group consists of marine sediments. These include sandstone, shale, conglomerate, limestone, dolomite, gypsum, anhydrite and salt. Above the basal limestone, most of the limestones are very fossiliferous. It is within the Windsor Group that the majority of industrial minerals are mined. Total thickness of the Windsor Group varies from 1,000 feet to 10,000 feet."

- Geology Minerals and Mining in Nova Scotia

August 2006, near Walton, Nova Scotia

Alec and Magali

Etobicoke, Ontario

ahhh

After carrying an armload of branches a hundred steps or so it's good to take a rest on a convenient stump before completing the journey.


Headquarters Conservsation Area, Hanover

girls

Sharing a laugh with great grandmother.

Walkerton, Ontario

Mad River Valley

View of the Mad River Valley with the Niagara Escarpment near Collingwood in the distance. Taken from the Bruce Trail along the crest of the escarpment above the Devil's Glen ski club.
Devil's Glen

new cash crop

A 45 turbine wind farm just north of Shelburne on the Dundalk Plateau is a wonderful site to see - but some people are still blowing against the wind.

near Shelburne, Ontario

Atlantic Ocean

August 2006

Off St Catherine's Beach, Nova Scotia

Asters

The Ferguson Side Trail off the Bruce Trail at Dundas Peak offers up some beautiful sumac thickets and these purple asters.

Dundas Peak, Ontario

Tew's Falls

On our way out to catch the impressive view of the Hamilton/Dundas valley from Dundas Peak we stopped to watch the flow over Tew's Falls - over 400 meters down - almost as tall as Niagara. But without the crowds and casinos. It's perfect hiking weather now - not too hot and no bugs.

Tew's Falls, Dundas, Ontario

Mad River

The Mad River is peaceful right now - the slow flow in the mill pond above Glen Huron reflects the turning of the season. Nice hike along the escarpment where the Ganaraska Trail meets up with the Bruce Trail.

Mad River, Glen Huron, Ontario

Centre Road

Centre Road becomes Lavender Hill Road on its rustic journey up the backbone of the escarpment over the Noisy River through Dunedin on to Glen Huron. The colours are starting to change now - the hills are becoming majestic.

Near Dunedin, Ontario

Kejimkujik Seaside Adjunct

Rocks and pristine white sand line the shore at St Catherine's Beach. Seals sun on the rocks.

August 2006, Nova Scotia

St Catherines Beach

August 2006

Kejimkujik Seaside Adjunct, Nova Scotia

Gorgeous Elora

Grand River, Elora

eroded river bed

Grand River, Elora Gorge

wood and stone

These trees are growing on a huge stone just past the "hole in the rock" at the Elora Gorge Conservation Area.

Elora, Ontario

Grand River Bed

The Grand River still flows through a preglacial spillway over limestone formed 400 million years ago from coral reefs when this area was just below the equator in the southern hemisphere. Now when the river flow is low you can see how the bed has been smoothed by years of water passing over.

Elora Gorge

tilted landscape

These layers of sedimentary rock used to be horizontal but have been twisted into many interesting angles. Very interesting geology in Nova Scotia.

Rainy Cove, Nova Scotia

Teasel Twins

Hullet Provincial Wildlife Area

?

Sunset Beach, Goderich, Ontario

orange rock

Sunset Beach, Goderich, Ontario

Green Backed Heron

Today we went to check out the world's largest pothole in the Rockwood Conservation Area and while there noticed this juvenile green backed heron - at least that's what I think it is - I've never seen one before.

Rockwood, Ontario

Sunset Beach

Sunset Beach, Goderich, Ontario

Heart of Stone

Sunset Beach is a quiet beautiful spot for a bit of end of summer swimming or walking just on the outskirts of Goderich. Miles of sand, occasional pebbles, rarely people.

Sunset Beach, Goderich, Ontario

Sebastian knows how to have fun

Liverpool Street, Guelph