I walk past this farm on my short block walk. The family who owns it have farmed here for decades. It now sits at the edge of a new subdivision, and so I very much enjoy this part of the walk, as it offers a small glimpse into this villages past.
A secret little grove in the trees – the red bits you see are Staghorn Sumac.
This is the middle stretch of my long walk around the block. Up ahead on either side of the road are fields of soybeans and wheat fields.
House sparrow on a wire on a beautiful, sunny day. For you non-birders, House Sparrows are exceptionally common in southwestern Ontario.
These berries are much loved by the Cedar Waxwings…I came apon a small flock of them the day I snapped this (Aug 6th I believe). The building in the distance is my old public school.
One of my longer walks takes me through a small park that has trails and open green space…this was taken in the wooded part of the path. If you follow that stream you will come upon a culvert were I found out my beautiful boyfriend at the time did not know how to kiss. I was disgusted…15 years old and just a horrible kisser. Geesh ;-)
Is this not stunning? The Thames Valley Conservation Authority and the local Community organizers have done a beautiful job with restoring the beautiful meadows that used to grace this part of Ontario. Even though Queen Anne’s Lace (the white flowers in the photo) are not native, they have merrily naturalized themselves and are not particularly invasive. The yellow flowers are I believe Annual Sunflowers, with some native grasses poking their heads up in behind.
Part of the Cedar Waxwing flock I came upon that were enjoying the berries. These wee things have this magical wispy sound when they call to one another…they sound like a cross between an insect and a twittery bird call. I once came upon literally hundreds and hundreds of them once, traveling with Robins, on their migration to their winterlands in late October.