Friday, October 30, 2009

In the Quiet I Hear Leaves Falling


In the Quiet I Hear Leaves Falling
Originally uploaded by Ontario Wanderer

The sound of leaves falling and hitting both ground and water; the call of the chickadee; the scream of the blue jay; the gurgle of a small streamlet; these are the sounds of the quiet ravine behind our house

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

East Pond


East Pond
Originally uploaded by Ontario Wanderer

I don't usually like rainy days but the colours and the raindrops on our east pond really caught my eye on the dog walk this morning so I had to go back to get this photo. Not many more days of coloured leaves this bright are left this year.

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Looking Close


Looking Close
Originally uploaded by Ontario Wanderer

About 4 mm (1/6 in.) in size, this Thyme-leaved Speedwell (Veronica serpyllifolia) is easy to miss any day. Finding it in late October in Southern Ontario is a real treat. This one was on one of our mown pathways in the west meadow on our Brant County, Ontario property.

Sunday, October 25, 2009

Some Unharvested Soybeans


Some Unharvested Soybeans
Originally uploaded by Ontario Wanderer

Most of the soybeans in our area have been harvested but I found these down by the Grand River today on the edge of Brantford that are still waiting.

Thursday, October 22, 2009

On Guard


On Guard
Originally uploaded by Ontario Wanderer

This chap has been guarding the garden for three summers now and still does not look too bad . . . from a distance. This past summer a house wren build a nest inside his shirt so I guess he cannot be called a scarewren. Our neighbours built him to help frighten unwanted creatures away from the garden that their children helped plant on our property.

He has company. Two other sets of people made scarecrows that spring so there are three scarecrows in the garden.

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Neighbour


Neighbour
Originally uploaded by Ontario Wanderer

I took a different way home the other day and discovered that we have Texas Longhorn cattle living only a few kilometres away from where we live. If I remember correctly, and read the map correctly, they live within the borders of the city of Hamilton.

Neighbour


Neighbour
Originally uploaded by Ontario Wanderer

I took a different way home the other day and discovered that we have Texas Longhorn cattle living only a few kilometres away from where we live. If I remember correctly, and read the map correctly, they live within the borders of the city of Hamilton.

Neighbour


Neighbour
Originally uploaded by Ontario Wanderer

I took a different way home the other day and discovered that we have Texas Longhorn cattle living only a few kilometres away from where we live. If I remember correctly, and read the map correctly, they live within the borders of the city of Hamilton.

Sunday, October 18, 2009

Mullein


Mullein
Originally uploaded by Ontario Wanderer

One of ninety-three different flower species found during the weekend in bloom. There are many wild flowers still blooming along the Hamilton Waterfront Trail as the harbour helps keep temperatures more moderate and the street lights add more light to the shortening days.

Friday, October 16, 2009

Valley Path


Valley Path
Originally uploaded by Ontario Wanderer

We are moving toward fall colours but there is still a lot of green around. I chose this photo for the colours but overall I think there is about 60% green, 30% colour, and 10% of the trees have already dropped their leaves.

Thursday, October 15, 2009

Another Late Bloomer


Another Late Bloomer
Originally uploaded by Ontario Wanderer

There are two small patches of violets that I have found blooming in the late fall. This is from the patch that I found first many years ago. I can usually find a few blooming in October and sometimes even in November and once in December. This is a Canada Violet growing not far from Webster Falls in the Spencer Wilderness area.

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Swamp Falls


Swamp Falls
Originally uploaded by Ontario Wanderer

I took a drive out to the Beverly Swamp, just north of where we live, to see what the fall colours were doing. Most of the leaves had already fallen down and it was looking bare in the trees but there was still some colour in the water.

Monday, October 12, 2009

Farms Feed Cities


Farms Feed Cities
Originally uploaded by Ontario Wanderer

This is a photo montage of a cornfield in Brant County and the skyline of Toronto, Ontario.

Saturday, October 10, 2009

What Frost Warning?


What Frost Warning?
Originally uploaded by Ontario Wanderer

This Field Strawberry (Fragaria virginiana ssp.glauca) is one of 95 wild flower species that I have found during the first nine days of October. I photographed it just an hour ago on Oct. 10.

It is not uncommon for several spring wild flower species to bloom again in the fall. I assume it is the amount of daylight hours that is the stimulus.

Onward


Onward
Originally uploaded by Ontario Wanderer

The Royal Botanical Boardwalk is more slippery on rainy days but less crowded and leads to a colourful fall walk. The trails were filled with puddles but still quite firm and enjoyable to walk upon.

Friday, October 09, 2009

Puddle Watching


Puddle Watching
Originally uploaded by Ontario Wanderer

Trying to brighten another subfusc Friday. (Yes, it's today "word of the day." Came just on the right day here.)

Taken in the wild part of the Royal Botanical Gardens in Hamilton/Burlington, Ontario.

Tuesday, October 06, 2009

Sun Colours


Sun Colours
Originally uploaded by Ontario Wanderer

Sunlight was doing interesting things to colours and lines last evening. I had to pull off the road and attempt a capture.
This was on the edge of Dundas, Ontario.

Sunday, October 04, 2009

Millipede


Millipede
Originally uploaded by Ontario Wanderer

Of the over 10000 species of millipedes in the world, over 1400 are in North America so I don't even want to think about figuring out the species name. I will be content thinking about how they figure out which legs to move when as they move along.

Saturday, October 03, 2009

Lucky Star


Lucky Star
Originally uploaded by Ontario Wanderer

This is a small metal sculpture by David Hind of Brantford. He was part of the Brantford Art Tour this past weekend. I was lucky to see it as a thunderstorm with lots of rain was rolling in and I only managed two photos before the rains.

Thursday, October 01, 2009

"Perche"


"Perche"
Originally uploaded by Ontario Wanderer

Sculptural work by Antonio Nunez Chaviano located in Cienfuegos, Cuba. Photographed in March of 2009.