We have stayed close to home this past week, keeping our walking to the familiar boardwalk and the trails of the Rotary Friendship Park. My husband and I walked every day between the raindrops, dressed for colder spring weather while summer stands waiting around the corner.
The beauty of nature does not escape us as we walk the familiar trails which have plants sprouting, growing and blooming on the forest floor.
Patches of plants such as wild Lily of the Valley
and bunchberry make us stop to look.
Meanwhile, some apple trees are in bloom still
and juniper also known as larch or tamarack, has its needles again and is looking particularly pretty.
The animals are tending their young these days and over the last month we’ve watched a family of foxes with four kits, play in the distance. Now down to three kits, the young foxes venture further from home and play with each other while the parents hunt. This one posed nicely one day, the fuzzy fur showing its youth.
In the salt marsh one day, we watched as the mother fox hunted among the bulrushes, stealthily searching for unsuspecting birds or their eggs. This area is home to a female Black duck who is a great mother to her five ducklings. She is on guard as the ducklings feed.
This momma definitely has her ducks in a row.
This 10 second idea shows the ducklings keeping up with her. Here
Lupins are beginning to bloom now and will do so for the next few weeks. The first we’ve seen this year had a slug feasting on it.
Earlier that same day, we had seen a Song Sparrow with a slug in its beak, probably food for its young.
Meanwhile, the salt marsh is recovering slowly from the damage from sub tropical storm Fiona as bulrushes are growing again after a slow start. The local Great Blue Heron enjoys the setting as much as we enjoy its company.
Belted Kingfishers fish in the stream and along the shoreline, occasionally landing in a place where we can watch their activity.
The circle of life is evident all around us as we walk the trails. We are privileged to be its witnesses.
I don’t know my trees, so I sure didn’t know that juniper was yet another name for larch/tamarack.
ReplyDeleteEvery single picture is stunning and beautiful too. Thank you for this lovely excursion, and especially that lovely fox kit.
ReplyDeleteOh, the beautiful greenery!
ReplyDeleteWhat great observation. Thank you. I love the ducklings leaping around!
ReplyDeleteLook at all those adorable critters along the way. Beautiful fox, nice pic. Loving the flowers, would love to have some of those tall purple ones....great adventures on your walk.
ReplyDeleteWalking in such beautiful places under the raindrops in this season is a real pleasure.
ReplyDeleteIn summer I always wait for the rain to make some wet runs!!!!
The fox is lovely.
I am sad because here the fox hunting is allowed.
Have a good week
Some of you photos are just mystical. That fox! It always amazes me how far ahead of the season we are here. Apple bloom was 2 months ago for us.
ReplyDeleteSo beautiful and love the shot of that kingfisher.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great place to walk and enjoy all that nature provides. I love the fox photo, it's a beauty.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the photos of the earth springing back to life again. Love the silly little ducks. We have have them in pond near my home. Sadly the crows make off with a few each year. Nature!
ReplyDeleteOh, Marie, there is so much to love in this post, especially the young fox, the ducklings skidding across the water and the impressive kingfisher. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteSimply beautiful. If I had this on my door step I suspect I would rarely go far from home. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteDelightful photographs
ReplyDeleteThe young fox pictures is adorable.
Everything looks brighter when the greens fill in.
Thanks for getting out and being a witness for spring. Spring is a great time of year as there are many developments and changes.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful photoes❤️Thatfox is a great shoot and it looks so trustful.I bet the little duck is caring and anxious for her chicks while the foxis around.But so is nature.Here in Norway we have had a cold spring and summer is waiting.Not.much then 20 degrees and my plants grow slowly..Wish you a good time.Take care❤️
ReplyDeleteA lovely walk and nature photos. Pretty flowers! I love all the birds, ducklings and the cute fox. Take care, enjoy your day!
ReplyDeleteYOur ocmbination of great framing and being at the right place at the right time yields some amazing photos! I love, love the fox cub and the positioning of the heron.
ReplyDeleteYou are, maybe, a week to ten days behind us. Our apple blossom is down, and the lilac is just finishing, the tamarack are full out.
And we finally got rain and the smoke washed out of the sky. Whew! We had a local fire that required evacuations and a lot of worry, too.
So glad your world is starting to improve from the storm. It will grow and heal - ours, from the ice storm, did. I can spot a few leftovers, but mostly because I know where to look for them.
Wishing you sunny days, mild temperatures and more photos to post for me to drool about.
The first photo of the path through the woods is so inviting. I grew in the northern half of Saskatchewan, with a stand of trees around a portion of our farm yard. I recall walking in there as a youngster, not necessarily appreciating it as I would these days.
ReplyDeleteThe critter photos are terrific, especially the young fox and the kingfisher. How wonderful to have such a variety to observe on your walks!
Amazing photo of little fox.
ReplyDeleteCoffee is on, and stay safe.
Fun to see all those ducklings and wildflowers. I could sit and watch the ducks for hours.
ReplyDeleteAhhhh...I adore every one of your photos and the beautiful walk you took me on.
ReplyDeleteI giggled right out loud watching the ducklings "keeping" up with Mom..too cute.
I love the lushness of the spring time walk and am glad some things are growing again where there was devastation before.
The Lupine is spectacular too.
Oh yes the Kit is adorable..makes me want to pet him.
Sue
The fox kid is lovely! Amazing picture!
ReplyDeleteThe fox kid is lovely! Amazing picture!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful!
ReplyDeleteThe view of the marsh with the Heron is my favorite!
That fox is a beauty.
ReplyDeleteGreat photos of the hiking area and all the wildlife. The fox in my area in Philadelphia look different.. Cute little ducks
ReplyDeleteThat's a gorgeous picture of the young fox.
ReplyDeletePartial to foxes but do love all these photos. What a wonderful place to get some forest bathing.
ReplyDeleteSo beautiful! That fox cub is delightful.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful photos but I am surprised your summer arrives so much later than ours. Love the little kit so cute. Hope all is well, Diane
ReplyDeleteooooh marie, our walk views are so similar!! it has "greened up" beautifully there, the apple tree is so pretty!!
ReplyDeletethe image of the foox is utterly fantastic. the tilt of its head, the depth in it's stare...the surrounding greenery, gorgeous!!
your ducklings are adorable. i just went to see my baby swans again and they are getting so big!! that's a wonderful capture of the kingfisher!!
As you quite rightly state, Marie, it is the circle of life and what may seem disastrous to us is part of an eternal cycle of death and renewal.
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful and diverse set of photos! I loved them all. I don’t think I’ve ever seen an apple tree in blossom, so I appreciated seeing that. I also loved seeing the lupines in bloom. I have never grown those, but I love them. The Kingfisher looks so grand! I always love going on these little journeys with you. Great post!
ReplyDeleteGreat Nature scenery! I like the young fox, and the Momma Duck with its five ducklings. There's a lot of beauty to be seen around, if you know where to look for it. And you definitely know.
ReplyDeleteThere is always something new when I visit you. What a pleasure!
ReplyDeleteHi Marie, “The circle of life is evident all around us as we walk the trails. We are privileged to be its witnesses.” That is a profound closing thought and I might have to “steal” it. Will give you credit, of course. I enjoyed all the photos and thought I might be able to pick a favorite, but it’s a tie for top honors … the fox OR the mother Black duck with five ducklings. 😊 Another excellent post here! John
ReplyDeleteoh how cute is that fox cub. We have wild foxes in our suburb. They tend to go after the local chickens in their coops!
ReplyDelete