So this is what a film buff and birder did at TIFF… she took a day off from films and headed out to Nature.
The Cootes Paradise Marsh Nature Sanctuary in Burlington’s Royal Botanical Gardens is about a 45-minute drive southwest of Toronto. Hiking the trails there was total relief from pounding the pavement between TIFF venues. I immersed in the silence of the Nature Sanctuary, with bird calls and sounds of crickets replacing the hustle and bustle of downtown traffic.
First off, there were many birds, but mostly Chickadees. The Bluejay I see often in Alberta, but not among maple leaves:
Indeed, the leaves are so different from what I’m used to seeing. Like these here. Never seen leaves wearing sunglasses before:
Seldom see frogs on my path either. Nearly stepped on this little guy:
Or a mushroom this fancy:
I just love how well planned these trails are, so considerate in their design:
See the upper left corner of the above picture… A colony of cormorants:
As I came close to the edge of the water, I felt like I’d gone inside a corn maze:
The observation tower at the end offered a panoramic view of the marsh, but not my camera though. So here they are in different frames:
It’s here that I had my first sighting of the Great Egret:
And a Mute Swan with her young, which were brownish but almost as large as the adult:
As I made my way back I walked through fields of goldenrods, that was quite a sight:
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Ripple Effects 