An Epic Game of Croquet, 13th Annual Croquet Party, 2013

 

 

Buggin' at Rock Point Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada

While it is that time of year where the birding sure slows down, some friends of ours and my husband have been relying on chasing dragonflies and butterflies for entertainment...and a new challenge. Like all new things, I am slowly learning as I go. Like all things wild, there are more complexities to them than most people care to think about. For now, I will just try to capture some decent photos of them so I can figure out what species they are and just enjoy them for their beauty. 

These were taken on a Sunday trip to Rock Point Provincial Park on the beautiful Niagara Peninsula in Ontario, Canada. We like to take day trips here mainly for late summer/early fall shorebird migration which is excellent, but things were a little slow today so this is what caught our eyes instead. 

Black Saddlebags

This was, in my opinion, our best bird of the day, spotted in a field along the road on our way to the park. There were two of these fabulous Sandhill Cranes, who up until this spring were my nemesis birds.

We managed to do a little birding, but our attention quickly turned to the variety dragonflies and damselflies buzzing along the lake shore. Our friend Willie, seen here is doing a 2013 Big Year within the Buffalo Ornithological Society Region that includes Western New York and extends west into the Niagara Peninsula of Ontario, Canada. He has been delving into the wonderful world of Odonates himself. Check out his blog and photos here. 

I will just call this a dragonfly rainbow

Viceroy

Lots of bugs are getting frisky this time of year.

Twelve Spotted Skimmer

Female Eastern Forktail Damselfly

Tule Bluet Damselfly

Below are some photos taken last year during a trip to Rock Point that feature more of the landscape.

Along the shore of Rock Point you will find exposed limestone with a variety of fossils which are very interesting to get up close and personal with. It is here you will find little pools of water that attract migrating shorebirds and other local birds like herons, gulls, and terns. You could sit here for hours watching the water, or peering around at the rocks beneath you. Not too far from these rocks is a nice sandy beach for those who enjoy swimming. 

Killdeer, a common local shorebird friend. 

A view of downtown Buffalo, NY from across the lake in Fort Erie, ON before returning home. 

Allegany State Park: Program Site 62, Bridal Falls

I have been to Allegany quite a few times in the winter, but have not really explored other areas outside of what I already know. This time, along with my husband on our one year anniversary outing to Allegany, he suggested we try what looked like a small trail off of a pull off along Route 1 in the park. Located at Program Site 62, this is what we later came to find out was where Bridal Falls is located. As soon as we hit the trail, I knew this was going to be good. The forest was prime for fungus, moss, lichens, and other bryophyte friends. I just love that stuff. What's more...there was a lovely creek and a waterfall. Everyone loves waterfalls.

Some young Coral Fungus

Bridal Falls 

I love this crap. Could peer into it all day. Moss and fungus and their allies are something that fascinate more than most things, and oddly I feel  little need to classify and identify it like everything else out there. I just like to enjoy it. I say that knowing that I am anxiously awaiting a shipment of books on bryophytes, moss, and lichens  that I was long overdue on ordering. I guess deep down I am always on a "need to know" basis with the forest. 

For more on the trail and Bridal Falls...

here is a nice nugget on Scott Ensminger's web site Falzguy

and another on WNYTrails

Niagara Falls: Cave of the Winds Ring-billed Gull Nesting Site

Journey To Alaska: Eight Hour Seattle Layover

Crabs at the Pike Place market

 After our first stop in Las Vegas, we landed in Seattle, Washington where we had an eight hour layover. We wanted to have a chance to see at least a portion of Seattle since it has been a childhood dream of mine to visit there...especially Kurt Cobain's House. We rented a car for $30 (surely cheaper than a cab ride into the city) and headed downtown toward the number one tourist hotspot in the cty, the Public Market at Pike Place. We mainly wanted a bite to eat, a glimpse at the first Starbucks location, and to see if we could find this banjo busker from Rochester. We ate, got Seattle's Best coffee, took a few snapshots, then split this scene to head north toward Discovery Park and hopefully Kurt Cobain's house.

About 10 miles north we arrived at Discovery Park, a Frederick Law Olmsted designed park. One who's designs you become quite accustomed to growing up in the Buffalo area. It became very apparent that we were in the Pacific Southwest Rainforest. The lush landscape was easily detected looking below at the tall pine forests while flying into the airport. Now that we were in it, we became enveloped in towering mixed forests, dripping moss and lichens, neck high ferns, and a tinge of the briny sea that lay beyond Puget Sound to the west...and a new environment to scope out some Western birds that we will probably never see in New York State. We did tally up a hand full of life birds to our list on our brief visit to Seattle including Northwestern Crows, Pacific-slope Flycatchers, Anna's Hummingbirds, Violet-green Swallows and a few others that escape me at this time. Guess I will have to check to check the lists.

Foxglove

Sweet Pea

A quick stop down at the Fisherman's Terminal yielded us good views of Glaucous-winged Gulls, some fishing boats and other items you do not typically see down at the Wilson Boat Harbor on Lake Ontario. We never did make it to Kurt Cobain's house. Once we got to the park, we just couldn't bring ourselves to leave such a lovely oasis. After that, it was back to the airport for our third leg of our journey to Alaska.