Climax Sugar Maple at Beechwood / Don Valley: October 21, 2019

We are at the peak of fall colour in the Toronto area and the most glorious of all, to me, is the oranges and reds of Sugar Maple.

Sugar Maple (Acer saccharum)
Sugar Maple (Acer saccharum)
Sugar Maple (Acer saccharum)

Other botany:

Staghorn Sumac (Rhus typhina)
Bush-honeysuckle (Diervilla lonicera)
Staghorn Sumac (Rhus typhina)
Hazel (Corylus cornuta)
White Birch (Betula papyrifera)
Indian Grass (Sorghastrum nutans)
Canada Goldenrod (Solidago canadensis)
Bur Oak (Quercus macrocarpa)
Star-flowered False Solomon-seal (Maianthemum stellatum)
Red Oak acorns
Hawberry (Crataegus)

Park scenes:

The borrowed (thank-you Ian Valentine) Nikon D800 camera is wonderful in so many ways, but I would need different lenses to capture objects which are either very close or very far.

Take these starlings for instance. Look closely:

European Starlings

or these Wood Ducks:

Wood Ducks

Species list: mallard, wood duck, turkey vulture, red-tailed hawk, osprey, belted kingfisher, downy woodpecker, blue jay, common raven, black-capped chickadee, American robin, ruby-crowned kinglet, European starling, northern cardinal, American goldfinch, song sparrow.  (16 species)

This morning’s group:

NATURE POETRY

Fresh October brings the pheasant;
Then to gather nuts is pleasant.      – Sara Coleridge (1802–52)

Miles Hearn

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