There it was – a snapping turtle on the path. On seeing me, it froze and enabled me to get some close-up photos:

As if that wasn’t enough excitement, a few minutes later, several bald eagles were soaring above me. The photographs are of a juvenile who does not yet have the distinctive white head and tail:

On this lovely day, I returned to the Beaver River Wetland Trail which I had also explored in late March. The trail follows an old railway line:

A couple of less common ducks were in these waters:

Other birds:

Insects:

There were two shrubs here which I do not see in the Toronto area and had to look up in a field guide:

Other botany:

Nearby Sandford was named after Sir Sandford Fleming, the inventor of Standard Time.

NATURE POETRY

‘Tis June, and all the lowland swamps
Are rich with tufted reeds and ferns,
And filmy with the vaporous damps
That rise when twilight’s crimson burns.     – George Arnold (1834–65)

Miles Hearn