Duffins Creek: March 2021

My grandfather, as a professor of zoology at the University of Toronto, would bring students every year to Duffins Creek. Each was given a net and they proceeded to learn about every creature that was briefly pulled from the creek or the shores and then put back. On occasion, I was invited to go along.

American Toad from August 2020

Here is how the area looked in early August 2020:

Quite different on this early spring morning in 2021:

ice

Some botany:

White Pine (Pinus strobus)
Pileated Woodpecker drilling in White Cedar
Black Alder (Alnus glutinosa)
American Beech (Fagus grandifolia)
Willow (Salix)
Manitoba Maple (Acer negundo)
Balsam Poplar (Populus balsamea)
Red-osier (Cornus sericea)
White Cedar (Thuja occidentalis)
Basswood (Tilia americana)
Multiflora Rose (Rosa multiflora)
Sweetbrier
Woodpecker drilling in Goldenrod gall
Jerusalem Artichoke (Helianthus tuberosus)
Red Ash (Fraxinus pensylvanica)

MAILBOX

Thanks to a reader for this:

An owl dangling precariously from a branch has scooped the overall prize of this year’s
Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards.
Out of the 3,500 entries, Tibor Kercz won the overall prize with his series of images
showing an owl losing its footing and trying to claw
 its way back on to a branch.
Other entrants included a yawning dormouse, a photo bombing sea turtle and
a rather shocked seal. 
Take a look at all the winning photos from the competition.Tibor Kercz’s photo of an undignified owl was the overall winner.https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/976/cpsprodpb/15470/production/_99225178_tibor-kercz_the-rovingness3_00001364.jpg Andrea Zampatti
won the Land category with a photograph of a dormouse.
https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/976/cpsprodpb/14EC6/production/_99220758_andrea-zampatti_the-laughing-dormouse_00001732.jpg
Troy Mayne
won Under The Sea category with a photobombing sea turtle.
https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/976/cpsprodpb/8B44/production/_99225653_troy-mayne_slap_00000345.jpg John Threlfall
won the In The Air category with a bird and an ominous vapor trail.
https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/976/cpsprodpb/D964/production/_99225655_john-threlfall_duck-speed_00002929.jpg Daisy Gilardini
photographed a polar bear clinging on to its mother.
https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/976/cpsprodpb/11E88/production/_99225337_daisy-gilardini_hitching-a-ride-n4_00002965.jpg
Penny Palmer
caught a sea otter reaching for the sky.
https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/976/cpsprodpb/89B4/production/_99225253_penny-palmer_cheering-sea-otter_00002018.jpg Carl Henry’s
was highly commended for his photo entitled All Dressed And Ready For Church.
https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/976/cpsprodpb/D7D4/production/_99225255_carl-henry_all-dressed-and-ready-for-church_00004001.jpg Olivier Colle
spotted a hare munching on grass.
https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/976/cpsprodpb/125F4/production/_99225257_olivier-colle_eh-whats-up-doc-_00002482.jpg Katy
Laveck-Foster snapped two cheeky monkeys
https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/976/cpsprodpb/175A4/production/_99225659_debf0ea2-02ae-4d2e-ae65-efffa032083e.jpg Jean-Jacques Alcalay
captured the moment it looked as though a wildebeest was riding on the back of its companions.
https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/976/cpsprodpb/14E94/production/_99225658_fa2e0b4b-a50f-40cd-85ae-6fa3bd4f0cf2.jpg George Cathcart
was highly commended for his photo entitled WTF.
https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/976/cpsprodpb/8248/production/_99225333_george-cathcart_wtf_00000610.jpg
Douglas Croft
caught a fox getting a hole in one on a golf course.
https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/976/cpsprodpb/3810/production/_99225341_douglas-croft_must-have-three-putted_00000012.jpg
Daniel Trim
snapped two mudskippers appearing to be in mid-song.
Mudskippers

NATURE POETRY

It is the first mild day of March:
Each minute sweeter than before
The redbreast sings from the tall larch
That stands beside our door.                             – William Wordsworth (1770–1850)

Miles Hearn

2 thoughts on “Duffins Creek: March 2021

  1. Susan R.

    Thanks Miles – this is fantastic on so many counts – love the Duffins Creek photos and the comic shots – hysterical

    Reply
  2. Lisa Volkov

    I am, of course, a complete SUCKER for animals looking cute and happy. Did that poor little owl make it back to the branch, though? Hopefully, it did. Amazing picture! Where is Duffins Creek anyway? Gorgeous pictures. Wonderful details of buds about (relatively speaking, anyway) to blow (I know–very unpoetic–but once I said it, I couldn’t take it back). And yes–I loved the Happy Dogs–see above. Thanks, Miles!

    Reply

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