Walk at Old Baldy

I won't be able to join our own local Photo Group when they walk Old Baldy to photograph wildflowers, so I went today with some great photographers from the Owen Sound Camera Club.  I was inspired by their patient dedication to getting great photos!

It seems very early to me, but the Trilliums have come out in bloom just in the last 2 days.  They were spectacular.  Old Baldy is one of the best trails nearby to see a carpet of trilliums.

It's been a very warm and dry two weeks, so I fear these blossoms won't last long for those who want to come and get their annual wildflower photos.

There were plenty of Red Trilliums and many other flowers too, so I took a LOT of photos!

We walked in on the Mac Kirk Side Trail, one of the best places to photograph wildflowers in the valley.  I usually aim for May 12th, but a few days either way puts you at the peak of the emerging spring season.  This view captures the atmosphere that I love in the woods in mid-May, the nicest time of the year.

 These buds of the beech saplings were opening very quickly.

Overhead it was as if we could watch the leaves start to emerge, and the trees turn green.  This is mostly a Sugar Maple forest, and is a popular Conservation Area.

The forest changes to birch as you near the edge of the Niagara Escarpment cliff, and that's where the carpet of Trillium is most extensive.

I successfully got some pictures of wildflowers I've never got good pictures of before, like this Dutchman's Breeches.

And there were also more common ones that I seem to photograph every year, like this Trout Lily or Dogtooth Violet.

   But there were lots of other plants emerging on the forest floor, like this Lady Fern.

And of course the leaves themselves, these on a Sugar Maple sapling, shining in the sun.  There'll be more photos from this wonderful walk over the next couple of days.

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