Late Summer Flowers in the Meadow

The flowers that appear over the summer in our meadow (and lots of other old fields or roadsides around here) are another measure of the changing seasons.  In some ways these ones seem more 'real' than the ones we cultivate in our garden.  After all, they grow, bloom and reseed themselves with no assistance at all!

This is a Nodding Thistle along the roadside, a species that I don't often see around here.  We usually get the taller, multi-branched Canada Thistles.

There's still lots of Queen Anne's Lace around.  I like the view  from underneath against the sky.

There's still some Chicory blooming along the road; a rich blue if you catch in the early sun.

The New England Aster is now in bloom along one of our trails, perhaps the richest colour of our meadow flowers.

And there are Small White Asters all over the place at the moment.

A few Daisy Fleabane with their very fine blossoms.

And this is definitely not one of my favourite meadow flowers - the dreaded burdock.  But in fact if you catch it in bloom, the blossom is actually quite pretty.

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Signs of Fall

There are lots of signs of fall around.  In fact, I'm having a hard time drawing a line between late summer and early fall.  Here are a few of the seasonal signs I'm noticing in the first week of September.

About the very last flowers to start blooming in the garden have burst into blossom - the Fall Anemones.

There are squirrels in the oak trees across the road, chewing on acorns as fast as they can go.  Half of them fall to the ground still intact, the ground is littered with them.  Must be clumsy squirrels.

And of course there are lots of leaves just starting to turn colour - though most of the world here still looks remarkably green.  This is a cherry leaf on a sapling in our meadow.

About the last wildflowers ('weeds') to bloom in the meadow, the New England Asters, now flash their purple colour along the trails.

The sporangia (spore cases) on the back of the fern leaves are really obvious.  This is a Male Fern.

There are dozens of formerly blooming meadow flowers that are now brown clusters of tiny seeds ready for dispersal - this is a dried Elecampane blossom.

And of course it's tomato season - until the first frost.  I could eat toasted tomato sandwiches for dinner for at least a month!

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Reflections in the Harbour

The sailboats I shared pictures of yesterday provided some neat reflections in the water as I explored the docks.  Here's a selection.

Tonight we're having thunderous thunderstorms.  The dark skies started nearly two hours ago, with wild gusting winds, thick downpours, and lots of thunder and lightening.  It's calmed down now, but still raining. Never seen such dark skies in my life.

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Georgian Bay Skies and Thornbury Harbour

After checking out the fishermen at the mouth of the Beaver, I turned left and explored the harbour a little.  A heavy-duty rock breakwater protects quite a large recreational harbour where people leave their boats docked for the summer.  It's especially popular with sailors.

This view looks west past the harbour entrance, marked by the green beacon - the Niagara Escarpment in the distance.

There were dark clouds onshore, but some bright blue sky over the bay.

I was surprised to find the bright blue reflection of the sky in this photo once I loaded it on the computer.

And looking onshore is the marina, with docking space for I don't know how many boats, most of them fairly large sailboats.  I can imagine that this place must be hopping with boats coming and going on summer holiday weekends.

No-one was around on a Tuesday, but it was interesting to walk down the docks and check out the boats.

Just a forest of sail masts in all directions, but the sails all under their wraps today.

This boater must keep things all neat and tidy.

I liked the looks of this kayak on the back of this boat.

And I was struck by how symmetrical the boats looked as you walked by them on the dock.  I'm not a boater myself, but it's always interesting to visit a harbour.

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Fishermen on the Beaver

The short half-mile of the Beaver River below the dam and fishway I described yesterday is the most popular stretch with fishermen, though it's not busy yet.  After checking out the fishway I headed downstream toward the bay to see what I could see.

This is part of the park by the fishway, with the plaques about the old mill and an old skating rink that used to stand beside the river here.

I drove around to the west side of the river and checked out the Georgian Trail that uses the old railway bridge.  Looks popular.

Looking further downstream from that bridge you can just see Georgian Bay in the distance, and another smaller, lower pedestrian bridge before that.  That was my next stop.

Looking back upstream there's the old railway bridge in the distance, and another fisherman in the foreground.

From here it's a clear view out into Georgian Bay where the fishermen are hoping those migrating salmon will come from.  The marina is on the left.  Can you see the fishermen?

Here they are - another three fishermen.  I caught a snatch of conversation between these guys, when one commented that 'I'd get more action in my goldfish bowl at home'.  I guess the fish weren't biting!


All the way down to the shore of the bay, I clambered over the big stone breakwater protecting the harbour - storms can get bad on the bay at times, especially when the ice blows in or out in winter.  But today, looking east toward 'Blue Mountain', the water was placid.

I liked the lone fisherman in hipwaders out at the mouth of the river.  I saw about a dozen fishermen and one fisherwoman in half a mile of the river.  I'm going back when the salmon are running to see just how crowded the fishing gets!

Linking to Outdoor Wednesday

Thornbury Fishway

Today I discovered the Thornbury Fishway, a modern fish ladder built into the dam on the Beaver River at Thornbury to help the Rainbow Trout and Chinook Salmon migrate up the river to spawn.  I've been past this place on the highway bridge perhaps 100 times, but never stopped to look, not realizing I was driving right over top of such an interesting place - it's right under the highway bridge just east of the traffic light!

This is what the fishway looks like.  Unlike many, which are constructed with concrete baffles to form steps for the fish, this one is built to look like a natural stream, (from the fish point of view).  It was built in 2003.

The dam and fishway is just upstream of the old railway bridge over the Beaver River, now a popular pedestriam/bicycle trail from Meaford to Collingwood.  The entire area is a park, with several explanatory plaques, both about the history of the old mills and earlier dams that stood here, and the modern fishway.

Looking south from  near the railway bridge, the Beaver River is coming downstream, flowing north into Georgian Bay, so the fish are swimming south when they approach the dam.

The dam itself is totally impassible, but the watershed upstream is very high quality for fish spawning, with cold water and clear beds of gravel.  So the fishway was built on the left here, just out of sight, to provide a way around the dam.

Fishing is allowed from the bay up to the signs across the river just downstream of the dam, but as you can see from the collection of lures hanging on the cable, the fishermen get as close as they can!

This is the beginning of the fishway, looking down from on the bridge above.  The fish enter on the right, swim round the bend, and head upstream.  This part looks pretty artificial.

'Upstream' means swimming up the fishway, round the bend, and on upstream underneath the bridge.  At this point, the actual channel looks much more natural.

Then they come out near the top, and eventually escape into the millpond beyond the dam.  I've seen a number of fish ladders (including one in Alaska), but this is one of the most interesting, as the channel is so natural in appearance.

And it's all open to view for anyone visiting.  In fact, the town has gone to a lot of trouble to make this an interesting place to visit.  No fish today, but hopefully I can return in the coming weeks and bring you some pictures of migrating salmon!

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A Monarch!

On the last official day of summer, Labour Day, we finally saw a monarch!  Hadn't seen one for two years until this.  Maybe my scattering Milkweed seeds around the meadow last winter helped!

It was perched on a thistle blossom, and I was able to get close enough to get several pictures before it fluttered away.

My wife spotted it from the deck and I hurried to get my camera; this was my first clear picture, the pattern on the underwing showing it's a Monarch, not a Viceroy.

But it sat still long enough for me to creep closer and get a couple of good shots that also managed to be pretty well in focus - the autofocus on my camera isn't working, which I find frustrating.

Meanwhile, my main computer has died again.  I think I'm going to give up and get a new one.  Someday I'm going to lose a lot of pictures if I don't get things set up correctly.

Linking to Our World Tuesday