The sun came out again after another 3-4 days of rain. (Making it the rainiest July in all of weather tracking history). So we headed out to Baxter Conservation Area which we had not been to for several years. Baxter is 38 kilometres due south of Parliament Hill. The water filled ditches should have told us what was coming......
The trails were water-logged in spots, no way could we get through some in our non-waterproof shoes.
But the Conservation Area has rebuilt their boardwalk. We didn't venture from it except one short side trip.
Much of the boardwalk goes through a very dense cedar forest. Nothing was growing on the forest floor. In other spots ferns were growing at the base of some trees.
Not a lot of flowers were in bloom, but I did spot some boneset. A field horsetail was covered with water drops. (Although the photo leaves a bit to be desired)
The boardwalk traverses a wide bay in the Rideau River. Much of the bay was filled with cattails and lily pads. A female wood duck flew out from the back of the bay heading for the open water. Shortly after a green heron flew by going in the opposite direction. All of this beyond the short lens I had on my camera. I did get a VERY distant shot of a great blue heron - but you'll have to take my word for it😊
There are two large open decks, one looking into the bay and a second out towards the river.
There was some purple loosestrife in bloom with bees very busy collecting nectar
A spotted several narrow-wing damselflies, an insect I had learned about a short time ago. Having also just learned about the wild rice growing in the area, I spotted some of it growing 10 feet off the deck.
An eastern phoebe rested for a few minutes on the edge of the dock. A sandpiper of some sort, flew up to stop on the dock also, but seeing us, changed its mind and took off. So no photo of the sandpiper
I found some fungal growth on the way back (I always try to do find some)
Orange jelly fungus, turkey-tail fungus on a cut stump and on a tree trunk
