Between the cool weather and the flooded trails, I hadn't been down to Petrie for over a month. The flooding river, while still on the high side, was off the trails. But many parts of the Bill Holland trail were the worse for wear by the flooding and fallen trees. There are still a few puddles and slippery mud in spots.
The beaver family had to build a second story addition to keep their home dry inside the lodge during the flood
The Island was alive with birds. But many of the little guys, warblers for example, were hiding within the new leaves on the trees and very high up.
Birds that I didn't see, but heard: (needed my Merlin App to identify some)
American Redstart, Bay-breasted Warbler, Blue jay, Eastern Wood-Peewee, Flicker
Northern Waterthrush, Red-winged blackbird, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Song sparrow
Warbling Vireo,
Birds that I did see and managed to get photos of some:
Canada goose, Catbird, Cormorant, Grackle, Great blue heron, Great-crested flycatcher,
Green heron, Mallard Duck, Northern Cardinal, Robin, Spotted sandpiper, Tree swallow.
White-breasted nuthatch, Yellow warbler
A yellow warbler and tree swallow were both very high up in the trees
A bird I haven't seen for a long time at Petrie, a great-crested fly catcher, was half way up a tree singing and preening
A spotted sandpiper was checking the mud on the trail for food
A catbird (fuzzy photo) and a nuthatch were playing cat and mouse behind the tree leaves. The nuthatch was flying close to me - either had a nest close by, or looking for a handout
A lone male mallard was swimming slowly about.
The nest of a Canada goose pair obviously survived the flood, two adults and 7 goslings were patrolling the pond.
A green heron flew up from the end of the trail into a tree, while a great blue heron concentrated on finding a snack and succeeded.
The fresh growth in the spring always looks so beautiful. The ferns - ostrich and sensitive,
The colourful leaves on the maples, many struggling to recover from beaver "trimming"
The VERY closely trimmed shrubs are fighting to come back
The dogwood, sumac, virginia creeper and poison ivy were all showing surging growth
The maples, which last month were just budding (left photo) were in full leave
On the other hand, the bittersweet berry bunch which were ripe last fall either fed some birds, or all but one, dropped to the ground to sprout their seeds.
While the flooding will delay some wildflowers, a good number were in bloom: blue violet, white and mauve dame's rocket, wintercress and garlic mustard (an invasive specie)
A crabapple tree towards the end of the Bill Holland trail was in full bloom, with a honeysuckle next door just starting
The painted and map turtles were taking full advantage of the first warm sunny day in a long time (and no major flood)
Only one muskrat showed itself while I was there
A very small snail was slimming its way across a large leave
On a log, the insect trails from under some long fallen off bark, left an intricate pattern
With rain having fallen the afternoon and evening before, the deer and raccoon tracks had to be fresh
A nice addition at the start of Turtle Trail - a bee hotel
