A quick visit to Mud Lake produced a nice Male cardinal interaction and waking wood ducks.
As we came around a bend in the trail, a male cardinal flew up from the ground to a pocket of sunlight very close to a six foot (2 metre) tall tree stump/trunk where we often see squirrels hoping to have a seed delivery from passers-by. He stayed in the tree branches patiently while I clicked away. Then my wife slowly put some seeds on the trunk. He was most appreciative.
The cardinals are always on the lookout for seeds when they see you feeding the chickadees etc but hang back and don't come to hand. This was likely the closest we've been to a cardinal that hung around.
At one of our usual stops in a quiet bay a few wood ducks were in the process of waking up. The woodies were in deep shadow with a bright reflection behind them. A little more processing was needed on the photos.....
I couldn't bring the shadows up on the ducks so the video is a bit dark
In another quiet bay, the Canada geese were still sleeping
I never noticed (paid attention to) any unusual plants during the summer in this area, but this  cotton-grass bulrush certainly stood out today. 
("Bulrush" is apparently spelled correctly with only one "l")
Juniper berries were turning blue. The berries apparently aren't berries, but are a cone...
They take 18 months to three years to develop
The Mapleleaf viburnum was a standout with red leaves and black berries
Lots more muted fall colours
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