A cold day, +12^C high, also very dark outside. Went for a hike in Markham on this Thanksgiving weekend.
Hiked Rouge Valley Park in Markham. Markham Rd. and 407.Milne Dam seems to be popular for these cormorants.Must be good fishing, for these diving birds.The unusually hot, summer like, weather trend was broken by a cold snap of single digit temperatures overnight. This cold snap activated all the fungi to 'flower', like this bracket fungi. Saw many mushrooms, this Thanksgiving weekend.Not many insects left for the Cedar Waxwings to eat, but many berries still around the river.Migrating Cedar Waxwings heading south.Many small birds eating berries in the thicket of vines. Only realized I saw a creeper, after I checked my pictures when I got home.Missed the shot of the Great Blue Heron. Hoping it would circle back, but it flew further down the river.A few kinglets, but hard to spot.Markham has built a few nice bridges over the Rouge River.A Northern Flicker enjoying the view from a tall tree.Got luckily and (barely) saw this red-bellied woodpecker. It was in the same tree as the Northern Flicker.This tree has two flickers and one red-bellied woodpecker on it. Hard to spot the woodpecker, further down the tree.A sharp bend in the river, with a tall bank. Very close to the 407 highway.I like the way this autumn picture is framed, with the walnut, and bridge.Highlight of the hike was to see the spawning salmon.Not too many of them, but a few.They would fight the current, rest and fight the current again.With many hawks migrating, never know which you're about to see. Here is a sharp-shinned hawk.This trumpeter swan was resting in a small, inaccessible pond, by the 407 highway.A weir on the Rouge River. Heard a salmon jump, and caught the tail end of it swimming upstream. There once was a mill in this area.Many little birds hiding the brush.Amongst a dozen mallard ducks was a Wood Duck.
