From time to time I visit Peggy's Cove for the sunset. Often there is fog or dense cloud that prohibits a nice presentation but not so this time. The sunset although not spectacular was excellent.

Peggy's Cove Sunset

Peggy's Cove Sunset 1200 Peggy's Cove Sunset 1201 Peggy's Cove Sunset 1202 Peggy's Cove Sunset 1203 Peggy's Cove Sunset 1204 Peggy's Cove Sunset 1205

I returned to my Canada Lily colony just after a rain storm in order to capture this elegant flower without shadows and with rain drops accenting the flower head.

To my horror and disappointment in just the two days between my last visit and this visit the colony had been raided by the wild flora terrorists who had dug up entire plants or cropped the flowers at their base.

The damage done to our natural world by these folks is reprehensible. They are usually directed to the locations of rare birds or flora by postings or field trips by well meaning but naive organizations like the Nova Scotia Bird Society and the Wild Flora Society.

It is a well established principle held by responsible naturalists that locations of rare or endangered birds or plants should never be publicly posted especially on electronic media.

The worst abuses of birds I've ever witnessed has been by members of the Nova Scotia Bird Society.

Canada Lily after a rainfall

Canada Lily 200 Canada Lily 201 Canada Lily 202 Canada Lily 203

This display of White Water Lilies is the most impressive I've ever seen. The lake is loaded up with them from end to end. There is no camera lens that can capture this display effectively due to depth of field restrictions. The only way to truly capture this vista is to take several photographs, bottom to top and stitch together the in focus sections.

White Water Lily

White Water Lily 200 White Water Lily 201 White Water Lily 202 White Water Lily 203 White Water Lily 204 White Water Lily 205 White Water Lily 206 White Water Lily 207 White Water Lily 208

Dragonflies and butterflies are getting harder to find thanks to the reckless use of insecticides and herbicides by farmers. Unfortunately this carnage works its way up the food chain to birds.

12 Spotted Skimmer

12 Spotted Skimmer 100 12 Spotted Skimmer 101

I visit this park on my way up the Great Northern Peninsula of Newfoundland. It's worth the stop because of the abundance of arctic and alpine wildflowers that grow along the shoreline here. Unfortunately there were no wildflowers this year which meant I visited too early. I will return next year two weeks later.

The park is north of Gros Morne National Park near Parson's Pond along the Viking Trail, and includes a parking lot, boardwalk, and picnic area. The rock formation is composed of Ordovician aged dolomitic conglomerates of the Daniels Harbour Member of the Cow Head Group which has been eroded by sea wave action. These porous conglomerates can be oil-bearing, and areas near The Arches Provincial Park have seen some oil exploration activity.

The Arches 100 The Arches 101 The Arches 102 The Arches 103 The Arches 104

The Canada Lily is an elegant native wildflower which is hard to find but worth the effort. Abuse of this plant is evident as wild flora terrorists dig up or crop the plant for selfish and personal use.

The one colony I visit annually is getting smaller and smaller and will soon disappear.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

Jump to navigation Jump to search

Lilium canadense
Canada lily[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Monocots
Order:	Liliales
Family:	Liliaceae
Subfamily:	Lilioideae
Tribe:	Lilieae
Genus:	Lilium
Species:	L. canadense
Binomial name
Lilium canadense L.
Synonyms[2]
Lilium pulchrum Salisb. Lilium penduliflorum Redouté Lilium pendulum Spae Lilium peramoenum Farw.

Lilium canadense, commonly called either the Canada lily,^[3][4] wild yellow-lily, or the meadow lily, is a native of eastern North America.^[5] Its native range extends from Ontario to Nova Scotia south to Georgia and Alabama. It is most common in New England, the Appalachian Mountains, and the Canadian Maritimes.^[6] It is also cultivated as an ornamental in Europe and other places.^[7]

Flowers emerge in June. They are nodding (hanging downward), yellow, orange or red, often with darker spots. The plant has become less common in urban and suburban areas due to heavy browsing by the white-tailed deer.

Description

These plants usually live in moist meadows and wood margins. They can grow up to 0.5-1.5m with yellow, orange or red flowers 50–75 mm wide which emerge between June and July.

Culinary uses

The flower buds and roots traditionally gathered and eaten by North American indigenous peoples.^[8]

Conservation status in the United States

It is listed Rare in Indiana, as Exploitably Vulnerable in New York (state), and as Threatened in Rhode Island and Tennessee.^[9]

Canada Lily

Canada Lily 100 Canada Lily 101 Canada Lily 102 Canada Lily 103 Canada Lily 104

The Bohemian Waxwing is the most elegant bird in North America and its smaller cousin the Cedar Waxwing is not far behind in the scoring. Sure there are gaudier birds like the buntings or tanagers but if I can make a human comparison the Bohemian Waxwing is the Audrey Hepburn of birds. The Bohemian Waxwing is primarily a north-western Canadian breeder save for the Alaskan population so don't look for them in the summer but they do turn up in our winter especially in boreal or boreal like forests.

The Cedar Waxwings are late nesters so look for them around sources of food usually around wetlands especially beaver floods where they share their catch with the flycatchers.

Cedar Waxwing

Cear Waxwing 107 Cear Waxwing 108 Cear Waxwing 109 Cear Waxwing 110 Cear Waxwing 111 Cear Waxwing 112 Cear Waxwing 113

I hadn't visited Upper Burnside Falls for several years, say ten or so. My body paid the price hiking up the steep staircase. Going down was not so bad:) The river was higher than I expected so the falls were spectacular.

I used a 10 stop neutral density filter for the long exposure shots. Comparing them with normal photographs and choosing a preference is a personal choice. Personally I find the long exposure waterfall shots a bit hokey, a bit too contrived for my taste. Many folks prefer the long exposures of water motion so I will continue with this technique.

Here's a tip for beginners. Leave your tripod in your car. It's useless for 10+ second exposures due to wind vibration. I usually just place my camera on a convenient rock. It's "rock steady" and easy to use especially with a tilting monitor.

Upper Burnside Falls

Upper Burnside Falls 100 Upper Burnside Falls 101 Upper Burnside Falls 102 Upper Burnside Falls 103 Upper Burnside Falls 104 Upper Burnside Falls 105 Upper Burnside Falls 106 Upper Burnside Falls 107 Upper Burnside Falls 108 Upper Burnside Falls 109 Upper Burnside Falls 110 Upper Burnside Falls 111 Upper Burnside Falls 112 Upper Burnside Falls 113 Upper Burnside Falls 114 Upper Burnside Falls 115 Upper Burnside Falls 116 Upper Burnside Falls 117

The Queen Mary 2 is unique among ocean going vessels since it is the only ocean liner in the world. It is capable of year round crossings of the North Atlantic ocean, no slight feat. It's faster at 30+ knots and much stronger than the cruise ships. Most cruise ships can barely best 20+ knots.

I never miss an opportunity to photograph this magnificent vessel when it visits Halifax. This evening was a cliff hanger with rain and fog forecast but I checked the weather radar and it looked like it might clear off for the Queen Mary 2's departure at 6PM. As fortune happens the ship was an hour late leaving so the fog was all gone and there was no rain and the sky and ocean conditions were perfect to photograph the ship. The late day sun lit up the superstructure and the clouds were perfect with blue sky showing in places. It couldn't have been better.

Queen Mary 2

Queen Mary 2 100 Queen Mary 2 101 Queen Mary 2 102 Queen Mary 2 103 Queen Mary 2 104 Queen Mary 2 105 Queen Mary 2 106 Queen Mary 2 107 Queen Mary 2 108 Queen Mary 2 109 Queen Mary 2 110 Queen Mary 2 111

The Atlantic Ocean off Chebucto Head was magical on this evening. The surface fog was just a few metres above the ocean creating an ethereal scene.

Aura of the Ocean

Aura of Ocean 100 Aura of Ocean 101 Aura of Ocean 102 Aura of Ocean 103 Aura of Ocean 104 Aura of Ocean 105

Laura and I tried for orchids and had some luck. These orchids require wading in bogs so rubber boots are a requirement. The Fringed White Orchid was just beginning to bloom whilst the Grass Pink Orchid was in full bloom. Standing steady in bogs is tricky so bring a walking staff.

The bright sunshine which pleases the humans does make photographing all white orchids a challenge. I'll go back to these photos and try some different techniques to bring out the detail.

Fringed White Orchid

Fringed White Bog Orchid 100 Fringed White Bog Orchid 101 Fringed White Bog Orchid 102 Fringed White Bog Orchid 103 Fringed White Bog Orchid 104

Grass Pink Orchid

Grass Pink Orchid 100 Grass Pink Orchid 101 Grass Pink Orchid 102 Grass Pink Orchid 103 Grass Pink Orchid 104 Grass Pink Orchid 105

Laura and I enjoyed our Showy Lady's Slipper expedition although the Canada Lily is still not in bloom. We returned via Mount Uniacke Museum Estate in hopes of finding some butterflies but little luck there except for the White Admiral and Northern Pearly Eye Butterfly. Unfortunately I did not bring a suitable lens for butterflies. I only had my 90mm macro lens for orchid photography so the butterflies only covered about 2-5% of the frame. Mayor cropping was required which does compromise image definition.

Mount Uniacke Museum Estate

Foot Bridge Mount Uniacke 100

Northern Pearly Eye Butterfly

Northern Pearly Eye 100

Showy Lady's Slipper Orchid

Showy Lady's Slipper Orchid 100 Showy Lady's Slipper Orchid 101 Showy Lady's Slipper Orchid 102 Showy Lady's Slipper Orchid 103 Showy Lady's Slipper Orchid 104 Showy Lady's Slipper Orchid 105 Showy Lady's Slipper Orchid 106 Showy Lady's Slipper Orchid 107 Showy Lady's Slipper Orchid 108

White Admiral Butterfly

White Admiral 100 White Admiral 101 White Admiral 102

I visit Chignecto Provincial Park annually in my continuing and failed quest to find and photograph the Cape May Warbler and the Mourning Warbler. Occasionally I troop up to Amherst Point Migratory Bird Sanctuary and although I have seen Cape May Warbler here in the past I have not in recent years. The high pitched song of the Cape May Warbler makes it doubly hard to find since high frequencies do not carry far and are unidirectional. I did photograph the Mourning Warbler several years ago. It is a stunning bird!

Chignecto Provincial Park is a treasure and should be taken over by Environment Canada and converted into a national park, whilst simultaneously buying up surrounding land and kicking out the loggers that are devastating the local area.

American Redstart

American Redstart 100 American Redstart 101 American Redstart 102

Treasure Trove of Wildflowers

Beach Ridge Wildflowers 100 Beach Ridge Wildflowers 101 Beach Ridge Wildflowers 102

Black-and-White Warbler

Black-and-White Warbler 100

Black-throated Green Warbler

Black-throated Green Warbler 100 Black-throated Green Warbler 101

Blackburnian Warbler

Blackburnian Warbler 100 Blackburnian Warbler 101 Blackburnian Warbler 102 Blackburnian Warbler 103 Blackburnian Warbler 104

Canadian Tiger Swallowtail (yes, it is a different species than the Tiger Swallowtail)

Canadian Tiger Swallowtail 100 Canadian Tiger Swallowtail 101

Cape Chignecto

Cape Chignecto 100 Cape Chignecto 101

Cape d'Or

Cape d'Or 100 Cape d'Or 101

Luppin

Colour 100 Colour 101

Columbine

Columbine 100 Columbine 101 Columbine 102 Columbine 102 Columbine 103 Columbine 104 Columbine 105 Columbine 106

Common Yellowthroat

Common Yellowthroat 500 Common Yellowthroat 501

Daisy

Daisy 100

Dark-eyed Junco

Dark-eyed Junco 100

Grey Catbird

Grey Catbird 100 Grey Catbird 101 Grey Catbird 102 Grey Catbird 103 Grey Catbird 104 Luppin 100 Luppin 101 Luppin 102 Luppin 103

Ovenbird

Ovenbird 100

Red Hawkweed

Red Hawkweed 100 Red Hawkweed 101 Red Hawkweed 102

Cape Chignecto

The clouds are always striking here probably due to the cool waters of the Head of the Bay of Fundy meeting the warm bluffs of Cape Chignecto causing an up welling of air currents and the subsequent formation of clouds.

Red Rock Beach 100

Red Rocks, Red Rock Beach and Red Rock Falls

Red Rocks 100 Red Rocks 101 Red Rocks 102 Red Rocks 103 Red Rocks 104 Red Rocks 105 Red Rocks 106

Red-eyed Vireo

Red-eyed Vireo 200 Red-eyed Vireo 201

Savannah Sparrow

Savannah Sparrow 100

Song Sparrow

Song Sparrow 200 Song Sparrow 201

Swainson's Thrush

Swainson's Thrush 200

The Three Sisters Lookoff

The Three Sisters Lookoff 100 The Three Sisters Lookoff 101 The Three Sisters Lookoff 102

The Beach Trailhead

Trail 100

White-throated Sparrow

White-throated Sparrow 201

Yellow Warbler

Yellow Warbler 200