Monday, April 29, 2013

Carden Alvar/My World/Nature Notes

 Creek running through the Carden Alvar

Yesterday my husband and I visited the Carden Alvar, a globally rare habitat for wildlife east of Lake Simcoe and about an hour northeast of where we live. An alvar is limestone or dolomite plain covered by a thin  layer of soil. We like to visit the area a few times a year to checkout what's happening there.

Muskrat out and about

What we discovered was lots of water. It's often  marshy there in spring...

 Fenceline along private property

and areas that are normally dry most of the year were mushy.  The properties are a mixture of private ranches (beef cattle) and land gradually being purchased to eventually become a provincial park.

 Marsh grasses have emerged

Here you can see last year's grass is giving way to this year's.

 Last year's oriole nest

The trees were in bud and will soon leaf out.

Bloodroot

And one of my favourite wildflowers was in boom.

More photos from Our World can be seen by clicking HERE.

Please visit Michelle at Rambling Woods for more NATURE NOTES.

55 comments:

MadSnapper said...

that nest is really cool, I have not seen one like it before. love the muskrat shot and the marsh grasses

Judy said...

Well, if the bloodroots are in bloom, I will have to go out and see what is happening in the woods here...

Randy said...

A beautiful spot. I really like that nest.

Penelope Notes said...

Such signs of spring never fail to amaze me, especially when something that seems so dead and done for suddenly sprouts new life!

TexWisGirl said...

beautiful! i like the marshiness of it.

Karen said...

Nice captures EG, that muskrat looks a bit fierce. Hope you wore your rubber boots!

Indrani said...

That nest is so interesting, so much like the weaver bird's yet so different.

Gail Dixon said...

Beautiful shots! The oriole nest is so interesting. I had no idea they were constructed that way. What a beautiful day for a hike.

RedPat said...

It's so wonderful to see the Bloodroot flowering!

Gardening in a Sandbox said...

Hi I remember one summer day Paul and I took a lunch and did some sightseeing at the Carden Alvar. We saw many birds that I had never seen before as well as different plants. It's an amazing place. Valerie

kayerj said...

that was a nice little walk through the nature reserve!

Lowell said...

This post provides a nice tour of the area. I especially like the muskrat because we don't see those down here so far as I know. Love the bee on the flower, too!

Anonymous said...

So lovely to see your world coming to life again.

Buttons Thoughts said...

Oh I happened do do the same thing this weekend enjoy nature for all it shares. I explored the Alvar and photographed the Bloodroot but no Beavers here on the farm.
I love Nature notes and your photos. B

Small City Scenes said...

What a great area to have nearby. I love the Bloodroot too.
Gorgeous pics as usual. MB

Pride In Photos Beauty said...

Well I am not a muskrat lover...but I do have to admit he was aweful cute in this photo. Great capture.

Betty Manousos said...

lovely! i really like the nest.

George said...

What a wonderful place to visit. It sounds like it is different each time to you go. We enjoy going back to places like that time after time.

carol l mckenna said...

Wow! Muskrat photo and oriole nest are fantastic photos ^_^ ~ Beautiful post .

Anajá Schmitz said...

Que lugar lindo e agreste. Gosto muito de ver os animais em seu habitat natura. Ameis seu blog cheio de interessantes post.
Tenha uma ótima semana.
Anajá Schmitz

Janie said...

Very nice to have a wildlife preserve close to home. Great capture of the muskrat!

Hilary said...

Spring has indeed sprung. It sounds and looks like a lovely place to explore.

Lucy Corrander Now in Halifax! said...

Very mushy landscape!

Linda Kittmer said...

That sounds like a wonderful place to explore. I live in Georgetown and travel past that general area when going to the cottage north of Huntsville (outside of Burks Falls). I'll have to check it out some time.

Karen said...

lovely post and photos, I like those white flowers.

Sylvia K said...

What a lovely place!! Beautiful white flowers and I love the oriole nest! Terrific captures as always, EG!! Hope you have a great week!

eileeninmd said...

Enjoying nature on the weekends is my way to relax. Cool sighting of the muskrat. And the wildflowers are pretty. Beautiful natures scenes and photos.

Photo Cache said...

what what an interesting landscape. i hope it gets to be a provincial park and hopefully then would be more protected and saved.

DeniseinVA said...

Great photos and I never knew Orioles created such a nest, that's an amazing piece of engineering for such a little thing. So cool!

Lillian said...

Beautiful photos !

Revrunner said...

Makes me want to put my canoe in the water.

mick said...

It looks like interesting habitat and those Bloodroot flowers are beautiful.

Fun60 said...

That is a great shot of the muskrat. I have never seen one before so thanks for sharing.

Carver said...

what a great place to explore. Interesting habitat and I love seeing the muskrat.

Stephanie said...

Beautiful and the Bloodroot is a pretty flower.

Lisa Gordon said...

I have not seen an oriole nest before. it really is quite a work of art! This looks like a wonderful place to be with a camera. Love that little muskrat!

Jill said...

You get to see the coolest things! I love the fence and all of the others too!

Anonymous said...

Wow. What a wonderful piece of our world have you found? And with wildlife that allows you to come so close. Would love to come for a walk along your end of the woods.

Jack said...

The first and third photos are pretty nice landscapes. And, flowers! already!

Yogi♪♪♪ said...

Wow, what a wonderful wild looking place.

Louis la Vache said...

No doubt Spring is especially welcome this year!

Very belatedly, «Louis» thanks you for your visit to San Francisco Bay Daily Photo. He would welcome your participation again in his Sunday Bridges series.

Unknown said...

this is a wonderful place to visit. the marsh grasses and nest are quite interesting. pretty flowers, too.

Unknown said...

These are lovely sets of photos.
Thanks you also for visiting my blog and I am loving your l...definitely enjoyed my visit.

Cezar and Léia said...

Amazing nature, I'm enchanted by that wildflower!
Léia

Joyful said...

Very pretty scenery. The muskrat looks healthy.

Tina´s PicStory said...

great shots of the animals! :)

Unknown said...

Love the bloodroot!! Boom & Gary of the Vermilon River, Canada.

Susan Anderson said...

These are all wonderful, and I especially like the first one.

=)

MyMaracas said...

Interesting area - and I wish I had come here before posting mine. It would have saved me the hour I spent trying to identify the bloodroot in my yard! I had never seen it before yesterday.

ExploreColorado said...

Such lovely pictures.

Unknown said...

Really enjoyed your nature notes of what's happening this Spring - love any journal-like posts:)

betty-NZ said...

Yep, winter has left your part of the world. Great photos, especially the muskrat!

Pearl said...

great idea to get away. spring flowers unlock something in the spine I think. click the combination lock.

Viola said...

What a very lovely post! with beautiful photos! =) and I think I've never seen a muskrat before. I even had to translate it. It's quite unknown to me. and so nice to see it here! :)

Rambling Woods said...

How beautiful Eg... and so nice to see a muskrat as I miss ours here so much...Michelle

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East Gwillimbury is a rural town less than an hour north of Toronto, Canada's largest city. My family calls me CameraGirl because I take my camera with me wherever I go.