Archive for: Algonquin

Second visit to Algonquin

On Monday this week we took a drive up to Algonquin Provincial Park. On the way there we came across a group of turkeys wandering across the road – our first wildlife sighting of the day.

We decided to go on Monday because according to the Fall Foliage Report the park was at its peak with full colour red and orange foliage.

We had a very uneventful journey there, very little traffic on the roads and great fall scenery. Stopped off in Bancroft for a Timmy’s and paid our $13 for a day pass to the park.

As we entered the park it became apparent that the foliage report was wrong. A lot of the park was still very green with a few clusters of red/orange areas. We were a little disappointed but it is still a beautiful place.

The weather was nice with temps around 25C, but it was cloudy. Did I mention the temps – bearing in mind it was the 1st October?

We did a few of the trails and walked quite a few km’s. The beaver lodges and dams were very evident.

Apart from five squirrels and one chipmunk we didn’t see any wildlife, which was disappointing as last time we were there in April we saw quite a lot including a moose.

When we got home in the evening we spotted a deer in our garden. We had not seen them about since around March when the weather started to improve.

So it turned out we saw turkeys on the way, deer at home but nothing in the park itself – typical.

By the way, here is that tree again.

Bon Echo Provincial Park

Yesterday it was such a lovely day and not too hot so we decided to drive up to Bon Echo Provincial Park. It is not too far from us so an easy drive on almost deserted roads.

We got to the park and after paying $8 for a day pass we drove round to one trail, but unfortunately it was closed and the other trail close by led to a canoe-launching place. We hung around and took some pics and then drove back along the track to another area of the park.

This area was where everyone was camping and was busier than the other area, although we still could not believe that on a beautiful weekend day there were only a few people wandering around.

We walked along a few trails and followed the lakeshore. The lake is quite large and is overlooked by high cliffs and is quite pretty. We still thought Algonquin was much better and will go back there soon.

After spending a few hours there we drove back and in the evening sat outside in the lovely evening warmth. I sat talking to some of our squirrels – well it would be rude to ignore them and managed to get a chipmunk to take several peanuts straight out of my fingers. I also had an incredibly tiny and tame chickadee sitting on my hand for ages whist it tucked into the nut feast I held.

The robin chicks are growing and starting to get feather pins through.

They will be a week old on Monday and apparently stay in the nest for a couple of weeks, so they must grow very quickly.