Cottage Country

What is with this strange weather?  I had a trip planned for this weekend for months and just my luck we get rain and practically no rain all summer!  I persevered and managed to dodge some of the rain at key times on my trip to Muskoka.

The main target was to visit our friend on Browning Island and take in the Port Carling boat show.  I headed up Friday morning, stopping at Strathroy Lagoons and West Perth Wetlands along the way.  Both had some shorebirds, but not many.  West Perth was excellent the last couple of summers, but the big cell dried up this summer and weeds took over rendering it useless.  A fenced-in cell had good mud but there were just a few common shorebirds.

Strathroy

I planned to stay in Orillia overnight, so in the afternoon I slid over to the Carden Alvar area.  It is one spot that I have never visited.  I did not spend much time there as I just intended to get a quick look at the area.  It is certainly a unique habitat.  Many of the birds had dispersed by now, but I saw lots of Eastern Bluebirds and a couple of Upland Sandpipers.

Then the rains hit (again) and never quit until morning.

Next morning I went to Gravenhurst and looked at the steamboats while it rained (again).  A break in the clouds spurred me on to Hardy Lake Provincial Park west of the town.  I always stop there as it is a nice park to walk.  The first part follows old highway pavement, then veers over to Hardy Lake.  Luckily the skies were clearing for a nice walk.

Those three boulders again!

With the clear skies, I headed up to Bracebridge, and after a brief stop at the lagoons, I decided to make a break for Browning Island.  I called Shirley to come and pick me up at Allport Marina.  She came in her 1941 Mac-Craft.  (the Mac-Crafts were built in Wallaceburg).  It has been somewhat modified over the years, but a true gem.

Luckily it did not rain until afternoon when it did off and on (again).
Shirley's parents built the cottage in 1941 on the north tip of Browning Island.  They used a wind generator for power in the early years until hydro came at the end of WWII.

Approaching the Boathouse

The property has a cozy cove with sand beach and a point of land on its 5 acres.

Supper was held at the neighbour's across the bay (before it rained, again).  The Selby family was one of the early cottagers on the island and they acquired quite a bit of property.  Ken is involved with the land trust which is setting aside a considerable portion of the island's interior as a nature reserve.  This year they had a list of endangered species in which they hoped to find in order to bolster their reason's for setting up this reserve.  Some I don't think that they will find, but perhaps the Canada Warbler is present.  I did find a Canada in a mixed flock of birds Sunday morning.  Difficult to say if it was an island resident, but it could have been a roaming local flock. Like many places, species have declined considerably over the years on the island as Shirley mentioned things that she never sees or hears anymore.
Many residents have contributed some land towards the reserve as a tax incentive.  Anumber of properties in Muskoka have been preserved through the Muskoka Heritage Trust.  A bit of information for Browning Island is found at:
Browning Island Nature Reserve

White Pine "shrub"--probably quite old

Sunday morning we headed up to Port Carling for the antique boat show.  A very impressive one with about 85 boats!  This is put on by the Muskoka Lakes Association (since 1884) where cottagers around Lake Muskoka and Lake Rosseau are invited to bring in their prized boats.  The show has been going on since 1971!  Many of these boats have been around for generations and some have gone to this show every year.  Ditchburn, Minett, Greavette, Duke, Minett-Shields are the well known labels of the area. Many of the Muskoka boats have a unique appearance of being long, sleek and narrow.

The afternoon was spent at the cottage.  I walked out to the point to view the Segwun in the distance.  Some good flocks of birds milled about while I was there.  Probably local residents gearing up to head south.

RMS Segwun

No blueberries this year on the point.  Things are very stressed due to the dry weather.  Many trees have dried up and turned brown.  Berry crop is low.

I found evidence of a moose by the droppings.  I asked Shirley about it and she said a cow came over to the island last fall when someone observed it swimming.  It eventually came to her property and stayed a couple of days.  It probably succumbed to hunters.

Later during a boat ride to the south end of the island we went over towards Eleanor Island.  It is a CWS bird sanctuary and apparently Canada's smallest at 0.6 h.  I featured this in a blog post two years ago when I was up there.  Just Double-crested Cormorants and Herring Gulls nest there now.  Locally, it is known as Gull Isle.

The final morning we rode around Eilean Gowan Island which has an interior nature area.  (eilean is Gaelic for "island").  We walked through there two years ago, but didn't have time this year.
I was heading home by 11:00 a.m.
At least the ride home was sunny until I got closer, when it rained (again).  On the way I stopped at Mitchell again, and even fewer shorebirds!  However there were some butterflies taking advantage of the rare sun including a Sachem and Fiery Skippers.  I specifically kept my eye out for them as I figured it was a good spot to see them.  After I got home I read that Glenn Richardson had a Sachem on Sunday up at Listowel, not far north of Mitchell.
For various reasons I did not bring the big lens on this trip, so just scenery shots this time.