Georgian Bay Getaway Part Two

After finding a campsite in Killarney Park, it was time for another walk.  The only trail accessible from the campground is Cranberry Bog trail, unless you want to do the backpacking trail!  The La Cloche trail is a famous trail into the back country where you can spend 7-10 days.  Not for me!
The Cranberry bog trail is about 4 km long and goes to a scenic spot on A. Y. Jackson Lake.

You cross a beaver dam here!

Here the artist Jackson spent much time.

The trail ends at the north end of the campground on George Lake.

I spent the rest of the day relaxing and just before sunset, along George Lake.

Once again, I heard Barred Owls during the night!  "Who cooks for you?"

Early to rise the next morning, I checked out Chikanishing Trail which you access at the end of Chikanishing Road about 2 km west of the park.  It is here many launch their canoes.  I think this trail was the nicest, once you get up on the ridges.

Outlet of the river

You have a panoramic view of Georgian Bay from the ridges.

While on this trail, a couple of Pine Siskins flew over--the first I had this year!  Also I heard American Pipits.
I encountered some nice groups of warblers, mostly Yellow-rumped and Palm.

A couple of Porcupines were noted along the trail.

Not yet awake!

One unique scene was a vein of quartz within the red granite.  This is also depicted in a book I purchased.

After walking this trail, I headed west to the quaint village of Killarney.  Everything was closed up though and I could not sample the famous Herbert's Fish and Chips!  (Only open on weekends this time of year).

that yacht looks interesting!

By mid-day, I had a change of plans and decided to travel to Grundy Lake Provincial Park.  (I like to keep moving around!).  I briefly visited Grundy back in 1997 as well.  There are three nice trails within that park.  I walked Swan Lake and Gut Lake Trails.  The longer Beaver Dams trail did not interest me...perhaps if I took more time!

Scene on Swan Lake Trail

In Grundy Lake park, I encountered quite a few dragonflies, most being darners.  I know I had Shadow Darners, and perhaps a couple other species.  There were also meadowhawks, including White-faced.  I will show these in a later post.

These two must be lichen it!

Gut Lake trail was a nice walk and I found lots of birds. One large pocket of birds contained several Pine Warblers, Palm Warblers, Yellow-rumped and a few other types.  They were quite curious of my presence (after pishing of course!).

Pine in a Pine

At the end of Gut Lake, I saw this interesting rock formation.

One part of the trail goes along a rock face where you can see lichens and ferns.  Uncommon to rare ferns can be found in places like this.  The Bruce Peninsula is famous for rare ferns, for example.

As I was drifting off to sleep that evening, a Barred Owl came close and started calling.  Third park, and third time I got Barred Owls!  I think the Barred has the most fascinating call and is a thrill to hear each time.

More later...

George Lake at sunrise

Georgian Bay Getaway Part One

I scheduled some time off for this week and decided to head up to Georgian Bay.  Although there are a thousand places and things to see up there, I picked a few spots. I have always had an attraction to the area since I was much younger and did canoe trips in the Parry Sound area.
My destination was Killarney, but for the first night I went to one of my favourite parks, Awenda, north of Penetanguishene.

View of Giant's Tomb Island from Awenda P.P.

I arrived after lunch and did some walking.  Did not do much photography, as it was mostly cloudy (even though the weather forecast said mostly sunny.......).
A few migrant birds (and resident) were seen along the way.  I found a good-sized flock of passerines along the Dunes Trail.

Chestnut-sided Warbler

Some were too close at times to photograph, but it was nice to see all those birds flitting about.  This was along the last section of the trail where there used to be a Christmas tree farm.  The spot has really filled in since the first time I was there back in 2006.

Nashville Warbler

At the end of the trail, a Red Fox scurried by, but it was too quick to get on it with the camera.

Dusk came on quickly, and I watched a family of Wood Thrushes at the campsite.

I had already heard Barred Owls calling.  In this park you are guaranteed Barred Owls, as every time I visit, I hear them.
While the thrushes put on some entertainment, I heard something beside, and just above me.  I looked up and saw this............

I never expected a Barred Owl to sit in my campsite!  It perched there for 20 minutes looking around. I took several photos, not knowing what camera setting to use in the darkness, so the above photo is a bit 'photo-shopped' for brightness.
I tried different things including setting the ISO in 'no-man's-land', but one would need the camera on a tripod with a remote for that I think.

I heard the owls once again in the wee hours of the morning before I got up early to head north.

Where highway 69 meets the French River, there is a rest stop for the provincial park.  A nice nature museum and gift shop is there, and a trail runs alongside the river to Recollect Falls.  I remembered this spot from one of my trips back in 1997 (that long? good grief!!), so I wanted to check it out again.

The French River runs through a geological fault where the granite has divided creating a gorge.  It is quite scenic.

The French River has a storied past dating back to the late 1600's when explorers, missionaries and fur traders were in the area.  The river was a major canoe route in the 1700's for traders moving between Montreal and Georgian Bay to the west.

After that break, I headed straight to Killarney Provincial Park.  It is a good 45 minute drive west off highway 69, but the drive is worth it.  The area is one of the most scenic spots in Ontario and in the past inspired some of the Group of Seven artists such as A. Y. Jackson.

Before entering the park, I walked the Granite Ridge Trail across from the entrance to the park.  It is about 2.5 km long and a bit challenging at the top.  But, there are some good views from the ridge.
One can see the white quartz bluff.  In this area, red granite abruptly meets the quartzite making for for some good scenery.

In the other direction on the ridge, you can see Georgian Bay.

It looked like the start of the trail was an old homestead, as there are pine plantations and also signs of clearings.  Then I saw this way back in.....

To be continued later.....!