Recently the Essex County Field Naturalists did a walk along this beautiful biking and hiking corridor. It is part of a network of abandoned railways that have been converted into hiking paths. I had seen a recent social media posting about this location so I took my son for a quick bike ride to see it! Just a quick note - a local naturalist who had walked this trail nicknamed this stretch of pathway the "Grand Canyon of Essex County" - but of course, its not a canyon - its a low lying waterway and floodplain with a vantage point perhaps 20m above it (from an old rail corridor).
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| This photo does not quite do the scene justice. But - does it ever? |
Some birds seen and heard during this walk were:
- Red Headed Woodpeckers
- Tufted Titmouse
- Indigo Buntings
- Northern Rough winged Swallows
- Caronlina Wren
- House Wren
- Baltimore Oriole
I also did a walk with a few Butterfly Naturalists on Saturday July 7th. I joined Blake Mann, Paul Desgardins and Jeff Larson who faithfully do this butterfly count every year.
It was a pretty good day at Brunet Park in Lasalle - as we had seen perhaps 60 or so Hairstreak butterflies with the majority of them being Hickory Hairstreaks. Banded Hairstreaks were seen as well . We had seen Dukes Skippers in pretty good numbers with three seperate sightings. At one point of our walk - Blake pointed out a birdcall that I was mildly familiar with - the call of a Hooded Warbler! Later on, in a completely seperate part of the park, I heard another one or two more singing! A pretty good bird for Essex County!
Good birding, lepping, and botanizing!
Dwayne
