Mark S. Burnham Provincial Park

Today was the first weekend that my girlfriend was back in town so I wanted to do something rather than just sit around at home. We decided to go to Indian River Reptile Zoo but it was rather small and everything was behind glass so I couldn't get any pictures, plus I feel like taking pictures in zoos is cheating unless you show that the subject is in fact in a zoo. After the zoo, we decided to go to Mark S. Burnham Provincial Park which is just outside of Peterborough. It is just a day use only park and only has one trail going through it. The park itself is unique because when people were settling the area, the people who owned this land decided not to clear it. This has resulted in intact hardwood forests with very large stands of Hemlock and Maple. The park is also on top of a drumline so it has good views of the surrounding forest. The first two pictures in this post are looking over the forest floor which is just starting to wake up from its winter slumber. The next picture is of a red squirrel which is much rarer to find in southern Ontario compared to the grey and black squirrel. This particular squirrel has a peanut in its mouth. The following picture is of a Red-Breasted Nuthatch sitting on a log. It did not sit there long and quickly flew away after I took this photo. The next picture is of a Trout Lily which is a wildflower found in southern Ontario that blooms in the spring. The final picture in this post is of a Garter Snake, I see at least one of these snakes each spring when I go for walks and this year was no exception.