Iain Leitch Photography

The last camping trip of the season before the weather gets to cold and the parks all shut for the year, was to Sharbot Lake Provincial Park. I went there around this time last year and it was very pleasant with this year being the same.  The weather worked out in our favor for once which was nice. We had a nice hike on their discovery trail. The autumn colours were just starting to change, which meant that most of the canopy was still green, however a few bits of yellow and orange were appearing. There was also still a decent amount of fungus growing on the forest floor which made for some great photos.  Silver Maple Marsh dividing the campgrounds. Black Lake Point in Sharbot Lake Stacked Mushrooms Fungus on Moss.

Recently I went to Algonquin Provincial Park for a camping trip. The weather wasn't great so we only did two trails but still had a great time. The photos are a mix of trees, birds, mushrooms, and scenery. Enjoy! Black Spruce Hidden in the moss In a field of moss Amazing Boardwalk Water Lily Brown Creeper  

My family's annual reunion trip up to the Hunt Camp as we call it was a little soggier (due to two rainstorms) than normal, however, it was a lot warmer. This is the first time in over 3 years that we were able to get together for a reunion here due to Covid and other circumstances. Sadly due to the rainstorms, the night sky was clouded over which meant no photos of stars or the moon, which have historically always been great up at the camp. Instead, I needed to settle for some nice scenery photos which never disapoint. I personally think the last two photos are the best but that is just my thoughts.  Looking through the channel to the next lake. Reflections of a fishing bobber. Bass Island.  Evening calmness before the storm. Evening calmness part 2. Morning reflections. Is this the west coast? or central Ontario. Morning commute.  

Murphy's Point Provincial Park is located right near Perth Ontario, about 1.5 hours from Ottawa. This makes it a great weekend getaway for a short camping trip which is exactly what I took advantage of. Check out the following photos from the camping trip. This park had a lot to offer.  Point Trail Unknown Mushrooms View from the Point American Mink American Toad Unknown Flower My favourite photo from the trip. Aphrodite Fritillary Nice Marsh View Star Trails  

 I was finally able to go on my first camping trip of the season this weekend. Ontario had just announced a reduction of the COVID rules which allowed Ontario Parks to open for overnight camping. I went to Driftwood Provincial Park which was a 2.5-hour drive from Ottawa. Along the way we stopped at a great little chip truck on the side of the highway in Cobden, I highly recommend it.  Overall the trip was nice and it was great to get out into nature again, and away from the city. The downside of the trip was that there was a fire ban in place which meant no campfires or smores, and due to the park just reopening for camping a lot of the trails hadn't been maintained yet as there was plenty of fallen trees across some of them making it impassible.  The campsite that we had was great though, as it had its own private beach area just behind the site with a little path going down. The park is located on the Ottawa River so it was quite nice to swim in it. During the stay, I w...

This weekend I finally got around to going out for a nice walk again. It was a fairly cold day in Ottawa so that meant a rather short walk. We went to the Fletcher Wildlife Garden's which is right beside the Experimental Farm here in Ottawa. Other than some Red Squirrels and some birds there was not a lot of activity but that was to expect on a cold March day.  The first photo is of a White-Breasted Nuthatch which was found near a feeder that had been set up in a stand of trees. The second photo is of a male Northern Cardinal sitting in an evergreen tree near the same feeder as the Nuthatch was near. The third and final photo is of a Red Squirrel drinking some sap out of a young tree. Seeing as the sap is just starting to run this was rather interesting to see, as I watched the squirrel move from branch to branch for about five minutes drinking the sap. 

Recently I finally had the chance to go to Mud Lake in Ottawa and boy did it not disappoint. The number of birds I saw was quite impressive, but I think the most impressive thing to me was a section of trail through a wonderful section of maple trees that were all yellow and golden. Sadly I didn't get a good photo of that trail but here are some other photos I did get.  The first photo in this blog post is of a wonderful reflection of some fall colour on the lake.  The next three photos are of the beautiful Wood Duck. The first two photos are of a male Wood Duck while, the last photo is of a female Wood Duck. The male ducks do not disappoint as they are wonderfully colourful. I got these photos on this one section of trail that crosses a portion of the lake. The ducks were up on the railings eating some food that people had left them and sunning themselves. This all made for great photos in my opinion. This was also the first time I had seen a Wood Duck so I was quite excited ...