With no wind, powder snow balances precariously on last year’s growth.
It was -21°C this morning. Luckily there was no wind but the park was empty of wildlife.
Ice is thickening rapidly by the weir and seems to have formed in record time. Apparently this week, it’s colder over the middle of the continent than over the North Pole.
A narrow but persistent finger of snow has been streaming from Lake Huron down to Toronto all morning and has given us several centimetres of snow. Coupled with a temperature of -14°C, and a wind chill of -21°C, this makes for a tough day for wildlife which seems to have completely disappeared apart from the occasional deer and squirrel.
2013 01 22, Looking south just before Humber Creek.
There are some parts of Raymore Park – probably not enough – where nature is allowed to take its course. When trees die, they stay where they are and eventually return their materials back to other living things. This tree is in one of these areas. At one time, people lived in the flood plain and this tree may have been part of someone’s garden at one stage.
April 2004
In this part of the park, the Humber curves quite sharply and housing above the valley seems to perch precariously on the edge. To the left of the first photo, one of the neighbours of these homes learned a painful and costly lesson in erosion when overnight, a large chunk of their property, including several trees, disappeared into the river. Much remedial work was needed to stabilize the bank.
There are some who keep going through the park regardless of the weather. On Sunday there was a fair amount of ice on the trail but nothing stops these die-hards.
We’ve grown used to mild temperatures in winter and these days, when the overnight temperature drops to normal, somehow it seems unduly harsh. Last night’s light snowfall, falling temperatures and penetrating winds make for a relatively cold morning. The shadows by the footbridge were interesting and the low humidity evident by the deep blue of the sky. Again, the Sony RX100 sailed through this tough challenge with no blown areas.
Shadows and footprints.
Smack in the middle of Raymore Park is a pair of baseball diamonds occupying a space that extends from the valley walls almost to the river. They have sat unused for the past 6 years. In spite of this, the grass is cut regularly and the infields have been graded until recently.
Looking south from the smaller diamond. The bleachers are falling apart.
I emailed our Councillor (Doug Ford) last March about the lack of use:
The south end of Raymore Park has a couple of baseball diamonds that have sat unused for at least 5 years. The bleachers beside the north diamond are in a dangerous condition and attract an assorted collection of drinkers and pot smokers as well as lots of garbage. In spite of this, the diamonds are faithfully graded several times a season even though nobody books or uses them and it would be impossible to play there because the base lines are obstructed by 20′ tall sumac.This whole field comprises several acres and is never used as it is too far away from the parking lot. It is however mowed several times a season.
Perhaps it might be a good spot to let nature take over (as has been done in the field to the south) as well as stop grading the diamonds.
I enclose some photographs to illustrate the situation.
The park manager phoned me and said that there may be plans to replace the diamonds with either a soccer field or a cricket pitch (there is a FIFA quality soccer field in Lions Park across the bridge and lots of cricket pitches in the Humber Flats). During the summer a team of workers cleared the bush away from the large diamond. Several workers spent at least 5 days on this task.
This is a huge piece of land and could be an amazing wildlife haven along the Humber corridor. If planted with native trees it could be an attractive wooded area in a few decades. Believe it or not, until 2000, the enlightened minds in the parks system used to spray this area with Roundup (weed killer from the lovely people at Monsanto) until the practice was banned by City Council.
Hopefully, some more enlightenment will trickle down.
2013 01 16
Our dog Mugsey weighs about 80lbs. He was being sized up today by (what I believe is) a red-tailed hawk which followed us down the park trail this morning.
I spy some food.
The hawk made several low passes over Mugsey before deciding that he was a little too heavy for an in-flight snack. I was lucky enough to photograph the last of the food survey missions as it then sailed off to the south, looking no doubt for lighter fare. As they say, the best camera is the one you have with you. This little Sony RX100 is small enough to carry in a pocket yet has a large enough sensor to produce some outstanding images.
Wishful thinking…Mugsey plods on, blissfully unaware.
The light in the park today revealed some textures that were quite interesting – these old branches looked quite artistically placed and have attractive markings.
Nice patterning on the branches.
There is a clump of trees by the Humber in the ‘wild area’ that I like to photograph – in the mornings the sun is in the south behind the trees and in winter reflects off the river which makes for strong backlighting with tons of contrast and tests the latitude of any camera. This corner of the park seem to look great in any season.
Notice the scars from river ice (several years ago).
Comparison with mid-May 2010 from a similar angle.
Spring in all its glory – won’t be long now.
It’s amazing what a couple of 14°C days can do to snow.
The river has swept away all of the ice and is once more clear.
Reverse view, looking down the Humber towards the weir.
Patterns in the ice.
There are some interesting ice formations where water is freezing again. As the water level drops, small strips are broken off and are forming a series of lines.
Note the proximity to the garbage can.
Most dog owners are fairly conscientious about their animal’s droppings. There is however one idiot who makes a practice of leaving the full bag of crap along the pathways frequented mainly by other dog owners. I have no idea what the motivation is for preserving the excrement in plastic other than bone idleness and lack of consideration. The result of this dimwit’s anti-social behaviour is a series of excrement-filled bags scattered throughout the park. In some places, there is even a pile of the bags; perhaps a favourite spot to desecrate although it’s possibly secluded enough for them to drop the bag with impunity. This idiot gives all dog owners a bad name.
The bags are distinctive; small and white with two handles that form loops.
A mild day on the Humber.
2013 01 10
The January thaw is upon us; rain expected tomorrow will likely clear the rest of the snow from the park along with ice from the river which floats ashore progressively as a temporary dam is formed and water pressure builds. Large chunks of the ice often end up stacked along the riverbank in huge piles. Little possibility of that this week as the ice is quite thin and may simply disperse down the river.
Today with a low sun and mild weather, Raymore Park is a photographer’s paradise.
Lines, grains and texture.
Friends of Raymore Park 