Tag Archives: winter

Humber Bank Stabilization Update

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All last week, trucks rumbled into Raymore Park delivering old bricks and concrete blocks (clean fill).

I braved the bitter cold this afternoon to find out what was going on. Rather than building a stable roadway along which trucks can approach the river, the whole of the fenced off land is being laid with about 40cm of clean fill to create a working area that stretches to the river’s edge from which the retaining wall can be constructed.

Topsoil scraped from the area can be seen (right) and brick rubble ready to be spread over the remainder of the land is on the left. To get an idea of the scale of  this endeavour, there’s a person standing by the orange fencing (far left).

The depth and size of the rubble layer can also be seen here.

Apparently the plan is for the rubble to be carted away again and the topsoil replaced after the job is completed.

Bricks waiting to be spread over the park surface.

A closer look at the brick rubble and (eventually) the old topsoil waiting to be spread over the park surface.

One permanent change that may have been made; the old basement depressions from homes swept away during Hurricane Hazel are probably gone.

Great Blue Heron sticks around.

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This Great Blue Heron surely only has a few more days left in Canada as the weather gets progressively colder. The Humber is frozen in calmer spots which must make for poor fishing yet this bird didn’t want to leave the lagoon. This is the latest I have seen a Heron on the Humber.

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Slim pickings.

Humber footbridge – alternate view

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The Humber footbridge looks good from just about any direction but this view looking north features the old suspension footbridge abutment in the foreground.

The old abutment captures driftwood from upriver.

The Humber footbridge and the old bridge abutment on a late winter’s day.

The footbridge was installed in 1995 (after an absence of 41 years) with provincial help, as part of the goal to have a waters’ edge trail from Lake Ontario right up to the Humber’s source on the Oak Ridges Moraine. As part of this goal, this summer, a 600m extension will move the end of the trail from its current location in Cruickshank Park to a set of steps by Weston and St Philips Roads. At the moment there are negotiations around land ownership issues further along the riverbank – hopefully these will be resolved soon.

Moss and Lichen

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At this time of year, the grass is brown and usually buried. Moss however continues to be visible and can be seen on trees throughout the park. Here are a few examples:

Generally seen on the north side of tree branches.

Moss, usually on the north side of tree branches.

It's a miniature world.

It’s a miniature world of moss.

 

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Moss and lichen together. Lichen prefers the north side too and they are often seen together.

Moss is a plant with the characteristics that you expect – it’s usually green and has leaves. Moss doesn’t have roots and can’t send moisture through branches like other plants. For this reason, mosses prefer damp locations. Lichen on the other hand is a partnership between fungus and algae or bacteria structured in layers and is found on every continent.

 

A couple of views…

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Here are a couple of shots taken today. The first is a log in the snow that had a surprising amount of colour in it. The snow is granular now and adds a nice contrast in texture.

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The next shot is pretty desolate – the old bleachers set against some ominous clouds, the trees of the park and the patterns of foot traffic in the snow

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Another winter view of the footbridge.

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This is the Humber footbridge from the other side of the river.

The old bridge abutment is in the left foreground.

The old bridge abutment is on the left centre of the photo.

More people were in the park today as the path has been beaten down by the pioneers! A nice sunny day with some interesting shadows on the snow.

A couple of Siberian Elms cast their shadows.

A couple of Siberian Elms cast their shadows.

 

 

Foreground colour on a gloomy day

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In the spring, everything turns green, the weather becomes pleasant and the park gets crowded. Today is gloomy, slushy and mild with rain. In spite of that, I was blown away by the amount of colour still to be seen. Better still, I had the place to myself.

It's probably an invasive species of grass but it does look nice by the river.

It’s probably an invasive species of grass but it does look nice by the river.

Because of the mild weather, a mist was hiding much of the horizon.

Looking south towards the weir.

Looking south towards the weir.

I guess it’s an accentuation of the fainter and bluer shift that distance provides; no matter, it’s a great look, especially when the apartments at Eglinton are less prominent.

In the woods.

In the woods, colour meets texture.

Finally, the handiwork of the tree pruning company that spent long days in the park recently searching high and low for things to cut. The red of the cuts contrasts nicely with the green of the lichen. I had to check the images on the camera at the time and yes, the colours really were like that today!

Colour by Davey.

Colour by Davey and nature.

A tale of two seasons.

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The difference between early fall and early winter is illustrated in these two photographs; no prizes for guessing which one was taken today. The park literally teems with billions of creatures (mainly insects) at the end of summer while on a day like today wildlife seems strangely absent, even though a fair number of animals stick around by hibernating or finding winter food.

In addition to seasonal differences, the two photographs are about 8 years apart which can be seen by the growth of the bushes on the left.

Copyright © 2013 by Roy Murray, all rights reserved.

29 September 2004.

Looking at today’s image, it’s hard to imagine anything surviving but in less than three months, the park will begin to stir as the sun’s warmth returns.

Copyright © 2013 by Roy Murray, all rights reserved.

6 January 2013.

Off topic rant/ The apartment building in the photographs is one of a pair of notorious carbuncles built on Weston Road in the 1970s. These have been the subject of many a city compliance order and have become in some ways too big to fail. The landlord was recently given $1.8 million of taxpayers’ money to fix up the place. Hopefully the gift of a GO Station moving onto the doorstep should spare the taxpayer from further assistance to this alleged capitalist enterprise. /rant