The noisy people had packed up and left before we got up in the morning. That was a small blessing. 
Now it was time for us to pack up and go too. We took our time and enjoyed the sunny morning. 

Everything was going well until we took down the tent. Inside each and every pole and nook and cranny we found a multitude of earwigs. So many earwigs. They were inside the poles and inside the seams that hold the poles. I had to painstakingly shake out and check everything. I did not want to bring even one of these little critters back home with me. Nor did I want them squished in my tent.  It was a time consuming job but by the time we had finished packing up, I was confident that we had no hitch hikers of the insect kind. 

Carsten and Penny wanted to get home but I had some time to kill before I had to go back to Toronto to pick up my kid from the airport. So, I decided to drive the 40 minute drive from Sandbanks Provincial Park to North Beach Provincial Park, which was mostly the direction I had to go in to get back anyways.  We said our good byes and parted ways and I headed off to see what North Beach was like. 

I arrived at North Beach Park at about 12:15 pm. I was surprised to find a gatehouse at the entrance to the park. All the other Day Use parks I had been to had never had a gatehouse. 

As I pulled up I noticed a sign saying "Advanced Registration Required". I wondered if I was going to be able to get in. The rules have always been that if you camp at another provincial park and still have a valid permit you could use it to get into the day facilities of any other park. But it was the "advanced" part of it that I was unsure of.  Well the only way to find out was to drive up. 

I presented my permit to one of the two people in the gatehouse. She was unsure about it so she turned to her co-worker who took a look at it and paused for a moment. Then he said "yes, it's valid." and I was cleared to enter. 

The next sign I encountered was one that warned of an undertow. Today it was considered to be a moderate threat. I was reminded of the conversation we had with the cashier at the Sandbanks Park Store who told us how one side of North Beach had dangerous under tows but the other side was calm and a safer place to swim.  I think that is part of what makes this park such an interesting place to visit. 

The park is long and narrow and the main road is paved and runs right down the middle of it. 

Almost immediately I could see the waves from Lake Ontario lapping up against the shore of a beautiful sandy beach. I hadn't even gotten out of the car yet and already I liked this park. 

It was easy to find the parking lots. The sign said that there was a park store and a pet area as well. 

​There was plenty of parking and on a very hot day like today, I was happy to see that there were still plenty of empty spaces. I parked the car and got out to walk around. 

On the ground near the parking lot I found an empty bird nest. 

I decided to start on the Lake Ontario side of the park which is on the left side. The waves were rolling in and the sea gulls were dotting the shore.  

It was not over crowded, nor even slightly crowded for that matter.  Such a beautiful beach. Truly a hidden gem.

I walked back towards the car but did not get in it. Instead, I crossed over tot he other side of the parking lot where a sand dune path led to the other beach on the right hand side of the park. 

A little house wren was perched in a tree watching me as I walked by. 

I came to a fenced off area that caught my curiosity. The sign on the fence said "Protected Nesting Area. Please Do Not Disturb". There was an opening at one end and the area inside seemed to be empty. 

Well, almost empty. There was one single egg in the middle. It looked like a Killdeer egg. No mamma appeared to be around anywhere. With no mamma to regulate the heat of this egg on this hot day, I assumed it was not a viable egg. But I was only guessing. 

Off to the right I spotted one of the bathrooms or change rooms. 

Next I went to check out the beach on the North Bay side of the park. Just as the cashier at Sandbanks Provincial Park had said, the water was much calmer on this side of the park.  There were no waves but there were a few more people on this side.  Parents seemed to be more comfortable with letting their children swim on this side. 

Despite there being no waves and no dangerous undertow on this side, it does not mean that it doesn't come without it's own dangers. You still have to be cautious on this side. There is a sudden drop off here, much like the ones in Sandbanks Park. 

They do have markers out in the water showing where the drop off is though. 

There was a sign that indicated no fires, no alcohol, no pets and no BBQs allowed. 

It is a nice enough beach on this side but it had a bit more vegetation along the shoreline. It was not as purely sandy as the other side. 

But some of that vegetation had a beauty of its own. There were little yellow Silverweed flowers growing from the tendrils of its vines along the shore. 

Next I went to check out the designated pet area which was on this same beach, only a little further down towards the far end of the beach.  It had a nice sandy area, but the water was a little bit more marshy down here. Not the worst but definitely not as nice as where the humans get to swim. 

There were picnic tables in the pet designated area where you can sit and watch your pet. There is not a whole lot of shade though. So your pet would have a bit of trouble in the heat in that regard unless you brought a shade tent like some people have done. 

Across the bay, I could see a couple of swans swimming and fishing for their meal. 

After awhile I walked back to the parking lot and got into my car and drove further down the main road of the park to the other end. I found a new parking lot and parked closer to the park store. 

The park store is a little cantina with a patio. Not sure what the patio is for. Perhaps they have tables there at some point in the season? 

It could be that there is nothing there right now because I happened to come at a time when the store was closed. 

Disappointed that the store was closed, I instead explored the beach area near the store. They provided a beach access surface for wheelchairs and baby carriages. 

I followed the blue mat to the shoreline and to the picnic area. 

I walked up the road to as far as it can take me. At the very end, if you keep going straight it will bring you onto private property. However, the park road curves to the right and changes from pavement to a dirt road that will bring you to the North Bay (the calmer beach). 

Up above me, in the tree branches, sat a Mourning Dove watching all the goings on down below. 

I came to an informational sign that talked about the ecosystem of the beach. 

The part I found interesting on this sign was the information about the Larval Antlion pits.  I had seen a whole bunch of these pits at Sandbanks Provincial Park but didn't know what they were until now. 

The larva stage of the Antlion is a little bug with pincers, while the adult is a fly that reminds me of a cross between a Crane fly and a Dragonfly. I searched and searched for the Antlion pits here in North Beach but I did not find any.  (Note: These pictures of the Antlion are not mine and were not taken in this park). 

Eventually I gave up looking because something else had caught my eye.  In an area off to the side and away from beach goers a Killdeer was making a bit of a ruckus. He was flailing around and making noises. 

I paused to pay more attention to him and to see if there was something wrong.  This was all part of his plan and I fell for it. 

You see, he was trying to get my attention on him in hopes that my attention would be diverted from the female who was a little further away. 

And this was important because along with the female were all of her little chicks. They were very well camouflaged in the sand and the gravel. . There were about 3 or 4 of them. It helped that they were not even as tall as the grass yet. To be honest, if the male had not drawn my attention to him, I might not have noticed these little guys at all. So his good intentions kind of backfired a little. But lucky for them I was not a predator. 

​  I wondered if the lone egg in the nest at the other end of the beach was one of hers that didn't make it.  

These little babies were just the cutest. They mimicked momma and were little mini versions of her.  Baby killdeer always come out running. They hatch with their eyes open, and as soon as their downy feathers dry, they start scurrying about, following their parents and searching the ground for something to eat.

These fluffy little chicks were doing just that. They ran around chasing bugs and momma and each other through their little sandy, grassy, jungle. I watched them for a few minutes before it was time for me to leave. I had a kid of my own that I had to go and pick up at the airport. 

Getting to see these little Killdeer chicks was the icing on the cake on this trip to North Beach Park.  Such a beautiful place and I highly recommend a visit if you are in the area. 

We woke up at 8 a.m. to the sound of the neighbouring campers talking. Usually that is pretty normal but in this campground it sounds like they are standing right outside the door.  But it was still pretty peaceful here, all things considered.


After breakfast I decided to take a walk by myself down the road to a trail that I saw some people come out of the day before. I enjoy solo walks in the morning. It's always quiet and the best time to see birds. 

As I started walking I noticed that the Purple-flowered Raspberry plants were vibrant and cheerful looking. 

And a little Herb Robert flower was peeking out from under the woodwork. 

I hadn't walked very far at all when I was surprised to find another bathroom. Up until this point we had been using the one across the road from us and there is no sink or place to wash your hands in it. 

And although there was no sink in this bathroom either, there was a water faucet right across the road from it. We now had a place to wash our hands after we were done!  How did we not find this yesterday? 

The bathroom itself was a typical non-flushing vault toilet. It was half way decent. It had that vault odor that is unescapable. But someone took the effort to fix that with a pine scented car air freshener.  Ha ha! 

The trail I was following came out onto a road. Despite being in a provincial park, there were some sections of private property. This was not all that unusual. 

On the opposite side of the road I spotted an Eastern Kingbird sitting on a wire. 

He was guarding a nearby nest in a tree that contained a female Kingbird warming her eggs. 

I came to an entrance that had two stone pillars on either side of it. 

Apparently I had arrived at Lakeshore Lodge. It was once a hotel but now only its ruins remained and the property has become one of the parks picnic areas.. 

Biting Stonecrop now grew among what stones were left of the old building. 

There was an information board that detailed some of the history of the old lodge. I read a little bit about it but I had been gone from camp for quite sometime without letting Carsten and Penny know where I had gone so I felt I should probably get back. 

I decided to come back later with Carsten and Penny to show the this place. It was too beautiful not too. 

On the walk back I took notice of all the little creatures that many people overlook when out walking. 
I saw an American Giant Millipede. 

A couple of Asian Lady Beetles also didn't have very good ​camouflage skills.

However, the leaves they were sitting on were big enough to hide them. 

They were bigger than my hand! 

When I got back to camp, Carsten and Penny were eating breakfast. While I waited for them to finish, I started inspecting what insects had become trapped inside the dining tent. 

For a tent that is supposed to be designed to keep the bugs out, there always seemed to be a large number inside. But sometimes it's the best way to see some insects you might not ever see. 

Today we had Heliomata moth on the screen. 

There was an Eastern Black Carpenter Ant finding the scent trail that other members of his colony had left for him to follow..

A Spongy Moth caterpillar was just minding its own business and chilling in a corner.

Our plan for the day was to drive over to the Dunes beach and to hike the Dunes Trail. We all hopped into my car and we drove over to the beach. Along the way we saw a Read-headed woodpecker sitting in a tree beside the road over by Richardson Trail. We stopped the car to try to get a better look and a picture but it didn't sit still and it flew off. We were a bit disappointed at not getting the picture, but still happy that we had seen it. 

We continued on our way to the Dune Beach excited for the sighting and for what the rest of the day would bring. 

The Dunes beach had a picnic shelter but it was not as pretty as the picnic area at the Lakeview Lodge.

There was a play structure for the kids. One kid loved climbing this structure so much that his sisters were having a hard time convincing him to come down. 

There is a park store down at this beach. 

They sell ice cream, snacks, and beach toys here. 

Unfortunately, it was closed the entire time we were there.

The beach, true to its name, had rolling dunes that reached all the way down to the waters edge. People were having a good time swimming in the cool water.  

​They had to be careful though and mind the buoys because there is an incredibly sharp drop off not far out from the shore. 

A sign near the trail explained how this drop off came to be. 

On the other side of the beach is the trail head for the Dunes Trail. It is a two and a half kilometer loop. Despite the temperatures being extremely hot and humid, we were very curious about this trail and were excited to hike it. 

The trail begins with a boardwalk made out of recycled materials. 

At first all you can see are scrub lands and you wonder why you thought this hike was going to be very interesting at all. 

But then you slowly start to see the dunes start to peek out over top of the bushes and scrubs. 

And then eventually you realize that you are in the middle of the dunes. 

Sometimes you would be walking through the grasses. 

And sometimes you would be walking through the sand.

And other times your boardwalk seemed to be mostly buried and you wondered how much longer before it disappears all together. 

Every once in awhile you come across a bench so that you could sit and rest. 

The amazing thing was, despite these seemingly harsh conditions, beautiful things grew and lived here. 
We spotted some Viper's Bugloss flowers. 

Two swans flew overhead. 

Some places were lush and green. 

Birds like the Great Crested Flycatcher could be seen and heard singing in the trees. 

Wormwood and sage bushes grew plentiful and helped to keep the sand from eroding away. 

A Shoreline Wolf Spider blended in with the sand.  

Around every bend of the boardwalk we were introduced to a new and different part of this unique ecosystem. 

The day was so hot and the sun was beating down. There wasn't a whole lot of shade. We felt like we were in the desert or on an alien planet.  Yellow flowers poked up out of the ground like creatures with tentacles. 

Even their name "Hairy Puccoon" sounded alien. 

The Tamaracks were reaching out like they were ready to grab you. 

The unopened blooms of the Starry False Solomon's Seal plants looked like alien eyeballs popping up to see what was going on, like something out of a movie. 

Part way through the trail we came to a lookout.  It was not your typical lookout. It sat on top of a dune and was not all that high up. 

However, it did give us a splendid view of the surrounding dunes. 

Sometimes you felt like you were exploring some ancient ruins. You always wanted to know what was over the next hill and up the next set of stairs. 

We noticed that the boardwalk and stairs had wire cable running through them to keep them together. I suppose without the cables someone might take them away for firewood. 

One minute you were in the sand and the next thing you know, you are surrounded by a field of grass. 

Then the grass turned into a forest which offered up a bit of shade. We dwindled here for a bit in hopes of getting some respite from the sun. 

Many of the trees were cedars with interesting shapes to them. 

The next place that the board walk took us to was a marsh land. Except the water level here was very low. 

So low in fact that a painted turtle was trying to find its way to some water.  I was worried about it at first. It had a long way to go.  But it was headed in the right direction and was traveling surprisingly fast. So, I felt more confident that it would make it to its destination. 

We rounded a bend and came to the only body of water we had seen since the beach.  (This was how I knew the turtle was going in the right direction. It had been heading towards this area). 

There was a bit of a lookout platform here, but there were some park employees working on fixing it so we didn't go on it. They had driven here in an air conditioned dune buggy. We must have looked over heated because they were kind enough to offer us an invitation to sit in the buggy to cool off for a bit.  I thought that was super kind of them. However, we declined the offer because although it was quite hot out, we were still in good shape and didn't feel that we were in a dire need for it. 

Instead we continued on our way around the marsh and spotted a Killdeer in the mud looking for a meal. 

A Silver-Spotted Skipper butterfly was sitting on a plant. Its wings were curled under and were misshapen. I am not sure if this as because it had just emerged from a cocoon and its wings were not fully unfolded yet, or if this was a deformity of some sort. I like to think it was the former. 

As we got closer to the end of the trail the pathway got wider and sandier. 

We could see the lake off in the distance. 

Then we were a little taken aback when we came across a skull that was sitting on top of a trail marker sign post.  

We had so many questions. What kind of animal was this? What happened to it? Why did someone feel the need to put the skull up on the post? 

I did some research when I got home a few days later and I have come to the conclusion (with a little help from the people at iNaturalist.com ) that this seems to be a raccoon skull.

The vibrant purple and yellow of the Bittersweet Nightshade was stunning and beautiful. 

Once we were done our hike and got back to the beach we thought it might be a good idea to eat lunch at the beach. However, the cooler with all of our food in it was in Carsten's car which was back at the camp.

​We could have both driven there and then switched cars, however, the Richardson Trail linked the Dune beach to the Richardson campground so we decided to hike the trail back to camp instead of driving.  Penny was too hot and tired to do another hike so she stayed behind and saved a picnic table for us. 

The Richardson Trail started off as a small gravel path.

But then turned into a wider, dirt trail that had a canopy of maples. It gave the illusion that you were about to walk through a leafy tunnel. 

Occasionally we would find snail shells embedded in the clay dirt of the trail. 

At one point we came to a fork in the road and were unsure which direction to choose. We assumed it was probably the fork tot he left since it appeared to be more maintained and in keeping with the trail we had been on so far.  But we pulled out the map just to be sure. 

Sure enough, after checking the map and going left, we passed a sign saying that we were going in the right direction. 

I had commented to Carsten that this trail seemed rather unremarkable as far as trails go.  I said that it would be much more interesting if were were able to see some wildlife like a deer or something. 

No word of a lie, about a minute and a half later, a deer jumped up from the bushes right in front of us! It was literally less than ten feet away from us. It scared us for a second and made us jump. We all stood there for a couple seconds looking at each other before it bolted into the woods.  But then it stopped and stood perfectly still. 

It stayed like this for a few minutes; not moving a muscle. It probably thought we couldn't see it. Or it was at least hoping we couldn't see it. But we could. And this gave me an opportunity to pull out my camera and try to take a picture. By this time it was quite a bit further away and there was a whole bunch of branches and overgrowth in the way. So, all I could get was just  the shape of it. 

We got back to camp, got the food and drove back to Dune Beach.  Penny had picked out a table under the awning of the store. It was the perfect spot because even though the store was closed, there was still electricity in the outlets and we were able to charge our phones. We got the idea from other people who were also charging their phones from other outlets around the building. 

As we ate our lunch and played board games in the shade, I looked up to watched the shore birds down at the beach from time to time. 

There were a couple of Killdeer rummaging through the sand and weeds along the shoreline, looking for insects and food. 

A Red-winged Blackbird was also down on the beach joining in on the hunt. 

On our way back to the car we saw a little rabbit in the grass by the parking lot. 

There is a Pet Beach located between the Dune Beach and the Richardson campground. We were curious to see what sort of a beach set up they had for our four legged friends. So, we made a bit of a detour to go poke around and see it. 

It was actually quite nice. It was a section of a beach that was attached to the left side of a humans only beach.  There was no dividing fence or anything. Just the sign that indicated where the pets were allowed to be. It was large with a beautiful sandy shoreline. 

Much the same as it looked to the right. 

Growing in the beach sand were some pretty purple Seaside Peas. 

And not to be out-done, the sea shells were also keeping up with the purple theme of the beach. 

When we got back to camp I noticed that we had another visitor in our dining tent. At first I thought it was a Bumble Bee. But it turns out that it is not a Bumble Bee after all. Upon closer look at its feet and head it is notably different than a Bumble Bee. This is an Eastern Yellow-backed Laphria which is a type of Robber fly that mimics the colouring of a bee.  

Back at camp we relaxed for a few hours and eventually had dinner.  After dinner I suggested to Carsten and Penny that we all go down to see the Lakeside Lodge picnic area that I had been to earlier in the morning. 
We had done a lot of walking already today but they were still up for it. 

As we passed the bathrooms on our way to the Lakeside Lodge, we passed  another little bunny hanging out in the underbrush. It was so cute with its little white spot on the top of its head. 

On the side of the road, a Giant Millipede was traveling along at a relatively quick pace on all of those legs of his. 

And a White Admiral butterfly stopped for a rest in the gravel. 

Before long we reached the wooden fence line of the picnic area. It looked rustic and quaint, like a country farm. 

This time while I was here I walked down closer to the shore line. I realized that the rock and the ground by the shore had some interesting formations. 

If you were standing on top of this rock formation you would not even realize that there was a big hole under you and that the ground might not be as stable as you might think. 

The shapes of the banks and the shapes of the rock below the surface of the water combined to make a picturesque scene that would make for a wonderful painting. God is such an amazing artist! 

Someone had created a little mini inukshuk down by the waters edge. 

Bell flowers were growing in purple splendor against the magical back drop of the water from the lake. 

Penny called me over to see the Virginia Ctenucha moth that was in the clover. I just love the bright blue and orange colours he is dressed in. 

A Mallard duck was searching for minnows by herself down in the lake. 

On the walk back to camp we saw another Kingbird. Or perhaps it was the same one as earlier. 

There were some red flowers growing by the side of the road that I had never seen before. I looked them up later on and found out that they are Hound's-Tongue. 

When we got back to camp I was still a bit restless. So I decided to go and see if I could find the Red-headed woodpecker (or maybe its a pileated woodpecker?) that we had seen from the car earlier in the day. I walked alone a little bit up Richardson Trail and sure enough I found it. Or rather, I found two of them. I spent a good 20 minutes or so trying to get a good picture of even one of them. But no luck. The best I could do was the red tuft of a head from behind a tree truck. Oh well, maybe better luck next time. 

By this time the sun was starting to go down so I began to head back to camp.

I couldn't help but make a quick detour before I went back though. I was curious to see what the campsites were like a little further up the road from where we were. There were a few like site 426 that seemed to have more privacy than the open field that we were in. 

It was too late now to go and ask to switch sites but for future reference there were a select few that had trees surrounding them. 

We decided that it would be a good night for a fire. It was a gorgeous night with a big orange moon. Fireflies were flitting everywhere. We were thinking that we were going to have a really good evening. But alas, it wasn't so. 

The noisy neighbours from across the road decided to become increasingly noisier than the day before. They were drinking and playing music on their truck radio. Whenever they got to a "favourite" song they would turn it up even louder. And of course then they would have to talk/yell even louder over the music so that they could hear each other. 

To add to this, the campers behind us thought it would be a good idea to turn on their car and shine their headlights over the entire campground (because there are no trees to block any of the light so every campsite was flooded with light, not just ours). They left these lights on and motor running for a full half hour. They weren't even setting up camp or anything. They were just sitting in their vehicle doing nothing.  

We were getting angrier and angrier and then the mosquitoes came out.  The campers next to us were also getting fed up. They started to yell at the noisy people telling them to shut the music off. This of course fell on deaf ears.  I was wondering at what point do I drive up to the gatehouse to complain when, thankfully, the rangers showed up and told the noisy people to shut the music off.  The rangers stuck around to make sure that they didn't turn it back on again too.  The people with the intrusive headlights had finally turned them off about 5 minutes before the rangers had showed up. 

Despite it now being dark and quiet again, we were no longer in a good mood anymore. We decided to call it a night and put the fire out and go to bed. We were going to be going home tomorrow anyways, so we figured we should probably get a good night sleep. Such a disappointing way to end such a wonderful day. 

It took us about an hour and forty five minutes to drive from Darlington Provincial Park to Sandbanks Provincial Park. We were almost there when we got to a cross road with signs pointing one way for the East Gate and another way for the West Gate of the park.  We really hadn't done our research on this before hand and so we were not sure which gate to go to. We took a wild guess and basically followed Googles suggestion and decided to head to the East Gate. 

Turns out we guessed right and the East Gate was the correct one for us. Later on we figured out that the West Gate was the entrance to where the RV camping is. Although, I suppose they may let you in at any gate because all the roads eventually joins up together no matter what part of the park you are in. But that is only a guess on my part. 

We were not expecting the park to be so busy. There was literally a line up to get to the gate house.

There are actually two lanes when you enter the park. The one that we were in where you lined up to register, and another lane that was for those who had already registered. That way they could just go on through to their campsite without having to wait in line behind everyone else. Naturally that lane was pretty empty. 

We waited for about 15 minutes before it was finally our turn at the gatehouse.  Not too bad considering how many cars had been in front of us.  Since we had a reservation, it didn't take us long to get registered. 

Our site was in the Richardson campground on site 410. 

You are only allowed to park one car per campsite and any others had to be parked in the visitor parking. This seemed a little ridiculous because the sites were so big and open that there was room for probably 4 or 5 cars on each site. 

All the sites were huge, but we were very disappointed to find that there was an extreme lack of privacy on almost all of them. It was like one big open area with everyone's site joined together. It was hard to tell where yours began or ended. Standing in our site and looking out I could see at least 4 or 5 sites away with nothing blocking my view at all. It felt more like a picnic ground than a campground. It was a complete let down. . 

We tried as best we could to set up our tents in such a way as to afford us as much privacy as we could get. It wasn't the greatest.  Sound travels easily in such an open area and we could hear every little thing. At least we were on an end site, so we did have a few trees to our left. But behind us and to our right there was nothing. 

Since we were using our tents as walls it meant that we had our dining tent a little closer to the fire pit than we would have liked and the door facing in a different direction than we wanted. We put a tarp up over the back door of the dining tent to give us a bit more privacy.  

The site with the most privacy was across the road on site 107. That would be the one I would choose if I were to come back again and camp in the Richardson section. It had trees almost all the way around it. Right now though, it was currently occupied by a group of young, and very loud group of couples. Probably about 6 in all. They were blaring their music and swearing and had no consideration for neighbouring campers. I thought to myself that this was looking like it was going to be an unpleasant stay. I was wondering if perhaps Cedar campground or Outlet campground would have been the better choice of campgrounds in this park. 

At least there were some pretty Purple Flowered Raspberries near by to make things a bit more cheerful looking. 

It was very hot and we were sweating profusely. So, we decided it would be a good idea to go take a shower. To our surprise and dismay we discovered that there were no showers or comfort stations in the Richardson campground. Every other section of the park had one except our section. This meant that we had to get into the car and drive to the West Gate to use the showers there. Actually, you had to drive to get to just about anywhere in the park. 

The showers were at the top of a hill that over looked the RV and trailer section of the park. From where we were, we could see that those campers didn't have much privacy either. It was like a wide open field here too. 

There were only 5 parking spaces at the showers and 2 of those were for wheel chair access parking.  We were lucky that we came when it wasn't busy and we were able to get a parking spot. But one guy who came after us had to park on the side of the road. 

The showers were ok, but they could have been cleaner. 

The water was warm but you can't control the temperature. 

As I waited for Carsten and Penny, I admired the purple Vetch that was growing in abundance along the side of the road. 

I was also impressed by the charging station for electric cars that was right beside the showers. 

Looks like it is free for now, but won't be forever. I don't have an electric car but I am sure that by the time I ever do get one, it won't be free anymore. 

The comfort station was in better condition than the showers. It was clean and well maintained. 

After our showers we drove to the park store. We could tell by the sign that said "Full Hot Breakfast" that this was not your average provincial park store. 

This park store had a full on café and grill inside. It also had a patio on the outside. 

We climbed the steps and went in through the big double doors. When you walk in the store is on your left and the café and grill are on your right. 

We began at the store. It had things you would never see in a regular park store, such as freezer mugs, pancakes, and angus burgers. 

There were books and T-shirts and a multitude of other toys and souvenirs. We spent quite a bit of time in there looking around at everything. We picked out a couple of fun items and headed over to the check out.  The young gentleman at the cash register was super friendly and had a wealth of information to share with us about this park a well as two other day parks we were considering visiting; North Beach Provincial Park and Lake On The Mountain Provincial Park.  He told us that Lake On The Mountain had spectacular views but the North Beach had  fabulous beaches. He explained that North Beach was unusual in that on one side there were big waves and you had to watch out for under currents but on the other side, the water was calm and safer to swim. This really piqued our interest. 

​We thanked the cashier and then headed over to the café and grill to buy ourselves some dinner.   

You placed your order at the counter and then you went around the corner to the tables to wait until they brought the food out to you. The food was good and we enjoyed the meal. 

There didn't seem to be any washrooms inside the café and grill but there were some directly across the road. The building looked like a mini comfort station from the outside and I was expecting to open the door and find multiple stalls inside. Instead there was only one toilet behind each door. This meant that there was a bit of a line up outside the bathrooms. We were there near the end of the day when it wasn't all that busy. I can just imagine the line ups during the height of the day in the heat of the summer.   

There may have been a lot of wasted space but it did mean that the bathrooms were large inside. They were relatively clean for the most part. 

After dinner we decided to go check out Outlet Beach. It was getting little late in the evening and we didn't have bathing suits for swimming, but we just wanted to go see it.  This beach is supposed to be renowned for its wonderful sandy shores. 

You could tell that the beach was very big. You could drive a long ways down the road and get to a number of entrances to it. 

We were at the beginning of it, at parking lot number one. The parking lot was huge and could accommodate a large number of vehicles. That was just the first parking lot. Looking down the road, off in the distance, you could see other signs for other parking lots; each one an entrance to the beach.  This place had to be hopping when it was in full swing. 

We followed a blue mat that was laid out over the sand that allowed for wheel chairs to have access to the beach. 

After passing some dunes the path opened up onto the beach. The mat turned from a blue one to a brown one and it headed in the direction of the water. 

However, the mats all of a sudden stopped short. They didn't go all the way down to the water. In fact, they stopped quite a distance away from the water. It left me wondering how anyone in a wheel chair could ever get down to the water. It has to be frustrating for someone to be able to get that close only to be hindered at getting any further. I am unfamiliar with the process so perhaps I am missing something here. 

I must admit, the beach certainly did live up to the name of the park. The sandy banks and shores were absolutely lovely. It did not disappoint.  It was clean and inviting and it seemed like it went on and on forever. I can see why this would be a very popular beach. 

It was interesting to look down and see that much of the sand was made up of shells; both whole and crushed. 

The gulls were waiting quietly near by, hoping that someone would either drop some food or throw them some. 

 Behind us were some sand dunes that were roped off. 

A sign in front asked that you stay off the dunes because they would easily erode if they were walked on. 

​We stayed on the beach for a bit but eventually decided it was time to head back to camp. We said good bye to the sea gulls and made our way back to the car.

When we got back, we settled into the dining tent to play some board games for a few hours. A Rustic Borer beetle joined us for awhile on the screen of the tent. 

The noisy neighbours that I had worried about turned out to not be a problem after all. They became quiet by 10 pm and we were able to enjoy the evening. 

When it was time to get ready for bed, we headed over to the bathroom to brush our teeth and wash up. We had not used the bathrooms in our campground yet because we had been in other parts of the park all day. So it was to our surprise and dismay that we found out there was no sink or running water at the bathrooms at all. You couldn't even wash your hands there.  We didn't know where the water pump was and it was too dark to go looking at this point. So, we ended up having to use a bottle of water to wash up and brush our teeth with instead.  It's a good thing this park has a wonderful beach, because the campgrounds themselves are terribly lacking. 

As we drifted off to sleep I could hear a loon really, really faintly off in the distance. It reminded me that despite the park not being all I had hoped it would be, at least I was out of the city and under the stars. 

We woke up to the sounds of a huge thunder storm. There was lightning and peals of thunder crashing all around us. The wind was something to be reckoned with.  Our tent was flapping all around and I was sure that it was going to come crashing down on us at any moment. It wasn't even supposed to rain at all, and yet here we were wondering if the tent was going to hold up. 

After about a half an hour, the storm subsided and we could finally hear the waves on the beach again that we weren't able to hear during the storm.  We heard the first cry of a sea gull telling us it was ok to come out.​

We opened the tent door to discover the dining tent had moved in the wind. Half of what had been inside was now outside and was soaked. Penny's hiking boots had been in the dining tent. Now we were literally pouring out the water that had collected inside of them. 

The fire pit was now surrounded by a little lake.  

What was just as surprising as the storm was how quickly it got hot and muggy.  It was only about fifteen minutes later that the sun was out in full force and drying everything up. It was a good thing too because we had to pack up today and go to a different park. 

We started to lay everything out on my car and on Carsten's car to dry.  I kid you not, you could literally see the steam coming off some of the items as they dried, that's how hot it was.  It was amazing how fast everything dried out. 

After the storm, the birds were very happy. Robins were out looking for worms in the drenched  grass. 
A couple of Merganser ducks were swimming contentedly in the lake. 

The rain had also brought about a surprisingly quick bloom of certain fungi and mushroom.  Where there had been none the day before, all of a sudden there was an ink cap mushroom growing by the bathrooms. 

To our delight, we were fortunate enough to see a  Baltimore Oriole.  Its vibrant orange and black colouring made it easy to spot. However, the fact that it wouldn't sit still for more than a few seconds, made it incredibly hard to get a decent photo. 

It continued to dart around back and forth and sing quite loudly. 

It wanted all eyes on him. But not because he was vain. He had a very different reason to want our attention. 

He was trying to divert our attention away from a cute little fledgling that was hiding in the branches of a near by tree.

The fledgling sat still and just waited patiently and quietly. 

Well, mostly patiently and quietly. When its dad came near it would open its mouth in anticipation of food and would make some calls saying "feed me please!"  If it wasn't for that, I might not have even noticed it was there. 

But once I spotted the fledgling I knew that the dad would not go far. So, I was able to just have some patience and sit and wait for the dad to come back whenever he disappeared. 

The downy feathers on its belly looked more like fur than feathers. 

We sat and watched them for a very long time. And they watched us right back. 

Eventually we had to leave them because we had to finish packing up so that we could get to the next park that we were heading to today -  Sandbanks Provincial Park. 

I really didn't want to leave Darlington. But at the same time I was curious to see what Sandbanks would be like. By 2 pm we were packed up and ready to go.  We said goodbye to Darlington and headed out to our next adventure. 

We woke up to the sounds of the Mourning Doves calling and the waves crashing on the beach below us. It was heavenly! 

It was such a beautiful morning. The yellow Meadow Salsify flowers seemed to be shining as bright as the sun. Penny said that she had been up earlier that morning and that it had down poured for about 5 minutes. You couldn't even tell it had rained at all at this point. 

The Robins were hopping around in the grass looking for their breakfast. 

I spotted a Spotted Wood Wasp on the screen of our tent. I had never seen one before and was intrigued by its white antennae and white spots on the underside of it. 

Today was the perfect day to do some hiking.  We decided upon starting with the Burk Trail.  It was not too long and we were interested in seeing the cemetery that is along the trail. 

We didn't drive there. It was within walking distance of our campsite. We walked the roads until we got to the trailhead. 

Most of the trail is a wide, easy to walk path nestled under the shade of the cedar trees and pines. 

Every once in awhile the trail crosses the road and continues on the other side. 

We didn't have to go very far before we arrived at the little historical cemetery.  It was fenced off with just a single head stone in it. 

However, there was more than one person buried here.  There were multiple members of the Burk family here. This family is who the trail is named after. 

Not far away from the cemetery we came across a sign that informed people that they too could scatter the ashes of their loved ones in this park.  It was an odd sign to see and I have never seen a sign like it in any other park that I have visited so far. 

We saw some plants that looked kind of pretty with yellow spots on the leaves, Unfortunately, the spots are not actually part of the plants natural colouring. It is something called "mayapple rust" which is a fungal parasite that forms tiny bright orange cups on the underside of leaves and shows through the tops of the leaves as yellow spots. 

A little further up the trail we came to what they have labeled as a "look out" on the trail map.  There is a cute little balcony area and a picnic table, however, I would personally not call this a "look out" .  where there may have once been a view of some sort , the trees have grown too tall to allow for a far off scenic view anymore. It is still a pretty spot to stop and take a break though. 

We stopped for a rest here and we saw a female cardinal on the ledge of the railing. It flew off too quickly for me to get a picture of it though. As a matter of fact we saw cardinals many times while we were in Darlington Park, but I was never able to get a picture. For a bird so brightly coloured, they sure are camera shy. 

From the look out railing we could see the trail below us. It looked more like an old road than a trail. That was fine by us though because it meant easy walking. 

At the lookout there is an intersection where you can choose to go north where the trail joins up with the Waterfront Trail or south where it joins up with the McLaughlin Trail.  We chose to go to the McLaughlin Trail. 

Where the Burk Trail and the McLaughlin trail connect the trees are large and shady, which was perfect because this was turning out to be a super hot day. 

Through the trees we could see the tall grasses and gleaming waters of McLaughlin Bay. 

It was the entrance to a beautiful marsh land area. 

There was a little side trail that took us right down to the waters edge. 

It was so peaceful and beautiful. As we stood by the water looking around , there was some movement far out in the water that caught our attention. We could make out some white forms moving in the water. 

To our surprised we realized that it was a mother Mute Swan with her cygnets following close behind. 

She had five little cygnets and they all swam in a straight line behind her. 

We watched the swans for awhile, but then something else caught our attention.  There was a Midland Painted turtle out sunning itself on a log. 

Eventually we looked up from the turtle and noticed that there were even more Mute Swans and these ones were even closer to us. 

Darlington Park is a birders paradise.  There are so many different varieties of birds here. Many of them are here to nest and raise their young. 

​A female Red Winged Blackbird was perched in the tree above our heads. 

While a male Red Winged Blackbird was catching insects on a log near the water. 

There was some other duck like bird swimming in the water. Not sure what it was. Perhaps a duck? Perhaps a Cormorant? 

In the water the Pumpkin Seed Sunfish were swimming around. Their colouring is perfect camouflage for them. 

In case you can't see the Sunfish in the picture above, I have altered the lighting in this picture so that you can see exactly where it is. 

By now the mother swan had safely guided her cygnets to their nest on the far side of the bay.  We could barely make out the shape of her through the tall reeds and grasses. 

The tall grasses on this side of the bay waved in the breeze as I stood for a moment taking in the whole picturesque effect.

But we couldn't stay in this spot all day long. We had other parts of the trail that we wanted to see. So, we made our way back to the main trail. 

The main trail had a beauty of its own.  There were many Bindweed flowers that lined the path. 

The thistles were starting to bud but hadn't quite opened yet. 

We saw a worm in a life or death struggle with an insect of some sort as it tried to carry off the worm that was about five times its size. 

There was evidence that a beaver had been in the area. 

There was also evidence of a Glodenrod Gall Fly by way of a hole in a gall where the adult had exited (or perhaps a predator had entered through the hole).

The fly's eggs are inserted near the developing buds of the plant. After hatching, the larvae migrate to an area below the plant's developing buds, where they then induce the plant's tissues to form into the hardened, bulbous chamber referred to as a gall.

A black squirrel was taking a break from the heat on a shaded branch above us. 

The trail became a bit wild and grassy. 

But then it opened up into a large open area. 

Turns out that the open area was the parking lot and one of the trail heads to the McLaughlin Bay Trail that we were already on. We had entered it at the half way point and now we were at one of the end points. 

The parking lot was empty and there was no one here but us. 

This was a beautiful spot for a picnic if you were so inclined. There was a wonderful large tree near the water with a picnic table and a BBQ pit under it. 

On the other side of the tree was an outcrop of rock and sand that led to the edge of the bay.  I am guessing that people use it as a boat launch for canoes and kayaks. 

You get a great view of McLaughlin Bay from here. 

Looking over to the left, we could see another outcrop area that had a picnic table on it. 

There were more swans over at this end of the bay too. 

And more Red Wing Blackbirds in the reeds. 

We walked down a wide grassy side trail to get to the other outcrop with the picnic table on it to see what was over there. 

There were a bunch of Pumpkin Seed Sunfish in the water on that side. 

There were also some Flowering Rushes growing along the banks of the bay. 

As we walked back we saw more kinds of Bindweed flowers. This park has all sorts of different colours of Bindweed. 

We saw the larva of  a Skeletonizing  Leaf Beetle hanging out on one of the plants. 

Back at the big tree with the picnic table under it, we sat for awhile to take a break. We had been walking for quite awhile and we were beginning to get a bit tired in the heat. 

While we sat, we watched a black squirrel romp through the grass. It had a small white tuft to its tail that made it look like it was a cross between a squirrel and a skunk. 

A Red Wing Blackbird became brave and flew down and landed on the end of the picnic table. 

A young female Robin was taking cover in the shade of a fence post. It stayed there for some time and didn't move. I think she thought that we couldn't see her if she stayed really still. 

By this time we were ready for a bathroom break. Checking our map we found that there was one near by just down a side trail. 

The bathroom was near a large covered picnic area. 

There were some wild roses growing near by. 

The trail from this point changed dramatically to one of thick trees.  It was still easy to navigate though, and we welcomed the shade. 

We came to a bridge that was just before a road crossing. The bridge looked like it was in rough shape at one end. It was warped and the boards were coming apart and we had to be careful crossing it. 

There was another bridge after that which was in much better condition. 

The lush plants growing along the edge of the little creek made it look like a carpet of green. It was a cute little fairy land area. 

We were no no longer in Darlington Provincial Park.  We had crossed the border of the park and were now in the McLaughlin Bay Wildlife Reserve. 

​The McLaughlin Bay Wildlife Reserve borders Darlington Park. This is where Lady Google had sent us the day before instead of the park entrance.  It knew that the park border was here but it didn't know that the entrance technically wasn't, even though you could get there through the connecting hiking trails.  

We stood in the shade of the gateway to the Wildlife Reserve as we decided what we wanted to do. We had already come a long way and we still had to walk back yet.  However, we were curious about what this Wildlife Reserve had to offer. 

As we talked I looked up and saw an old abandoned nest of some Organ Pipe Mud Dauber Wasps. 

We looked at the map that was posted and found the red "You Are Here" star on it.   We decided that we would walk just a little bit of the trail to see what was there.  But not the whole thing. We would aim for "Jim's Pond" and then we would see how we felt after that. 

The Wildlife Reserve Trail was very much like an old farm road. It was wide and grassy on both sides.  From time to time you could see a bird house on a post in the middle of the grasses. 

The trail was equipped with a Port-A-Potty incase you needed one. 

There was a bench too, but it would have been nicer if the bench had been in a place where there was some shade. The sun was scorching and there was very little shade. 

We made it to "Jim's Pond" but were surprised to see that the signs called it "Greg's Pond"  I guess Jim was having an identity crisis.  On the back of the sign post was a couple more bird houses. 

The pond covered a large area and was filled with the sounds of birds and frogs. 

There was a sign pointing towards aside trail called "Beaton Path" . We declined to go down that path because we thought it might be too long.  Carsten made us laugh when he jokingly said  "Well, we are off the Beaton Path".

Instead we decided that the Dogwood Trail would be a shorter walk and it seemed to have some shade. So we made our way in that direction instead. This trail also had some Bindweed flowers growing along the sides. Once again they were a different colour and type of Bindweed. These were Field Bindweed. 

The Dogwood Trail encircled the edges of another, much smaller, pond. 

There were big Flowering Dogwoods and other trees on this trail.  (One person on iNaturalist has argued that this is not a Flowering Dogwood tree despite there being a sign below it indicating that it is. He says this is either an apple or a cherry tree. He thinks that the sign was put in the wrong spot.  Perhaps he is right. I don't know. I will let you be the judge of that). 

Many of the trees had a sign in front of it that identified the type of tree it was. The signs were written in both English and in braille.  

The bridge across the pond looked new and was aesthetically pleasing. I believe it was made out of recycled materials too, if I recall correctly. 

The little ponds had algae growing in them that may seem unsightly to some people but is actually creating a good home for its inhabitants. 

The frogs are particularly fond of it. 

And the turtles seem to like it here too. 

Among the treetops the Song Sparrows sang and flitted around. 

Other birds were singing their songs too, but I was not familiar with them all. 

Eventually we decided it was time to head back to camp and make the long trek back. 
We went back the way we had come and we got to see all the wonderful swans and visit all the beautiful spots again for a second time. 

We also got to see a few new critters along the way, like a toad hiding in the grass. 

And a Northern Crescent butterfly posing for us on some pretty pink flowers. 

I madly chased a bunch of these White Spotted Sable moths before I finally got one to land long enough to take a picture of one. They were plentiful but they are also fast and very active. 

As we left the trail a Blue Jay came to bid us farewell. 

After a long, hot, day of hiking we decided to stop at the park store to treat ourselves to some ice cream before heading back to camp. 

And when we got back to the campsite, it was chips and dip on the menu. 

While Carsten and Penny stayed at the camp to relax, I took the time to go by myself to see if I could do some birdwatching. I had just come back from a hike and here I was walking some more. Call me crazy I guess.  Sometimes I just can't sit still. 

I started searching the trees to see what birds I could find. I could hear them but I couldn't really see them through the thick foliage of the maple leaves that were striped in various shades of green. 

A cute little red squirrel kept an eye on me as he ate a peanut that someone had left for him. 

My walk took me to where the showers were. 

I took a quick peek inside. They seemed clean enough and in good repair. 

Just outside the showers was a tall lamp post. It had 2 holes in it.  The holes looked just like the ones you would see in a bird house. 

The only reason why I had given it any notice was because I saw this little House Wren land there.  At first she landed on the smaller hole at the top. But then she darted into the bigger hole at the bottom and disappeared for a bit. 

I stood and waited to see if she would come out again. I assumed that she had a nest in there. As I waited I could hear the cheerful trilling song of another House Wren. And moments later a male House Wren landed on a near by branch.  He seemed to be on look out.

As the mother came and went with food for the babies, he would sit and watch and warn if he saw any danger. 

I stayed silent and didn't move a muscle, so I was able to watch them for quite sometime before I finally got tired and headed back to camp. 

Back at camp we could see a ship out in the distance on the lake. As we looked over the cliff at the boat, it made Carsten and I want to go and explore the shores below the cliff. Penny had enough walking for one day so she chose to stay at the camp. 

We followed the shoreline to see how far we could go before we either made it back to our campsite or before we had to turn around and go back the way we came. 

Even out here on the lake we found some swans swimming past us. They were headed in the direction of the bay so they were probably on their way home for the night. 

Behind us the sun was starting to get lower on the horizon. 

A flock of seagulls were soaking up the last of the evening sun on the shore. 

The cliffs began to get taller and taller. They got steeper and steeper with a wall of loose sand between the ground and the trees at the top of them. They would be a difficult climb if we had to climb them.  We figured we would probably have to turn around. We couldn't see what was around the bend yet though so we kept going. 

When we rounded the bend we found some very large cement X's all along the shoreline. I am unsure what these are for. Looking further ahead we were not sure we would be able to get past them. 

Looking up we could see the roots of trees above us. 

To our surprise we did find a trail up to our campsite and we didn't have to turn around and go back the way we came.

We took a moment to look around and enjoy the view of the gulls silhouetted against the evening sky before attempting the climb.  

The trail actually joined up to the one that Penny and I had found on the other side of the fence when we first arrived at camp. It was a bit steep but we had been on much more difficult trails on previous backpacking trips so we were able to navigate it with a bit of effort. 

​​From the top of the cliff we turned around and looked at where we had come from. The view of the lake was as marvelous up here as it was down below. 

With all of our hiking done for the day, we settled in for an evening of board games and fun. 

We played board games until long after the sun went down. Before we knew it, it was midnight and time to turn in. 

As we walked to the washrooms to brush our teeth and get ready for bed we felt blessed to be able to see the bright orange moon in the sky above us and to have experienced such an amazing day. 

I had just gotten off the plane from London England and was now on my way towards Darlington Park for my first camping trip of the season.  I was very much looking forward to getting out there and just relaxing. 

My brother and my sister-in-law had already gone ahead of me to set up the campsite. Since I couldn't pack food for the trip because it would have probably gone bad in the trunk of my car at the airport parking lot, they were supplying all the food for me. All I really had to do was just show up. 

Having never been to Darlington Park before, I was relying on "Lady Google", as I call her,  to get me to where I needed to go. However, once again, Lady Google was not reliable.  I started to suspect something was a bit off when, at my supposed destination, there was a giant energy building instead of a park gatehouse. 

At the far end of the parking lot there seemed to be a dirt road. Perhaps that led to the park?.... It did not. 
Instead it led to the McLaughlin Bay Wildlife Reserve.  There were a lot of people and cars there. It seemed to be a popular place, but it wasn't  where I needed to be. 

Another look at the Google Map told me that the reason Lady Google sent me here was because the border of the park and the border of this Wildlife Reserve were actually joined.  Technically she brought me to the park. It just wasn't the entrance to the park. 

A quick change of description in the directions search was all that was needed to fix the situation.  As long as you either write the words "Gate House" after Darlington Provincial Park or drop a new pin in the map to where you actually need to go, it will re-route you and get you there.  Just make sure you take exit 425 and not exit 419 off the hi-way. 

The park was not all that far away.  Only a few more minutes of retracing my steps and getting onto the right road and soon I was pulling up to the window of the gatehouse.  The staff let me know that my brother had already registered and that I could go straight on through. 

My brother and my sister-in-law were waiting for me in the parking lot.  We exchanged stories about our getting misdirected by Lady Google. 

We decided to make a stop at the park store before heading to the site. I wanted to buy the Darlington Park passport sticker for my book of parks that I have been to. However, I was disappointed to find out that even though it was only June, they were already sold out. Oh well, at least I can buy them online now. 

The site I had chosen to reserve online was site number 116. Lately some of the parks no longer require a paper permit for the posts anymore. This park was one of those parks. 

The park is made up of three sections, Lakeside, Hilltop, and Cliffside.  None of the campgrounds had sites directly on the water. I had chosen Cliffside because the pictures online made it seem like there was a nice view of lake Ontario from here. 

And it didn't disappoint.  We were actually on the side of a cliff overlooking Lake Ontario, and it was beautiful. You could hear the waves crashing on the shore below and see the seagulls flying overhead. 

The sites were nice and big and easily fit our 2 cars and a very large tent, plus a dining tent. We probably could have gotten another tent or two on the site if we had needed to. 

There wasn't much of a privacy line on the border between our site and the one to our right. But there was plenty of privacy to the left and what little privacy we had on the right didn't seem to bother us really. 

We were envious of the site next to us though (site number 115) because they had this big, gorgeous tree that afforded them some shade. We did not have as much shade on our site.  We made a note to ourselves that the next time we came we would like to see if we could get that site. 

The big tree has its pros and cons. For us it would not be a problem, but if you have one of those tents on top of a car or a tall RV then you have to be careful of the low lying branches. It took this couple a little bit of maneuvering to get just the right spot under the tree where they wouldn't do any damage to their tent. 

To our left there was not road access for cars. There were two large rocks that prevented cars from driving through. You can, however, walk through that access point to get to the camp sites on the other side. This meant that our site did not have a whole lot of noisy traffic driving by all the time. It was a really nice and peaceful little spot. We were quite happy with the site. 

In the other direction,  the road led to the other campsites. There was little to no traffic and it was peacefully quiet in that direction too. Penny and I decided to walk a little ways down the road to check it out. 

The road was bordered by a fence to keep people and cars from going over the cliff.  Where the road curves and two fences join, there is a large sign warning people to stay away from the cliff edge. 

Of course, like naughty little kids, Penny and I had to test our boundaries by going on the side of the fence that we were not supposed to be on. 

Penny stayed on the path that ran close to the fence. 

While I dared to go go closer to the edge.

The view of the lake was better here and unobstructed by trees. 

I can see why there would be warning signs. There was what looked to be a possible trail down to the beach below that people had made. But it was quite steep and I wasn't going to chance it. 

I preferred to just enjoy the view from up here. 

Eventually we made our way back to the proper side of the fence and back to our campsite. 
My sister, Anika and my brother-in-law, Dean, had given me a selfie stick for Christmas that I had not had the opportunity to use yet. She said that I didn't have enough pictures of myself in my blogs. So, I decided to play around with it for a bit. Works pretty good! 

As we sat in our chairs at the campsite, it didn't take long for us to notice that there were quite a few different birds in the area than we were normally used to seeing.  Apparently this area is a favourite stop over for travelling birds and for those wanting to nest. Some of the birds we saw but I was not able to get a picture of because they wouldn't sit still long enough, like the Cardinal and some other orange bird. I was a bit disappointed by that.  But other birds were happy to spend some time near us and get their pictures taken. 

We saw a momma Grackle with her two little fledglings. 

The two fledglings were hopping along and following momma. They stopped to look for food when she did and moved along when she moved along. They were pretty cute to watch. 

A Blue Jay was making its presence known. 

We heard them before we saw them. It was the unmistakable sound of two Mourning Doves cooing to each other. The male was darker in colour.

The female was a bit lighter and rosier. Especially around the head. They both came down to join the family of Grackles in a search for insects in the grass and along the road way. 

Oh and the Robins! Robins, Robins, everywhere!  So many Robins!  Most of them were females. I am guessing that the parents had all nested here and  were just not ready to go out and make their way into the big wide world just yet. Or maybe there was just naturally a high population in this area.  I am not sure.
​There were 20 or 30 of them in the grass at any given time, especially near the comfort station where there was a wide area of grass for them to forage in. 

Penny and I took a walk down to the comfort station that was just down the road from our campsite. As we went we noticed the beautiful blooms of the Multiflora Rose growing everywhere in this park.  ​

It is a scrambling shrub, climbing over other plants to a height of 3–5 m . There were so many of them covering other plants.  It was beautiful!  It looked like the bushes were covered in snow. ​

This park had signs outside the comfort station saying  that it was a comfort station. Other parks usually show them on the map and might have directional signs but it is unusual to see one that basically says  "hey! This is the comfort station you were looking for!"  I thought it was a nice touch. 

The comfort station had plenty of room for parking (although we walked there).

There was potable water located right on the side of the building. 

To one side of the building there was a large open field with a fire pit and some benches. I would imagine this is where they hold some of their events and activities. 

Once again we saw a multitude of Robins foraging in the grass near the comfort station. 

Inside, the bathroom was remarkably clean. The only thing that looked out of place was the old hand dryer that had some peeling paint. 

As we walked back we took a look at some of the other sites that would be good for reserving for future trips. Site118 seemed particularly large and open. 

It was early evening by this point and the moon was already out despite the sun still shining brightly. 

We all wanted to take a walk down to the beach to explore and to hopefully see the sunset. There is a set of trails that connect the campgrounds together called "Campground Trail" that we decided to take. 
​Along the trail we took notice of some pink Fleabane growing along the side of the path. 

And once again we saw bushes and bushes of ​Multiflora Roses. 

They have pretty white and slightly pink flowers, but true to a rose, they also have thorns. 

We were absolutely amazed at how high these roses can climb. We even saw some growing right up to the top of some very tall pine trees. It was incredible! 

The trail we were on that connected the campgrounds would sometimes cross roads.

Next thing we knew, we were walking by the Lakeside Comfort Station. 

This one looked just as clean as the Cliffside ones and also had showers in it. . 

We came across a trail marker that told us we were heading in the right direction for the beach and that we would also pass the amphitheater and store along the way. 

There were Dames Rocket flowers dressed in both purple and in white blooms. 

The Meadow Buttercups were a brilliant yellow. 

They were particularly pretty because they were growing amongst a little white flower that looked almost like Babys Breath. It made them look like something you would see in a vase. 

But these were not Baby's Breath. They are called Bedstraws.  They are so tiny and fragile looking. 

Other tiny things were to be found here too. This Amber Snail was making its way slowly across a Maple leaf. 

The trail crossed a little wooden bridge. 

The further we went the more wilder looking the landscape seemed to get. 

The landscape eventually turned into a marshy area. I love marshes!  

The Reed Canary marsh grasses grew tall here. They had a pretty purple hue to them. 

In the midst of it all was a bat house. We didn't see any bats though. 

We took a short detour down a side path to check out the amphitheater.  It had seen better days. 

There was orange fencing around it serving as a warning that the area probably wasn't very safe. The grass grew tall and uncut all around it. I doubt it was even used anymore. 

However, the tall grass did attract a different kind of audience. A little Cottontail rabbit was quietly enjoying a meal under the tree. 

When it spotted us it high tailed it for some even taller grass. We stood still watching it for quite some time. 

I guess it didn't think we could see him because he stayed around and continued to eat the grass. 

We went back onto the main trail and noticed that it was becoming less marshy and more tree lined. 

The trail came to an end and opened up into a clearing with a log cabin off to one side. 

The log cabin was an Historical Site and had been restored by the township. The doors were locked so we couldn't go inside. 

But we could peek in the windows. We were surprised to see a large stuffed deer standing in the middle of the room. Not something you would expect to see in the middle of a log cabin. 

The trail that led to the log cabin was also a trail leading to the beach. 

There were plenty of picnic tables around as well as above ground fire pits for making a nice meal with. 

The beach was wheelchair accessible with large blue mats that allowed for wheelchairs to be able to roll over the sand. 

There had been a notice in the park brochure that the northern part of this beach was the nesting grounds of the endangered Piping Plover and that people were not allowed in that section. There were also signs right on the beach to indicate this as well. 

Although we couldn't go into the nesting grounds, we were still hoping that we would see a Piping Plover somewhere else along the beach.  The beach was long and sandy and would be welcoming to many types of shore birds. 

It was getting late and the sun was starting to set so we doubted we would see any Plovers at this time of day. 

Way off in the distance we could make out the city sky line of Toronto. 

The combination of the breeze and the clouds and the sounds of the waves on the shore made for a peaceful walk along the beach. Especially since we were the only ones there at this time of day. 

We came across a place that was sectioned off. At first I thought it might be where the Plover nests were, but upon closer inspection we noticed that it was actually sectioned off in an effort to protect the environment for other species such as monarch butterflies. 

When we got to the border of the nesting grounds, there was no mistaking it. There were ropes and signs to clearly mark the area. 

I was kind of surprised to find a spot with a sign that allowed you to walk through as long as you didn't stop.  I am not sure why anyone would need to walk in that section at all.  We didn't feel the need to walk through and we stayed on our side of the ropes. 

We never got to see any Piping Plovers the entire trip. We did get to read a little bit about them though. 

I was surprised to come across a sign that warned of hunting in the area during hunting season. I would have thought that a park that was protecting one species of bird would be protecting all the birds within its borders, But it doesn't seem to be the case. 

The sun was really starting to sink low by now and we still had to walk back to the campsite yet. So it was time to head back. 

As we walked back we noticed some white shells in the sand. Not to worry though. They weren't bird egg shells. They were turtle egg shells from nests that the hatchlings had already left. There were quite a few of these old turtle nests along the shores. 

We may have a beautiful view from the cliffside up where our campsite was, but it still didn't beat the beauty of the sunset on the beach. 

Instead of going back the way we had come we opted to go a shorter route that took us up the road instead. It also took us across a cute little walking bridge. 

The street lamps were starting to come on now in certain areas and they illuminated the trees. 

But we preferred the illumination of a campfire. So when we got back we got the fire going and we roasted marshmallows. 

When the fire had died down and the moon had come up, it was time for bed.  We were looking forward to exploring more of our darling little Darlington Park tomorrow. We had already fallen in love with this place.