Coyote Calls After Midnight

   First camping trip of the year!  Heading south with Point Peelee being the ultimate destination.  This trip is going to be all about the birds. First stop is Port Burwell.

   The start of this journey had us wondering if this was going to go badly. It was rainy all day and the weather forecast was even calling for rain squalls.  We left at 10 a.m. and should have arrived by 3 p.m. however, the traffic was pretty bad.  There were at least 2 car accidents.We didn't get to Port Burwell Provincial Park until about 5:30 pm.

A noticible feature at the gatehouse of Port Burwell, is the miniature replica of a lighthouse.

Instead of the typical bulletin board, they had one in the shape of a ship's wheel. It told how the campgrounds in the park were named after the early schooners of Port Burwell. There was also a notice saying that Discovery Kits were available for rent. at the store. 

There isn't a park store at the gatehouse, but there are stickers and candy that you can purchase there. 

Penny and I got our Port Burwell stickers for our Ontario Parks Passpert books.

I also bought a packge of Twizzlers. They were a limted edition Wildberry flavour.  They tasted ok but I like the orignal flavour the best.

We had reserved site 28.

The site was fairly large. Large enough for two vehicles, but we were only allowed to park one there and the other had to be parked down the road and around the corner at an additional parking spot.  We left the second vehicle there just long enough to unpack our stuff before moving it to the parking lot. It was a bit inconvenient, but I wasn't mad about it. 

We got the tents up fairly quickly. The rain had stopped just before we arrived which made it easier to put them up. There were plenty of mosquitoes around but only one or two of them were trying to bite. They were barely noticable. 

We hadn't been at the camp for even 2 hours before an orbweaver spider was already trying to make my car it's home. 

Our site was just across the road from the comfort station. 

Inside it was spotless and everything was in good repair except for one of the hand dryers. 

At the other end of the building was a place to do laundry. 

​The showers were all clean and worked well. 
​

Way up high above the sinks, Penny and I spotted one of the most beautiful spiders I had ever seen. It was an Orchard Orbweaver. It had blue-green legs and intricate markings. 

Depending on what angle you stood under it, it seemed to change colour. Sometimes it seemed to have a silvery sheen to it and looked almost jewel-like. 

Out behind the comfort station is a huge sports field, complete with horse shoe pits, volley ball nets, frisbee football goal posts, and a basket ball hoop. 

Multiflora Rose was growing in large bunches all along the border of the field.  

It was only 7:45 pm and there was plenty of daylight left. Since the Ravine trail begins right next to the comfort station, we figured we would pass some time walking that trail. 

There was a wooden box full of information sheets about the trail. But the box was also full of ants.  We took one anyways. 

We begin the hike by going down some wooden stairs down into the ravine. 

At the bottom of the stairs is a wooden boardwalk bridge that crosses over a little stream. 

Growing near the stream were stalks of Rough Horsetail.

The recent rain had brought out some creatures that thrive in the dampness. A Dusky Slug slowly made it's way across the moist bark of a tree. 

While a snail tried to hide itself among the wet leaves on the forest floor. 

A patch of Umbrella Polypore were also in favour of the wet leaves and soil that the rains had left behind. 

As we walked along the winding trail, the trees transformed into nature's own sculptures. Some trees appeared to be entwined, their branches wrapping around each other like old friends in an eternal embrace. 

Others stood tall and proud, yet their bark bore peculiar knots and hollows that, from certain angles, resembled watchful eyes, silently observing our every move. It was as if the forest held secrets of ancient wisdom, inviting us to pause and ponder their mysteries.

The brochure that we carried taught us about the phenomenon called "Self Pruning" This is where trees will purposely stop growing lower branches because the branches at the top of the canopy are already using up all the sunlight. There is no point for the tree to grow lower branches that they would have to struggle to take care of. 

We crossed some more foot bridges over the stream. 

A Brown-lipped Snail was also crossing the footbridge. We were just a little bit faster. 

We noticed that the water running through the creek was quite muddy looking. The brochure said that this can be attributed to natural sediment runoff, especially after rainfall, which stirs up soil and debris. This made sense to us since it had been raining earlier in the day. 

 From somewhere in the woods, the soft, plaintive cries of a cat echoed through the air, pulling at our heartstrings and urging us to investigate. Each mewl sounded as if a small feline was in distress, prompting us to scan the underbrush for a lost pet in need. The tension in our chests eased as we approached the source of the sound. We were greeted by the sight of a plump, bird with slate-gray feathers, perched confidently on a branch. It was then that we recognized that we had been fooled. The source of the sound was a Grey Catbird. This clever mimic is known for its uncanny ability to imitate the cries of other animals.

​Gray Catbirds tend to shy away from unbroken forests and coniferous woods, favoring instead the tangled, dense, low-growing vegetation where their songs can echo through the foliage, signaling their presence to potential mates and rivals alike.

So, actually laying eyes on one is not always easy.  The one we saw didn't stay visible for long. In a flash, it flew off further into the bush, leaving us with only the sound of it's cat calls. 

We were also priviledged to see an Eastern Towhee. It can often be heard before it is seen, revealing its presence through the rhythmic sound of its scratching in the leaf-litter.

 As spring arrives and the nesting season unfolds, male Eastern Towhees transform into vocal champions, boldly claiming their territory by singing from elevated branches, their distinctive call echoing through the thickets.

We made our way back out of the ravine by climbing up another set of stairs. 

We exited the trail fairly close to the children's playground  which was situated at the end of the sports field. 
This playground had some interesting structures that you don't always see in other parks such as swinging hoops, pretend phones, and raised circular stepping stones.

But what we found most interesting in this playground was a climbing rope structure in a pyramid or star like shape. It looked like something from out of a sci-fi movie. 

It was starting to get dark so we made our way back to camp.  Just as we were passing the comfort station, a dark mass ran in front of Carsten and scarmbled up a tree.  Carsten was able to zoom in with his camera and get a picture of it. It was a young raccoon. 

Since our site is directly across the road from the tree that this raccoon was in, we had fully expected to have a visitor later on in the evening. However, I guess it hadn't become used to people yet (which is a good thing) and it never did come to our site that night. 

Instead, we had a quick and quiet supper of bagels and cream cheese and then walked to the sports field to see the fireflies that were out in full force. It had been a long day and we were tired so we were in bed by 10:30 pm. The park is exceptionally quiet. It was almost as quiet as it is when you are backpacking. And just like backpacking, you sometimes hear animals crying out in the distance. On this night we herd a pack of coyotes in the distance. Not as close as the ones that I heard last year, but still fairly close.  A 1:15 am we could hear the coyotes again, this time a bit closer.  But we weren't concerned and we fell back to sleep easily enough. 

The next morning I woke up at about 7:30 a.m.  But it was too cold to get up so I went back to sleep until 9. Penny had gotten up before Carsten and I,  and she had already seen a deer and an eagle. 

I was rewarded with sightings of a vibrant Northern Cardinal, its red plumage a stark contrast against the green and brown backdrop of the forest. ​

And a busy woodpecker, rhythmically tapping away on a nearby tree.

After a quick breakfast we got to work at tearing down camp and packing up. We had another busy day ahead of us. We intended to visit 3 more parks today.  And we wanted to check out Port Burwell's beach before we left. 

As we started packing up we had a number of insect visitors.  Sitting on my camp chair was a teeny tiny bright green bush cricket (also known as a Katydid). It was so cute! 

On the dining tent there was a pretty little caterpillar. This one is a member of the cutworms and dart mouth moth family.

And an Asian Lady Beetle landed on the sleeve of my sweater. 

After we were all packed up we headed over to the Day Use beach area where the Park Store was. You have to drive out of the park and down the road to get to this Day Use area. 

Inside were all sorts of things to buy including T-shirts and hoodies. I loved this T-shirt but it only came in children's sizes. All the good ones only come in children's sizes. 

There was a hoodie that both Penny and I really liked a lot. However, it cost a bit much so neither of us bought it. 

I did buy a loon stuffie though. I thought it would look cute at the cottage.

I also invested in a re-chargeable LED flashlight. You recharge it using a USB cord.  So I can have it charging in my car while I drive from park to park on my trip. How handy is that? 

We all bought an ice cream cone at the store and we headed towards the picnic area to eat them. 

The bathrooms here were your typical vault style bathrooms. However, they smelled worse than most and they were not very clean. 

Port Burwell has multiple accesses from the parking lot by the store, to the beach in the Day Use area.

However, every last one of them were flooded due to the rain the day before. 

It was so flooded that a Killdeer was hanging out in the parking lot catching worms. 

Despite the flooded areas, we were able to find a hand made bridge that someone before us had made using some logs that they had dragged over.  The water wasn't very deep and we could have crossed over by just wading through. But at least this way we didn't have to get our feet wet. 

In a drier section of the parking lot, a Northern Dustywing butterfly was taking a rest in the gravel. 

To get to the beach, you have to make a little climb up a sandy hill. 

As we were climbing, Carsten pointed out the tiniest toad we had ever seen. It was so adorably cute!  As we bent down to see it, we noticed a couple more. Now that we were aware that they were there, we were much more cautious going up the hill. 

We had seen tiny toads before on backpacking trails but these were even tinier than any of those. If they hadn't hopped, we would have just thought it was a bit of dirt. 

At the top of the sandy hill, there was still a little bit more of a path that you had to walk down before you reached the beach. 

Eventually the lake was in view and the expanse of the beach opened up before us. The sky was blue, the sun was out; it was a beautiful day for being at the beach. 

I don't know if it was because of the flooded parking lot, or if the wind coming off of the lake was a bit too chilly, but the beach was practically empty. 

We took a stroll along the water's edge and looked for sea glass.  Most of the beach was sandy and beautiful. 

There may not have been many people around, but that meant that the seagulls had the beach all to themselves. 

A Variegated Lady Beetle was also enjoying some quiet time on the beach. 

The waters of Lake Erie were a muddy colour today. Lake Erie is not always muddy; it can appear muddy after heavy rain or snowmelt washes sediment from surrounding farmland into tributaries, but clearer water is common in calmer conditions. The lake's shallow depth and western basin make it especially prone to sediment stirring.

At the farthest end of the Day Use beach there is a dog beach. It's really just an extention of the human beach with no real dividing line. The only indication that there is a separate area for the dogs is the sign at the far end of the parking lot. 

The dog beach was a bit more rough than the main beach, with low growing scrub brush making an effort to grow through the sand as well as driftwood littering the shore.

There were more people at the dog beach section than there were in all of the rest of the beach. 

​We would have loved to have stayed for awhile longer but we still had some traveling to do. So we left the soothing sounds of the waves behind us and headed back towards the cars. 

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We didn't have too far to drive today, but we had a number of stops to make along the way.  Our final destination today is Rondeau Provincial Park. But we planned to stop at both Port Bruce and John E. Pearce Provincial Parks first.  We were excited to see what these parks would have in store for us.