A Walk In Paradise

Back in October we decided to go to Cootes Paradise. It was a place I had wanted to check out for some time and thought that the fall would be a wonderful time to visit.

View from one of the lookout points

Photo by Andrew Almeida

Cootes Paradise is a nature reserve located in Hamilton, Ontario. Occasionally referred to as Dundas Marsh, it is owned and operated by the Royal Botanical Gardens. It is named after Thomas Coote, a British Army Officer stationed in the area during the American Revolutionary War. Cootes Paradise has been designated as a National Historic Site, National Important Bird Area as well as an Important Amphibian and Reptile Area.

Currently, Cootes Paradise is undergoing restoration to restore it to it's natural oak savannah and marsh habitats to preserve it's varied inhabitants. Originally home to a variety of plant and animal life, it quickly declined in the late 19th century due to anthropogenic stresses placed on this sensitive ecosystem. Water pollution, overuse by humans and the introduction of carp into Lake Ontario quickly caused an imbalance and the marsh was nearly lost. In the 1990s, one of the largest wetland rehabilitation projects in North America was introduced by RBG as part of the Hamilton Harbour Remedial Action Plan. It was called Project Paradise. This plan focused on water pollution, minimizing carp and reestablishing the native plants to the area.

Water quality and quantity was a major issue. Sewage and urban runoff caused high nutrient and sediment levels. Originally this area would flood seasonally, but water level regulation in Lake Ontario changed the flooding patterns.

Photo by Andrew Almeida

Cootes Paradise Marsh is a biodiversity hotspot for fish. It is a seasonal fish nursery for Lake Ontario and functions as a natural fish hatchery. Thousands of fish migrate in the spring through the Fishway from the habour and lake to lay their eggs. The invasive carp caused an imbalance that threatened our native fish. The Fishway was constructed at the outlet of Cootes Paradise Marsh. It is a seasonally operated structure built to block the nonnative carp but still allow the spring migration of the native Lake Ontario fish to and from this critical spawning area.

As part of the revitalization plan, controlled burns were conducted to restore fields to it's original oak savannah ecosystem. This area has the highest concentration of plant species in Canada!

Photo by Andrew Almeida

Cootes Paradise is home to a variety of animal life. More than thirty species of mammals can be found in the area, including white-tailed deer, red fox, coyote, northern flying squirrels and southern flying squirrels to name a few.

Eastern Chipmunk

American Red Squirrel

American Red Squirrel

Large populations and several species of turtles as well as frogs and snakes call Cootes Paradise home.

Garter Snake

One of several seen during our hike in the woods

Photo by Andrew Almeida

Due to it's location at the tip of Lake Ontario and in the Central and Mississippi Flyways, hundreds of bird species use Cootes Paradise, especially during the migration periods.

Double-Crested Cormorant

Coming in for a landing...

Double-Crested Cormorant

Perfect cormorant landing!

Double-Crested Cormorant

Sunning themselves to dry off their feathers.

Double-Crested Cormorant

Domestic Goose

Domestic Goose

Cootes Paradise is just that, a paradise that offers much to it's visitors. It is over 600 hectares with more than half being river-mouth marsh. There are sixteen creeks and 25 km of shoreline. You can walk along it's hiking trails or canoe or kayak into the marsh.

Photo by Andrew Almeida

Photo by Andrew Almeida

Photo by Andrew Almeida

Photo by Andrew Almeida

There are several access points into the nature reserve, we used Princess Point. This access point has a good number of parking spots; free for RBG members and pay and display for nonmembers. It offers 6 km of trails and connects to the Hamilton Waterfront Trail. It also has a canoe launch to the marsh.

Photo by Andrew Almeida

This was our first visit to Cootes Paradise and we greatly enjoyed it! We walked along the Princess Point Trail, Ginger Valley Trail, part of the Ravine Road Trail and Sassafras Point Trail. I hope to return soon and explore more of the park. It really is a walk in Paradise!

Photo by Andrew Almeida

Additional Information:

https://www.rbg.ca/files/pdf/gardenareas/trails/CootsParadiseTrailMap.pdf

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cootes_Paradise

Fall at Point Pelee National Park (Day Two)

Me photographing a sanderling

Photo by Andrew Almeida

We headed to the park first thing in the morning and went straight for the Visitor's Centre in order to catch the shuttle to the tip.  Luckily there were still plenty of parking spots available and not many people were in line waiting for the shuttle.  It was a cool morning but the day would warm up nicely making it quite comfortable for being outdoors at the park. 

Once we arrived at the shuttle stop for the trail to the tip, we took a little side trail and headed for the beach.  We thought we'd walk along the beach to the tip.  We saw quite a few interesting things on the beach such as a portion of a wing belonging to a Norther Flicker.

What remains of a Northern Flicker on the beach

Photo by Andrew Almeida

The  most interesting thing of all though was the mass numbers of Monarch butterflies that were all around us.  Some were flying, many were resting on the leaves and branches of trees and shrubs.  It was like a fairytale being surrounded by all these beautiful butterflies.  I had never seen anything quite like it in the wild!  Monarch butterflies pass through Point Pelee during their winter migration south to Mexico.  Monarch butterflies are quite fascinating, they travel over 3000 km during their migration.

Monarch Butterflies

Monarch Butterflies

Monarch Butterflies

As for bird sightings, I saw gulls, blue jays, turkey vultures and 2 red-tailed hawks.  I'm sure I missed many birds as I was so intrigued and fascinated by the butterflies that I just didn't notice them around us.

We eventually made our way to the tip where there were a few people already there but not many.  There was more of the tip to be seen this time of year then when we had visited in May.  (You can read about our visit to Point Pelee this past May during the Festival of Birds by clincking on this link).

View of the Tip

Photo by Andrew Almeida

Looking back towards the park from the Tip

Photo by Andrew Almeida

At the Tip

By the time this photo was taken, more people had arrived.

Photo by Andrew Almeida

We decided that we would take the main trail back towards the shuttle pick up / drop off but instead of hopping on the shuttle to take us back to the Visitor's Centre, we thought we'd walk along the beach instead.  So we cut across the same side trail as before and walked up the beach.  We've always wanted to hike this part but never have so thought this would be a perfect time.  I'm glad we did as we came across a sanderling who was so busy searching for it's meal that it was willing to allow me to photograph it for as long as I wanted.  Further up the beach we came across a yellowlegs who was not so willing in having his picture taken.

Sanderling

Sanderling

Sanderling

Sanderling

Sanderling With Catch

The one thing that I found sad and upsetting was the number of garbage and ballons found washed up on the shore.  We carried out as much of it as we could but unfortunately weren't able to get it all. 

Eventually we made it back to the trail that would lead us to the Visitor's Centre and decided that we would head over and do the Woodland Nature Trail.  This trail was quite active with bird activity in May but this time it was much quieter.  There were birds but not as plentiful and unfortunately I wasn't able to get any good photographs of them. 

Unfortunately we ran out of time to do any more of the park as we had to head back home.  There were still many trails left to be done but I am hopeful we will return in the spring during the bird spring migration.

Walking around trees proved a little tricky at times if we wanted to remain dry.  We had to time the waves and make a run for it!

Photo by Andrew Almeida

Photo by Andrew Almeida

Photo by Andrew Almeida

Photo by Andrew Almeida

Fall at Point Pelee National Park (Day One)

Point Pelee National Park just happens to be one of my favourite Canadian parks.  We've visited this park on various occasions but had not yet visited during the fall.  So this year we thought we would head over for a couple of days during the Thanksgiving long weekend.  We had visited the park earlier in the year during the Festival of Birds (you can read all about our visit by clicking this link.)

We left early Saturday morning and made our way under off and on again showers.  Eventually the rain cleared out to what turned out to be a beautiful fall day by the time we entered the park gates.  We didn't really expect to see much in the way of fall colours at this time yet but there were signs of fall all around us.  Some trees were starting to change and leaves had begun to fall.  The marsh vegetation was changing and the birds and butterflies were making their journey south.

Marsh Boardwalk

Photo by Andrew Almeida

For the first day at the park, we walked along the Marsh Boardwalk, Northwest Beach and hiked part of the Centennial Bike & Hike Trail.

Marsh Boardwalk

Photo by Andrew Almeida

Marsh Boardwalk

Photo by Andrew Almeida

Marsh Boardwalk

Photo by Andrew Almeida

The Marsh Boardwalk trail wasn't full of birds like it was during the spring migration, but there were some around that could be heard.  A Great Blue Heron stuck around all day fishing just off the boardwalk. 

Great Blue Heron

Great Blue Heron

Great Blue Heron With Frog

Great Blue Heron

Great Blue Heron With Fish

Great Blue Heron

Great Blue Heron In Flight

Some mallard ducks swam by and a couple of killdeer made an appearance.  A few dragonflies were flying around as well.

Killdeer

Many people came out to enjoy a beautiful fall day at the park.  Some hiked the trails and several rented canoes or kayaks and paddled their way along the marsh.  Kayaks and canoes are available to rent at the Marsh Store by the Friends of Point Pelee if you don't happen to have one of your own.

Marsh Boardwalk

Photo by Andrew Almeida

Canoers

Photo by Andrew Almeida

Kayakers

Photo by Andrew Almeida

After spending some time at the marsh, we crossed the street and walked along the Northwest Beach for a bit.  Many gulls were seen out on the water as well as on the beach. I was personally excited to see a Great Black-backed Gull in amongst the Herring Gulls and the super common Ring-billed Gulls.  The Great Black-backed gull is the largest species of gull in the world.  A few people were also out enjoying the beach and playing in the sand and water.

Great Black-Backed Gull amongst Ring-Billed & Herring Gulls

Notice the size difference of the Great Black-backed Gull compared to the other gulls

Remains found along the beach

Photo by Andrew Almeida

Remains found along the beach

Photo by Andrew Almeida

We concluded our first day at the park by hiking the Centennial Bike & Hike Trail.

Stayed tuned for Day Two of our visit to Point Pelee National Park where we head to the point and walk along the beach.