I set myself a challenge when Risa and I took a walk through the wildflower preserve at Todmorden Mills this weekend: to use a single fixed focal-length lens (16mm fisheye in this case) for the entire outing. Something about it seems old-fashioned: in an age when super zoom lenses can be found on virtually every camera, you might as well be wearing pants up to your armpits, wagging your finger and starting every sentence with, “Back in my day…” Still, it’s a good exercise to learn to zoom with your feet again. It gives both you and your pictures perspective.
This being January in Toronto, there just aren’t a lot of wildflowers around. There’s also not much more than a smattering of snow and ice here and there, making everything at ground level relentlessly brown. Even so, the preserve was fairly busy when we went, with a number of families and dog walkers enjoying the short trail, sunny skies, and relatively balmy weather. We were each armed with a camera but seemed to be the only ones taking pictures.
Check out the short gallery below the fold.
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- When everything around you is dull brown, what's left but to aim the camera skyward? These woody stems are all that remains this winter in a small wetland on the fringe of the wildflower preserve.
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- A tree stump is home to a thriving moss pad, one of the few bits of natural greenery that we saw on this trip.
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- This snag (a dead tree that's still standing) is being consumed by something that is drilling a series of large holes in its trunk.
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- Like everything in Toronto, the path through the wildflower preserve is interrupted by a parking lot.
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- One of the things I like about the Todmorden Mills wildflower preserve is that unlike some of the more public trails in the Don Valley, the dead trees are left to rot, to fall piece by piece back to the forest floor, and to provide natural habitat and photographic opportunities along the way.
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- Another hollow tree, this one looks like a sheer stony cliff.
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- A few scattered berries still cling to their stems along the path.
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- As sunset approached and we neared the end of our sojourn, I was treated to this view of stumphenge, with the setting sun framed perfectly in the tree cavity. A great way to end the day.
Regarding pic 3, can’t quite tell the scale of the holes, but it looks like it may be the work of pileated woodpeckers.
The holes range from the size of tennis balls and larger. My guess is that you’re right.