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Aug 30, 2011

Deep summer on the Humber River

Summer afternoon ~ summer afternoon;
to me those have always been the two most
beautiful words in the English language.
                                                                                                       -- Henry James, 1934, quoted by Edith Wharton in her autobiography

I'm sure Henry James had something more bucolic in mind, when he spoke the words above, than I have while borrowing them to accompany my photographs below.   Nevertheless, I fully understand how he was seduced. 
Female Mallard Ducks on patrol and ever alert. 
This haphazard, thrown-together dam marks the site of mill-dams from the mid-1800s.
A number of paths follow the banks of the Humber in several spots.
Aquatic plants ripple alluringly in the gently flowing water.
 A long-fallen, streamside birch stills captures the passing eye.
A Spotted Sandpiper, far from a lake or beach, has the river-bank to itself.
Daylilies, growing wild, have found their spot on the banks of the Humber.
Choose your bridge: man-made or something more natural and challenging.
Phlox ~ now wild and widespread in the river valley.
These photos were taken near Nobleton, in southern King Township, at the Humber Trails Forest & Wildlife Area, on the Mill Road, halfway between the King Sideroad and the King-Vaughan Townline.   Please comment if you wish.
BtheB                                                                                                  All photos by BarrytheBirder