A Season of River Pictures – along the Scugog river

I’ve had the good fortune of living within walking distance of this long winding river, the Scugog. It runs through the Kawartha Lakes area in central Ontario, Canada. I often find myself making various treks along the banks of the Scugog river. It’s a great place to go to relax and commune with nature. Everyone should be so lucky to be so close to the natural world.

I would guess the river is about 40 feet wide at most places, and features lift locks in the centre of Lindsay. However, I’m going to concentrate on the natural life on the river, as well as a couple of still life river pictures that are quite intriguing.

As you might expect, there’s all sorts of wildlife in and around the river. Various ducks, geese, seagulls and more. Many trees growing on the banks of the river have had nature force an unusual growth pattern on them, due to natural erosion. I’ve captured these river pictures at all times of the year, although you do have to look at the bleak winter scenery differently, to get interesting shots. I’ve only included one winter picture for this photo gallery of river pictures.

I hope you enjoy them.

^ Great Blue Heron. This was a special find. Blue Herons are not unknown around these parts, but they’re not all that common, so I was thrilled to be able to see one, let alone get this close. It stands about 3 feet tall. This bird appears to be looking somewhat pensively into the late afternoon sky.

^ River reeds. A common sight along any river is reeds. Not only do the tall, leafy spires add interest, they act as filters, and prevent erosion. I also like the reflections in the nearly still water behind them, in this picture.

^ Canada Geese. We have large numbers of Canada geese along the river. In the spring it’s wonderful to watch the little goslings swimming along with mum and dad. Unfortunately, I haven’t captured any decent river pictures of that phase, though this gaggle of geese will certainly suffice.

^ Old mill on the river. It was pretty common, about 150 years ago, to have many mills operating along the river in towns all over the world. Not only was the river a good means of conveying goods back and forth, the river current was sufficient to run the mill wheels. Many towns were built up from this milling activity. This is one of my favourite river pictures. It is the preserved remains of one of these mills.

^ Feather Grass. Although it obviously has a botannical name, it’s lost on me. This feather grass grows wild, somewhat further away from the riverbank.

^ Gnarly trees. Oh, it is sometimes peculiar what nature does with trees, when erosion takes place. This may actually be two trees, winding around each other. The water was absolutely still and glass-like on this day, as well.

^ Sunken boathouse. Although haphazard looking, this old garage is most likely intentionally positioned as a boathouse. It appears to be moored fairly well, as it hasn’t sunk down any further as long as I’ve lived here.

^ Birds of a feather. Yes, these geese, seagulls and mallard ducks all hang out together. The local residents in this park feed them regularly, so they know where to come if there’s not enough to eat in the river.

^ Garter snake. Oh, come on..they’re not that creepy. This garter snake, a very common variety around here, is lazily resting on the pathway that winds along beside the river. (its head is tucked underneath in this picture). He was fine, he’d moved on when I passed the same point on my way back a little later.

^ Mallard ducks. Here’s a bunch of female mallard ducks swimming along, on a lazy summer afternoon. I’m glad I had the opportunity to the same.

^ Fallen branches. Although the town tries to keep the erosion under control, there are always numerous tree limbs that fall into the river. This is just nature’s way. It makes for nice river pictures though. Fortunately, the town doesn’t remove these unless they’re causing some obstruction to the flow of the river.

^ Fall on the river. I captured this nice bucolic river picture on this beautiful, early fall afternoon. One of the nicest things about a natural watercourse is its various reflective qualities.

^ Another gnarly tree. This tree almost looks like some kind of serpent. This is only part of it, it stretches horizontally more than vertically. Ever so weird.

^ Mallard ducks in winter. You’d wonder what they find to eat all winter. Although kindly residents toss them bread and other treats at regular intervals. The river is usually partially frozen for at least a couple of months. The males have a very different colouring here than in summer, while the females retain their same speckled coat.

I really wish you could be here to see the river, the creatures, the trees and vegetation for yourself. It’s also fairly quiet down by the river, away from the relative hustle-bustle of the city. In the summer the Scugog river is a favourite of boaters, canoeists, and anglers. Although it’s not as clean as it could be (not quite clean enough to swim in), it’s still a beautiful place to be, just to take a bit of time out and relax, especially on a lazy summer day.

If you ever need to relax, and get away from your hectic schedule, just come back here and sit and let these river pictures soothe your soul.

As always, these pictures are copyright (2011) by timorous+ and may not be copied or used without my consent. Please respect my wishes. Thank you.