Just some some pics from today's hike at Torrance Barrens up around Parry Sound in central Ontario, roughly 2 hours or so from Toronto on the Canadian shield. I found out about the place on a field trip during my second year in university where we went to go look at the 2 billion year old gneiss outcrops and do some stargazing. It was absolutely amazing but I didn't have a camera at the time :(. The weather was great, low 20's, clear skies , and a light breeze to keep the deer flies away...for the most part. Overall it was a pretty good walk, not terribly strenuous, and lots to see in terms of scenery and critters. Ever since I was a kid I've always had a fascination with creepy crawlies, frogs, newts, snakes, lizards, bugs, etc. I finally manage to spot some five-lined skinks in clear view for the first time. They're not terribly common in Ontario and if I recall a species of special concern, so I was having a field day and checking off another reptile from the list!
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| An adolescent skink- as they age their bright blue tail gradually fade to brown as do their stripes. As you can see this one has a relatively grey tail.. |
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a female protecting her clutch of eggs - oops for intruding
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| a really big glacial erratic picked up and dropped some time in the last 20,000 to 12,000 years |
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