The forest is very dense on this side of the highway, making navigating much more difficult and tiring. When I would stop to look around for wildlife or interesting plants, the mosquitoes would then be all over me, basically forcing me to keep moving. I knew I wasn't going to last long out there in these conditions! I worked my way the south end of the property to the open-water portion of the wetland.

Northern Blue Flag is in bloom right now and there were a couple of them right here as well. A very pretty flower! Then a Red Squirrel came running down a tree and started yelling at me, just like every other time I'm in the middle of nowhere. These forest squirrels aren't as friendly as the ones that come to my bird feeders!

Just up from there, I found a great vantage point of the wetland. You'd never know there's so much open water back here based on what you can see from the highway! This wetland is part of the Kensington Complex, a provincially significant wetland. This means that it has extra protections against development and other activities that could compromise the function of the wetland. 

Thanks once again for reading my virtual tour. The weather forecast looks great next week, so hopefully rain won't delay me again.

I've added a few more photos from my tour below. The photos certainly aren't my best, but I blame the bugs!

As I hiked through the forest, I didn't find much out of the ordinary. Lots of warblers were singing from the treetops and the usual forest flowers were out, like Canada mayflower, bunchberry, and starflower. I did come across these interesting fungi though. I'm not sure what species they are and I may never know, as fungi are notoriously difficult to identify. I'll post them on iNaturalist though and see if someone does know!  

I eventually made it down to the south end of the property, where there is an open rock face that overlooks the mouth of the Stobie Creek. What a view! This photo is another example of how high the water is in our area this year. Before the high water of the past couple of years, you wouldn't have been able to see any standing water in the actual wetland area like you do now. 

Unfortunately, the nice view does not extend directly to the south over the Portlock Harbour. The two photos below give you an idea of how far south you can see from here.

This open area did seem to have a little more to find than the forest did, in terms of insects. Here is a Little Wood Satyr, a species of butterfly, and a Racket-tailed Emerald, a species of dragonfly. Both of these were species I had never seen before, so that was exciting for me.

From here, I worked my way down and around to get to the very south end of the property that does overlook the Portlock Harbour, although from at water level. The line of trees gives you another idea of how high the water is, as they've died from too much water.

I saw two duck families from here! The first one below is a family of Common Goldeneyes and the second one is a family of Wood Ducks. Both mothers did an excellent job at getting their ducklings away from me as fast as possible. I wish I could've said sorry for accidentally disturbing them! 

I hiked around through the forest some more, but the bugs were getting bad, it was getting hot out, and I wasn't finding much of interest. So I worked my way back to my car and drove around the public access point on the east side of the Stobie Creek so that I could take in the view of the wetland from this angle. The view is below!

There were a lot of birds to be seen and heard here. Marsh Wrens and Common Yellowthroats were singing, Red-winged Blackbirds were all over, a Belted Kingfisher was making a racket, a couple Soras were calling, and Common Terns, a Caspian Tern, and an Osprey were fishing over the wetland. Then, all of the sudden, I heard a low, distant "coo coo coo coo" coming from the middle of the wetland. A Least Bittern! It called repetitively for the rest of the time I was there. If you're not familiar with Least Bitterns, they're a very small, heron-like bird that's super secretive. They are considered a rare bird for the area and is listed as "threatened" on the Ontario species at risk list. This is the first modern record of one within the TKC focus area and I'm excited that it's in a wetland that TKC protects! I managed a recording of it on my phone, which can be heard here. It's hard to hear, but it's best heard in the first few seconds of the clip.

At the south end of the open area, I found some Eastern Tent Caterpillars. While their nests can be pretty "gross", contrary to popular belief, they are a native species and a natural part of the local ecosystem. They're actually quite pretty looking caterpillars, but in moth form, they're brown and plain. The solid yellow line down their back differentiates them from Forest Tent Caterpillars, which have spots down the back. Forest Tent Caterpillars go through 10-15 year cycles where they are really abundant and can cause significant damage, but they are also a native species. 

In all the time I've spent out in nature in my life, I've luckily never run into a bear. I've seen plenty, but always when I've been in the comfort of a vehicle or house, or at least very close to either. Black Bears are definitely found on the Black Hole Preserve though. I've found their scat many times and often it's pretty fresh. This pine tree has had claw marks on it from a bear for years now and I always point it out when I take groups in for a tour. 

After a quick trip through the treeline south of the open area, I made it to the wetland. This is a view that I'll never get tired of. The photo doesn't really do it justice either, it's something you have to experience in person. On a typical year, TKC offers guided hikes, at no charge, to TKC preserves, so if you're interested in seeing this yourself, let me know!

After taking in the view, I looked down and realized that I was surrounded by Pink Lady's Slippers! There were well over a dozen of them right here. Also shown below is some Round-leaved Sundew. This plant is pretty hard to photograph, so you'll have to come see it in person someday to get a good look at it. They're a carnivorous plant! Insects get stuck to them, then the plant digests them. 

After wrapping up my hike, I headed over the the northeast corner of the Black Hole Preserve to the old bridge that goes over the Anderson Creek. Many of you have likely seen this bridge while driving by on Highway 17, but many of you might not have known that it's on TKC property. Anderson Creek flows from some small lakes north of here and empties out into Anderson Bay, just west of Kensington Point.

While standing on the bridge, I could see maybe a dozens bumblebees buzzing around this blooming choke cherry. There were at least two species of bumblebee here, the first one is a Tricoloured Bumble Bee and the second one is a Common Eastern Bumble Bee. I've personally seen 6 species of bumblebee around here, but there's been 14 recorded on iNaturalist for the Algoma District. Next time you see one, try to take a picture and see if you can identify it! 

Thanks again for taking the time to read my virtual tour, I hope you enjoyed it! Below are some more scenic photos of the wetlands here, should you be interested in checking them out.

Stay tuned for next week's tour!