Dispatch from Petrie #171, August 2026

Early in the first week of August I arrived at Petrie well before sunrise hoping for some beaver activity, herons waking up or maybe even some otters. Well it was not to be…..

(Maybe more of a long botany session)

In the early “light”, I did find a small group of wood ducks and some edgy mallards

A mist over the water, caught the sunrise light

For the past 25 years this tree in Muskrat Bay has always caught my eye when the early morning lights it.

(Reminder: To view any image full screen, just click on it)

The birds that I did catch:

a male wood duck lifting off in the early light, a cormorant, a spotted sandpiper who would not pose on shore,

an osprey, a robin eating buckthorn berries, a song sparrow, the only little bird that would sit still for a few seconds,

a Canada goose family.

As I was leaving mid-morning, a great blue heron fly in to the far side of Turtle Pond into the reeds – no usable photo.

See listing at end of the birds the Merlin App thought it heard.

Two kayakers were out on the bays shortly after sunrise. One found 2 or 3 beaver swimming on the far side of Muskrat Bay, the only beavers I saw. The kayaker, right-hand photo, didn’t notice the beaver swimming behind her back.

An early walker on the river shore

During the night the raccoons had also been out on the river shore, and elsewhere

In this spot it seemed the raccoon(s) was walking east, did some side stepping in the middle, and then carried on. A turtle trail(?) was leading to the right.

Seemed someone had a bike along the shoreline???

A red squirrel was running down the trail, spotted me, stopped, then carried on a bit closer. A chipmunk did the same thing 10 minutes later.

A very few turtles were basking: a painted turtle with a shiny shell, and second painted turtle shedding it’s scute “plates”. A map and painted turtle sharing a log.

Lots of dew drops in the early morning

A few insects that co-operated for photos – bumble bee laden with pollen, water bug, tachind fly, a solitary Japanese beetle. (They usually attack the Virginia creeper vines in droves)

Yellow flowers: evening primrose (2x), bread and butter, goldenrod, fringed loosestrife, sowthistle

Mauvish flowers:

Purple loosestrife (3x), showy tick-trefoil,

common milkpea (new one to me, I thought crown vetch🙄), joe pye weed, morning glory/bindweed

Blue flowers: chicory, Allegheny monkeyflower, pickerel weed, pickerel weed and a flowering rush

It’s been a long time since I saw cardinal flower at Petrie. Years ago it was plentiful in a secluded place, but that area is impassable now. I was happy to see a few stems of the flower out in the open. Hummingbirds love it.

White flowers:

bladder campion, soapwort (been blooming in that spot for years!), a very tiny green carpetweed,

white willow dock, white meadowsweet, dogbane (2x),

white sweet clover, a late blooming anemone (2x) buried in the grass, (second photo with white bubbles/froth), yarrow,

late blooming dogwood (see berries), white water lily and a new one to me: common valerain (2x)

Virgin’s-bower is a fast growing vine that produces white flowers

I think this is the “going to seed” stage of the ninebark shrub. I learned of ninebark when I first came to Petrie. This shrub is in the same general area I remember it being back then, so maybe it is the same bush

Berries: Dogwood, bittersweet (They turn a bright orange for winter and I take too many photos) highbush cranberry (2x), buckthorn, honeysuckle, riverside grape, elderberry