Duncan Creek, German Mills Creek, East Don River

I love finding quirks in geography.  Basically, all the streams found in Toronto flow south to Lake Ontario but I found at least one exception - Duncan Creek flows north to join with German Mills Creek which continues on a northerly route to where it flows into the East Don River and that stream flows south to unite with the West Don River which continues in a southerly direction to where it flows into Lake Ontario.

Thanks to a detailed map of the walking trails issued by the City of Toronto I discovered this walk and - like with some other walks - I had to journey for a fair distance on transit to reach the 'trail head'. I rode on two subway lines and then a bus taking more than an hour all told.

Once on the trail, the view certainly was enticing! Remember - you can click on any - or all - photos to view an enlargement.

Along the path shown in this photo I encountered a bird which we never see out west - a Cardinal! A female was busy in a thicket gathering material for a nest that would be high in a tree.

I don't know what has happened to this photo - however, if you click upon the square in the text the photo will appear.

I wonder if I got some photos mixed up as the walk was in the spring and the leaves of the maple trees do not become scarlet until October.

                                                               Duncan Mills Creek

                                                  Only a few of the leaves were fully out .

                                      The creek growing in size as smaller tributaries empty into it.

                                              Light and shadow on the surface of the stream.

       A young evergreen tree and the needles - accentuated by some sunlight - look yellow.
       

                                              A woolly caterpillar crossing the bicycle path 

                       Only a few feet away a young garter snake was doing the same thing!

    A maple tree. Due to the higher sugar content, the leaves of maples are much more vivid in color.

                Nearby the tree shown above is a pond (in B.C. this would be called 'a slough')

                                                A mallard family are calling the pond 'home'

                                                    The same pond but from another angle.

By this time I was not walking along Duncan Creek nor German Mills Creek but the East Don River.

The East Don River

                                          Some white water - but more a reflection of the sky.

                                                    More vivid colors along the East Don

A railway trestle used by freight trains as well as commuter trains to some northeast suburbs.

Thank you to all the people from around the world who are reading my blogs - your interest is much appreciated!