“Green Carpet” – Oak Ferns at Secord Forest
“Our green valleys will be greener once we fully grasp the infinite vitality of the green!”
― Mehmet Murat Ildan
Despite the clouds of mosquitoes that call this forest home, I enjoyed, with the help of a good bug repellent, observing all the fresh new growth emerging from the brown litter of last year’s leaves. There is still a lot of brown showing interspersed with rapidly expanding carpets of foliage, like the Oak Ferns above.
The Secord Forest is a conservation area close to my home and provides me access to a very diverse forest setting. The circle hike through this lovely forest takes me through grassy meadows, cedar swamp, hardwood ridges and rolling farmland, all along the 4-5 kilometer distance of the trail itself.
Until recently, I had no idea how many varieties of fern call this place home. I’m just starting to be able to recognize the subtle differences in leaf form that distinguish the varieties. I did observe that mosquitoes are particularly fond of almost every variety, as the swarms are thicker in fern patches than in other places.
Nikon D800
Tamron SP 70-200mm f/2.8 Di VC USD @ 165 mm
1/25 sec, f/2.8, ISO 200
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Nice. We have a lot of ferns here too. The New York fern “burns it’s wick at both ends” http://www.ct-botanical-society.org/Plants/view/2626 Makes it easy for me to remember that one. I don’t know if you get that one up in Ontario.
Yes, it grows here too. I’ve found Ontario and Upstate New York have almost the same wildlife. Interestingly, my family is originally from the Mohawk Valley in the 1700’s.
Nice composition.
Thank you