Ile Bizard is an island northwest of the main island of Montreal. It was originally called Île Bonaventure but eventually acquired the name Île Bizard, after Jacques Bizard, whose fiefdom or seigneurie it became in 1678. The island was farmed for many years, and stone walls still run through its woods. Today upscale suburban developments hug much of the shoreline, and the island is home to several exclusive golf courses. But the entire interior is a nature preserve, with nature trails that pass through a number of habitats, most notably a large cattail-filled wetland with a well-maintained boardwalk that protects the habitat and allows access by visitors on foot.
The beaver population is obviously active – we saw many recently-cut trunks – but an interpretive sign said that the adult male beavers had been castrated for population control “without apparent disruption to the beavers’ social life or activity.”
On Friday - probably one of the last real fall days this year - the dragonflies were doing their best to make up for the lack of beaver’s sexual activity. Population control in this species seems to consist of too-low pond flyovers – the pair I photographed ended up in the water, unable to take off again, and I saw numerous other floating dragonflies who had met the same fate. If they don’t drift into a patch of vegetation quickly, their wings seem to become waterlogged and they drown.
Past the marsh, the path entered a beautiful deciduous woods, made up mostly of mature maples and beech. Frost had already hit most of the rest of the park, but in this area, the leaves were still brilliant and still on the trees. It was one of the loveliest forests I’ve ever walked in, and to my surprise, the dominant fern here was the maidenhair, rare in much of the northeastern U.S., growing in lush patches everywhere under the canopy.
We walked for several hours, stopping to take photos, eat the lunch we’d packed, watching ducks and a pileated woodpecker whose call seemed to follow and accompany us as we circumnavigated the park. It was a day of gold and silver, a last fling for what’s been a glorious fall: today it’s raining hard and the leaves are coming down.
Thank you so much for making this video, Beth! I haven't had my own last fling with fall yet this year and now I simply have to head to the woods. Beautiful.
Posted by: ps pirro | October 27, 2008 at 10:57 AM
Beautiful images. The days here in eastern Massachusetts have been so warm and still, it doesn't seem like winter could be on the way. It's been a glorious fall.
I appreciate the effort you took to morph your collection of photos into a video. It seems to represent a day of rare tranquility.
Thanks for posting it.
Posted by: EasyDiverChris | October 27, 2008 at 02:12 PM
Well I am glad to hear that castration doesn't interfere with their social life!
Lovely video of what sounds like a lovely day, the morphing is interesting...
Posted by: Lucy | October 28, 2008 at 03:27 PM
Nice video Beth, what are you shooting with? I have a new Sony XD Cam and still learning how to work with the HD footage.
Posted by: zuleme | October 29, 2008 at 07:51 AM
some really cool pics in your blog. nice job.
Posted by: spencer | November 16, 2008 at 12:29 AM