Down by the River

I decided to take a tiny break between working on Rapunzel, and switching to Little Red Riding Hood. (Yes, good ol' Theatre Orangeville Young Company...) and lured by one of my cardinals calling, decided to wander down and check out the pond.

We've had such an unusual amount of heavy rainfall in the last while that the pond level has increased as if it were spring. Up to a week ago, the water level was receding, as it does every August, and sandy shoals were being revealed, where I could check for signs of snapping turtles. (No signs as of yet.)
Well now the shoreline has expanded outwards by six to eight feet, and much of the edge area is all swampy again. And places that had been dry sand where a cat could roll and get good and gritty, are now under 8 to 10 inches of water!

And I could hear the river. Usually by this time of year, the river is almost invisible and silent under a verdant growth of Joe Pye Weed and Jewelweed. So I fumbled my way through the chest high wet grass up to the road, where I'd be able to see the river from the bridge. While I was looking, I noticed a new bright flower I'd never seen before. However, I couldn't see it well enough to be able to identify it, so came back for the camera. Even with the telephoto I wasn't getting much definition, so had to climb on down to get as close as I could. (Not that close. River's edge is pretty marshy!)



Anyway, I'm fairly certain it's a Cardinal Flower. (Rather appropriate since it was a cardinal who'd called me out!) http://www.wildflowersofontario.ca/cardinal.html

And a quick shot of my faithful companion for this expedition...