A visit to Cooper's Marsh Conservation Area

Cooper's Marsh is a lovely conservation area not far from here. It is on the shores of Lake Francis, aka the St. Lawrence Seaway. I love it there... lots of birds and wildlife, and three nice trails to walk. Here are some pictures from a recent visit. While there, I saw Black-crowned Night Herons. Oh, and muskrats galore.

The place has full of pretty but invasive purple loosestrife:



Some orange flower I've seen before but forget the name of: (Update: it's spotted jewelweed. Thanks, HWB!)


Sumac:

Water plants:

A female wood duck. (I think!) Her babies were trailing behind her, but I didn't manage to get them in the photo. I was using my little camera with the not-so-impressive zoom lens. Male wood ducks are much fancier. I have photos of them elsewhere on my blog.



One of the lovely boardwalks at Cooper's Marsh:



Northern leopard frogs:





The marsh:



Hmmm, I think it's time for me to go back for another walk!