A lovely place for a walk when the snow melts!
I bet there were people who snowshoed here in winter.
There is a lovely walk around Roger's Pond.

A warm spring day, the water rushes along the rivers. We were on a morning drive to see which birds had returned to Ontario. In the Harris government's grand scheme, they amalgamated many cities and towns. On the edge of Ottawa, miles from the 'city' per se, we went into the Marlborough Forest.
It's part of Cedar Grove Trail (PDF). We have so many wonderful places to walk and view nature.

We didn't see any animals. They know to keep away from cars!

This forest has many interesting plants, according to a 1986 study, all sleeping, of course.

Mountain Blue Moss or Club Moss (Lycopodium selago)
Whorled Milkwort (Polygala verticillata)
Ginseng - (rare in Ontario) (Panax quinquefolium)
Speedwell (Veronica catenata)
Heath Aster (Aster ericoides)

Over the past few years 60 deer have been captured in Marlborough Forest and fitted with a
mixture of GPS and radio tracking collars. Using the collars, information on deer
movements, daily activity and cause of death is being collected. (Read more here, PDF)

Keith Munro (@thedeerproject) has just finished his trapping and tagging for the winter. His last traps are pulled.

Twitter / thedeerproject: Deer can get used to anything. ...

"The goal of this project is to learn how the actions of hunters, predators and landowners affect

deer behaviour. This information will be used to explore management practices that influence deer behaviour to reduce negative deer-human interactions."
I say, just slow the heck down on our roads! The road kill is extraordinary and unnecessary in many cases. Speed kills!

An old homestead

Cedar forest, shallow soil

This area was settled after 1816

Downstream A river runs through it

If you like the sound of rushing water, I made a video!

Is there anything better than listening to the rushing of a stream or river in spring?

Just before we got there, we spotted a strange flag. It is a Confederate flag, with a skull and crossbones on it. (?)

We counted 19 in this photo, last night there were 20, altogether.

Now, we aren't professional trackers, but it would be interesting to follow them!

We know that they winter together, in 'winter yards', but once summer comes, they spread out in the forest and we seldom see them.

Lots of moose and deer across highway 60
through Algonquin Park

I love watching our deer. They are tricky to photograph.

Tigger last summer!

This is why they call them 'white-tails'

There is a researcher, Ph.D candidate Keith Munro, tracking deer in the Marlborough Forest. You can find this forest just west of North Gower, near Paden Rd., north of Merrickville.

Keith Munro You can follow him on Twitter: @thedeerproject

I'm a PhD candidate at Trent University. I am capturing and collaring white-tailed deer to study their biology, behaviour and response to humans.

Peterborough/Kemptville, ON

He's made the CBC news!
Deer tracked with GPS in Ontario study

... Natural Resources and Trent University are in Eastern Ontario tracking deer in ... them away from roads and drop deer/vehicle collision rates," he said.

I think it a good idea. He plans on tracking deer using GPS collars. I have written about the high collision rates in near-by Mississippi Mills. It is peculiar how some spots are worse than others.

Nap time, mommy?

I hope that tracking the deer doesn't change them. Ours are so easily spooked. The cats, or turkeys make them run, and they spook easily. Watching the captures on the CBC video makes me feel for the deer.

Ours are easily spooked.
Todays high winds, 60 - 90 km gusts, have the deer quite petrified. They bolt when the gusts come through.

A bird can startle them, when mourning doves flap about and flutter, too!