Mount Douglas Park 2

Mount Douglas Park has a splendid grove of enormous Bigleaf Maple trees. At this time of year they provide this perfect autumn carpet.

Mount Douglas Maples

One of the reasons I like to visit Mount Douglas Park at this time of year is that the lower part of the park has some of the biggest Bigleaf Maples in the area and they always provide a fine and photogenic carpet of newly fallen leaves.

Wild Blossoms

One of my favorite blossoming trees is a species of our national tree, the Maple. According to Wikipedia there are 128 species of this tree but I am quite confident that the one pictured above is a native of this area. It's a Big Leaf Maple (Acer macrophyllum). Its fresh green leaves and rich hanging bunches of tiny flowers seem particularly characteristic of spring here.

Spring!

We're getting lots of April Showers these days but after winter's long doldrums spring is forging ahead. The Maple blossoms above and Apple blossoms below are testament to that. They were photographed at Swan Lake last week. I think one of the reasons we like spring so much is because there is so much young, new growth, like babies, and who can resist that fresh, newly minted perfection? It's like we all were before life marked and wore us.

Variation on a Theme

This is a favourite subject of mine at this time of year, the way sunbeams catch the new leaves of the Bigleaf Maples. It's like a butterfly ballet.

Goldstream Park

Most of the wildflowers I've been photographing lately are found in conjunction with the Garry Oak Ecosystem. Last week Fern and I went out to another eco-zone - the temperate rain forest that is found in Goldstream Park. Though not so rich in spring wildflowers as the sunnier and more open Garry Oak locations our rain forest is also full of burgeoning growth at this time of year. Above, a beam of sunlight catches the mosses and young leaves on some Bigleaf Maple trees.

Mount Douglas Maples

During the fall I always try to get out to Mount Douglas Park in order to see the wonderful carpet of leaves that are shed by the giant Bigleaf Maples.

Patterns of Recycling

Some of the maple trees shedding their leaves in Thetis Lake Regional Park are playing host to some other species that is leaving interesting patterns on their leaves. I don't know whether these circular patches filled with black dots are the eggs of some insect or the the results of a fungus or....

Maples

I'm happy to be back in full color again, having recovered from last week's computer malaise. I went out to Thetis Lake Park yesterday to see if the rains of the last few days have brought out any mushrooms. I didn't find any but I did enjoy the brilliant yellows and browns of the Big Leaf Maples (Acer macrophyllum) in the park. These leaves, in a stylized version, are on our national flag, though the flag maple is not meant to represent a specific species. Big Leaf Maples are mostly found on the Pacific Coast. In the eastern part of Canada other kinds of maple trees are found.

Bigleaf Maple Seeds

Before taking up photography I used to associate maples with autumn because of the vibrant shades of red, orange and brown their leaves display at that time of year. However, now I look at things a little more closely and find maples pretty spectacular at any time of year. Above are some maple seeds with their wonderfully evolved "wings" that will carry them a good distance away from their parent tree. Earlier this spring I published some photos of the maple flowers.

Maples

Fern and I spent the afternoon walking through the forest near Witty's Lagoon. There are several trails from the parking lot down to the lagoon but no matter which one you choose you will walk beneath giant maple trees. At this time of year they are bursting with their new leaves and the racemes of greenish yellow flowers that seem to radiate light. I'm not very good at identifying trees but I'm guessing this is what is called Bigleaf Maple (Acer macrophyllum). As well as bearing these lovely flowers the maple trees here seem to be more favored by mosses and lichens than other species of tree and older limbs look like they are coated with thick green fur.