A spring walk along the Lake Huron shore

It's officially spring and a lovely sunny day, so we took a walk along the Lake Huron shore, about a 15 minute walk from where we live, through a local campground:

New steps this year on the beach access road.

This stretch of beach has a number of cottages up on the shoreline bluffs, with access down the slope from some:

Some stairs recently built or rebuilt, and reinforced shoreline

The upper deck looks inviting, but Private

Economy steps, but usable...

  ... whereas these need some work done to maintain the lakeside access:

 

It's worth the trouble to have shoreline access though:

 

Kind of on the cool side today, with a brisk breeze from the southwest:

Here's a short video clip with lots of wind noise:

Her dog was far more interested in the ball than the view

We were even serenaded by the first Cardinal we've been close to this year:

Just a little spot of colour

These steps are much appreciated for ascending this steep hill

Some Tundra swans are back - it must be Spring!

 Well, maybe spring isn't here to stay, but we've had some nice mild weather this winter. It makes us think there will be an early spring, but we've been fooled before. 

 Seeing the swans return has become one of our spring rituals. The swan migration seems to be starting a week or two earlier than the norms this year, usually the peak around here is mid-March-ish. There were an estimated 1,000 swans reported yesterday morning, so we drove to the  area we usually visit for viewing.  

Here's a link to some swan-related Lambton Museum information  <Calendar>  <General Info>.  The Museum is on Highway 21, just across from the Pinery Provincial Park. The swan fields are along sideroads to the east of the museum (ie away from the Lake Huron shores), particularly along Greenway Drive.

 There were likely less than 1,000 swans when we were there later yesterday afternoon. There's usually more water in the viewing field, but not as much snow to melt this year.

 

 

The swan numbers vary widely by the day or even between morning and afternoon. Nice to see though, and we'll be checking in on them periodically.