The warm days of early fall are gone and our mornings have become frosty and cool.The monotone colors of late fall are emerging .  Today  I visited Mer Bleue Bog and found these last bits of color covered in frost.

Rideau Hall (c. 1838) is the residence of Canada’s Governor General, the British monarch’s representative in Canada. We’re lucky that a large portion of the grounds of this historic property are open to the public and right now the mix of deciduous trees is presenting a fabulous display of fall colors. Many of the architectural features of the gardens and grounds are of recent vintage and little seems to remain from the early days of the estate, at least in the public areas. This lovely stone bench being the only exception I could find when I visited this week. Seeing it made me wonder who might have paused to rest there while touring the grounds, since Rideau Hall and the Governor General have entertained many visiting dignitaries in the last century. King George VI? President Eisenhower? Winston Churchill? John Kennedy? One never knows…

I got up before dawn to take a 30 minute drive to Pink Lake in Gatineau Park on Saturday. When I arrived in was still pitch black out so I waited in the dark (and deserted) parking lot until there was barely enough light to set out on the trail around the lake. By the time the light was reasonably good, several other photographers had arrived and we sort of leap-frogged our way around the trail, trying to avoid shooting each other. Anyway, here is a sample:

This is the walk I meant to take yesterday - the boardwalk at Mer Bleue Bog in Ottawa. After leaving the spot from which I took this shot I walked further down the boardwalk and turned around. At exactly the spot I had been standing was a heron perched on the railing. It would have been a fantastic shot if my lens had been a little longer!

I had a destination in mind today for some photography and decided to take Hamish along for the walk.  I was careful to check the rules of the park but must have misunderstood, because dogs were not allowed on my planned path.     One path was open but it proved to be tough walking – very overgrown and boggy.  Here are a couple shots from our abbreviated walk.

These red maple leaves were just beginning to fall and began to cover the thick fern-like growth on the forest floor.

This leaf caught my eye – it was glistening in the morning light, at first it seemed suspended in mid-air. I figured it had been snagged by a spiderweb but then when I examined it on my monitor, I thought the ‘thread’ looked more like thread than spiderweb. I’ve no idea what it is!