Hub of Trails : Crossing Brantford
This morning began around 4:30 am with the melodic and flute-like notes of a Wood Thrush above our tent. It was so persistent that Sean thought I was using call paybacks as an alarm clock to wake him up. As the sun began to rise the Thrush was soon joined by an American Robin, an Eastern Wood-pewee, a Red-eyed Vireo, and a Rose-breasted Grosbeak. As we emerged onto the trail around 7:30 am the green corridor was flooded with soft sunlight, the humidity giving everything a dream-like quality. It was already very hot, and the sky looked white from the heat haze. Even in our pictures the blue of the sky is gone, replaced instead with the white humidity. A few kilometers into our hike we came to a large property with a huge mown lawn, an artificial pond, and several large weeping willows. In my head I was criticizing the landscaping choices as ones that wouldn't support any biodiversity. Just then we heard and then saw a family of six Killdeers on the edge of th