Grimsby and Niagara escarpment

Yesterday we decided that we would look for the Niagara escarpment and discovered that it is just outside our front door, in the distance. All we can see is a huge bank of trees on a hill/plateau that stretches forever. Anyway we made our way up the mountain (by car) to Beamer's Conservation area where we parked and took a trail through the heavily wooded escarpment to 3 different outlooks which allowed views of Grimsby and Lake Ontario.

It was impossible to take a photo that would show the sheer drop there was in places. Most of it is obscured by trees. this photo shows a little of the rock formation. In one place we could see down as far as the river Niagara below. It was like standing at the top of a gorge or canyon.

There were steep steps all the way down to the river Niagara in one place but I took a dizzy fit as there were no handrails so we decided to give it a miss. The weather was kind enough to allow us to spend over an hour walking without hoods up.

As the day was much better than Friday we decided to retrace our steps and check on the lake and the Canada Geese. We found Lake Ontario in a much more affable mood and the geese much happier .

There were people about whereas the last day only us eejits braved the weather.

Not a wave in sight!

The dog was happily wagging its tail!

In retracing our steps we managed to take photos of houses we had just glimpsed last time round. These were in an area of Grimsby called Auditorium Circle. In 1859 , the Methodist Niagara District established a camp meeting ground in a natural clearing in the trees near Lake Ontario.Tent sites were set up around the clearing, and a speaker's platform constructed. When the Ontario Methodist Camp Meeting Ground Company was formed in 1875, gingerbread cottages were built on the tent sites around Auditorium Circle. They are beautifully decorated.

We had initially parked in front of the yellow one but the owners arrived and we had to move. They were very friendly and gave us lots of information.

This is the monument in the middle of Auditorium Circle.

The plaque on the monument.

Front of Rick and Eva's where we're staying.

The man who lives in this gingerbread house and who owns the red sports car does all the painting of the houses. According to our source, "he's a very colorful character".

Car and garage.

Patio and garden.

Jim has been spending quite a lot of time pursuing birds and finally he has captured some!

A very colourful and noisy bird!

And this male and female of the American Robin species. He was so busy trying to catch these two that he didn't notice the squirrel enjoying his nuts!

While we were in Victoria we had spent a lot of time watching a robin darting in and out of the garden but hadn't managed to get a photo. We also enjoyed watching a pair of hummingbirds - the last time we saw hummingbirds was when we were in Mexico. We also noticed that there was very little in the way of birdsong in the mornings and evenings. It's a different story here. The dawn chorus is fantastic - totally different to home, a cacophany of whistles and shrieks. In the evening the above red bird is the most vocal and has lots to scream at us!

Today was Fort Erie in a deluge and  Niagara-on-the-Lake in brilliant sunshine!