An Insider's Guide to Waterloo Region

These pictures were taken early this morning along the boardwalk at Riverside Park in Cambridge. The birds and other animals were not looking for human handouts but were busy singing, making nests and feasting on new plant growth.

Skunk cabbage flower, Osprey, Red-tailed Hawk, Red-winged Blackbird, Blue Jay, Mallard Duck, Chickadee, Song Sparrow

Here is a collage of pictures taken this morning at Riverside Park in Cambridge. (the Osprey was outside the park along the Grand River)

The temperature was a “balmy” 7C today but this group of teenaged boys kept warm while doing stunts on bikes and skateboards at Riverside Park in Cambridge. An artist applied spray paint to the wall which faded during the winter months.

I still expect to see children in the school yard at the Dickie Settlement School when I drive past it on my way to and from Cambridge on the Roseville Road. Here is some history from the Region of Waterloo website.

“Today Dickie Settlement is thought of as the corner of Roseville Road and Dickie Settlement Road in North Dumfries Township. In 1833, a larger settlement area was purchased by John Dickie and his brother William Dickie who purchased three lots in Concession XII. Although the families dispersed in the later nineteenth century, some of them moving to New Zealand, the area kept its association with the family name. In 1861 the North Dumfries Township S.S. No. 25 school was built at the corner, known as the Dickie Settlement School; it was active continuously until it was closed in June 1998.”

The school building is now privately owned. (map)

I walked along the Linear Trail after work yesterday. The Grand River is ice free following the thaw and rain we had last weekend and is home to many ducks which come south to winter in our region. Goldeneye, Bufflehead and Merganser ducks are found along this stretch of the river. This memorial bench is ideally situated for watching the river. On the opposite bank is the RARE Charitable Research Reserve. It is not uncommon to see deer on these river flats.

Common Mergansers and Common Goldeneye Ducks on the Grand River