11/01/2022
Another amazing aerial shot of Presqu'ile!
In this photo, we are looking west, with the lighthouse at the bottom left of the photo, Owen Point at the top left, and the town of Colborne at the top middle. The road on the right side of the peninsula is the residential road, lined with homes and cottages. This strip of land along the north shore of the peninsula is part of the Municipality of Brighton.
The large piece of land at the bottom left of the photo was once an island made of limestone bedrock, but became attached to the mainland by the build up of a sandspit. This portion of the park is mostly covered by mixed forest.
Due to the influence of the lake, this forest tends to have a cooler than normal microclimate, and a tendency toward moist conditions due to poor drainage.
The cool, humid microclimate of Presqu'ile is reflected in the interesting forest plants found here. For example Striped Maple is unusually common at Presqu'ile. This species is rare locally and is more typical of the southern Canadian Shield around Algonquin Park.
Clearing of the land for farming and other human activities has resulted in a variety of forest ages and successional stages at Presqu'ile. Much of the forest which remains is fairly mature, exceeding 75 years of age.
The dark patches of trees are plantations of native and non-native coniferous trees, planted by previous park management for a variety of reasons. Some of the trees were planted to provide protection from the winds while others were planted in an attempt to reforest the park.
These dense plantations are virtually lifeless in comparison with nearby natural forest. Little sunlight reaches the ground and so there is essentially no understory vegetation. The lack of understory and plant diversity produced by rows of even aged trees mean that only a few bird and mammal species find the plantations to be attractive habitat.
Overall, Presqu'ile is a small but very biodiverse park, with 7 naturally occurring habitats that are home to an abundance of flora and fauna. You can learn more about the nature of Presqu'ile on the Friends of Presqu'ile website (https://bit.ly/3zWFQzI) or by visiting Presqu'ile's Nature Centre, open daily in July and August.
📷 Eye In The Sky Photography