Published: February 6, 2018

By Mark Seth Lender

Willow Flycatchers. (Photo: © Mark Seth Lender)

Mark Seth Lender's first stop on his way to Hudson Bay near the Arctic Circle: Winnipeg.

By Mark Seth Lender

Leopard Frogs. (Left) Canadian Toad. (Right) (Photos: © Mark Seth Lender)

(Oak Hammock Marsh, August 6): The land around Winnipeg gives “flat” a new meaning, and the meaning is pavement. But if you head north and keep on going you come to marshland that at once justifies that evened landscape, and explains what once might have been. The place is called Oak Hammock Marsh. Migratory birds make their rest stop here. I may have seen the beginnings of that, these Willow Flycatchers all together on one branch. Perhaps too young to know I am by definition a threat, they looked and looked and did not fly away. But the great show was on the ground.

Leopard frogs - appropriately spotted as their name implies, and the size of two victorious fingers. Canadian toads, small enough to fit comfortably on a copper Loonie, with jewel-like markings and deep all-seeing eyes.

Canadian Frog Catcher Extraordinaire, Eliot. (Photo: © Mark Seth Lender)

I was able to photograph the toads with the help of my intrepid assistant Eliot, A/K/A The Dreaded Wild Canadian Boy, whose gentle, frog-catching skills were unparalleled.

[Author’s Note: After their respective photo-ops, all frogs and boy were returned safely to their respective homes.]

Back to North Knife: An Expedition to Hudson Bay with Mark Seth Lender