Basking in the Lee (oil on canvas, 5 x 10 in.) Sold

17 April found us looking for fresh water mussels at White Lake (also called Inglesby Lake) south of Erinsville, Ontario. The sun was warm, but the wind was violent on this the last day of our Chorus Frog expedition. The whole shore of the lake is privately held except for a brushy road allowance and a small township boat launch.

White Lake Road runs close to the shore in some places and while we were scouting for access to the lake we paused beside a little bay or pond, sheltered from the windy lake by a narrow bar. The Cedars growing on it were tossing their tops, but enjoying this shelter, a row of four Painted Turtles basked on the bleached roots of an old fallen tree. Leopard Frogs were calling right beside the road. Not having time to stop and paint, I took a few photos. I have just finished this painting and it has been fun to work with a long, narrow composition for a change! I have not exaggerated the colour of the lake. Its vivid turquoise is due to its being shallow and marly, and to the waves lifting the water up so that we can look into it.

We'd spent the previous extremely windy night finding the northern range limits of Chorus Frogs along Hwys 62 & 41, south from Bancroft to Madoc (Hwy 62), east on Highway 7 to Kaladar, north from Kaladar to Bon Echo Park, and then south back through Kaladar to Erinsville. It was so windy that as we drove we could only listen on the leeward side of the vehicle, with stops at historic records. Along Highway 62, Chorus Frogs were heard every few kilometres south of 20.1 km NNW Bannockburn; there had not been any previous records along this highway. Along Highway 41, no calling was heard north or south of Kaladar, but populations were discovered at the historic sites around Cloyne and east of there along Highway 506. We spent the hours from 05h30-10h00 at the Erinsville lakeside park, sleeping in the front seats of the van, and then continued our survey around White Lake, Dry Lake, and Lime Lake, and then head for home while it's still afternoon, glad for once for the wind as it blows us homeward along Hwy 401.