We hiked on the Napier Ranch Conservation Area tracks and slopes on a spring day.    Our route took us along a double track across a benchland to an old homestead, then up the grassland slopes to the hills above.    This was a working ranch but it is now part of the Nature Conservancy of Canada lands, with cattle grazing integrated by wildlife and the natural grasslands ecosystem.

While hiking we spotted a fox, a coyote, deer, and many birds, including a red-tailed hawk, barn swallows (nesting in the attic of the homestead), and bluebirds.    We spotted installed burrowing owl nests and many insects.

A few photos are shared here, including sticky geranium (Geranium viscosissimum), parsnip-flowered buckwheat (Eriogonum heracleoides) , chokecherry (Prunus virginiana), and giant wildrye grass (Elymus cinereus).    Click an image for a lightbox view and a caption.

sticky geranium

chokecherry

burrowing owl nest

parnsip-flowered buckwheat

giant wildrye on the grassland slopes

Napier Ranch

sticky geranium

This is a peaceful spot, another gem in the grasslands hills.