Three Counties - Three Parks! Ensley Nature Preserve and more...

 

September 1, 2017

Marie did her homework for this trip and found a very nice preserve.  Ensley Nature Preserve is in the southeast corner of Newaygo County, Michigan. It felt like a very friendly park, nice signs, and a good map.

This is one of the signs along fox trail, notice the fox, and the sign posts were color coded.

 

 Ensley Nature Preserve is mostly woods, with many plants.  One type of plant we found was Indian Cucumber-Root (Medeola virginiasa) Lily Family, they were everywhere.  These plants have already bloomed but they are very colorful in the fall.

 

 We also found an orchid, Autumn Coralroot (Corallorhiza odontorhiza) Orchid family.  This one wasn't blooming. I know it doesn't look like much but I still get excited to find it.

 
There is a wet area to the north of the preserve, from an overlook we could see the white puffs of cottongrass growing here.  But this is private property so we couldn't explore this bog.

Next we traveled just a few miles to Fisk Knob in Kent County. "Fisk Knob is a small park in northeast Kent County that contains the highest point of elevation in the entire county, at 1,072 feet above sea level. Visitors can use the small parking area just off Algoma Rd then hike up the short gated drive to the peak." 
 

 These birds were fun to watch, they would fly off in a huge group then come back to settle on this tower.  They seemed so organized, each one knew where to perch.

 

U.S. COAST & GEODETIC SURVEY REFERENCE MARK at Fisk Knob.

The next park we visited was Moore County Park on Half Moon Lake in Muskegon County.  Bottle Gentian grow here, and we found a few plants blooming

  Bottle Gentian (Gentiana andrewsii) Gentian family. 

Half Moon Lake at Moore County Park

Another fun adventure with my sister, Marie.  This was just one day, I have many more days with beautiful plants, and fun places to share.