Muskegon State Park and Riverside Park in Muskegon County

June 15 We had a fun day at Muskegon State Park! 

 

We saw Bur Reed.

We went off trail and were drawn to a bright place in the woods.  Here we found Sphagnum Moss and muddy areas.  Interesting!

We even saw a pink flamingo...

Back on the trail we found lots of Cow Wheat blooming.

           Lost Lake

   Some wild Cranberry was blooming, and in the water were cranberries.

 Blue Flag (Iris)

 

In places the shore was red with sundew...

 Since it was cloudy, most of the Blue Eyed Grass had their petals closed.  Here is one open that I found.

 There were so many Fragrant White Water Lily.

 Also a few Yellow Pond Lily.

 We checked on the Rose Pogonia Orchid, but as I thought, we were just a little early for bloom time.  Still fun to find.  Below is a photo of this plant blooming from a previous year.

Some other things we saw...

 

Frostweed, always nice to see this sunny flower.

So we left this cool Lake, the weather was getting more threatening, darker clouds, maybe a rumble of thunder.  I was ready to go to another place to explore, and we came up with Riverside Park in North Muskegon along the north branch of the Muskegon River.

Here there are ball fields, play grounds, picnic tables, but keep walking and you find some curious steps leading to a jungle. 
 

 

 

 



 

 

 

It did storm while we were out but we made it back up through the "jungle" just fine.  And we saw more Blue Eyed Grass.

    Another great day!  Thanks for stopping by, I hope you enjoyed our walks!

 

First half of June 2018 - Places and Plants

June 2 Crockery Creek Natural Area with Mike
  "The 331-acre natural area includes frontage on both the Grand River and Crockery Creek.  About two miles of hiking and cross-country ski trails meander along the creek, mature wooded ridges, floodplain forest, open hardwoods, wet meadows and buttonbush swamps. These diverse communities provide habitat for a wide variety of flora and fauna including bald eagles, sandhill cranes, red-headed woodpeckers and river otters."

  Pink Lady's Slipper

    Squaw Root

   Running Strawberry Bush

                      Herb Robert
    

    Orange-fruited Horse-gentian is a plant I haven't seen at this park before.  In spite of the popular name, Orange-fruited Horse-gentian is not a gentian (Gentianaceae); rather, it is related to the honeysuckles.

          Ox-Eye Daisy

June 3 It was time for a Family Walk at Black Lake Park in Norton Shores.  There were 10 of us and this is what we saw.

 This is a rare species of fern which I named, "Royal Cinnamon Fern"!  Yes, look close it is a Royal Fern and a Cinnamon Fern growing together.

  We saw orchids...

    June 4 -  I went on adventure by myself to see if I could find Pitcher Plants.  And I did!

 See all the red in the picture?  All Pitcher Plants!  Unbelievably beautiful!!  What a treat to find these plants in perfect bloom.

  

I went back to this place June 13, and the Pitcher Plants were harder to see because the ferns have grown taller.  They were still a nice find.

    June 13

      That same day I also saw Orange Hawkweed.  And more...

June 5 Connor Bayou with Mike
It was the year for Maple-Leaved Viburnum, large patches of the woods were blooming with this shrub.

The Bladdernut had changed, from having clusters of bell-shaped flowers...
The first two photo are from May 22, 2018 at Connor Bayou.

            Bladdernut

On June 5 they looked like this, the clusters of bell-shaped flowers had transformed into large papery seed capsules!  What a change.

                The Grand River from Connor Bayou.

June 6  Marie and  I took a trip to Ludington State Park.

     Lake Michigan from Ludington State Park

June 7 Connor Bayou with Mike.  We walk at this park a few times a week, it is close to home and has a loop trail that is about 1.4 miles.  It works out good for an evening walk.

       Canada Anemone 

                  Mayapples with Mayapple rust

June 11  I took a walk at Hofma Park to see the Indian Cucumber-root and I easily found some of these plants.

    Hofma Park

In a stand of Red Pines I found Cow Wheat for the first time this year! 

    Cow Wheat flowers

June 13  Betsy and I went to two parks, first Rycenga Park then Black Lake Park!

 

 

 

      Betsy found Partridgeberry Blooming!

      Next Black Lake Park

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Later that same day, Mike and I walked the loop through the woods at Connor Bayou.
And we found lots of Partridgeberry Blooming.  I checked in our woods when we got home and sure enough there was Partridgeberry blooming there too.

 

 
We also saw Hare Figwort blooming!

            Hare Figwort

 

And for the first time at this park I found Sicklepod (Arabis Canadensis).

 

And some more things we saw at Connor Bayou last night.

   St. John's Wort
 

               Virginia Creeper
 

       A huge Solomon's seal

          Bladdernut

 

It is wonderful to get outside.  Some times I need a bit of a nudge, but I'm always eager to go if someone asks!
I hope you enjoyed seeing some of the things I have been seeing in nature!