Ladies and Gents!

We saw so many Ladies' Tresses and Gentians this September, it was a good year for both.

 

          Nodding Ladies' Tresses Spiranthes cernua Orchid family
It is a native perennial orchid and it grows at Bass River Recreation Area by the dozens!  
Bass River Recreation Area, a 1,665-acre site in central Ottawa County, Michigan consists of open meadows, open brush land, mature hardwoods, small ponds and 300-acre Max Lake. It has approximately three miles of frontage on the Grand River.  Owned by the State of Michigan.

Along the trail there were groups orchids - Nodding Ladies' Tresses orchids!  Just in this one small space thirteen were  blooming!

My sister, Marie, and I made several visits to Bass in September, going places that we had never been to before.  One day we were out for seven hours exploring before coming back to the car.  We use Bing maps to identify places we want to try to get to, which isn't always possible -  due to high water or more growth than what shows up on the maps.

 Map of Bass River Rec. Area 
The red X marks one of our target areas.

  Bass River Recreation Area

We also saw Gentian.

             Bottle Gentian Gentiana andrewsii Gentian family

                                     Bottle Gentian 
                    We saw more of these than usual too!

 I found fifteen plants of Bottle Gentian blooming in just one small space! We found evidence of recent beaver activity at Bass. Trees freshly gnawed down and runways in the reeds at the edge of the ponds.

Views from the interior of Bass River Recreation Area in   Ottawa County, Michigan.

        Buddy's Pond

                      Max Lake at Bass River Recreation Area

 We saw some interesting critters.

      In Barry County we found Fringed Gentian.

 

 Fringed Gentian Gentianopsis crinita Gentian family
This native wildflower is a biennial about 1-3' tall. During the first year, it forms a low rosette of leaves, while during the second year it bolts, forming flowering stalks.

A group of Fringed Gentian in Barry County, Michigan.

  So that was some of the great adventures of September 2014. 

Pickerel Lake and Townsend Parks

October 17, 2011   

Pickerel Lake Park  (6001 Ramsdell Road NE Cannonsburg, MI 49317)

was our first stop of the day, 46 degrees- sunshine, blue sky.   

Michigan has been  having wonderful autumn weather. 
Pickerel Lake Park is a favorite in this area (just NE of Grand Rapids  Michigan) because of the interesting trails.  Larch Swamp trail, Sandy Knoll trail, woodland trails, and the main trail which circles the lake for an easy
1.9 mile walk.  You can cross country ski here, or fish from the docks.

There has been a big tree on the top west end of Pickerel Lake that a beaver chewed almost all the way through.  Well we found that tree was finally down.

First here are two pictures from 2010 of the tree.

The tree today (below).

Near the beaver tree, one of the many boardwalks at Pickerel Lake Park.

Next park for the day is Warren Townsend Park  (8280 6 Mile Road Cannonsburg, MI ), just a mile south from Pickerel Park on Ramsdell to 6 Mile Road. 

This park has a stone shelter, scenic footbridges, baseball diamonds, cross country skiing, fishing, hiking/walking, nature trails, a playground, and

restrooms.

Footbridge over Bear Creek at Townsend Park

We walked north on the Red Pine Trail, about a mile round trip, then checked out the enclosed shelter and Bear Creek.

                           Remanants of Bittersweet Nightshade

Still some wildflowers, this is a weed called Cheeses (always plural).

Another beautiful day!!