More Spring Wildflowers

 Here are some pictures of spring from the last few weeks.

           Large Flowered Trillium at Aman Park

                            Miterwort in my woods

     Bloodroot in my woods

     A nearby swampy area I enjoyed for a few hours.  

     A tree flower ready to open.

We visited Gales Pond County Park and Genevieve Casey Nature Sanctuary in Oceana County Michigan.

    Leatherleaf

 

We also went to Clear Springs Nature Preserve and Henderson Lake Nature Center.

      Trailing Arbutus

I visited our son, daughter-in-law and family in Texas.  I left April 29th and came home May 4th, things had really changed in those few days.  So much green!

     It was a bumpy ride to Texas but well worth it to play and play with those sweet grandkids! 

When I came home Mike had flowers, and a steak dinner for me.  And a walk at Riverside park in Ottawa County.

      Redbud at Riverside Park!

A perfect Wild Geranium

   Wild Blue Phlox!

                        In our woods I'm just starting to see Squawroot!

I'm sure I missed some flowers and adventures.  Hopefully I can post again soon.  Thanks for stopping by.

There are bugs in the next photo so stop here if you don't want to see bugs.  I thought these mites were very interesting.  

August 2018 The First Half

August 7, 2018  An adventure to Genevieve Casey Nature Sanctuary located in Oceana County Michigan.

Moth with green eyes!

   Blue Racer!

                   Rattlesnake Plantain Orchid

                           Purple Fringed Orchid

Mike and I continued our walks at Connor Bayou Park a few times a week.  For a few years we have noticed dry dead leaves on several Shad (Serviceberry) trees.  I finally looked it up and I think it might be Fireblight.  "A destructive, highly infectious and widespread disease caused by the bacterium Erwinia amylovora".

 The trail along the Grand River has been flooded, actually for a couple years, but on this day it was passable for a short ways.  We did see different plants here along the water, Pickerelweed, Swamp Milkweed, and Forget-Me-Nots.

             Bladdernut

      Wild Yam

    Connor Bayou

August 9th  Betsy and I visited Hofma Preserve.

 August 11  Mike and I were able to walk at Crockery Creek Natural Area, another one of the parks we visit regularly. 

In the fields and along the roads we were seeing some type of Ironweed.  For me just knowing it is Ironweed is good enough.  It is a beautiful color which really makes it stand out.
 

August 14 Marie and I ventured out on a very hot, humid day to a section of Allegan State Game Area.  We saw many kinds of plants, some blooming.  We walked about 2 1/2 miles that day.  And never saw another person.

We were in heavily wooded areas and kept getting strong, thick webs caught on our faces, EWW!  So I found a nice branchy stick and led the way.  The webs were hard to see and there were many of them right across the trail at face level.  When we stopped for a break, I noticed I had one of the spiders on my stick.  Some kind of spider I haven't seen before.  Marie did some research on it later and found that it was most likely Spined Micrathena Spider.





   I also saw this caterpillar, but didn't touch it of course.

Part of the trail comes to a steep edge, down below is the Kalamazoo River.

We also followed a sort of trail to Bear Creek.  Finally we get to be near water! 

 What trail?

  Bear Creek....this place was serene.

 August so far has been hot, humid, and dry for the most part.  Some areas near us had rain but we seem to keep missing it.  It is still beautiful out there.  I hope you enjoy these adventures.