Lost Lake Muskegon, Michigan



 2013 05 20

Lost Lake at Muskegon State Park was our adventure destination on this day.  This place never disappoints.  Lost Lake is considered a coastal plain marsh, someone referred to it as, " half marsh, half bog, a coastal marsh ecosystem...".

 



 

We (my sister Marie and me) go on weekly outings to look for wildflowers and anything else we find interesting.  Also for the walk and being outdoors.  We relax and enjoy.

First time this year we saw Fringed Polygala (Polygala paucifolia) Milkwort Family.
Then we found Threeleaf Goldthread (Coptis trifolia) blooming.

 

 

 We saw a Box Turtle, funny that we saw one several years ago in this same area, maybe the same turtle.

In the water we found bladderwort,

at Lost Lake a deck was added with a scope,

looking through the scope.  I see turtles.

Lost Lake

Leatherleaf

On through the woods,

Marsh Marigold still blooming,

And Starflower.

We visited Muskegon Lake Nature Preserve.  While we were there we saw lightning, it was to the east of us and there was no rain.  Unfortunately for the people in Oklahoma this was the day of the devastating tornado.  

After seeing this giant chipmunk we moved on to explore places nearby in North Muskegon.

We ended up on Creston Road west of  U.S. 31, the road just ends in the North Channel - Muskegon River.  There is a gravel/sand boat launch site.

On our way to the Riverside Nature Trail at Riverside Park in North Muskegon, there were lupine blooming.

This trail is a great little gem, and many years ago I might have been here (I kind of remember, no maybe not?)  with my brother Chuck when he lived near this park.

It was very much like a jungle on this trail. 



This is where the path ends right at the North Channel - Muskegon River.  We also stopped by the nice little North Muskegon library.
Another fun time!



Muskegon State Park, Lost Lake

 This post goes way back to June 25, 2012 - Lost Lake.

This is a great place to find beautiful wildflowers.

This adventure was taken with my two other sisters, my usual wildflowering sister wasn't able to be with us this day.

The two photos below are of an orchid, and I think it is a Club-spur Orchid (Platanthera clavellata).  Please tell me if I am wrong.

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Another Orchid we see here is Rose Pogonia (Pogonia ophioglossoides) 

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Next we found one Cross-Leaved Milkwort (Polygala cruciata aquilonia)
 of the Milkwort family

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 I'll just call this next one bladderwort...it could be Horned, Humped, Common, or Northern.  
Well it is pretty against the blue sky.
 And did you know Bladderwort are carnivorous?  That I didn't

know. The "bladders", from which the common name

 is derived, are used to capture small aquatic

 organisms. Hairs at the opening of the bladder serve

 as triggers, and when contacted, mechanically cause

the trap to spring open, drawing in water and

 organisms like a vacuum. Enzymes and /or bacteria

 inside the traps aid in digestion. 

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Below we have another carnivorous plant
Spatulate-leaved Sundew ( Drosera intermedia)
Sundews trap insects on the sticky hairs of their leaves, then digest them for nutrients.

One more carnivorous plant, Northern Pitcher-plant (Sarracenia purpurea), this plant was not blooming. But notice the hairs and the liquid at the bottom of the pitcher.

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Narrow-leaved Blue-eyed Grass (Sisyrinchium angustifolium),  Iris Family

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    Fragrant Water-lily  (Nymphaea odorata)

The color of this Blue Flag Iris  (Iris versicolor) was very deep purple blue.

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This is the trail that leads you to Lost Lake.

That is another catch up adventure from this past summer.

Lost Lake

2011 07 05 Muskegon State Park
            "Lost Lake"
In "Michigan Wildlife Viewing Guide" it says that Lost Lake isn't really a lake at all, but a bog, a poorly drained, slightly acidic wetland.

Common Water Lily

These are sweet scented but were too far out in the water to get a whiff.

Dragonfly covered with dew, is it a Blue Dasher?

A little corner of Lost Lake

Rose Pogonia (Pogonia ophioglossoides) an Orchid
These were very small, maybe 5 inches tall.

     Large(or small)Cranberry

Common Bladderwort

         Racemed Milkwort

           Spiked Lobelia

Another Orchid, maybe Green Wood Orchid, also called Club-spur Orchid (Platanthera clavellata), but according to "Orchids of the North Woods" by Kim and Cindy Risen, Club-spur Orchid has a single pointed, oblong shaped leaf clasping the stem near or just below its midpoint,  Hm... may appear basal when buried in deep sphagnum.  Those are the leaves in the next picture.  Could it be Blunt-leaf Orchid (Platanthera obtusata)?  Yes it could.  The other problem is that it wasn't openly blooming.

I like this book,

"Orchids of the North Woods" by Kim and Cindy Risen, it has all the info you need for each orchid on one page.

Swamp Candles (Lysimachia terrestris)

First I saw this guy (or girl?), later I visited with his brother,

He's smiling, isn't he?  And they are bullfrogs right?

I left the frogs, we went on a ways when we started seeing these little white things on the ground, hm... curious.  It didn't take Marie long to find the shrub that they fell from.  But we haven't identified it yet

Lost Lake is a special place, one of our many favorites.