Aman Park in Ottawa County Michigan February 27 2018

My last post was in the Fall, with pretty pictures and beautiful colors.  There wasn't much color at all at Aman Park two days ago. 

Weather-wise it was a fine day for a walk in the park with my sister.  In about two months time this place will be covered with blooming trillium and Virginia Bluebells, and so many more colorful plants.
 

 These trails and the hill below will be covered with Hepatica, Trillium, Spring Beauty, Violets, and more in just a few weeks time!

 
Last week we had two days of heavy rain, combined with snow melt.  Marie and I saw the effects of all that water scouring the low areas of the park.

 

 This sand was deposited here by the flood water, I wonder if the plants will be able to push through.

 At times it was difficult to find the trail.

I'm not sure what insect made these markings on this log, but I found them quite interesting.

 

 Blue sky and 55 degrees makes for a great hiking day.  We were out walking at Aman for 3 1/2 hours.  We walked the blue trail to the north, then the creekside trail to the southern bridge.  There were some icy places in the park.

 

 I'm pretty sure these are Wild Leak sprouting up, and below I'm sure they are Wild Leak bulbs because Marie tested one and she smelled delicious the rest of the afternoon! 

 

This is a Paw Paw branch with bud.  There are many Paw Paws here along Sand Creek.

 South Bridge

Sand Creek at Aman Park

We drove west in Ottawa County to Riverside Park to see the flooding from the Grand River.  Here is what we saw...

 

 

Heading farther west, we stopped in at Connor Bayou, another Ottawa County park.

 

 Connor Bayou

 

 

 

So that was our adventure this week.  We both enjoyed walking with sunshine and blue sky, and warm temps.  Thanks for stopping by the blog.

Riverside Park - Ottawa County Michigan

We found high water at Riverside Park in Ottawa County, Michigan.  We didn't make it very far down the "spring wildflower trail" before we had to turn back.  We did see some wildflowers blooming.

This is the roadway to the end of the park, which is gated off when the water is over the road.

Spring Beauty was blooming, although not many flowers were fully open.  It was late in the day and still cool.

Purple Cress was blooming, along with Purple Deadnettle, and even a Dandelion. 

 

That's it for now.  The weather is really warming up here in Ottawa County so soon there will be many more spring wildflowers blooming.

Riverside Park and Aman Park in Ottawa County, Michigan

         Spring Beauty  (Claytonia virginica)

This week our adventure was to Riverside Park, then Aman Park.  It was cold, cloudy, and wet at Riverside.  There were just a few Bloodroot, Spring Beauty, and Purple Cress blooming.

 Purple Cress (Cardamine douglassii) Mustard family

 Riverside Park in Ottawa County, Michigan



Down the road to the east, still in Ottawa County, we drive to Aman Park.  At Aman the parking lot is near the edge of a steep ravine, it doesn't look like much until you take a peek over that hill.

Aman Park looking down at Sand Creek. 
There wasn't much blooming along the first part of the trail, just Periwinkle.  But as we walked on we began to see Spring Beauty, Large-flowered Trillium, Purple Cress, and a few Hepatica.  It was still cloudy, so not many flowers were open.  We walked to the northern bridge, then over to a large patch of Paw Paw trees, here we found Bloodroot but their blossoms were closed up tight.  Just then the sun popped out so we sat down and waited for those Bloodroot to open, and they did!

 Bloodroot (Sanguinaria Canadensis)  Poppy family

Well that was fun.  While Marie sat keeping an eye on the Bloodroot, I wandered around and took more pictures.

 Dutchman's Breeches (Dicentra cucullaria)  Fumitory family

 Virginia Bluebells (Mertensia virginica)  Borage family, in bud.

Close-up of  Virginia Bluebells buds.

 Blue Cohosh (Caulophyllum thalictroides)  Barberry family

 Looking down on Blue Cohosh.
The Spring Beauty started to open, another favorite spring wildflower of mine.

Spring Beauty (Claytonia virginica) Purslane family
Time to move on.  We decided to walk the trail along Sand Creek to the southern bridge.  This is a wonderful trail that winds back and forth, several times.

Some Large-flowered Trillium were open, and there were thousand of these plants just starting to show buds.

 Large-Flowered Trillium (Trillium grandiflorum) Lily family

We also saw  Trout Lily (Erythronium americanum)  Lily family

We also saw a Wood Frog,

and a blue butterfly, perhaps a Spring Azure (Celastrina ladon).

We made it to the southern bridge, and started up the hill to the car when a gentle rain began.  We learned something on the way home. Stay away from dark clouds.  The gentle rain turned into a downpour, next pea sized hail started pounding on the car.  Before the hail stopped it was marble size, pelting the windshield, hood, and roof of the car.  Amazingly no damage was done.  It was so loud, and hitting so hard I thought for sure Marie would have a pock-marked vehicle.

What it looked like on the drive home,
and below hail, but I didn't get out and put a quarter next to it!  Again we had a great day and made it home just fine.