The Owl In My Woods

This is the Great Horned Owl that lives in our woods. 

The picture above was taken with my FugiFilm Finepix camera, it has a 20x zoom. 
The picture below is taken from the exact same place but without the zoom.  Can you find the owl in the tree?

Pigeon Creek Park

Pigeon Creek Park is where we ended up on Monday July 26 2010.  This park can be a bit of a puzzle, even with maps posted along the trails, many trails are not on the map.  It is an Ottawa County Park with 282 acres, and another 130 adjacent acres of County Open Space land.

It has hiking, biking, skiing, and horse trails (10 miles) that wind through old pine plantations, mature deciduous forests and  bottomland forests along the Pigeon River.  Of course we went to find wildflowers and to enjoy a day of walking.  We found Purple Fringed Orchid, Cardinal Flower, Hairy Willow Herb, Fringed Loosestrife, Virginia Stickseed, Yellow Spindle Coral, and Northern Horse Balm!

It was a very warm day but, oh WOW, we enjoyed it!

                                                  Purple Fringed Orchid

Purple Fringed Orchid

Ludington State Park

 

Spectacular Ludington State Park, this was our destination July 19 2010. It was a gorgeous day with unbelievably blue skies. There is so much to see in this 5,300 acre
park just north of Ludington Michigan.



Petey the Spicebush Swallowtail Caterpillar

 So I'm starting this blog today mostly to share cool things I come across, and to put off work I should be doing. This blog will include wildflower adventures, parks and places, photos, and whatever.

One week ago I found a caterpillar on the handle of my mailbox. At first I thought it was a bird dropping, but then noticed it had eyespots. My sister, Marie, named him Petey and he now lives in a jar. Petey has changed in one week and is green and quite attractive. I believe he is a Spicebush Swallowtail caterpillar.

Petey as I found him on the handle of the mailbox.

Petey showing off his Osmeterium!

 

Petey five days after I found him.