Places in Barry County, Michigan

July 15, 2013 We visited some of our favorite places in Barry County and a few new places. 

                            Dense Blazing Star (Liatris spicata)

                              Death Camas was still blooming...

This is Wild Yamroot (Dioscorea villosa).  The vine can grow to be 15 feet long during a single season.  Wild Yamroot has small, greenish flowers and three sided pods.

Wild Yamroot Pods

Leaf, flower, and pods of the wild Yamroot 



 

We also saw Lopseed,

Lopseed (Phryma leptostachya) We see Lopseed less often than

 Jumpseed (Polygonum virginianum). 

 

Jumpseed lines the trails of most wet woods in west Michigan, sometimes the flower stalk can be several feet high but are usually knee high.  Jumpseed is also known as Virginia Knotweed.

Back to Barry County...



I found this dragonfly with a drop of dew on its back.

 The sundew was blooming



 Round-leaved Sundew

 There were a few shy Pitcher Plant blooming. 



 

 A plant we have never seen before Sticky False-Asphodel (Tofieldia glutinosa)
Lily Family.  I didn't get a good shot of the leaves.  I have been trying to get the whole plant in the photo, not just macros of the flower.  I'll keep trying.

 Smooth Rose

We saw a skullcap, we didn't identify the type, probably Mad Dog Skullcap or Marsh Skullcap.  I just like the color.

The lake was like a mirror. 



 

We stopped at Bassett Lake access site, and Baker Lake access site, both are beautiful lakes.

Baker Lake in Barry County, Michigan

Pickerel Weed (Pontederia cordata) was blooming.

 

In the Yankee Springs State Recreation Area we visited Hall Lake.  

 

We talked to a guy who was fishing at the lake, he told us there were natural springs down along the trail so off we went part way around Hall Lake.

 

I saw a Great Blue Heron on a log across the lake.

If you look close you will find the heron just up from the center of the picture, slightly to the left.  See him on that big log way out there? 

Now maybe you can find the heron.  I circled him in red.

 

Here is a picture that I zoomed in on the heron with my camera from the same place as the picture above..

Pretty amazing.  No tripod either, just a steady hand.

 

We found many Spotted (Striped) Wintergreen (Chimaphila maculata)  blooming.  I always call it striped because there is a stripe on the leaf.  This plant blooms in my woods too.

 

 

 

We found the springs the guy told us about. 



I know it doesn't look like much in the photo but it was a natural spring with running water.  One more plant we saw blooming.

Helleborine  (Epipactis helleborine)

It is an orchid and grows just about everywhere around here, in the lawn, along the driveway.  It seems to prefer disturbed areas.

 

 



 Hall Lake 

 

It was a fun day with temperatures in the mid 90's.  We made it through the heat and even managed to walk a few miles! 



Yankee Springs Recreation Area and Ronald H. Warner Sanctuary

May 21 2012 We drove ~65 miles southwest to Barry County Michigan to Yankee Springs Recreation Area, Long Lake trail.


From "Stormhorn" blog, http://stormhorn.com/  we knew to find Small Yellow Lady's Slipper orchid on this trail and hearing there was a quarter-mile stretch of boardwalk through part of the swamp that surrounds Long Lake, oh, sounds fun!  Thanks again to Stormhorn.


We have been to Yankee Springs in the past, the Devil's Soupbowl, Graves Hill Overlook, The Pines.  So many neat places.  We even camped at Deep Lake years ago, but how I never knew about this Long Lake trail, I don't know.


So this is what we saw...

Small Yellow Lady's Slipper (Cypripedium parviflorum)  Orchid

 

We walked about a mile and a half to a meadow with some old foundations. 
Here is the meadow...

                            Cow Vetch

  Yellow Goat's Beard (Tragopogon pratensis) Aster family  with fly.


The next few pictures are of a American Copper Butterfly, I'm pretty sure. 
He seemed as interested in me as I was in him.

After the Long Lake trail we drove through Gun Lake State Park, and stopped at the Long Lake access site.

Now it was after 2 pm I wanted to run over to Ronald H. Warner Sanctuary (Michigan Audubon) to check on a Puttyroot orchid there.  We had seen the leaf of this orchid last fall.  So off we go traveling a few miles east to Warner.  We didn't find Puttyroot.

We did find a field with pansy.  Another late day, but wonderful even though it was cloudy all day.