Muskegon State Park and Riverside Park in Muskegon County

June 15 We had a fun day at Muskegon State Park! 

 

We saw Bur Reed.

We went off trail and were drawn to a bright place in the woods.  Here we found Sphagnum Moss and muddy areas.  Interesting!

We even saw a pink flamingo...

Back on the trail we found lots of Cow Wheat blooming.

           Lost Lake

   Some wild Cranberry was blooming, and in the water were cranberries.

 Blue Flag (Iris)

 

In places the shore was red with sundew...

 Since it was cloudy, most of the Blue Eyed Grass had their petals closed.  Here is one open that I found.

 There were so many Fragrant White Water Lily.

 Also a few Yellow Pond Lily.

 We checked on the Rose Pogonia Orchid, but as I thought, we were just a little early for bloom time.  Still fun to find.  Below is a photo of this plant blooming from a previous year.

Some other things we saw...

 

Frostweed, always nice to see this sunny flower.

So we left this cool Lake, the weather was getting more threatening, darker clouds, maybe a rumble of thunder.  I was ready to go to another place to explore, and we came up with Riverside Park in North Muskegon along the north branch of the Muskegon River.

Here there are ball fields, play grounds, picnic tables, but keep walking and you find some curious steps leading to a jungle. 
 

 

 

 



 

 

 

It did storm while we were out but we made it back up through the "jungle" just fine.  And we saw more Blue Eyed Grass.

    Another great day!  Thanks for stopping by, I hope you enjoyed our walks!

 

Aman Park - May 15 2018

Large Flowered Trillium at Aman Park mid May 2018

 

 

 

                                                  Double green trillium


                      Then the sea of blue...Virginia Bluebell

 Sometimes white bells...

 

                            It was beautiful!

Walks from the first half of September 2017

Here is a run down of the first half of September 2017...



September 2nd - Hofma Preserve, Grand Haven Township with Betsy.  We even found a violet blooming!

September 3rd, it was Bass River Recreation Area with Betsy to check on the Closed Gentian.  It was blooming beautifully!

September 4th, Riverside Park in Ottawa County with Mike.  It almost looks like spring, so much green.

 Cardinalflower with some evening sun.

This is my makeshift returnables carrying tool.  Mike likes to pick up cans and bottles to return to the store for the 10 cent return fee. Someone rarly remembers to bring a bag to carry the dirty cans. 

But he found many cans and bottles, and his pockets were full.  So I helped out.  We were probably ahead by $2.00!

A pretty mix of wildflowers and vines.

September 5th, was Ross Coastal Plain Marsh in Van Buren County with Marie.

 On the way to Ross Coastal Plain Marsh...

 Mud Lake at RCPM

                                                            Purple Bladderwort

A huge snake!

Ross is where we first found Autumn Coralroot several years ago.  So I was watching closely for it as we walked along the trail.  We take an "in and out trail", and on the way in I didn't see any of these orchids.  But as we headed back to the car, Marie spotted it!  Good eye, Marie.

Autumn Coralroot (Corallorhiza odontorhiza) Orchid Family

A quarter to show how tiny this flower is, if you catch it blooming.

On the way home from Ross Coastal Plain Marsh... Beautiful day for a walk in the woods.

September 10 Bass River Recreation Area with Betsy

 We found an orchid blooming!  Nodding Ladies' Tresses (Spiranthes cernua) Orchid family

 Chickory

 One of the many shallow ponds at BRRA

Cardinalflower



Bottle Gentian (Gentiana andrewsii)
Gentian family

 Frogfruit (Verbena Family)

 Monkeyflower (Mimulus ringens)
Figwort family

 September 12 Bass River Recreation Area with Marie

 Common Chicory (Cichorium intybus)
Aster family

 Nodding Ladies' Tresses

 Gerardia (Gerardia purpurea)
 Now named...
Purple False Foxglove (Agalinis purpurea)
Figwort family



Orange-fruited Horse Gentian, (Triosteum aurantiacum), is a member of the honeysuckle family.  Note the orange fruits.  

 Cardinal Flower (Lobelia cardinalis)  Bellflower family

 This is one of the dried up shallow ponds, usually there is 6 to 8 inches of water standing in this pond.

 Even with the dry ponds, the Bottle Gentian was blooming beautifully!

Bottle Gentian  

  

In one area of this park we find the white variety of Bottle Gentian growing.

 September 15 Crockery Creek Natural Area in Ottawa County.  This is another trail Mike and I visit often.

Okay, that brings me up to mid September!  Next time we can finish up September adventures then into October.