Fen, Prairie Fen, and More

June 20 2011 A special day.  My sister, Marie, and I drove approximately 60 miles southeast to a fen in Barry County Michigan.  Not big in size but filled with amazing plants.

             Fun boardwalks...

This is one of the wildflowers I came to see, Showy Lady's Slipper.  It's an orchid of course.  They were growing deep in the grasses, we were careful not to disturb them.  The leaves surprised me with their fuzziness.   

We also found, Yellow Star-Grass,

 White Camas,












and some kind of Indian-Plantain.

Insects

The last two photos are of a Dogbane Tiger Moth. 

Then a large snail. 

  and a Daddy longlegs (or Harvester) with red Mites.

I really liked this fen maybe we should visit here again? 

After this place we went on to the Maher Sanctuary managed by the Grand Rapids Audubon Club.  This is in Irving Township, Barry County, Michigan with parking area on 108th Street.  Another interesting place! 

Cain Creek flows through this sanctuary and we found the bridge out, but being repaired.  We managed to cross with no problem.

Cain Creek

 Along the way we saw Wild Onion,

 Marsh Skullcap (Scutellaria epilobiifolia)

And a Jack-in-the-Pulpit

Wow!  Fun places I wonder where we will go next time.

Rogue River State Game Area

2011 06 14  The northwest section of Kent County, just in Tyrone Township, on 18 Mile Road 1\4 mile west of Division Avenue is a parking area for the Rogue River State Game Area.  On Bing maps we could see a nice little pond-like area to explore.  I was hoping to find some rare orchid hidden away but...

 I have been reading this book "Our wild orchids; trails and portraits" by Frank Morris and Edward A. Eames published 1929.  I borrowed it free through MelCat - Michigan eLibrary (http://www.mel.org/)  it came all the way from  Calumet Michigan.  It is an interesting book about people traveling to find wild orchids, they had more time, money, and energy than we do.  I've also enjoyed "Orchids of the western Great Lakes region" by Frederick W. Case, Jr. many times.

We didn't find any orchids here but it was a fun place to explore and we managed to get all the way around this pond but not too close since it was choked in with shrubs.  Here are a few things we did see.

               Spotted Loosestrife

 Cheeses or Common Mallow (Malva neglecta)

          a weed but a pretty one.

                              Pond area

Daisy  Fleabane

  Creepy swampy place, if there were wild orchids here they stayed hidden.

             I met this cute little guy

                             Ninebark

                  Showy Goat's Beard

We made a few more stops along Red Pine Drive heading north then east on 20 mile road to Spring Lake.  We were able to drive right to the lake on a two-track to a gravel surface boat launch.

            Spring Lake in Kent County
           There were tadpoles here.

We found a late blooming Wild Columbine.  There was much more Ninebark here and For-Get-Me-Nots.

We walked through a Pine forest and found Common Shinleaf not quite blooming, saw this mushroom.
Then back on the road for home.  Nice adventure.

Up North

2011 06 10,11,12  A visit to the Manistee River Trail

Manistee River

                                   Slagle Creek Trail Bridge


Ferns

  

Indian Paintbrush (Castilleja coccinea)

         White Moth?  Look at the fringe on its wings.

                              Along the Manistee River Trail

The next two pictures are from somewhere deep in the Manistee National Forest

                


 Next we drove south on M 37 to Loda Lake National Wildflower Sanctuary.

 Loda Lake is the only Wildflower sanctuary in the National Forest System, a project supported both financially and botanically by the Federated Garden Clubs of Michigan for over seventy years.


Loda Lake is an area that includes a small spring-fed lake, a bog-like wetland area, a creek and riparian marshy areas, oak forest, pine plantations, and an old farm site.


Right off we found gorgeous Pitcher Plants!

 Nice group of Pitcher Plants at Loda Lake            
These are the leaves of the Pitcher Plant.  Insects fall into this pitcher then decompose and the plants absorb the nutrients of the insect.

This is the carnivorous sundew plant. All carnivorous sundew plants  have a gel like substance at the tips of the tentacles that cover the leaves. This gel is a sticky substance that captures the insects that fly too near the plant. The plant can then eat it.

We left Loda Lake going south on US 37 toward Newaygo stopping at Coolbough Natural Areas, their webite http://www.brookstownship.org/cool.html .

 The trails can be a bit confusing here but there are many things to see. 

Pond at the Coolbough Natural Areas

This is a Wood Sower Gall - home to a group of developing Cynipid Wasps.