Down to the River

2011 09 19 It really isn't the river but one of many bayous connected to the Grand River. 
Little Robinson Bayou.  Long ago I spent much time here fishing, mushroom hunting, working in a big garden (actually I didn't do much of the work but played in the tall grass) and just wandering.


Today we parked at Clark School with permission of our cousin Joe, who now owns the school.  My Dad went to this school way back when, so did some of my brothers and sisters, but not me.

First, across the field near the school then into the woods.  In the past we had good solid trails through these woods, most of the trails had names, but since then the land has been logged off and several of the trails have been obliterated. 


It was a very wet day in September when we were here.  Very wet.  By the end of the day my sister Marie was actually pouring water from her boots.  Needless to say we were a bit out of our comfort zone but since we were in this place, special to us, we handled it.

We went toward the "boat path" which is near the "marl pit".  What is the marl pit?  Did they dig marl from here?  I don't know.  Some special plants grow in marl (like in calcareous fens), this place is not a fen though.  We didn't really know what we would find. 


It wasn't easy to get to the marl pit or for that matter to reach Little Robinson Bayou on the boat path.  It was a nearly impenetrable thicket, we fought our way through the tangled mass of verdant vegetation and found what is left of the marl pit. 

This is what we walked through to get to the marl pit (below)

Not much to see, hardly any water, choked with grasses but there were a couple of flowers blooming right in the middle of all this.  Bur Marigold and watercress. 


We had to back track, then bushwhacked our way over toward the field where the Fringe-tip Closed Gentian (Gentiana andrewsii), grow.  It was so wet but we were having too much fun to notice and luckily it was around 64 degrees, so not too cold.

             Field where the Fringe-tip Closed Gentian (Gentiana andrewsii) grow.
On our way to the field we found skullcap, False Climbing Buckwheat, Wild Basil, Tall Rattlesnake Root, Flowering Spurge,

                         Butter-and-eggs,
Cardinal Flower, and Turtle head, these were all blooming.


I rushed ahead to find the first of many Fringe-tip Closed Gentian (Gentiana andrewsii) we saw that day. 

 This is the kind of place we need to look for flowers, wet meadows.  Sandhill Cranes were flying around being rather noisy.  Lots of Joe-Pye Weed,

                    Nodding Ladies' Tresses,
yellow composites of some sort, Bouncing Bet, White Campion,

  and we even found Deptford Pink flowering.

This snail was liking the rain.

  But this grasshopper was hiding out under a leaf.

We wandered down to the "bridge" - years ago there was a wooden bridge here, I guess to take cows across the water to graze on the other side.  In the past, we fished here many times.  It was beautiful even on this gray day.

I wanted to explore more and so did Marie even though we were getting tired, we pushed on.  We tramped along where we thought the garden had been.  We went way back in the field, it wasn't easy, and kind of scary since we were in grasses and shrubs well over our heads.

Then up into the woods, here were tall Pokeweed growing. 
I found the green leaves of hepatica, we called it Mayflower when we roamed these woods long ago, and I think we even ate the petals of the flower. 

Hepatica blooms in the early spring and has a wonderful purple flower. 


Back to the car at Clark School.  Then home to get dry. What fun!
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A day earlier I had a Monarch butterfly emerge from his chrysalis.  These photos were taken about one hour apart!

              He has one foot on his old home.

Allegan Forest

2011 09 12 We went to Allegan State Game Area,  Highbanks Dam at the end of 121st Place or Avenue, it's basically a two-track dirt road (this goes east off 46th Street Allegan County Michigan).

This is where you park, and here is what we saw.

Bladder Campion

Tall Bellflower

                           Near Highbanks Dam
Later down the road (46th Street) just south of 120th Avenue we stopped in at the "Coreopsis Field" where earlier in the year there are beautiful yellow coreopsis blooming here.  Today we found a lovely group of Bushy Aster.

Hey, a Spotted Knapweed snuck in there, see left hand side, lower corner of photo.

Horsemint (Monarda punctata)

Coreopsis Field in Allegan Forest

Showy Tick-trefoil (Desmodium canadense)

Blazing Star

Flowering Spurge (Euphorbia corollata)

Along the edge of the field I spied something round and somewhat large hanging in a tree branch.  I didn't really want to look but I just had to - it was a huge Marbled Orb Weaver

                    Almost actually size!
Now south on 46th St. to 118th Avenue to another dam, Swan Creek Pond is on the south side of the road here. 
There is camping at Swan Creek Pond and a wonderful ~6mile trail, years ago we camped here and later our son, Andy (that's his blog on the right Here and There//Texas/New Mexico), and his friend Jeff biked (bicycled) here (about 100 miles round trip from home) and camped! 
Today we walked down a fishermen's path.

Dam on 118th Avenue in Allegan County Michigan

                    Cicada

                      Composite - Sunflower

                 Liverwort!

Spider, it was about eye level on a leaf right along the trail, Ew.  I'm never going in the woods again!

I think this was an Ironweed that had been cut off, now it looks more like an aster.  Hm...  You would think going wildflowering each week I would know my flowers by now.  Nope!

Swamp Lousewort

Here is a Turtlehead flower with a cool little bug.
Back in the car we go north and a bit west to New Richmond Bridge Park
(3160 Old Allegan Road Fennville, MI, 49408)

We heard an odd noise coming from the train bridge and saw a maintenance truck with train wheels coming along the bridge.  All four men inside the truck waved.  What a fun job.

For more photos and info of the pedestrian bridge and railroad bridge go to this link, http://www.historicbridges.org/truss/57th/index.htm and here http://www.allegancounty.org/Government/PD/Parks/NewRichmond.asp?pt=Government

Here is part of the boardwalk on the south side of the Kalamazoo River.
We found, still blooming, Cardinal Flower, Purple Loosestrife, American Germander, Jumpseed,
Tall Bellflower, Obedient Plant, and this cute little
Mad-Dog Skullcap (Scutellaria lateriflora) .


    On home we went, another fun adventure.

Grand River Park

2011 08 11  A visit to Grand River Park      
(Located in Georgetown Township, Ottawa County, Michigan. From the intersection of Fillmore Street and 28th Avenue, travel north on 28th Avenue to the park entrance).

                             Purple  Fringed Orchid

Queen Anne's Lace

    Monkey Flower

Photo above is of a Green Dragon (Arisaema dracontium).  Green Dragon plants have only one leaf, which is subdivided into leaflets in a horseshoe arrangement.
Photo below shows fruits of the Green Dragon which turn red, when they ripen in late summer.

 We saw this same plant blooming here at Grand River Park on June 6, 2011.


        Green Dragon blooming in June

Cardinal Flower

Flowering Rush (Butomus umbellatus)

We saw lots of insects, the one below was different.

I think this is a Beautiful Wood-nymph  (Eudryas grata)  or a Pearly Wood-nymph ( Eudryas unio).

                               Dragonfly

More dragonflies

                          Tree or Leaf Hopper

               Blue sky through the Paw Paw Tree