The End of September 2018

Hemlock Crossing is another place to find Closed Gentian this time of year.  Betsy went along for this walk, and was properly impressed by the Stunningly Beautiful Gentian

"Hemlock Crossing offers 239 acres of woods and wetlands along the Pigeon River. Over six miles of trails meander through bottomland and upland forest, old pine plantations and along the river."  Ottawa County Park

  Pigeon River

Mike and I took a two hour drive to Silver Creek Pathway near Luther in Lake County, Michigan.  We started at the Silver Creek State Forest Campground and walked the
 ~ four mile loop clockwise.  This trail runs along the Pine River, it crosses Silver Creek near the trailhead.

 Pine River

Lincoln Bridge over the Pine River at the north end of Silver Creek Pathway.

 The sky over Sterns Bayou on our way home from an evening walk at Connor Bayou Park.

After participating in a Jog-A-Thon fundraiser for Rosy Mound Elementary School,  with my granddaughter, Vivienne, I took myself for a walk across the road at Rosy Mound Natural Area. 

"Rosy Mound is a classic Great Lakes dune system including high wooded dunes, foredunes, beach and a dune blowout. A 0.7 mile hiking trail from the parking area to the Lake Michigan shoreline includes 1,000 feet of stairs up and down the dunes and scenic views. A unique shade canopy, dune boardwalk trail and rustic toilets are located near the beach."  Ottawa County Park

 Lake Michigan

 I found many Autumn Coralroot Orchid that I hadn't seen here before, but they were all done blooming.  And yes, in the next couple of days I paid the price for walking up and down all those steps!  I did see plants blooming.  Mostly asters, goldenrod, and Queen Anne's Lace.

Barry County is one place we find Fringed Gentian blooming.  It was a cool and cloudy morning, so most flowers took their time waking up.

 

 

    

    Larch, lots of Larch!

September was a beautiful month for being outside.  I hope you enjoyed these adventures as much as I did!  Thanks for stopping by.

Mid September 2018 - Beauties of the Meadow, Gentians and Ladies' Tresses and more!

September 07  Port Sheldon Natural Area  Ottawa County

Port Sheldon Natural Area has 440 acres including gently rolling terrain, swampy woods, several ponds and Ten Hagen Creek, and wildflowers.

   Virginia Meadow Beauty
This was the main reason I took a walk here in September, to see the beauties of the meadow!  There were hundreds of these plants in various stages of bloom.  I had the whole park to myself, never saw another person.

The Meadow Beauty ring this pond with hundreds of plants.

No blue sky on that day, but the plants were very impressive.

September 10  Black Lake Park   Norton Shores  Muskegon County

Black Lake Park is a 58 acre parcel, located near the southern boundary of Norton Shores, between Wood Road and the eastern shoreline of Little Black Lake. The park provides passive recreation opportunities for nature lovers with a number of bird, animal and plant species to observe.

 Little Black Lake

 First time I have come across a Stinkhorn, and no I didn't give it a sniff.

Bass River Recreation Area - Ottawa County, Michigan - September 11, 2018

 Bass is high on my list of favorite places to explore in Ottawa County.

Bass River Recreation Area, a 1,665-acre site in central Ottawa County, consists of open meadows, open brush land, mature hardwoods, small ponds and 300-acre Max Lake. It has approximately three miles of frontage on the Grand River. The park is used primarily for boating, hiking, mountain biking and horse back riding, as well as hunting.

         Bottle Gentian   
     I think it should be named Stunningly Beautiful Gentian!

    Here at Bass we also find the white variety of the Stunningly Beautiful Gentian

Also in this awesome place we see orchids!  Nodding Ladies' Tresses

We saw a Monarch chrysalis, caterpillar, and adult butterfly.

We even saw two Monarch cocoons on one plant, and nearby two caterpillars on one plant.  I tried to capture it in a photo, it isn't very clear so I circled each in red.  Caterpillars on the left, cocoons on the right.  There were aphids covering the plant stems.

 Mike and I have been keeping up our evening walks, usually at Connor Bayou, occasionally we head to Hofma Park and Preserve.  September 15 we walked at Hofma Preserve, again, no blue sky but some of the trees were showing just a bit of color. 

Next time I will finish up the month of September, and soon we should be seeing the fall colors!  Thanks for stopping by.