Happy Boots

April 25 2011 We got an early start with Marie arriving at 7 a.m., we were on the road at 7:10.  Driving all the way to Warner Sanctuary in Barry County Michigan.  Gas/gallon $4.14.  The first and last time we visit this sanctuary was in January of this year.


It was 50 degrees and 8:52 when we parked at the Warner parking area off Erway.  It was also raining lightly.  We didn't see much blooming here, Spring hadn't sprung here just yet.  We walked for three hours, all the way to Hart Road then turned around and walked back.  Marie did find her binoculars case that she had accidentally left here last time.

Here is Warner Sanctuary.

                                                                           Glass Pond

Trail at Warner Sanctuary

   Nice Group of Skunk Cabbage, easy to see no circles needed.

                                              Foot Bridge over Glass Creek

                              You want to wear boots at Warner
 Located in an area of glacial moraines, this sanctuary contains rounded ridges, seasonally flooded ponds, a stream, and lake. Most of the 108 acres is wooded and contains old-growth beech, oak and tulip trees. Large evergreens provide additional woodland habitat. The sanctuary is botanically quite diverse and includes a number of threatened and endangered plants. The sanctuary is adjacent to the Barry State Game Area Global Important Bird Area and is home to Cerulean Warblers.  This is from http://www.michiganaudubon.org/conservation/sanctuaries/index.html/title/ronald-h-warner-sanctuary.

                                    Old bridge over Glass Creek

Glass Creek

After Warner we went west into Allegan County to our favorite intersection, M-40,M-89.  Ahh nice wet woods. 

Happy boots

We could see the Marsh Marigold before we got out of the car!  Wow.

Marsh Marigold

Spring Beauty

Hispid Buttercup (Ranunculus hispidus) If I identified this one wrong let me know.

False Rue Anemone

So this was great, wildflowers blooming finally.  We saw trillium here but it had only a bud.  One more stop before home, 133rd Avenue still in Allegan County.  Here we found many spring wildflowers blooming.

White Trout Lily

Yellow Trout Lily

                                                    Yellow Violet

                                                     Spring Cress

Large-Flowered Trillium

Squirrel Corn

Dutchman's Breeches

                                                     Spring Beauty

                                               Round-lobed Hepatica                  

We left here happy, it was a good day.

133rd Avenune train bridge built in 1908

Through the Holland tunnel to home.

Ross Costal Plain Marsh

2013 04 22  We made several stops on this outing, not quite sure where to go.  Favorite places in Ottawa County are flooded, and with a slow spring not many wildflower were blooming.  So south
to Allegan County.
We checked out the train trestle in Hamilton, Michigan.  The Rabbit River was high but the falls/rapids were unimpressive because of that high water.  The water just doesn't fall when the river is so full of water.

Hamilton, Michigan

We went on one of our favorite roads in Allegan County, 133rd Avenue. 

Train bridge on 133rd Avenue

 We saw some white Trout Lily, but it was too early and cold for this wildflower to be open.

                                                    Trout Lily
 On to New Richmond Park, Fifty-seventh Street bridge.  This is on the Kalamazoo River and Rabbit River joins the Kalamazoo just upstream.

 Half of the parking area was under water.
 

 

 

 

New Richmond Park

Our next stop was in Van Buren County, Ross Coastal Plain Marsh Preserve.

Not much was flowering here but it was a wonderful day to walk.  First we walked to the pond where we found Meadow Beauty blooming one year.  We were able to walk all the way around this water, no signs of flooding.

 

 

 About 1 1/2 miles from the parking area is Mud Lake.  We sat and enjoyed this place.

 

Geese on Mud Lake

Not far on the same road (county road 376) is Barvicks Sand Dunes Nature Sanctuary.

Here the little creek had been flooded, we found just a few wildflowers.

 

 Barvicks Sand Dunes Nature Sanctuary

Spring Beauty

Many stops on this adventure and we walked four miles, a good day.

Spring Wildflowers in Ottawa and Allegan Counties 2014

This post will be several adventures combined.  I hope to give you an idea what is blooming in West Michigan, places in Ottawa County and Allegan County.

Riverside Park at Max Lake

         Bloodroot

                      Bloodroot

 Along the trail at Riverside Park in Ottawa County, Michigan
Then a stop at Connor Bayou, another Ottawa County park.

 Connor Bayou on a rainy evening.

 Along the Grand River at Connor Bayou Park, Hepatica was blooming but it was closed up due to the cloudiness.

A trip to Minnie Skwarek Nature Preserve in Spring Lake Township revealed no wildflowers blooming except for Skunk Cabbage.

Then the next day Marie and I went to Allegan County, Silver Creek County Park, and Happy Boots Corner.  Silver Creek County Park, (3900 - 134th Ave., Hamilton, MI)   is primarily an equestrian park and has both day use facilities and a primitive campground. Silver Creek is 320 acres in size and connects to over 25 miles of horseback riding trails. There are 75 campsites in the park, 65 of which are available for horse camping. Silver Creek also has 450 feet of frontage on Silver Creek, which is a spring fed trout stream. You will also find picnic tables and grills available in the day use area. The most beautiful and unique thing about Silver Creek is that the entire park is primarily wooded, providing for plenty of shade in the hot summer months and some spectacular foliage color in the fall. In keeping with the primitive setting, there are no modern restrooms or running water, but there are hand pumps and vault toilets. Silver Creek Park is open year round and has some spectacular fall and winter camping available.
We went here to see if the Trailing Arbutus was blooming. 

      Trailing Arbutus

     Trailing Arbutus

 Silver Creek in Allegan County

Along the road to Happy Boots Corner, we saw a fair amount of snow in the ditches, this was April 22, this is late in the spring to still find snow here.

 Happy Boots.  No, you won't find that name on a map.  We named this place.  There were several plants blooming here.

                                        Spring Beauty

 Spring Beauty

 Spring beauty, some are almost white, these were shouting pink!

 And we found more Golden Saxifrage!  This time I put a quarter by it to compare for size.  The flower is tiny.

 This is a photo of our bench, which we rested upon and listened to frogs!

 We saw Marsh Marigold blooming!

 Skunk Cabbage
We enjoyed Happy Boots for a few hours, then moved on to another special place with warm, sunny, south facing hills to see Trout Lily, the white variety.

                   Squirrel Corn

And one Large-flowered Trillium that was really blooming.  When we got back to my house I checked on my very own Round-lobed Hepatica.  It was blooming too.

It was a fun day with great weather.  The wildflowers are coming along just fine, if a bit slow.