Newaygo Prairie and Loda Lake

May 30 2013

Newaygo Prairie owned by Michigan Nature Association
110 acres in Newaygo County, Michigan     
Located northeast of Newaygo on the corner of Poplar Ave and 56th street, Newaygo Prairie is a great place to visit year round due to the variety of plants that inhabit it. Prickly pear, which blooms in July, is always a sight to see. Over 100 species of prairie plants can be found in the sanctuary, including: foxglove, yellow flax, prairie ragwort, American wild plum and needle grass. Whip-poor-wills in the nearby woods can often be heard singing throughout the prairie in early evening.
This dry sand prairie is a remnant of a complex that once spanned over 19,000 acres in Michigan. Only 4% of Michigan’s original sand prairie is left. Native tall grasses and other fire-adapted species thrive here.

 

 We saw Field Chickweed (Cerastium arvense) Pink Family.

 We also saw Prairie Smoke (Geum triflorum) Rose Family. 

When Prairie Smoke goes wild...

 Birdfoot Violet (Viola pedata)

Spring Beauty (Claytonia virginica) Purslane family

Prairie Ragwort  (Senecio plattensis) Aster family

It was a warm and beautiful day for the prairie.
Next we drove north on M-37 to Loda Lake 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 early successional old farm site.

 

 

 Pitcher Plant (Sarracenia purpurea)

                             Bladderwort

 Boardwalk at Loda Lake
 

 
We heard something moving through the bushes, it turned out to be a Snapping Turtle.

 

 My first orchid of the year, Pink Lady's Slipper or Pink Ladyslipper (Cypripedium acaule).

 Stream at Loda Lake

On the way home I took a picture of this barn, I think I have taken pictures of the same barn in the past.

That was about it for another wonderful day outdoors.