The Colorful Month Of October!

Fall has been an amazing season in Michigan, the color of the leaves have lasted all the way through October.  There have been many cloudy days but the golden glow from the trees seems to brighten up everything around them.  I visited many parks and places in October, here are a few highlights.  I hope you enjoy them.

Hofma Preserve in Grand Haven Township, Ottawa County - October 10, 2014.
Hofma Preserve has 324.77 acres with approximately 4.5 miles of trails, an 885 foot floating bridge, 17 space parking area and a restroom.

Next, Long Lake in Kent County, October 13.  It was very foggy the day we were here.  The trees were colorful if only you could see them through the fog.  It did clear up a bit later on in the day.

Marie found Partridge Berry (Mitchella repensMadder family) blooming!  This small vine is slightly woody, forming a low mat of evergreen leaves up to 4" tall and 1' or more across. The blooming period occurs from late spring to mid-summer.  This plant was blooming , October 13!

The same day we also went to Pickerel Lake.  The fog had lifted some, the colors were great even on a cloudy day.

    I found this guy near the boardwalk at Pickerel Lake.

Along a trail at Pickerel Lake Park.

October 17th Betsy and I went to Kirk Park in Ottawa County along Lake Michigan.  The wind picked up and we had acorns almost the size of golf balls (well they seemed that big at the time!) raining down on us!  There are many stairs at Kirk Park so we really got some exercise.

October 21st, it was Aman Park in Ottawa County with Marie.  Again it wasn't sunny but still very yellow gold everywhere.  We walked the trail to the north, and then all along Sand Creek to the southern bridge.

 We also stopped at Bass River Recreation Area that day.  The trees at Bass had lost most of their leaves, so it was brown and gray there.  Except for the few wildflowers hanging on - like this Red Clover.

October 23rd, I had a long walk with Betsy at Pigeon Creek Park in Ottawa County.  There are many American Beech trees (and maples) here and their leaves were golden!

We also saw um, ah, well dinosaur legs?

 Mike and I made a trip to the cabin in Manistee County for our 37th wedding anniversary.
We took a ~7 mile hike on the Manistee River Trail.  Starting at Red Bridge on Coates Highway, going north to the Slagel Creek bridge and back.  It was an absolutely perfect day!

 Driving home there was much oohing and aahing from me over the beautiful trees.  It isn't easy getting a shot out the car window but this one is kind of nice. 

And probably the last outing of October, Saugatuck Dunes State Park.  A day-use park along a secluded strip of Lake Michigan shoreline, Saugatuck Dunes State Park offers 1,000 acres of land with 2.5 miles of shore line.  The park has fresh water coastal dunes that are over 200 feet tall. The park's terrain varies from steep slopes to rolling hills. The park, located in Allegan County, is relatively undeveloped.

Marie and I walked the southern part of this park, the South Trail and Livingston Trail.  The day started cool and cloudy, then changed over to blue sky and sunshine.  Here is our walk.

This walk leads you to Lake Michigan...

We walked south along the beach to the trail back up through the dune sand high above the lake.  The sun came out and the lake turned a beautiful blue.  The trees brighten with the sun.

  Then back through the woods to the car.

We walked at Macatawa Greenspace in Ottawa County this same day.  " This 122-acre park encompasses the union of the Macatawa River and the Noorderloos Creek. The restored wetland is a birders delight, home to many waterfowl including Great Blue Herons. The bridges, boardwalks and observation decks take you beside the river, offering treasured, scenic views of the natural world within the City of Holland. Enjoy a game of disc golf or explore the park via foot or bike on paved and natural surface trails. During the winter months, appreciate winter serenity in snow shoes or cross county skis."

We saw 20 different types of plants blooming today October 28, 2014!

 I hope you enjoyed the photos from these outings as much as I enjoyed being out there!   

Hudsonville Nature Center, Sunrise Park, Aman Park

July 8, 2013
Hudsonville Nature Center is located at 2700 New Holland Street, Hudsonville, Michigan. It is our destination for this adventure.  The Nature Center is a 76-acre nature preserve of woodlands, prairies and wetlands that offers hiking trails, lookouts, wildflowers and picnic areas.
Since it was starting out to be hot day we decided to go to the prairie first.  Right off we were seeing the prairie flowers.

 Culver's Root (Veronicastrum virginicum) Figwort Family

 Culver's Root

                                White Wild Indigo

     Rattlesnake Master (Eryngium yuccifolium) Carrot family

Rattlesnake Master

Alumroot  (Heuchera Americana)  Saxifrage Family, is a small (under 2 ft. high and wide) perennial native to Central United States.  Loose racemes of insignificant green to cream flowers bloom in early summer.

                           Leaves of Alumroot

Thimbleweed  (Anemone cylindrical) Buttercup family

                          Thimbleweed







We saw many flowers but I really need to catch up on this blog so I will cut this short, or try to.  Here are a few more things we saw.

                         Flowering Spurge

    Bull Thistle



Robber Fly with lunch







 Okay really I'm almost out of the prairie...

Wild Bergamot (Monarda fistulosa) Mint family

The flowers begin blooming in the center of the head, gradually moving outward, forming a wreath of flowers.  They smell sort of like oregano.

Marie and I especially like the smell of Wild Bergamot because it reminds us of our childhood and our Dad.  It is a native perennial plant so I hope someone doesn't go pulling it out, thinking it is Spotted Knapweed!

Next Marie found this giant silk moth down in the grass.  We didn't want to disturb the moth so the picture really doesn't show its size.  We put the hand lens in the photo for size comparison.

It is a  Polyphemus Moth (Antheraea polyphemus).  The large spots on the wings of the Polyphemus Moth look rather similar to eyes and it uses this intriguing adaptation to confuse potential predators.  Its wing span can be 6 inches. 
Believe me it was big.

Now out of the prairie. Yes, we are still at Hudsonville Nature Center, and off into the dark woods.  Clouds had moved in which cooled things down and there was a bit of a breeze.

 Michigan Lily  (Lilium michiganense) Lily family
Another native perennial plant, the beautiful Michigan Lily.

There is more to this park than just the prairie.  There are hills, ravines, and  a creek.


After this park I think we might have stopped by a Mr. Burger and got a chocolate malt (not a shake but a malt).  I'm not sure if this really happen or I just thought about a malt.
Anyway next we stopped in at Sunrise Park  (to eat the malts), 
located at the end of Springdale Street, it offers playground equipment, a tot lot, open shelter, ball diamonds and a picnic area.



   Part of the Sunrise Park Rain Garden

 Believe it or not we also stopped at Aman Park!  This is a park we go to in the spring to find spring wildflowers.  It's fun to see what things look like here this time of year.

 Trail at Aman Park in Ottawa County, Michigan

 Pointed-leaf tick-trefoil (Desmodium glutinosum) Pea Family        

These are the fun plants that get sticky seed pods on your clothes when you go for a walk in the woods.                          

                                 Hepatica Leaves

 Indian Pipe

   Sand Creek

We didn't have time to walk the trails much.  We walked to the north bridge and back.  Then headed home.

Slowly I'm catching up on this blog.  Marie and I have had some great adventures recently and I can hardly wait to post them.  But they have to be in chronological order, right?

Next time is more Barry County, including Hall Lake.