Bass River Recreation Area, Connor Bayou

June 24 2013
This adventure was to Bass River Recreation Area to look for a Twayblade orchid.  Marie and I have several special places in Bass River Rec Area.  One area we have found Nodding Ladies' Tresses and Loesel's Twayblade, both of the orchid family.  This is a low wet area tucked away from the trails. 

We saw many wildflowers, here are just a few...

Prunella vulgaris, one of our favorites

We did find Loesel's Twayblade, it is very small and I didn't get a great picture.  It is in the orchid family and it is difficult to find.  So seeing it again this year among all the green was fun.

The name honors Johann Loesel, a seventeenth century Prussian botanist.
The distribution range in the United States is the northeastern states to Alabama and the midwest, Washington. The distribution range in Canada is British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland, Northwest Territories, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, Quebec and Saskatchewan. This orchid can also be found in Europe.

On to another super secret place at Bass River Rec. Area, where in September we find Closed Gentian blooming.

Here we found Moneywort (Lysimachia nummularia) Primrose family.
Moneywort was introduced from Europe (long ago), this perennial plant is a non-climbing vine up to 3' long that freely branches at the base.

 Swamp Milkweed (Asclepias incarnate) The color was perfect on these flowers.

 



This is another area down a long two-track, this pond was completely dry last year.

We saw a large patch of  Foxglove (also Tall or White) Beardtongue (Penstemon digitalis).

We saw tons of frogs and tadpoles here, really probably thousands!

Lots of dragonflies too.



We saw a colorful Tall Meadow Rue, We also saw Deptford Pink, Indian Hemp, Common Mullien, Moth Mullein, Thimbleweed, Whorled Loosestrife, Birdsfoot Trifoil, St. Johnswort, Soapwort, Black-Eyed Susan, hawkweed, Rabbit-foot Clover, Sleepy Catchfly, Everlasting Pea, and more.

After Bass we went to Conner Bayou Park (Ottawa County) to check out the new trail.    Connor Bayou    Bladdernut - large shrub sometimes a small tree.

 

 

 

 

 Yes another fun day.  I'm trying to get up to date on this blog but it isn't easy.  This is the reason I don't identify every photo but if you have questions just ask and I will try to answer them.

Bass River Recreation Area

Monday is our regular adventure day, mostly, although we sometimes add a Thursday in there. July 12 we checked out Bass River Rec Area owned by the State of Michigan.

This area is over one thousand acres of land and water, some say 1665 acres, I didn't actually measure it. We have been here many times before and have stumbled across orchids, gentians, and many other cool wildflowers.

We both have knee high boots so we can get into those mucky places better, that's where I always think the rare orchids will be. Since this was a gravel pit we don't go far into the water because it quickly gets very deep.

With so many acres it is easy to get turned around here, but with big Bass Lake, the Grand River, and well traveled two tracks you don't get lost. We did walk over 3 1/2 miles trying to find the hidden place where we first found Ladies' Tresses, even though we knew it was too early for them to be blooming.
Again it was a great day, even with the heat, humidity, and mosquitoes. We also made a quick stop at Connor Bayou which is an Ottawa County Park.

Whorled Milkweed











Field of Everlasting Pea! (I call these Everlasting Gobstoppers)

Scouring Rush (Horsetail or Take-Aparts)

American Germander

 




Clymene Moth




Chicory




Hidden pond at Bass River Rec Area

 

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.