Ross Coastal Plain Marsh Preserve

Mud Lake at Ross Coastal Plain Marsh Preserve

We explored Ross Coastal Plain Marsh Preserve two weeks in a row. Parking at the south lot on September 26, we traipsed for 5 hours.  First down the main trail then to what we call Meadow Beauty Corner, called that since we found Meadow Beauty there in 2010.

                 Meadow Beauty Corner

 We found a special plant in this area, it's called Coastal Plain Flat-topped Goldenrod. I was on the look out for Autumn Coralroot,  a wild orchid.  We found it here in 2010 but on the last day of August, so I wasn't sure it would be around.  It was! 

                Autumn Coralroot (Corallorhiza odontorhiza)

We saw a frog and a toad. A caterpillar fell out of the trees near Marie, I haven't ID'ed it yet.

                         Puff Balls. 

We have been seeing these tiny pinwheel mushrooms with a white parachute collared cap, and a dark wiry stem, growing on fallen oak leaves.  I think it might be Marasmius capillaris.

Beechdrops (Epifagus virginiana ) with Cobweb spider, maybe Theridion frondeum.

We followed the trail west toward the nearby highway U.S.196/31 here we found some clay tiles so we now refer to this spot as "clay tiles corner" and here the trail goes north but we, like the crazies we are, turned south to follow a deer trail. 
Up and down we went on the non path, it wasn't easy but we were exploring new territory.  Finally we came to a point where we had a creek on our left and a highway wire fence on our right.  Oh Oh!  We didn't want to go back the way we came, no fun, and I wasn't going near the highway.  Then it got worse the creek crossed in front of us to go toward (and under?) the highway. 

We found a narrowing in the creek and a bit of a sandy spot, we had our boots on so it was just a few steps through the stream and up the bank on the other side.  Whew.
Now we were close to the road we started on (44th  Avenue), we had to go a half mile east and some of that was through the "Ancient sand dunes from the shores of preglacial Lake Nipissing".

The next week (October 3rd) went to Ross and walked ~5 miles, we were out there almost 5 hours.  We headed north on the main trail then west to Meadow Beauty Corner, we found lots of branches and some trees across the trail, it had been quite windy this past week.  And most of the pretty colored leaves were gone at Meadow Beauty Corner.

Both weeks we found the orchid, Nodding Ladies' Tresses.  The first two photos are from September 26th.  The third photo is the same plant one week later.

Nodding Ladies' Tresses September 26

Nodding Ladies' Tresses on October 3

This time we kept to the trail and went north at clay tiles corner, we walked all the way past Mud Lake and to the east, to 38th Avenue. 

Along our hike we found  Witch Hazel (Hamamelis virginiana) blooming!

There is another entrance to Ross here but it is much less traveled.  In 2009 we came to this 38th Ave. road end and under the tall grass found a wooden sign for Ross, now three years later the sign was up against a tree.

Now we turned back to head west to Mud Lake, here you can find the old partial foundation from the Ross family home.   There is also a map sign of the trails here. 

We sat in this scenic place and had a snack while watching a Mourning Cloak fluff its wings.  After skirting the lake a bit we went back on the main trail (one and a half miles) back to the car.  Total hike according to my pedometer 4.16 miles!  According to Bing maps 5 miles, I think it was definitely, at least, 5 miles!  A beautiful day!

   Turkeys hogging the road.

Michigan Fall Color at Long Lake

  Long Lake        
 2011 October 11  We were looking for fall color and while the sun was shining we found color. What a difference the sun can make. These two photos are with the early morning sun still low in the sky just lighting up the leaves, and the sky was quite blue, later it was a bit more hazy.

Long Lake (13747 Krauskopf NE Sparta, MI 49345)
is in Kent County Michigan, remember http://www.accesskent.com/CultureLeisureAndTransit/Parks/park_directory.htm


Kent County has many wonderful parks and a very good website.  When using a GPS it helps to have an address, addresses are included on this site, as are maps and a list of what you will find at each park.


Near the playground where there are maple trees with golden leaves, even if the sun isn't shining, it looks like sunshine.

Maybe we should call them Sunshine Maples.

Marie found one Nodding Ladies' Tresses still blooming!

We identified these asters as Heath Aster (Aster ericoides), there were lots of busy bumble bees.

 This little Wood Frog was curious.

The bugs were as busy as the bees.

The park wraps around the most of the north end of Long Lake, the very south end of the lake is private.  There are three entrances to the park, with the playground on the east side, a non-motorized boats only launch on the west side of the lake.

We left Long Lake Park with an hour of fun time left so on our way home we stopped in at Patterson Park in Muskegon County.  Patterson Park is located on the Little Rio Grande Creek two miles southwest of Ravenna on Blackmer Road, here is a site for Muskegon County parks, http://co.muskegon.mi.us/parks/index.html.

At Patterson Park there are many Sycamore trees, this is what the bark of the Sycamore looks like.

This composite was blooming, we didn't ID it, sort of looked like Woodland Sunflower, but it was nice to see.  Time to head home.

Ladies and Gents!

We saw so many Ladies' Tresses and Gentians this September, it was a good year for both.

 

          Nodding Ladies' Tresses Spiranthes cernua Orchid family
It is a native perennial orchid and it grows at Bass River Recreation Area by the dozens!  
Bass River Recreation Area, a 1,665-acre site in central Ottawa County, Michigan 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.  Owned by the State of Michigan.

Along the trail there were groups orchids - Nodding Ladies' Tresses orchids!  Just in this one small space thirteen were  blooming!

My sister, Marie, and I made several visits to Bass in September, going places that we had never been to before.  One day we were out for seven hours exploring before coming back to the car.  We use Bing maps to identify places we want to try to get to, which isn't always possible -  due to high water or more growth than what shows up on the maps.

 Map of Bass River Rec. Area 
The red X marks one of our target areas.

  Bass River Recreation Area

We also saw Gentian.

             Bottle Gentian Gentiana andrewsii Gentian family

                                     Bottle Gentian 
                    We saw more of these than usual too!

 I found fifteen plants of Bottle Gentian blooming in just one small space!We found evidence of recent beaver activity at Bass. Trees freshly gnawed down and runways in the reeds at the edge of the ponds.

Views from the interior of Bass River Recreation Area in   Ottawa County, Michigan.

        Buddy's Pond

                      Max Lake at Bass River Recreation Area

 We saw some interesting critters.

      In Barry County we found Fringed Gentian.

 

 Fringed Gentian Gentianopsis crinita Gentian family
This native wildflower is a biennial about 1-3' tall. During the first year, it forms a low rosette of leaves, while during the second year it bolts, forming flowering stalks.

A group of Fringed Gentian in Barry County, Michigan.

  So that was some of the great adventures of September 2014.