Little Hikes, Big Fun

 
I had to scoot over to Baldwin to the Lake County Historical Society this afternoon, and while I was over there I got to do a couple of small walks. First I did a short out-and-back on the Pere Marquette Rail Trail.



This is actually the extension of the rail line that goes in back of my house. There are no longer any tracks east of Baldwin, and it's now a rail-trail. Here's one of the bridges. This is over the Baldwin River, that flows to the Pere Marquette.



And here's a little bit of the river.



Late summer flowers are everywhere. Spotted Joe Pye Weed, Eupatorium maculatum, is a common one.



Here's a favorite of mine, Groundnut, Apios americana.



And just for a special treat, here's a Ruby Meadowhawk dragonfly. Love the little diamonds along its sides. This seems to be the only red dragonfly I ever get pictures of, but it's really pretty, so who cares?



All that and more was in just a half hour! Then I met up with Sue, who had just gotten off work.



We went to the community park and had take-out salads and took a little walk on their trails. Do you need to ask? Of course Sophie Dog was with us.



They've added some exercise equipment, and we had to check it out. I don't think we did enough to get much exercise, but we probably managed to look silly. However, I had the camera, so Sue gets to be recorded in pixels. Haha!



So, this was day number two of non-stop activities. I think I'm glad I only have to go to work tomorrow!

	See Ruby Meadowhawk 2
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Lepidoptera Day

 
The day was actually Saturday, but I saw too many interesting things on that walk to put them all in one post.

Sometimes a dead butterfly is, well... not a good butterfly... but it does help one learn identification. This is definitely a clouded sulphur, but it's pretty much impossible to get a picture like this if it's alive, because they always land with their wings closed. But when it's flying, this is what you see- the black band edging both the fore and hind wings.



Here's the clincher: same butterfly, double spot on the hind wing, no orange.



I had to look this one up from scratch. It looks like a wooly bear without the black band. It is related. It's also extremely variable, Estigmene acrea. And the odd thing is, the common name is Salt Marsh Caterpillar/Moth, which would make you think it should be found in ocean coastal areas, right? It's found all over the country and the caterpillars are common in the fall. So have I not been looking, or are there more this year? You've probably seen the moth- the wings are all white with black spots and the body has yellow stripes. Very common and noticeable because it is white.



Now for the find of the day! Sadly, it was dead and somewhat damaged, but I was really happy to be able to get a closeup look. This is another of the hummingbird or hawk moths. This one is called the Clearwing Hummingbird Moth, Hemaris thysbe. You can see how big it is in my hand. The wings are beautiful with the chestnut bands and clear "windows."



The underside was interesting too, with those furry legs.



Finally, just because it completes the cycle with the adult Monarch butterfly also seen on Saturday, here's a Monarch caterpillar. I've shown you many of these before. We have lots of milkweed here, so they are usually pretty happy.



Today was non-stop busy, and tomorrow will be more of the same, but it's all good!

	See White Lined Hummingbird Moth
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The Non-Event of the Day

 
I was really torn between two options today. I like science and astronomical events, but I hate jumping on the bandwagon with 30 million other people.

As it turned out, today's partial solar eclipse at my house was no great shakes.



It didn't even get very dark.



I have to say that the partial eclipse in 1994 was a much bigger deal to me. For one thing, there just wasn't very much hype. This was before the internet was a huge thing. I was at grad school, and I knew there was going to be a partial eclipse, but I didn't pay a lot of attention because I expected it to be pretty much like today turned out to be.

Image from NASA, public domain

However, it just so happened that I didn't have classes that day and I took myself for a walk in the woods. That turned out to be momentarily spooky, because I did forget the eclipse was going to happen. It started to get quite dark under the trees- like late dusk. All the rustling of animals ceased and the birds stopped singing. It took me a minute to remember there was going to be a partial eclipse. Just for a bit I think I felt like ancient peoples must have felt before eclipses could be predicted. There happened to be a bench near where I was. I sat down and contemplated the workings of the solar system and the Creator.

That was much more of an event for me than today. Maybe I'll still be around for the next one on April 8, 2024. Actually, that would be sort of numerically significant. I was supposed to be born on April 8, didn't show up till the 24th. And I'll be 24 years (and those extra days) shy of 100.

My big news of the day is that I finished another chapter in Dead Mule Swamp Druggist.

	See Blood Moon
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Manistee Riverwalk Again

 
I had some things to do in Manistee this afternoon, and was glad I had time to also do the Riverwalk. If you walk all the way to the end of the channel and back (I did), it's about 3.5 miles.



The day was overcast, so there is no sparkly blue water, but it's still very nice to walk beside the Manistee River, through the city, to where it meets Lake Michigan. The Manistee Lighthouse is on the other side of the channel.



After I headed back toward town, I took this picture of the western end of the river, past where most businesses are. It looks quite natural in this section.



The boardwalk is also less complex, but more quiet and calm.



When I was back at my car, I took a picture of the River Street Bridge. I thought it was going to open- it's a drawbridge- because there were all kinds of bells and horns going off, but it didn't. Not sure why, unless the Washington Street Bridge opened (downstream) and the sounds all bounced around because of buildings and the riverbanks and sounded closer. Anyway... no picture of it open.



If you want to see more Riverwalk pictures on brighter days, follow the links below.

	See Riverwalk Walk See Riverwalk Details
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"My" Road Loop- Plus the Wetland

 
Just strolled around my 3-mile loop, plus I added a mile to get a current picture of the large wetland.

I always think it will be the "same old walk," but there are always beautiful things to be found.

Monarch butterfly on Boneset.



Trumpet Vine, which owns this piece of the highway right of way.



The bypass pond where I see wood ducks in the spring, and once, the northern shoveler duck. The bright light made the surface look white, but it's solid green with duckweed.



I even saw something new today. I'd never noticed there is a white birch near that pond.


Silky dogwood berries- not edible, but the birds love them.



And, I reached the wetland. Not terribly picturesque this time of year. Maturing cattails, pretty much a monoculture except around the edges. But I've taken an interest in this spot, and will probably continue to bring you pictures from time to time.



I did find a couple more interesting things, but they deserve their own blog post.

	See Johnson Road Wetland See Northern Shoveler
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