Vermillion Creek & Burke Lake Panoramas

Burke Lake Black And White

Summer Harvest

Boisterous Buds

Bullseye

I noticed this interesting fungus growing on a tree the other night at Rose Lake.  Another small tree had grown up and through the fungus and the fungus has since filled in around the hole.  I have never seen something like this.

Three Angles Of A Dead Tree

Black and white seemed like the best option for this solitary dead tree against the dark blue sky and big white clouds.  With the leaves and grasses still several weeks away from their verdant return, dead trees remain an interesting subject, especially in a monochrome setting like this.

Tiny Spring Butterfly

Last Saturday I encountered my third butterfly species of the season.  I saw four of these tiny Spring Azure butterflies in different locations at Rose Lake State Wildlife Research Area.  I had never seen the darker coloration on the edges of the wings of this species in the past.  The Spring Azure has three forms of wing patterns: one with slight edge details, the "marginata" form shown here, and another form with the dark edge pattern and darker spots on the rest of the wings.  With these photos, I have now seen the first two forms.

Of all the Spring Azure butterflies I have photographed in the past, I never have had one open its wings enough to capture the bright blue on its dorsal wings.  Thankfully, one of them spread its wings wide enough for me to snap a couple of shots before it flitted off into the woods.  You have to look carefully to see these butterflies as they are about half-an-inch long or the size of the fingernail on an adult's little finger.

Burke Lake

A couple weekends ago, I learned of a little lake in the Rose Lake State Wildlife Research Area, called Burke Lake, that I never knew existed.  I finally had the opportunity to visit the lake the other day and I was very excited by what I found.  Burke Lake is not a large lake, but it appears to be fairly deep.  It has several small streams that feed it with a significant amount of marshy ground surrounding it.  With an open field to the west and a field with clumps of woody foliage to the south, this should be prime dragonfly and butterfly habitat.  The lake reminded me of something you would see in the Upper Peninsula around the area where we have our cabin.  The only downside to all of this, is that it appears that the locals like to build fires along the shore and leave large piles of beer cans.  The next time I go out there, I plan to take a couple trash bags to pick up rubbish and cans.

More Spring Sprouts