Early Autumn Colors

Last Sunday was a very overcast day, but it was still a nice enough day to get out after church and capture some photographs.  I ventured up to the Maple River State Game Area that is bisected by US-127 north of St. Johns.  I had hoped to see the bald eagles that frequent the area this time of year.  We had seen one there on our way home from the cabin the day before, so I thought I might see another.  Once I arrived and had been there a while I could see two eagles circling around the flooded area on the other side of US-127.  Given the southbound traffic typical for Sunday afternoons and the circuitous route I would have needed to take to get to that side of the marsh, I decided to keep wandering where I was.  I shot a number of photographs, but the large number of hungry mosquitoes kept harassing me, so I only stayed about an hour.

I popped back down to Lansing and when to Fenner Nature Center for a while.  Again, the overcast skies darkened the landscape and made me have to adjust my camera more than I would have preferred.  Nonetheless, Fenner did not fail me and I captured a number of good pictures there in spite of the poor lighting conditions.

Photographs 1, 5, and 10 were from the Maple River State Game Area.

Photographs 2-4, 6-9, and 11 were from Fenner Nature Center.

Late Summer Daisies

Bright & Cheery

Orange

Yellow

Up North Wildflowers

Purple Raindrops

The perennial Common Spiderwort (Tradescantia ohiensis) wildflower appears in a few places around Fenner Nature Center.  I happened upon a few of them the other day after a thunderstorm.  The sun had dried most of the foliage, except for a few rain drops on the almost open flower petals.  At first, I thought the rain drops were just reflecting the color of the purple petals.  After taking my photos, I touched one of the drops and realized that the raindrop had absorbed some of the color of the flower. 

Fenner's Restored Prairie: Tickseed Explosion

In the past week, the tickseed flowers at Fenner Nature Center's restored prairie have exploded into bloom all over the rolling fields.  Many other wildflowers of varying colors are still a ways off from blossoming, so the prairie is mostly green and yellow right now.  It is a very beautiful and breathtaking view when you first see it.

Dew-Covered Daisies

Opening Soon

The restored prairie at Fenner Nature Center has definitely turned green with new growth this spring.  A few of the wildflowers have blossomed already, but most of the blooms are still developing.  I cannot wait until the whole prairie bursts open with color this summer.

Spring Woodland Blooms