July 23

Last Wednesday, while vacationing on Beaver Island, Caroline & I, along with our good friends, Buzz & Linda Wynbeek hiked once again at the 230-acre, Miller’s Marsh Nature Preserve, operated by Central Michigan University. The late afternoon weather was sunny with a temperature of 68 degrees and a gentle breeze from the north. From the trailhead parking lot, I started hiking counter clockwise on a narrow earthen trail around the marsh and noticed that the water surface was nearly covered with a lush blanket of lily pads and duckweed. As the trail passed through a dense stand of American Beech and White Cedar, I spotted dozens of Northern Pearly-eye Butterflies including this perching one with its forewing and hindwing marked with dark eyespots. Nearby, I could barely see a Skipper Butterfly resting on some raccoon scat. Continuing around the marsh, I noticed a blossoming Marsh Thistle, considered a serious invasive species here on Beaver Island. Just ahead, I was surprised to see an American Beech tree with an unusually contorted trunk. Still further, the trail went along the edge of some small ponds where I observed the seed heads of Fringed Sedge and some kind of Rush. Also, a basking male Green Frog caught my eye. The circular feature below its eye is called the tympanic membrane. It functions much like our eardrum–transmitting sound waves to the inner ear, allowing the frog to hear both in the air and below water. In the case of Green Frogs, their gender can be determined by the size of the membrane: the male’s is larger than its eye, the female’s is equal to or smaller than its eye. As the trail continued to circle the marsh, it passed through a grove of White Birch where I spotted several patches of Royal Ferns including some with spore-producing, golden inflorescences. At the halfway point, I paused once again to scan the marsh surface while also viewing a Black-tailed Skimmer Dragonfly well camouflaged on the ground. Completing the trail around the marsh, I spotted lots of St John’s Wort blossoms mixed in with the Milkweed next to the parking area as well as a pair of Canada Geese. Finally, we got in the car and headed back to our beach rental.

In the depths of summer

Sensations at their peak

Taste of a wild carrot

Sound of a flowing creek

From the forest glade

Smell of a Yarrow leaf

Touch of a thistle thorn

Glimpse of a Monarch brief

Nature in her prime

Stimulations surround

From the sunny sky

To the verdant ground

D. DeGraaf