August 30

The mid-morning weather is pleasant as my wife, Caroline and our dog, Riley join me for a hike to French Bay, on the mostly inaccessible and undeveloped southwestern shore of Beaver Island. From the car, we head west on an unmarked trail through a clearing where I spot blossoms of small-flower Asters and Jewelweed. Moving through a dense forest, I come upon the fruit of White Baneberry, a patch of Brittlely Club Moss and some White Cheese Polypore fungi. On a nearby stump, I spot a Compton Tortoiseshell butterfly while up in the canopy, maple leaves are turning red, an early sign of the season to come. Still a ¼ mile from Lake Michigan, we follow the trail as it cuts diagonally down the face of a bluff that was the island’s western shoreline some 4000 years ago after the ice age when lake levels were much higher due to melting glaciers. Finally, the trail opens to reveal lovely French Bay, one of the island’s hidden jewels. Exploring the beach area, I notice blossoms of St John’s wort and Anemone Multifida. Also, the red fruit of Bearberry and female cones from a Tamarack tree catch my attention. Moving to the stony beach, I observe: a 2-tone feather of a juvenile gull, one of several fast-moving, ¼-inch, black Wolf spiders and another Compton Tortoiseshell butterfly displaying the gray, mottled underside of its wing. Next, I pause at the shore as gentle waves of clear water move over colorful stones. However, just a few yards away, I come upon dense layers of slimy green algae piled along the water’s edge. This, non-toxic “seaweed”, called Cladophora, is found naturally along all the Great Lakes shores. Cladophora blooms were a major problem back in the 1960’s and 70’s due to high phosphorus levels in the water from fertilizers and laundry detergents. Negative impacts included unsightly and foul-smelling beaches, health risks from bacterial growth, clogging of water intakes, reduced drinking water quality and property depreciation. Due to tighter pollution controls, phosphorus levels declined, resulting in a significant reduction in Cladophora blooms in the 1980’s and 90’s. However, these current blooms are related to the invasion of zebra and quagga mussels (stock photo). First-of-all, these mussels filter feed on plankton, clearing the water for sunlight to stimulate Cladophora growth. Secondly, a by-product of their feeding is dissolved phosphorus that also stimulates its growth.

 

Great Michigan Lake, beauty behold!

Spectrum of blues from shore beyond

Sketchy words for such a scene

Colorful canvas lit by a noonday sun

Cobalt to indigo, teal to turquoise

Aquamarine to azure, pastels aplenty

Changing shades, ever floating hues

Spaces and times of still water

Textures of ripples and waves

Sprinkled with drifting diamonds

Nature’s finest lacustrine layout

 

D. DeGraaf

August 23

My early morning hike takes place where the sun rises along a secluded Lake Michigan beach on the southeast end of Beaver Island. Seeing and hearing the waves lap the shore ahead of me, I pause to examine the wrack that includes small stones and zebra mussel shells. Further up the beach, the wrack includes a carcass of a Northern Water Snake being decomposed by blackfly maggots. Continuing north, I explore the perimeter of a vernal pool beside the foredune where a variety of wildlife catch my attention. Florae include: yellow blossoms of Silverweed, pink blossoms of False Foxglove and white blossoms of Arrowhead. Faunae include: a ¼ inch, well-camouflaged American Toad, a ¾ inch Leopard Frog and a Sandpiper scampering along the shore. Suddenly, I notice commotion, nearly hidden among the beach grasses where a Blue Mud Wasp catches a much larger Beach Wolf Spider, stings and paralyses it. These spiders are experts in camouflage usually hiding in the sand or under driftwood during the day. Although its bite is poisonous and can be painful, it is not lethal to humans. As I continue to observe, the wasp drags the spider toward a previously constructed tube of mud. Once in the tube, the wasp lays a single egg on the paralyzed spider and caps the tube with more mud. The egg then hatches and the grub eats the spider as it grows. Next spring when pupation is complete, the adult wasp pops out of the tube and flies off. Working my way back along the back dune, I come upon yellow blossoms of Shrubby Cinquefoil and Hoary Puccoon. Approaching our lake rental, I observe one of a few Monarch butterflies feeding on blossoms of Spotted Knapweed, but only one Monarch caterpillar feeding on a milkweed leaf. Over the past several summers on the island, we’ve noticed significantly fewer Monarch adults and larvae. This trend is consistent with the latest research results showing a major population decline all along their migration route (stock photo). Scientists conclude the main reason is climate change. Like most butterflies, Monarchs are highly sensitive to weather and climate. They depend on environmental cues such as temperature to trigger reproduction, migration, and hibernation. In addition, climate change has reduced the milkweed population, a host plant they depend on. These fragile creatures also face a decline in their overwinter habitat as well as the effects of an increasing frequency of extreme weather events such as droughts, severe storms and temperature extremes.

 

Sandy path along a beach

Monarchs within my reach

Lake water’s cool and clear

Breaking waves are all I hear

Horizon meets a rising sun

Up ahead, sandpipers run

Back dune, sedges & ferns

Overhead, gulls & terns

Just another quarter mile

Barefoot on Beaver Isle

 

D. DeGraaf

August 16

It’s a sunny, warm and humid morning as Riley and me, accompanied by swarms of mosquitoes, hike the trails in Alma’s Conservation Park. Starting out on a paved path while listening to a Red Eyed Vireo, we first stop at one of the decks overlooking the Pine River.  Nearby, a Mountain Ash tree with clusters of orange berries catches my attention. The berries are tasty when cooked or dried but very bitter when eaten fresh.  However, birds love them fresh, serving as a great cold-season food as they hang on the tree, long into the winter. Heading south, I spot some white blossoms from different sources that look similar. The larger, flatter ones are from the familiar Queen Anne’s Lace, while the clustered ones are from the not-so-familiar, Boneset. Next, we pass by the native prairie, displaying blooming warm season grasses and wildflowers and then stop at the Eyer Learning Circle to check out the kiosk displays. Proceeding on a paved road, I spot a White Vervain plant with its tiny flowers. This plant is very popular in European folklore. People wore necklaces of the flowers as charms to cure headaches, prevent snake bites and bring general good luck. Turning south toward the Girl Scout Cabin, I notice some blossoms of Spanish Bluebells and Virginia Knotweed. Hiking along the south boundary, listening to a chorus of Orthopterans (Crickets, Grasshoppers, Katydids), I came upon an abandoned nest of webworms on a Walnut tree. This species is frequently confused with another web-building caterpillar. Unlike this dirty loosely-woven web, the web of the Eastern tent caterpillar appears in the spring as thickly constructed in the forks and crotches of trees (stock photo). Turning back toward the car, I pass by several patches of Pokeweed. The entire plant is poisonous to humans causing a variety of symptoms, including death in rare cases. The berries, which are especially poisonous to humans, are an important food for mockingbirds, northern cardinals and mourning doves. During the Civil War, soldiers wrote letters using the ink from pokeweed berries and the pigment is still used occasionally to dye fabrics. Pokeweed has also been a favorite staple of country cuisine since colonial times, when tender young shoots were boiled and eaten as “poke salad”. Resembling canned spinach, “Poke salad” or “Poke sallet” was once available commercially and still inspires “Poke” festivals across portions of the east coast and the Deep South. 

 

Time is now

Place is here

My dog and I

Nature is near

No chain saws

Or smoggy air

No houses in sight

Or horns that blare

A forest trail

Points the way

Nothing disturbs

But calls of a Jay

 

D. DeGraaf

August 9

The early morning sky is clear with temperatures in the mid 50’s as our dog, Riley and me begin hiking at Centennial Park in the village of Sumner, 12 miles southwest of Alma. Heading due west to the edge of the Pine River, I pause to take in the lush landscape as the water flows gently past us. Exploring the shoreline, I notice blossoms of Smartweed and Toadflax while listening to a nearby Song Sparrow and distant Crow.  Further upstream, blossoms of the invasive Purple Loosestrife and non-invasive Joe Pye Weed catch my eye. Proceeding north on a mowed path into a dense woodland, I spot my first Goldenrod blossoms, a very early sign of the season to come. Also, I see a blossoming vine of Clematis. One name given this plant is “Old Man’s Beard” in reference to the long, hairy seeds produced in autumn. Another name is “Virgin’s Bower”.  Growing wild in Spain, the plant was bought over to England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, known as the “Virgin Queen”, and named in her honor. The archaic word “bower” is presently defined as: a shaded, leafy recess; an arbor. Just ahead, I stare in awe at the beauty of a solitary Cardinal flower along the river’s edge. On a nearby shrub, I come upon a 1-inch white caterpillar, larva of a Dogwood Sawfly. Dogwood sawflies are slender, shiny black, wasp-like insects (stock photo). Sawfly larvae are caterpillars that change colors, textures, and appearances several times during their development. While this larval stage has a white waxy covering, the last stage is yellow and black (stock photo). When ready to pupate, larvae create their own hideaway by chewing small chambers in rotting wood such as twigs, branches, or logs near the shrub they had been feeding on. Proceeding through a corridor of ferns, Riley and I are greeted by a chorus of crows. As the path loops through a sunny glade, I observe a few blossoms of Queen Anne’s Lace, including one that has already folded up into a “bird’s nest”. This happens as the flowers ripen into seeds and the stems curl upward to form a cup-shaped basket. Moving back toward the car, I come upon Staghorn Sumac loaded with never-before-seen, fruit-like growths called aphid galls. First, a female aphid lays a single egg in a sumac leaf. After hatching, it secretes a chemical that causes the gall to start forming. Then, the single aphid clones itself into many that find food and shelter inside the gall (stock photo). Near the end of our hike, we take one last look at the river as it flows south under St Charles Rd.

 

Hiking the bank

You by my side

Shaping the earth

Glide river, glide

Riparian beauty 

For me you show

Rapids and ripples

Flow river, flow

Glistening waters

Reflect the sun

Sustainer of life

Run river, run

 

D. DeGraaf

August 2

The sky is clear with temperatures in the mid 60’s as I start my morning hike at Lumberjack Park nature trail, accompanied by our 6-month-old Golden Doodle named Riley. After heading north over the boardwalk, we turn east along Mud Creek where I spot small yellow blossoms of Agrimony and white blossom clusters of Snakeroot. Snakeroot gains its common name from early American settlers, who incorrectly believed that the plant's rhizomes could treat snakebites. The plant is now known to be poisonous. Pausing on the footbridge over Mud Creek, I first look upstream toward the rising sun and then downstream as it nears its confluence with the Pine River. Moving through a stand of tall pines, I come upon a 3-inch Waxcap mushroom and a 5-inch Boletes mushroom. Boletes, also known as porcini mushrooms, are a large species of mushroom that contain many edible types and no deadly ones. Fortunately, identifying an edible bolete isn’t hard. First-of-all, they lack gills. Instead, they have a solid, spongy underside that looks very different from a typical field mushroom. Another thing is they grow in tandem with certain species of trees, such as oak, and only grow around their roots. Therefore, they’re found near trees, not in open fields. field for boletes. Reaching the river’s edge, I pause to watch the water flow gently past while mosquitoes swarm around the camera. Heading west along a steep bank, I stop to investigate what appears to be a pile of scat. However, it turns out to be a never-before-seen fungus called Elfin Saddle. Continuing to the open field near the west trailhead, my attention draws toward blossoms of the invasive Spotted Knapweed and seeds of Virginia Stickseed.  In a few weeks this plant will be very aggravating to us hikers.  Those tiny green balls are solidly attached to the stems right now but soon they’ll dry out and grab onto clothes and your dog if you brush past the plant. Nearby, I notice blossoms of White Campion that are closed during the day. Toward evening they increase their nectar production and become more fragrant to attract certain nocturnal moths and butterflies.  In England, White Campion is sometime called Grave Flower or Flower of the Dead because it often grows in graveyards. Turning around, we head east on the White Pine trail where I spot tiny white blossoms of Flowering Spurge as well as a 3-inch Honey Mushroom that looks like a fried egg. Just ahead, I watch an Ebony Jewelwing damselfly land on a leaf to rest. Back across the boardwalk, we turn east again toward the morning sun before reaching the car at the south trailhead.

 

Forest dome flooded with green

Meadow flowers, part of the scene

Fox squirrels, Whitetail deer

Hit their stride, dodge and veer

Painted turtles bask on logs

Eyes above water, leopard frogs

Finch of gold, no time to rest

Thistle seeds to build a nest.

July leaves, August arrives

Summer surges, nature thrives

 

D. DeGraaf