The First Snows of the Season

Just in case anyone is not aware...  Wintry weather has arrived in Mid-Michigan and across much of the rest of North America.  After giving a presentation this morning, I decided to take a short trip to Mission Creek Woodland Park to photograph the woods and its new cover of snow.

The trail where it enters the woods near the sledding hill

American Beech trees hold onto many of their leaves through the Winter

A pair of White-tailed Deer bedded down along the edge of the swamp

These leaves have been pawed up by squirrels and deer searching for acorns

The object of the search

Red Oak leaf and snow

Cow Parsnip seeds

A fallen leaf curled around goldenrod seeds

Northern White Cedar growing along the banks of Mission Creek

A closeup of a group of Cedar trunks

Roots of a wind-thrown Cedar

This last pictures show something that I am not very happy about.  I don't like to rant about things on this blog, but this is an issue that bothers me.  The City of Mt. Pleasant cleared two acres of woods at Mission Creek Woodland Park to install a dog park - note the park name.  They had other property available to install a dog park that would not have required destruction of habitat, but decided this was the best option. 

Two acres of formerly wooded property at Mission Creek Woodland Park