Last week I posted a few photographs that I had taken of a Barred Owl during a walk the previous day. The owl was a great surprise, but it wasn't the reason that I went into the woods. I actually went in search of Spring wildflowers. My first stop was
Chipp-A-Waters Park. Chipp-A-Waters Park is located along the Chippewa River on the southwest side of Mt. Pleasant. It has a variety of wooded habitats including
floodplain forest and
beech/sugar maple forest. The best place for spring ephemeral wildflowers at Chipp-A-Waters park is along a series of old riverbanks that are elevated above the surrounding floodplain. Unfortunately, this area is becoming degraded by the incursion of invasive species. I have managed to keep the Garlic Mustard (
Alliaria petiolata) away from the best wildflower areas so far, but things do not look good in the long run.
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| Chippewa River floodplain overgrown with Garlic Mustard |
I did find a few Garlic Mustard plants in the prime wildflower areas of the park, but as of right now they can be controlled by hand pulling. Here are a few photographs of the wildflowers that I am trying to protect.
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| A large expanse of Wild Leek (Allium tricoccum) - these plants flower later in the summer after the leaves die back |
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| Dutchman's Breeches (Dicentra cucullaria) |
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| Dutchman's Breeches - a closer view showing the namesake flowers |
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| Cut-leaved Toothwort (Cardmine concatenata) |
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| Spring Beauty (Claytonia virginica) |
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| Yellow Trout Lily (Erythronium americanum) |
A bonus that I found during my photographing of wildflowers was this small Common Garter Snake (
Thamnophis sirtalis). This snake measured between 12 and 18 inches long and I initially found it by hearing crawl through the dead leaves that litter the forest floor. It was quite calm and i was able to get within a couple of feet to photograph it.
After leaving Chipp-A-Waters Park I headed to the north side of Mt. Pleasant to look for more flowers at
Mission Creek Woodland Park. Mission Creek is very different than Chipp-A-Waters in terms of habitat. While it does have a large section of beech/sugar maple forest, my favorite parts of the park consist of forested wetlands, both
northern hardwood-conifer swamp and
southern hardwood swamp.
All of the following photographs were taken in the wetlands area of the park.
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| Skunk Cabbage (Symplocarpus foetidus) |
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| Marsh Marigold (Caltha palustris) |
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| Two-leaf Mitrewort (Mitella diphylla) |
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| Scouring Rush (Equisetum hyemale) |
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| Marsh Marigold (Caltha palustris) |
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| Skunk Cabbage (Symplocarpus foetidus) leaf growing through the decayed remains of a White Birch log |
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