August Meanderings

Late Summer at the Marsh - Photos and words by Melissa Fey

This Month I thought I would wander through some properties that are not normally visited.  

I chose a late Summer afternoon to visit the Miller's Woods just off of N 50 W in Jay County,  This property is recognized for the pond on the south side that parallels the County Line Road.  Visiting the pond from the back side gives it a different perspective.

I parked in the small pull out off of N50W.  The trail heads east towards the woods.  Next to the trail the area was covered with tall wildflowers, higher than my waist.

It seems right now that almost all the flowers that are blooming are yellow.  This makes it a bit difficult to determine exactly what they are, obviously they are all not sunflowers.

I did find a beautiful Viceroy butterfly enjoying the Queen Anne's Lace.  They can be distinguished from the familiar Monarch by he horizontal stripe on their rear wing ( I will show an example comparing the two later).

The trail heads due east to the Miller's Woods.  Going along the west side of the woods you will find a small opening with a wooden trail marker showing the entrance of the trail to the woods.

small sign with arrow on the right

the trail through the woods is not much more than a game trail, but can be followed with good observation

Exiting the east side of the woods I could hear a loud buzzing sound.  There was a large tree with a huge swarm of bees going in and out.

The trail here goes left or right.  The right side will follow the edge of a large area planted with trees.  I chose to go left skirting the east edge of the woods so that I could go to the south side of Miller's Pond.  I was hoping to sneak up on some birds enjoying the pond.  

When I was in the woods I had heard a bird making noise and assumed it was a hawk.  However, I heard it again and looked up to quickly see a Bald Eagle flying away.  (not the best photo)

The wooded area was filled with more Wildflowers, as was the edge of the woods.

Wingstem - Actinomeris alternifolia

Buckeyes

Goldenrod starting to bloom 

As I approached the pond I could see a Great Blue Heron and also hear a group of Canada Geese.

I found Bulrushes next to the pond.  This one is referred to as Wood Grass.

The Canada Geese did not tolerate my presence very long and soon flew off towards the sun.

You can see along the edge of the pond lots of white feathers.

The south side of the pond is lined with Common Arrowhead - Sagittaria latifolia

You can also see lots of mussels  that are open all along the edge of the pond.  There must be hundreds of them.

Getting in and out of the pond was a challenge.  There are no trails and all the plants are waist high and higher.

Flat Topped Aster - Aster umbellatus

Once back on the trail it was much easier walking back to the west side of the woods, which I followed back to where I had started.   The Black/Brown Eyed Daisies lined the edge of the woods.

There was also many White Baneberry bushes which are referred to as Doll's Eyes.

My next foray into the marsh was on an early Sunday Morning.  It was going to be a hot day, so I knew that I better get an early start, besides there is much to see. 

From the parking lot I looked at the trail lined with Prairie Dock, just starting to bloom.

This time I chose the Loblolly Marsh NP, but I hiked a long trail (almost two miles) that many do not use.  It is on the south of the Loblolly ditch and starts just south of the bridge on the east side.  It starts out following the Loblolly ditch and then follows the west edge of another ditch that comes in from the south and empties into the Loblolly ditch. I have marked my hiking direction on the map below.

The trail along the ditch was shaded and nice to walk along. Flowers were prolific on the prairie to the south.  I heard bees and saw a hummingbird, all feeding on the nectar of the flowers.

Rosinweed

Gray-headed coneflower

Some of the flowers were way over my head.

This is a cup flower

See how big the leaves are

I saw a hint of orange on the flowers along the ditch and recognized Jewelweed.

I was only along the ditch for a short time.  So I was totally surprised when I got back to the trail and saw two small animals running away.   I got a quick photo as they ran, and was surprised again when a third one came out of the side of the trail.  Since I already had my camera up, I got a little better photo of this one.  I am pretty sure that they were fox, due to their bushy tails and red color.

This is a long hike following he creek, when I got to the end I turned south and followed another equally long creek.  The area here is high so you can see across the open area that is often times filled with water in the Spring.  This is a long way off of the road, so the area is pretty remote.   

Swamp Milkweed

Bee on Moth Mullin

I continued to walk along the ditch.  I heard a Red-Shouldered Hawk, although I never saw him.  I also heard several Indigo Buntings and even saw one Hummingbird.

The trail does cut back west after a while, but I wanted to proceed to the small pond that can be seen from Hwy 18.  I figured there would be herons and Egrets there and I was not disappointed. 

The edge of this pond area was also littered with hundreds of mussel shells.  

Back to the trail I headed west thru the open prairie area.  It was full of flowers which were being enjoyed by all sorts of birds and bugs.

Tall Ironweed  - Vernonia altissima

Monarch Butterfly

Viceroy Butterfly - they are normally smaller than the Monarch and have the black lines across their bottom wing

there were lots of bugs on the flowers

small grasshopper

Big blue Stem

Switch Grass

Eastern Swallowtail enjoying the Ironweed

It was a long hike, but well worth the time and effort to see the beauty of the tall grass prairie.