Category: Bailly Calumet Trail

It’s Here…

Posted on by MC2 · Leave a comment

Early May and the Spring bloom is in full swing here on the southern shore of Lake Michigan in the Indiana Dunes National Park. Our reasonably cold winter this year pushed back the start of spring, but things are popping up all over the place now. The Bailly Calumet trail is always a good one this time of year, particularly down along the river.

Prairie Trillium is a favorite this time of year.
Poison Ivy. It is all over this trail and despite the rash it can cause, I find it to be a rather attractive plant so I photograph it a lot.
I find the symmetry and the layers of Daisies to be fascinating when viewed from directly above.
Phlox! A real highlight of this day.
I always like taking photos of wild flowers from directly overhead. Because of their branching structure Phlox is always fun to photograph like this.
Wild Geranium. Similar to Phlox this plant has interesting growth structures that make it a very pleasing subject.
The flower of Mayapple hangs upside down and underneath the canopy of the main leaf. This makes it challenging to photograph, particularly when using a larger camera with a big lens. But I do my best.
Jack in the Pulpit. I typically only come across a few of these lovely and unusual flowers. But today I wandered into a large patch of them.
I like when I come across one of these scenes where the protective casing of the petals is just opening up to reveal the treasure inside.

Favorite pool of stagnant water…

Posted on by MC2 · Leave a comment

Yes, I actually have a favorite pool of stagnant water out at the Indiana Dunes. Several as it turns out. But my absolute favorite is this one spot on the Bailly Calumet trail. A 3ft wide depression next to the trail that is always full of water in the spring. Consequently it is also full of larvae! Mostly mosquito larvae, but probably plenty of others including various flys. I have been visiting this particular puddle for 3 years now. I like to check it out several times through out the spring to watch how it evolves.

(Click on any image to view it full size.)

Here is a close up of what I found in my favorite pool of stagnant water on this day in mid March. See all those tiny black lines, with the little ball at one end? They kinda look like an old fashioned thermometer. Those are mosquito larvae. Now I hate mosquitos, they make summer more unpleasant than -5 degree weather in January. But I still love watching how their larvae grow change over time. That’s one of the things I like most about nature. Even its most miserable parts are utterly fascinating when you look at them the right way.
Here is a closeup of the exact same stagnant pool of water taken a year ago in mid May. As you can see, on this day it was chock full of maturing mosquito larvae and maggots. I cannot wait to revisit this years version later in the spring!

Do you have a favorite pool of stagnant water? If not, why not.