Category: Dune Ridge Trail

Variety

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The Dune Ridge to Beverly Shores to Beverly Dr loop is one of my favorite trails in the Indiana Dunes National Park. It encompasses multiple ecosystems and has a lot of variety and really shines late summer/early autumn.

Trumpet Cup Lichen and a variety of Mosses are abundant along the forested Dune Ridge trail.
Fungi have no trouble pushing up through the soft sandy soil.
The lower portion of the Beverly Shores trail system is almost choked off by foliage this time of year. It is a good idea to pause and check for ticks after traversing this section of trail.
This is, I believe, a type of Butterfly known as a Skipper.
Here we have a fly and a very lethargic Bumblebee. Bumblebees are normally very active, almost to the point of appearing to be hyperactive. This one however was barely moving at all, and seemed to be just hanging on to the petal of the flower. It may have been the slightly cooler temperature on this day, but a Bumblebee’s lifespan is not particularly long so this one may simply have been nearing its end.
This is an Arrow Spider. The first time I saw one of these I was captivated by the shape of the abdomen and the colors. While it looks exotic, it is actually a fairly common type of Orb Weaver.
A portion of this hike passes through the middle of the Great Marsh on an abandoned road. A small foot bridge is maintained over a cut in the road that allows water to flow along its natural course. This photograph shows how lush the marsh is this time of year.
I came across this pair of Sandhill Cranes foraging pretty close to the trail. They are three to four feet tall and can be pretty aggressive. This pair eye’d me suspiciously while I took their photographs. Shortly after I had moved on they took flight, passing overhead while squonking at me loudly.

The Fly’s Eye

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You’ve heard the phrase the Bee’s Knees? Well this post is about the Fly’s Eyes. The eye’s of many insects are fascinating to look at up close. Flys in particular have some of the most interesting and down right beautiful eyes in nature.

This is a photograph of a Hoverfly which was hovering about a foot above the sand on the Dune Ridge trail in the Indiana Dunes National Park. It was taken on a bright and very hot afternoon in June at a particular spot on this trail which I know from past visits is a good place to find Hoverflys in the act of hovering. Getting a clear photograph like this is an interesting technical challenge which I will touch on in an upcoming post. For the moment however I just want to focus on the beautiful eyes of this cute little Hoverfly.