Category: Herron Rookery Trail

And More…

Posted on by MC2 · Leave a comment

In my previous post Spring Is Here… I focused on the early blooming wild flowers I saw on the Heron Rookery trail in the Indiana Dunes National Park. I went to this trail specifically because I wanted to see if the spring ephemerals had begun to show themselves. And the answer turned out to be yes.

But blooming wild flowers were hardly the only things to catch my eye. There was more, so much more to see.

Virginia Waterleaf is plentiful along this trail and is one of my favorites to photograph. So much color and detail in the leaves.
I find the forest floor to be particularly interesting this time of year. Plenty of greenery, but it has not yet expanded to the point where everything just melds together into one continuous mass.
I really like the appearance of the early stages of Hepatica on a wet day. The way that the fine hairs on the stems and the outer surfaces of the flower capture the water is always fascinating.
More emergent flowers…
Cool, overcast days with light rain make everything, and I mean EVERYTHING, so much better. Not only does the water coat everything, enriching colors and providing a nice sheen, it also collects into wonderful droplets on leaves. This is not accidental. The shape and surface of these leaves and blades of grass are designed to hold and ultimately funnel water to the plant for nourishment.
And of course the focus is not just on plant life. Typically I am not aware of the presence of frogs until I hear them plopping into the water as I approach. They are a tad skittish, though this is perfectly understandable considering how many things out there like to eat them. This particular one was very still and never budged while I positioned and setup my camera.
You just know that the spiders must be out as well. I mean where you have blooming flowers you have pollenators, and where you have pollenators you have spiders looking for a meal. This is my first spider of the season, but there are many more to come.
That thing I said earlier about water making things better. Oh yeah…
… so much better!
Emergent Mayapple.
I really enjoy getting down close to the ground for this perspective.

Spring Is Here…

Posted on by MC2 · Leave a comment

Here along the southern coast of Lake Michigan spring has begun. The first blooms of the season are typically found on the Heron Rookery and Bailly Calumet trails, both of which run alongside the Little Calumet river. These trails tend to be quite muddy this time of year, expect to have to go through stretches where the mud and water are over the toe of your footwear. I recommend ankle high, waterproof boots.

My most recent visit to the Heron Rookery trail yielded the first of the spring ephemerals of the season.

Emergent greenery was coming up nicely. Soon this scene will be packed with blooming wildflowers.
Somewhat appropriately, these Harbingers of Spring were the first wildflowers I saw on the trail.
Not far down the trail the first Hepatica began to show.
Next up was Bloodroot.
It was a wet rainy day, which made for lots of great waterdrops to compliment the fresh blooms.
Dutchman’s Breeches.
Not in bloom just yet, Prairie Trillium was also in abundance.

This time of year I like to hit this trail every couple weeks because it changes so much so fast. On this day I caught the very beginning. I am looking forward to returning soon.