This is the fourth post in this limited series of excursions taken on early weekday mornings in the month of June. If you missed the reason I ventured out so early, you can read about it here.
This jaunt was taken the morning of June 17th in this 40-acre nature preserve adjacent to Southgate Anderson High School. It is five miles from my home and located in a residential neighborhood. I first visited this venue in January 2019, and, though the paved pathway was clear that day, the marsh area and wooden pathways were icy, so I intended one day to return in a warmer season – so that day was today.
Once you enter the Nature Center, it is rather secluded with the Phragmites and tall Teasels towering above the path, so I was reluctant to explore too much and I was careful not to stray off the beaten path, as I understand from several people that since it is such a rustic area, its tall grasses, reeds, Phragmites and cattails are home to ticks galore. In a year where we already have a tick explosion, I was mindful of that warning and thanks to cooler temps, I donned long pants and a long-sleeved shirt for this walk.
I was grateful to see a bicyclist or two rolling through and yielded to them as it is a fairly narrow pathway. I didn’t linger too long and headed down to the Detroit River next after this brief stop.
A local naturalist named Bruce Szczechowski is an environmental science teacher at Anderson High School, and, according to a fellow walker at Council Point Park, he often sends his students into the field, both literally and figuratively, as part of their routine class assignments. I’ve heard or read that he and his students have catalogued more than 120 species of birds in this nature preserve, including raptors. Additionally, Bruce Szczechowski is active with the Detroit Audubon Society, which organization I follow on Facebook and I like seeing his photos and narratives on the various trips he takes with other birders in the Metropolitan Detroit area, including at this venue.
But, there were no birds to be found on this early morning, so I guess the phrase “the early bird catches the worm” is a misnomer?
I did see a sweet rabbit, who graciously posed for me, but I needn’t have felt it was for my benefit as it was preening. Usually, unless rabbits or bunnies are contently munching on grass, clover or dandelions, whether in the ‘hood or at the Park, oblivious to your presence, they won’t bolt. Well this rabbit was primping. I learned a few years ago that rabbits are fastidious about grooming, sometimes cleaning their fur and paws several times a day. So, this week’s Wordless Wednesday will feature Ms. Bunny primping for Saturday night date night.
I decided my mission at the nature preserve was to gather wildflowers of which there were plenty. But, I wasn’t going to bring them home in a bouquet, but instead as images in my camera. So, today’s post is picture laden. When I sorted through these photos a few weeks later, I muddled around a few wildflower websites in an effort to identify each wildflower, without much success. So I ordered this book on Michigan Wildflowers so I can I.D. the weeds from the wildflowers, rather than group them willy-nilly in a post. Perhaps I’ll be more clear-headed in 2022, when the worries about a pandemic and erratic weather are not consuming all my brain power.
Linda Schaub
WALKIN', WRITIN', WIT & WHIMSY 
Take care of yourself Linda, spending time with nature helps doesn’t it.
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Thank you – it sure does Kim. It’s a good escape from what is swirling all around.
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It’s a heavy time.
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Yes it is – I hope it is better for 2022 Kim.
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A wonderful group of wild flowers, so many colors. I like that the teacher has the students go to the park. It is a good way to hopefully keep them interested in nature and how to take care of it and to appreciate the beauty of it.
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Next year I vow to put them with their names in the caption area. I like that too about this teacher Sandra. A walker at the Park mentioned her son enjoying that part of the class the most and remarked it was almost like taking a field trip. I agree – hopefully the love of outdoors and being in nature will stick with him and these other students long after the class is over.
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Beautiful flowers Linda! Too bad I cannot smell them. Must of been hot wearing all that clothing in the summer heat.
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Thank you Wayne. Next year I will not only know the names of these beauties when I return to this nature preserve, but I will figure out how to do a “scratch and sniff” area in the post too. 🙂 I have not done the post yet for when I visited the Henry Ford Estate when its Persian Lilacs were in bloom. They have a whole area of the Estate garden devoted to these lilacs; they really smelled wonderful.
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Lovely flowers!
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Glad you liked them Kate. My favorite was the purple and white striped Lily. There it was, growing like a weed out in the wild, but the golden one I had in the yard bit the dust.
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Flowers do that!
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So many different types, Linda! It’s amazing, and makes me envious, that you have so many different nature spots and parks an easy distance from home. Looks like a good week ahead – we may be able to salvage something of summer yet!
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Yes, amazing Joni, because I even had more wildflowers that I took photos of that day and left them out as I thought it may be too many flower pictures. And that was two months ago … I’ll bet there are a lot more now They had a lot of old milkweed pods when I went in the Winter and it is supposed to be full of butterflies. Maybe I ought to take another trip there while it is cool. I am looking forward to the respite from the heat too. Enough of this heat and humidity. Today I saw a first at the Park; a woman was gathering mushrooms. She had a small basket with a cloth insert. It was her first time looking for mushrooms. I said I’d never seen a mushroom in the eight years I’ve been walking there.
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I hope she’s careful. We used to have a colored chart on the wall in ER with the poisonous species so the patient who got sick could point to the one they thought they had eaten! I wouldn’t risk it.
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I wouldn’t risk it either Joni. I once worked with a guy who was into the morel mushrooms. He knew all the places where they grew and spent time every weekend gathering them. Enough risks you take these days just leaving the house without dealing with anything more.
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Thanks for sharing this beautiful bouquet with us, Linda. This is the best way to share wildflowers – so much better than cutting them. It looks like a beautiful place to explore. Glad there were no unwanted hitchhikers (ticks) riding home with you!
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I completely agree!
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You can never have too many flowers – can you Gabrielle? Thank you for your comment.
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Good to see you again Laurie. Have you returned from vacation or just popping in while afar? I’ve been wondering how Alaska was and if you can still get to London? It was beautiful there at this nature preserve and I imagine there are even more wildflowers after this long hot Summer and all the rain. I was careful and wore long pants and long sleeves. These days I walk along at the Park constantly examining my shoes and socks for hitchikers and it’s rare to find one there, but it’s been a buggy Summer, though I never saw the Brood X Cicadas I heard so much about.
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We are back from Alaska, Linda. It was beautiful. I had no idea Alaska is so lush! Lots of wildflowers – you would have loved it. As of right now, I can still get to London. That may change in a month, though. I guess we have to be flexible when traveling these days. It is a buggy summer here too. I have lots of mosquito bites, but so far, no hitchhikers for me either. I finally did see the Brood X cicadas. They were in the woods in full force a few months ago. Now I hear the annual cicadas signaling the end of summer. hope you stay dry this week. We are supposed to get hit by the remnants of Ida.
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That’s amazing – I had no idea Alaska was so lush Laurie. I hope you will write about it when you are back to blogging full time again. We are set to have about five days of cooler, less humid weather and I’m happy for that. I am only hearing those end of Summer cicadas too. I’m glad to end the heat and advance to Fall, but not with the Winter looming large. Hope you don’t have storms and rain from Ida.
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What a great nature center! The partnership between the city and the school district is wonderful.
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Yes it is Espirational. I think it is a wonderful idea as well and the students will get much more out of the class than if the studies were only from a book. Thank you for your comment.
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Miss Linda………………………………I often visited a 97 yr. old women in the Southgate apartments directly across fro the Southgate Nature Center and wondered all about it…………………………..thanks ………………I have a wildflower Michigan book I’ll have to ;look some of the flowers up also
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You’ll have to walk there one morning Ann Marie, but be mindful of ticks and stay on the path. I was there in the Winter as well and mentioned it to the walker at Council Point Park and she said to be careful in the Winter for ticks as well. I didn’t know they were problematic in the Winter. Now that school is back in session, the parking will not be as easy. Hope you take a trip there!
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All lovely!
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Glad you liked them Anne – I’m betting they would be even taller and many more of them at the end of this hot/humid/rainy Summer.
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You collected a beautiful assortment of flowers! I’m glad you included the dried flowers as well. There’s a certain beauty in those dried heads.
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Thanks Rebecca – I like the teasels and the fluffy-looking Phragmites too, especially against the perfect blue sky. When I was there in the Wintertime, I saw a lot of milkweed pods with the cottony fibers sticking out of the brown, dried-up pod, but it was too early for the milkweed to have flowers yet. I hope to learn some of the names next year, as I only know a handful of them by sight.
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There is something so special about wildflowers and these are beautiful pictures Linda. Our high schools students would love to have the park near our schools as the track team runs all through the town and they have to smell the exhaust from the cars. The scent of wildflowers would be much more appealing I’m sure! Also, Mary says Hi!
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Thank you Diane – there were so many wildflowers here for just mid-June. I was glad I went when I did. The track team practices at Council Point Park and they put a white line down where they are to run as well.
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Please say hi back to Mary Diane. She must be feeling better and back to knitting and starting another blog again?
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The month of June seems so long ago now… A very lovely collection of wildflowers Linda! What a pleasant, colorful walk to start off your summer with. 🙂 I love that you have a nature center nearby. We’re lucky to have one close by, too. Good luck with the wildflower ids! They can be so tricky, more challenging than birds, for me, anyway.
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Yes, it does seem long ago Barbara between this long, hot, humid Summer and for you, the hurricane anticipation/angst. It was nice strolling down the path and seeing all these flowers relatively early in the season. No identification for me, except easy ones like daisies and chickory it seems. I hope the book helps better than my brain!
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Your photos are beautiful, Linda. I find using a book for plant ID easier than the internet. I was able to ID many of the flowers in your pictures but a few I don’t recognize or am uncertain about. Let me know if you have questions.
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I will indeed Ruth. I hope to sit down on a snowy Winter and cold Winter like the Almanac is predicting and see how I do … if I do badly, I’ll wait until next Summer and try again. Did you hear about the “Old Farmer’s Almanac” prediction for this Winter – they claim to be pretty accurate (they say more accurate than meteorologists):
https://www.audacy.com/wwjnewsradio/news/local/farmers-almanac-prepare-for-a-freezing-cold-winter
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nd says he is seeing all the signs of a long cold winter. I guess we are due for one.
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I like Paul Gross from Click on Detroit. He says the models are trending for a La Nina Winter, as of now, but expects it may change as Winter gets underway. He was a guest on the radio and was asked if a very hot Summer meant a very cold Winter and he said “no correlation” – I guess that is just an old wives’ tale I’ve heard in the past.
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Beautiful bike path, Linda. So glad to see those cyclists. Flowers are lovely!
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I know you could picture yourself rolling along on your own bike Martha. Those flowers were all early bloomers and I suspect there are many more now. We have a few cool days so I really should return. We’ve had such a hot Summer that any cool days are appreciated!
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The fourth photo in the final set looks pretty enough to be an orchid!
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Dave – I was amazed at the amount of unique-looking wildflowers that early in the season, some so delicate and tropical looking, all growing without a bit of TLC, not to mention fertilizer. I’ve been looking for beach/swamp roses which a Connecticut blogger sees on her nature walks, but no luck so far though the conditions have been perfect for them.
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How lovely it is to see a selection of your wild flowers!
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Thank you Anne and all these were way back in mid-June, so I should return and see what the end of Summer brings, but well covered up. I walked yesterday in a wooded area, not a deep woods, and the mosquitoes were thick as thieves. I came home with at least ten bites … me who is so careful to cover up due to our tick explosion and two types of mosquitoes causing mosquito-borne illness.
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