Another Tuesday Morning Walk

As you know, every Tuesday morning we lead a nature hike, usually at Dahlem, but occasionally somewhere else.  On this particular morning (June 23), the walk was at Dahlem and was led by Don and Robin Henise, volunteers and good friends of Dahlem.  Their specialty is things with wings:  birds, butterflies and dragonflies.  This morning we were headed out specifically to look for dragon- and butterflies.  We were not to be disappointed.

Right off the bat, we encountered this little woodland flutterby - it's one of the hairstreaks, possibly banded.

Thanks to all the heavy rains we'd had, the water was way up in Crouch Creek!

 

A good destination for dragonflies is the Reflection Pond, where one can stand on the boardwalk, without getting one's feet wet, and watch for dragonflies, damselfies, frogs and turtles.  We saw several green darners, some twelve-spotted skimmers, forktail damselflies, and many dot-tailed whitefaces.

 

 forktail damselfy

mating dragonflies

 

 Dot-tail whiteface dragonfly

green frog

Another great place to look for dragonflies is out in the fields/grasslands.  The day we went, the spiderwort was about at peak for blooming.  There was a lovely purple haze across the southern end of the grasslands.

 Spiderwort is mostly purple, but sometimes you find white or even magenta blossoms.

Because our group is made up of general natural enthusiasts, they also did some bird watching.

 We couldn't have asked for a more glorious morning to be out in the grasslands!

Meadowhawks were plentiful in the grasslands.

One of my favorites is the ebony jewelwing, a beautiful damselfly that we quite often seen in sunny patches in the woods.  I was thrilled to capture this image of one peeking over the edge of a leaf at me.

 

As our group made its way back to the visitor center, we encountered some artists who were out memorializing parts of our trails on canvas.  It is always such a joy to see the diverse array of visitors we get out here at Dahlem.

Anyone can join us for our Tuesday Morning Walks!  We meet at 9:00 AM and are usually done between 11:00 and 11:30, after which the group usually heads out to have lunch together.  It's a wonderful social time for all.

New Butterfly Trail Begun

A couple years ago Dahlem joined the Michigan Butterfly Network and became a hub for collecting baseline data on native butterflies.  Thanks to the efforts of a small crew of volunteers, we've already submitted a couple years worth of data to the network.

Data collection is done during a specific time of year and along preset transects - it's all very scientifically laid out.  The mission is to establish definitive information on Michigan's butterfly populations so trends can be tracked as climate and habitats change.

As part of this initiative, we are putting in a Butterfly Trail over at the Ecology Farm!  This trail has been in the planning phase for a couple years; this winter and spring the trail was staked out and just last week it finally got its first trim.

The trail starts near the northeast corner of the Community Gardens and heads down toward the wet meadow and Sharp's Creek.

Along the way it passed under some really impressive trees, some providing not only shade, but also some pretty neat tunnels.  Eventually it heads back toward the other end of the Community Gardens and the Apiary.  All told, it is about 0.4 miles long.

Our plans for this trail include interpretive signage that will educate visitors about our native butterflies:  what habitats they like, what foods are hosts for adults and larvae, and how everyone can contribute to butterfly conservation.

The trail will also be great for short walks for those who want to enjoy the scenery and other wildlife at the Ecology Farm.

Later on we will be seeding the grassy areas with native wildflowers and grasses, which will encourage not only our native butterflies, but also provide great pollen and nectar sources for native bees and the honey bees at our apiary.

The trail isn't open yet - we still have some work to do, but keep your eyes and ears peeled for an announcement for when it does open.

Tuesday Morning Walk, 14 April

Signs of spring were simply everywhere last Tuesday as we hit the trails with the Tuesday Morning Group.  It was a mild morning, with a cloudless blue sky - perfect conditions for seeing what spring had unveiled so far.

The recent warm weather was doing its thing for the trees:  many flower and leaf buds were swollen and ready to burst.  Some have already bloomed - missed by most of us!

We were delighted when we found this chickadee excavating a possible nest cavity along the trail.

It was only topped by a second chickadee doing the same about 20 feet away!  I was able to catch this one with a mouth full of sawdust that it had removed from the cavity and was about to spit out.

 We didn't find any forest flowers in bloom yet, but the trout lily leaves were up.

Looks like some recent visitors decided to memorialize their visit on our bridge.  We hope this is not a sign of a trend that is coming back.  

We had a fair-sized group this day, which included two young lads who are very much into nature and birds.  They were quite keen on looking for all the birds Gary pointed out to the group.  Yellow-rumped warblers and golden-crowned kinglets were among the day's finds.

These painted turtles were out sunning themselves on a log in the Reflection Pond.

We recently had an Eagle Scout candidate out to work on his project:  a scenic overlook for the fen near the grasslands.

We put it to good use this morning.  Well done.

Bluebirds and tree swallows are staking out the nest boxes on the grassland.  They would soon be in for a surprise (see next blog).

And there was plenty of evidence of winter hardships suffered by the local rodents.  We don't mind, though, when it's the non-native plants that they girdle.  

Spring is definitely showing her stuff around the property now.  Sunday night we had a woodcock walk planned (cancelled due to rain)...another spring event.  And later (April 23 and 24) is our Night of the Amphibians, when we go looking for frogs and their friends.  Come on out and join us!