Chasing After Trillium

So  I took my mom over to Embury Road.  I was seeing pictures of trillium from past  years on Facebook, so I figured I needed to head over there soon before they were gone.  Usually there are other flowers that I can get pictures of as well.

 I think this is a lily of the valley.  It is a pretty nice looking flower.

 Another angle for that.

 And one more.

 It didn't take long for me to realize my quest.  There were a few flowers in this spot and it looks like they just bloomed.

 The trillium is a very nice looking flower and is the true harbinger of spring for me.

 With a little bit of searching, I was able to find this Jack in the pulpit.

 Suprisingly, there were two.  I think this is a fairly rare flower.

 I think it also acts like a Venus fly trap in that there is a little water at the bottom and it traps bugs.   The flower will then eat the bugs.

 I found another stand with trillium.

 And there were more of them at this spot.

 I kind of like the variety.

 I think this is a mutation.  If you see the plants with green in the petals, that is a disease.

 I kind of like this one.

 This is Canadian anemone.

 A picture without a bug in it.

 Another angle.

 As I got to another spot, I looked up in the sky and I saw this hawk.

 He was getting attacked by the crows but he just kept flying forward.

 And the Blanding's turtle that always seems to be here.

He was joined by another.

And Embury Road

So we headed over to Embury Road.

 First up were the star flowers.

 These are pretty nice looking flowers.

 I have a feeling they are no longer there though.

 It was a nice sunny day.  I think I prefer cloudy days for flowers.

 Some marsh marigolds.

 I kind of like this shot.  You can see the sun reflecting off the water that was flowing under them.

 ONe flower.

 Another single flower.

 I think this is a violet.

 I think this is a bellwort.

 A May pop.

 I saw these guys as we were on a road by there.  It was cool to see a sandhill family.

 And they were being very cautious.

 I think this is the same turtle I always see there.

 It is a Blanding's turtle.

 This is considered an endangered species but they typically live to be 80 or 90 years old.  These are very shy turtles and you have to approach carefully or you will find yourself taking a picture of a log.

They are named after Dr. William Blanding who was an American naturalist born in Massachusetts in 1773.  He died in 1857.   Over the years, he acquired a large collection of minerals, coins, shells and fossils.  They were donated to Brown's Museum of Natural History.

Return to Embury Road

So last week I decided to take my mom over to Embury Road.  She hasn't been out of the apartment since this Covid thing has been happening in Michigan.  I think she needed to get out (even if she didn't want to).  It is off of North Territorial Road and it is near where M-52 meets up with it.  Anyway, it seems like it may have been stocked with wildflowers because there is a pretty nice variety.

 I think this is called a star flower.

 This is white one.

 These are marsh marigolds.

 It seemed like there were alot more this year than in years past.  But then again, we had a pretty wet April.

 Another angle of those.

 One more shot of them.

 I think these are violets.

 Another group of violets.

 I don't remember if this is Solomon's seal or false Solomon's seal.  Either way it is a pretty cool plant.

 I don't remember what these are called.

 But they are pretty cool looking.

 Another group of those flowers.

 A turkey vulture as we left the road.

 Another angle of him.  These are pretty ugly looking birds but they are pretty cool too. 

 I was happy to see a Blandings turtle, but I think this guy lives here because I always see him in the same spot.  He was tough to get pictures of because he ducked in the water as soon as he saw me the first time.

It was a little easier the second time.