A Walk in the Woods with Nancy Leonard

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As the bonds of COVID-19 lessened, Keweenaw Wild Ones and our guests had the great pleasure of accompanying naturalist Nancy Leonard on a ramble May 22 into the Michigan Nature Association’s Keweenaw Shores Sanctuary.

Located just across Highway M-26 from Esrey Park, this rocky, winding path meanders through a variety of habitats. Our mission was to view flowers that bloom early in the year, including spring ephemerals, which often disappear once the more robust flowers of summer take the stage.

Afterward, we had a BYO sack lunch at Esrey Park. Yep, there were bugs, but the bug magnets among us wore netting, so even the blackflies couldn’t spoil a perfect walk in the woods. Thank you, Nancy Leonard, for a lovely time.

Juneberry, serviceberry, sugar plum . . . an amelanchior is an amelanchior
Along the trail
Seldom-seen ferns in a rock formation

 

Labrador tea (lower left), star flower (upper right), and creeping snowberry
Gaywings
Blue bead lily not quite in bloom
Barren strawberry among bigleaf asters
Wild strawberry
Thimbleberry, mosses, lichens, and more
A pitcher plant not yet in bloom

Nancy points out a rare lichen
Nancy leading Wild Ones along a just-wide-enough boardwalk
Marsh marigold