A day in a southern bog

Timing is everything when trying to see flowers, insects and birds. Sometimes you get lucky and see what you are looking for at prime time. Sometimes you have to settle you get. Other times you miss what you are looking for. Yesterday we were lucky. Bishop’s Bog is a delightful site in Portage, south of Kalamazoo. If I lived near Kalamazoo I’d probably spend a lot of time at this site.

Dragonflies were numerous at the boy yesterday. This is Sympetrum vicinum, Yellow-legged meadowhawk/Autumnal meadowhawk. These are abundant in the fall.

This is Plathemis lydia, Common Whitetail. It is another common dragonfly.

Butterflies were also common yesterday. There were numerous Silver-spotted skippers which are about the size of a half dollar.

There is a wonderful boardwalk in the bog, making it a “mostly” dry walk. Needless to say, we can always figure out a way to get wet.

Finding a large patch of Drosera intermedia, Spatulate sundew was a pleasant surprise. I think that I forgot that these were here.

Bog yellow-eyed grass was abundant.

But this was our target, Platanthera ciliaris, Orange-frilled orchid. It did not disappoint us. We found at least 30 stems in bloom, many near peak like this one.

Some of the orchids were close enough to the boardwalk to look down on them, giving you a completely different perspective.

More tomorrow…