Orchids in the White Lake Fen, June 28, 2018

Luckily we managed to get to the fen one day before the beginning of a major heatwave, which would have quickly brought an end to the beautiful flowers of the orchids and been stressful for us too! Since this date was a bit earlier than is usual for our outing, the Showy Lady’s Slipper were putting on a magnificant show and there were more White Bog Orchids than we have ever seen in this location. We had 8 species in addition to these: Rose Pegonia, Yellow Lady’s Slipper, Pink Lady’s Slipper, Green Adder’s Mouth, Dragonmouth (Arethusa), Helleborine, Grass Pink and Northern Green. See Orchids.key

We tallied 25 bird species along the way, including three species of thrush (Wood, Hermit,Veery) and a Winter Wren, in the cedar forest leading to the fen. As usual, Nashville Warblers and Common Yellowthroat were plentiful in the fen and constantly singing to us along the way. There were dragonflies, damselflies, moths and butterflies to capture our attention as well along the way.

A perfect day to enjoy this magnificent location. Many thanks to Michael Runtz for leading us there!

Photos below by Michael Runtz