A forecast of cold, rainy weather for our planned excursion caused us to move it forward one day to June 27. Although a few people were to be disappointed because they were unable to reschedule, we had a good, enthusiastic group, and two participants even managed to get here from Toronto on short notice. The chosen day was perfect, not too hot, no rain and few biting insects. We spent the morning in the fen where we tallied 13 species of orchids including the Showy Lady’s-slippers, which are the MFNC insignia! We saw several dragonfly species , including the smallest one in North America, the Elfin Skimmer, and a rare caterpillar on the Bog Bean.

For lunch we moved to the picnic area near White Lake where we had a chance to chat and to make new friends. Then we were off to the corner restaurant for ice cream before heading to the Stewartville Swamp.The orchids are fewer there now since ice storms and a microburst have let more sun onto the forest floor, but there we found our 14th orchid species and a Red Eft made itself available for numerous photographs. Thank you Michael for this, always popular, annual trip.