[To see stories and photos from other years, see the links on the main Wetland page.]

I pulled Wild Parsnip in most of the wetland this year, all except the eastern-most end.  Every year there’s less, but it still takes me more than a month of work days.  Mike mowed the parsnip at the east end.

Mike also mowed the area around the old farmhouse and the field below it – mostly to control Reed Canary Grass.  Mowing seems to discourage RCG and encourage sedges.

Another area we worked on is west of the driveway and north of the creek.  Mike mowed the small fenced field that’s closest to the creek – trying to reduce the amount of Reed Canary Grass.  There are several large circles of Reed Canary Grass north of that field that can’t be mowed because their feet are in standing water.  I tried weed whacking one of the big circles to see if that would help.

Mike also mowed the field south of Willow Bend – for both parsnip and Reed Canary Grass, and a few spots north of the creek, around the edges of Willow Bend.

One of the big circles of willows west of the driveway has Garlic Mustard growing in it.  I sprayed a lot of it, but it’s hard to reach it all, so I think it will be a long term project.  There are smaller spots of Garlic Mustard in a few other places – all west of the driveway – and I think those are more under control.

1/3/2021

2/26/2021

3/3/2021

4/6/2021

4/7/2021  This isn’t part of the main wetland – it’s a ditch across the road that has water in it all year around. We hear spring peepers and wood frogs calling from it, and it has a population of interesting Damselflies – Western Red Damsels.

4/7/2021  Wood Frog in the wet ditch

5/4/2021  Marsh Marigolds

5/26/2021  Some drone photos of the creek and the wetland.

5/26/2021

5/26/2021

5/26/2021  Sedge meadow and a pond behind a beaver dam in the creek

6/11/2021  Wild Iris

6/13/2021  Beaver work in Willow Bend

6/13/2021  Golden Ragwort (Packera aurea)

6/14/2021  Western part of our wetland showing one of the large circles of Reed Canary Grass

6/14/2021  After whacking part of the RCG circle

6/15/2021  Mowed field north of Willow Bend

6/20/2021  Beaver dam and pond in Willow Bend

6/20/2021  East end of Willow Bend

6/21/2021  The big formerly parsnip field north of Willow Bend

6/23/2021  Mowing below the old farmhouse

6/25/2021  Parsnip in No Bridge Meadow – across the creek from the mowed farmhouse meadow

6/29/2021  More drone photos.  Mowing at the eastern end of the wetland, with the farmhouse meadow mowing on the right.

6/29/2021  Mowing – Farmhouse Meadow, around the old farmhouse, and – the maze on the right side – mowing for RCG.

6/29/2021  Mowing west of the driveway.  On the left is the field just north of Willow Bend;  to the right of the creek is a field I planted a few years ago.  All the mowing is for RCG and Wild Parsnip.

6/29/2021  Marcie pulling parsnip across the creek from the Farmhouse Meadow.  (It’s hard to see the creek, but the mowing goes right up to the edge of the drop off.)

6/29/2021  Sedge Meadow

6/29/2021  Old Farmhouse yard

7/19/2021  Farmhouse Meadow – greening up after mowing

7/19/2021  Old Farmhouse yard greening up with more sedges and less RCG

7/21/2021  This is west of the driveway, between the powerline and the creek.  It used to be dominated by RCG.  Now it’s mostly sedges.

7/21/2021  Michigan Lily

7/21/2021  Parsnip Meadow (formerly dominated by Wild Parsnip) – planted with wetland seeds in December of 2007.

7/27/2021  No Bridge Meadow

7/27/2021  No Bridge Meadow – after pulling parsnip – looking north across the creek at Farmhouse Meadow

8/4/2021   Joe-pye Weed in the sedge meadow below Pine Point Prairie

8/4/2021  Monarch caterpillar in one of the ‘milkweed meadows’ – large patches of Common Milkweed growing together.

8/4/2021  Monarch

8/4/2021  Tiger Swallowtail

8/4/2021  Giant Swallowtail and Red Milkweed Beetle (Tetraopes tetrophthalmus)

8/4/2021  Joe-pye Weed in sedge meadow

8/4/2021  Ironweed

8/12/2021  Creek where the driveway crosses it – Boneset, Goldenrod, Joe-pye Weed, Blue Vervain, Sneezeweed

8/30/2021  Monarch and bumblebee on Swamp Thistle

9/2/2021  Tall Sunflower – one of the plants that competes successfully with Reed Canary Grass

9/2/2021  Wet edge of the driveway with Blue Lobelia, Boneset, Swamp Betony, Jewelweed, and sedges

9/2/2021  Tall Sunflower, Boneset, Joe-pye Weed, Blue Lobelia, Swamp Betony, Goldenrod

9/5/2021  Sneezeweed