Sherwin Street to Red Pine Drive

5 miles round trip: 40 miles total

After almost a week’s break, I returned to the trail where it passes through the Rogue River State Game Area. This area preserves about 6,000 acres of river flood plain, lowland and upland forests. It’s managed to create habitat and recreational opportunities for a variety of wildlife. Target shooting is permitted year-round and on the weekend I was passing through gunfire was a somewhat disconcerting constant. I eventually realized it all seemed concentrated in one location on the far side of the Rogue River so I don’t think there is much danger if you stick to the trail.

This is a typical view of the flood plain along the Rogue River.
The male ebony jewelwing damselfly has an iridescent blue-green body and black wings. They’re very territorial and will return to the same perch repeatedly, though they won’t let you get too close. I used a Sigma 120-400mm f/4.5-5.6 lens with a 1.4x teleconverter attached to give me the reach and magnification I need to get this shot.
The female ebony jewelwing is less showy than the male, but has beautiful translucent wings and distinct white patches on top of the wings near the back.
A wild raspberry blossom.
The wood frogs were very active when I was passing through the Rogue River State Game Area. This small brown specimen is probably a male since the females are red and larger. He seemed pretty certain that he was invisible among the leaf litter on the forest floor.
The eastern American toad is one of only two species found in Michigan