Welcome Back, Wildflowers!

Doug Marcum Watches over Mogodore Reservoir

It had been a long, cold, and harsh winter this year, more so than I can remember in the past. Our first snowfall was December 1st and we have yet to see our last I'm sure, with March 31st being the most recent. The days are growing longer and it seems to finally be getting a bit more mild outside (I wont say warm, yet). I am longing for the day that I can walk outside in my short sleeved shirt and not get goosebumps. The Cleveland Indians have started their season of 162 games which is usually a sure sign of nearing nicer weather. The sunsets have been amazing the past few times that I have gone to Mogodore Reservoir to do a little bird sighting, my favorite hobby when I have free time. The waterfowl have continued to be present in mass numbers there and they look to be having a good time. They float around and dive underwater, they catch fish and elude the Gulls who try to pirate them, and they splash around in attempt to woe a mate. Everything is shaping up to be spring in Northeast Ohio. That is, except for the lack of wildflowers - I have seen none at Mogodore.

Mogodore Reservoir Sunset

Without seeing any wildflowers around Mogodore Reservoir and its surrounding areas, Doug Marcum and I decided to pack up and go to Mesopotamia, OH where 26 acres of woods is in his families name. We figured that there would surely be wildflowers out there. It is a place of zen and I always love going there. We took my girlfriend and her two friends with us and made it a little camping trip with good company. There is a cabin on the property that gives off a rustic and home-like feeling. The smell of a fire in the wood burning stove and taters cooking on the hotplate add to the enjoyment. When we woke up in the morning we all put our boots (rain boots for the girls and regular boots for the guys) on and hiked the trails, trudged through the water and climbed the hills (doug climbed trees too per usual).

Val, Kristy, Michelle and Doug

On our hike we had come across the first seen wildflowers of the season - Hepatica! They were still not fully bloomed, but with the sun that was out Doug and I knew that it couldn't be much longer until they popped open (I'm talking hours). We continued on our hike with the girls and came to the muddy/swampy area of the property where skunk cabbage grows. We could see the purple pods all over the place with their leaves beginning to grow which will eventually (in a couple weeks) dominate the wood's floor in that area.

Wildflower: Skunk Cabbage

We hiked around the property for about 2 hours, which caused us all to grow an appetite a bit larger than normal. While we made our way back to the cabin to prepare some breakfast I lagged behind a little while the others were about 50 yards ahead at least. I heard a couple of Red-Tailed Hawks around the area and then spotted them overhead. I noticed that they were going to fly right over us so I called to Doug "straight-up" as they soared by. Doug and the girls got to see the RTH followed by two other RTHs - always a sight to see. When we got back to the cabin Doug did the cooking (scrambled eggs with tomato and cheese, bacon and maple sausage with a couple glasses of milk to wash it all down) while I made a fire for the girls to roast some 'mallows on since they had forgotten to the night before; the fire also added a bit of warmth to the cool cabin. After eating, the girls fell asleep and took a nap while Doug and I went back out to see if the Hepatica had opened up a bit more than they were before. We were happy with what we saw...

Wildflower: Hepatica

Still not fully opened, we were just happy to be able to see the stamens and anthers and witness the process of them blooming. The power of the sun is remarkable. As we were taking pictures of them we started to notice everything else around: Trout Lilies, Bloodroot and Spring Beauties were sprouting along with Blue Cohosh. I then walked a bit further down the path from Doug and spotted the first open Spring Beauty of the year (for the two of us), then he spotted a small cluster flowers that look similar to Spring Beauty...

Wildflower: Spring Beauty
Spotted by me

Wildflower: similar to Spring Beauty
Spotted by Doug

After observing all of the blooming and sprouting wildflowers we ventured on through the valley that we were in. Doug was looking at a tree when I spotted our first butterfly of the year - a comma butterfly. (If you want to see pictures of it, I'm sure that Doug will have them posted on his Flickr and/or his blog soon). We followed this butterfly for a while then went over to where the marsh marigold bloom to see if there were any signs of them yet. Doug noticed that they were sprouting when we got to the area. Here is a picture of what is to come in a couple weeks or possibly sooner of the sprouting wildflowers that I have mentioned. These were all taken by me two years ago:

Wildflower: Trout-Lily

Wildflower: Bloodroot

Wildflower: Marsh Marigold

I cannot wait to see all of these flowers the next few times that I make it out to the cabin. Along with them, there should be Trillium (large and purple), Duchmens Breech, Purple (Wild Blue) Phlox, Foamflower, Spotted Cranesbill, Jack-in-the-Pulpit, Mayflower, Coltsfoot, Blue Violets, and others that I am forgetting I'm sure. They all come and go so fast, and at different times. If not at the cabin, I will be looking for them among other places. We ended up leaving the property around 4 o'clock to head back to Kent. After I dropped the girls off at their house Doug and I went to our obvious favorite spot - Mogodore. We did it a bit different this time though. We ended up taking out Doug's canoe and getting into the water instead of the woods for once. We are going to make it a habit to take the canoe out as often as possible. We were able to do a bit of exploring on new areas of the reservoir that we had never been able to get to which was pretty awesome. Not to mention, there is something about moving along the water that is nothing less than amazing to me. I can't wait for the day that I buy a boat, even though that seems like it is decades away. The canoe will do nicely for now though, satisfying my craving to be on the water. We had to paddle into the blustering wind and rain to get to the newly explored area. We went East from Congress Lake (where we launched) to basically Ohio Route 43. When we came out from exploring the new area we noticed that it was considerably nicer out and shaping up to once again be an amazing sunset. This time, we got photographs from on the water instead of on the land. The new perspective made for amazing photography. Until the next time that I am out and about, I will leave you with a few pictures of the canoe-captured sunset...