Wilderness SP Butterflies and Botany

June 14, 15,16 (last weekend) my girlfriend Jackie and I went to Mackinaw City for the weekend. Our main focus (beside a relaxing weekend) was to find Ram's Head Lady Slipper. We saw many.
We also found a few species of butterflies.
On the trip up from Lansing, we saw Canadian Tiger Swallowtails in every county north of Isabella. At rest stops we found several Northern Crescents and a few Cabbage Whites.
Wilderness State Park, 11 miles west  of Mackinaw City (in Emmet County) we saw several Canadian Tiger Swallowtails, Spring Azures, Northern Crescents and a Mourning Cloak.

                             Papilio canadensis (Canadian Tiger Swallowtail) at entrance to Wilderness SP.
                                                                      June 15, 2013

 

  

If you have not visited Wilderness State Park, you should. Wilderness SP has many interesting plants.

We saw three species of orchids, butterworts, Indian Paint Brushes, and Michigan's state flower, Dwarf Lake Iris.