Photo Journey: Misty Morning Walk Through Volo Bog

Let's start at the top of the hill overlooking Volo Bog.

Frost in the marsh surrounding Volo Bog intensified the early morning colors.

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  Raccoons have been stuffing themselves with berries.

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  Frosty raccoon prints

Carex lacustris, lake sedge, arches in a swath across portions of the marsh.

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  Even purple loosestrife adds beauty. This non-native plant used to be more invasive but biological c

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  Water plantain, Alisma subcordatum, is one of my favorite plants; I love to wiggle it in my hands.

Lots of lushness overgrowing the boardwalk is due for one more trimming before winter sets in.

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  The tamaracks are starting to turn golden but a lot of green remains.

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  A toddler tamarack! Larix laricina, or eastern larch, is a deciduous pine tree.

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  Friends of Illinois Nature Preserves volunteers have been removing invasive shrubs throughout Volo B

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  Green, yellow, and gold!

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  The wooden boardwalk nestles beautifully among the vegetation of the bog.

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Very few pitcher plants cling to life. We hope the restoration efforts will help them expand and thrive.

The early morning shadows cast beautifully along the boardwalk.

The sun hovers over the mist.

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  A dying willow provides nesting sites for woodpeckers.

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  The long shadows of morning.

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  Glossy buckthorn, Frangula alnus, stays green longer than native species.

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  Royal fern, Osmunda spectabilis.

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  The leaves of leatherleaf, Chamaedaphne calyculata, first turn crimson then leathery brown.

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  One of the tick-seeds, Bidens sp., has lost most of its barbed seeds.

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  Chokeberry is showing off its leaves' finely serrated edges.

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  A willow-herb, Epilobium sp., has long narrow pods that split open and drop their tiny seeds.

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  Someone will be able to give a good guess of the sphagnum species here; I think there are at least 2

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  Beads on a stick! These are the fertile fronds of sensitive fern, Onaclea sensibilis.

It is hard to capture the beauty of the winterberry holly berries.

Oaks are in the background, marking the uplands surrounding Volo Bog.

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  These branches are smooth; staghorn sumac has fuzzy new growth branches.

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  Back on the uplands we find smooth sumac, Rhus glabra, adding its intense crimson to the landscape

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  This is ONE sumac leaf with multiple leaflets. Such is the structure of a compound leaf!

The Volo Bog State Natural Area visitor center is in a renovated dairy barn originally built in the late 1890s. We don't have an exact date. I loved the way the shadows were cast over the end of the barn.