10 9 12 to the woods

Spent the morning in the woods and marsh, and learned that I need to get out more. I'd never seen Michigan Holly in full Fall fruit, only as a dry winter berry. I had no idea the plants were so loaded with fruit. The difference being that the robins love them. There must have been 50, feeding in the area I was watching... I have been pleasantly surprised, by the size and quality of the preserved natural areas adjacent to the State Parks. I even watched a Pieleated Woodpecker in one, and they don't suffer people gladly. I remember reading an account of an ornithologist who paddled the lakes of Northern Minnesota for a whole Summer trying to observe one, unsuccessfully. I guess I'm spoiled, living in Benzie Co., thinking we have a lock on wild areas. The other surprise was Petosky stones. On one beach on the lower Huron side, I found more petoskys and numerous other corals in an hour, than I've found at home in two years...Who knew.