The most interesting part of this walk was watching the Nodding Bur Marigold pop up everywhere there was a wet spot. This little yellow flower, Bidens cernua, is a foot-tall Asteraceae that loves wet feet. It is interesting to me how every season of the year has its dominant species that go unnoticed at other times. I did not know this flower before. I'm sure it is unremarkable when not in bloom, but for now, it marks out every damp area as surely as a topographical map.

Also seen or heard:

Eight different kinds of asters in bloom; some purple, some white. Some with tall, stiff stalks and purple topknots; others with sprays of little white flowers.

A dead cedar tree, wrapped so thickly in wild grape that it looks like another species, alive and well. The grape is fruiting.

Chickadees eating poison ivy berries; a flock of goldfinches eating rosinweed seed; a fox squirrel, a circling hawk.

Blue sky painted with a wash of pale cirrus clouds and wearing a 3/4 moon like a stud earring.

An American Redstart: this little bird with yellow sides is a new one for my life list. They are not rare, but small and quick and hard to see.

Lichens on a patch of bark, left in the middle of the trail. Under a hand lens, the flat colors pop out into gray cups and a bed of mustard-colored seaweed.

Ladies' tresses orchids blooming in Bear Lake Prairie; Cleland's Primrose still blooming near the Luckey sand dunes.