Reflections at Sunset on Cowles Bog

The weather finally cleared long enough for an evening walk. The birds were settling down for the evening, satisfied and full and talking to each other. And clouds lining the horizon dropped down into the bog.

The Swaling Sunset

I look at the swaling sunset

And wish I could go also

Through the red doors beyond the black-purple bar.

I wish that I could go

Through the red doors where I could put off

My shame like shoes in the porch,

My pain like garments,

And leave my flesh discarded lying

Like luggage of some departed traveller

Gone one knows not where.

Then I would turn round,

And seeing my cast-off body lying like lumber,

I would laugh with joy.

In Shame and Trouble

D.H. Lawrence

On the Boardwalk

On the boardwalk (off limits to all but park staff) that goes to the middle of Cowles Bog a Killdeer sits panting and exhibiting nesting behavior, although there's no sign of a nest.

And a few feet further into the bog another killdeer actively builds a monument:

Sunset Over the Bog

So perfect was the June evening as the sunset dripped into the bog, one could even forgive the mosquitoes their dinner.

My Favorite Things

Cowles Bog, ducks, and Blue Herons this May Day.

Re-engineering the Bog

Keeping Cowles Bog a bog is a task that requires constant maintenance and diligence against invasive plants. Here's one of the trails the park staff uses to get to the center of the bog to pull invasives and plant native species.

Visitors to the park can help with the effort by following the park signs that state which trails are for park staff only. A pair of hiking shoes can contain thousands of tiny seeds that can bring invasives back into the bog cycle.

A giant dune, a mountain of movable sand, can be seen in the distance of this picture.

Turtlehead Blooming in the Bog

What a beauty Turtlehead is and it's blooming now in the Indiana Dunes. It likes wet areas and can be found getting its feet wet along the edges of the bog---one of the last wildflowers to be showing its face as we move into October.

September Sky

September clouds blowing in over Cowles Bog at the Indiana Dunes; the clouds were bringing rain. The foreground is full of flowering wildflowers and sedges. Lake Michigan is just beyond the tree line at the horizon. The bog is a large area that contains rare plants, is a home for wildlife, and provides a protective stopping place for the spring and fall migration, making it a great place to go in the fall for bird spotting.

Fighting Invasives

A few years ago this area of the Cowles Bog in the Indiana Dunes was covered with cattails. After years of hard work pulling invasive plants out and replanting those plants that are native to the bog, the area looks completely different.

The diversity of the original bog provides the food and habitat for the wildlife that depends on the bog for survival. Frogs, birds, small mammals, and some plant species that are only found in the Dunes area are what all the work is about.

Signs requesting visitors to stay on the hiking paths and off of the paths into the bog that are used by volunteers and staff in removing invasives and replanting natives are placed so that tiny seeds picked up by hiking shoes are not carried back into the bog destroying the hard won habitat for the birds and other wildlife.    

Sedges not Cattails allowed here

Cattails are being replaced by sedges at the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore. Just a few years ago this wetland area was full of cattails, but to protect the bog, which contains many rare plants and is an endangered ecosystem itself, Dunes curators have been replacing cattails with native Sedges.

Beaver, frogs, herons, muskrat, and much other wildlife depend on this beautiful bog.

Planting Sedges

A path out to the middle of the bog leads to a battle ground where the DNR is fighting against time and invasive plants---pulling up cattails and other plants threatening to destroy the bog and planting grasses and sedges that will save the bog and provide a natural environment for the native wildlife.

And the hard work can be seen for acres this year as the bog makes a comeback.  

Bog Reflections

The bog is coming to life for another year at the Indiana Dunes. With the amazingly warm winter we're having it is starting to look like the beginning of March  instead of the end of January.

Solar Power

It is hard to believe that all this green in Cowles Bog didn't exist one short month ago. A little solar power goes a long way!

Cowles Bog

This is Cowles Bog at the Indiana Dunes. The bog is a special ecosystem in Northwest Indiana filled with unusual plants and fauna.

The DNR is currently fighting an influx of cattails not native to the bog. The horrendous job of  uprooting the cattails and planting native sedges is a hot, summer job.

A couple of the dunes can be seen in the background of the picture.