Camping in July - Flowers of Michigan

The last few days of June, and leading into July, I took a short camping trip to Allegan Michigan. This is something that my family and I do every year, but the last two we missed. It was exceptionally nice to get to take a break from the house after all of this time.

Jewelweed - Touch Me Not

These are always cool to see, and grow in the campground every year. Their seed pods explode on contact, and can launch the seeds feet away. The flowers are also beautiful.

Mushroom Group

I don't know the exact species of these, but there were a couple groups of them. All of the different groups may have been linked underground, and just have been different fruiting bodies. This would result in something like the "fairy rings" that people see sometimes.

Ponds

The campsite has two private ponds, and connects to Dumont Lake. There are quite a few aquatic plants growing in this pond. This gave it a much more natural look than the first pond.

Aquatic Plants - Spatterdock

Spatterdock - Nuphar advena

I am thinking that the species for these are Nuphar advena, but it could be something slightly different. The leafs are heart shaped, and flowers closed instead of the round leafs and open flowers of a water lily. It was very cool to see all of these about to bloom. Wish I could have been there a couple more days to see the progression of the flowers.

Bittersweet Nightshade

Sadly, this plant is invasive to the Great Lakes. It was very pretty, and probably my favorite flower that I saw on this trip. Guess the pretty flowers try to mask the poisonous and invasiveness of this plant.

Duck (Mallard)

I don't know an incredible amount about birds, but I am thinking that this is a mallard duck. They ran around the two ponds throughout the days we were camping, and provided a couple chances for photographs.

Hope you enjoyed the images :)

All images taken with a Nikon D3200 in Allegan, Michigan USA

Fireworks in the Summer

It has kind of become a reoccurring thing for my family to do fireworks for the 4th of July. We all go to my aunt and uncles house, buy whatever we can afford, and eat some of the food that everyone brought. This year it was barbecue ribs with assorted sides. The fireworks were even more assorted though.

There are always the smaller fountain style fireworks.

And it is always fun to do blurry pictures with sparklers :)

All images taken with a Nikon D3200

Adventures with Saltwater Invertebrates

When it comes to saltwater aquaria, I think invertebrates would definitely have to be the highlight for me. I love the sea urchins, sea stars, and the always curious crustaceans.

Pencil Urchin - Diagram

When it comes to saltwater aquaria, I think invertebrates would definitely have to be the highlight for me. I love the sea urchins, sea stars, and the always curious crustaceans.

With sea urchins, it might take some patience, but they do move around quite a bit. The spines slowly move, they glide to different places, and with some of the urchins, you can easily see the tube feet. The tuxedo urchins seem to be much more colorful and intricate, but these pencil urchins have larger spines.

Chocolate Chip Sea Star

Everyone has to love the sea star. They are actually very similar to the sea urchins, and many will have similar care when bought for aquariums. If you look on the bottom of one, you can see similar feet to the urchins.

Spotted Hermit Crab

I haven't seen one of these specific hermit crabs before, so seeing this one was a treat. It was incredibly large compared to the standard tiny ones that many people have for their tanks. This one being carnivorous, I can see why it is probably not kept in community tanks.

Chocolate Chip Sea Star and Unknown Sea Star

Another chocolate chip. The other star looks familiar, but I cannot put a name on it right now.

Horseshoe Crab

Horseshoe crabs have always been one of those unique animals. They have been shown on TV for having blue blood even. One time at a pet store I saw a little baby one running around. It was one of the most adorable things I have seen.

Slipper Lobster

This was also an animal that I haven't ever seen before. A predatory and clawless crustacean/lobster that eats mollusks and related animals. These are related more to the spiny lobsters than a standard lobster.

Spiny Lobster

Lacking large claws, these are closely related to the slipper lobster above.

Hope you enjoyed the images :)

All images taken with a Nikon D3200 at the Sea Life Aquarium

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Up Close and Personal, Fishy Portraits : Sea Life Aquarium

Continuing the visit to Sea Life Aquarium in Michigan, the freshwater section begins to lead to the brackish and saltwater tanks. Another thing that comes to mind about this beginning area of Sea Life Aquarium is that it was themed similar to a forest or jungle. While the salt water sections were all blue and ocean themed.

This first image shows a community tank. The aquarium was viewable from most angles, and contained a couple puffer fish.

The large tanks on the wall focused on schools of medium sized fish. They were still community tanks, and many had small stingray, but the school caught your attention easily.

Finally managed to find one of the little guys resting by the side of the tank.

One of the larger tanks contained a few of these more colorful fish. They didn't seem to form schools, but rather swam freely around the bottom half of the tanks.

This fish was one of the largest in this tank. It liked to come up close to the sides, but would move when I would try to get a picture. It was almost like it knew what I was doing.

The tank with the colorful fish, and the fish above, also had these stingray.

Hope you enjoyed the images! :)

Taken with a Nikon D3200

Fish from around the World | Sea Life Aquarium

The beginning of May I took a trip to the other side of Michigan with my parents. This trip was for a doctors visit, one that was only available on the other side of the state, but what is the point of just going to the doctor? We got a one night hotel stay, headed to the nearby mall, and made a trip out of it.

Our main plan was the Sea Life Aquarium. I am a sucker for animals, especially invertebrates, fish, reptiles, and the like. This place had a few of those off of the list.

The beginning room had the entirety of Sea Life's freshwater fish. It moved into brackish afterwards, and finished with saltwater. Many may not think of freshwater being that exotic or even interesting; however, it can be just as exciting as some saltwater aquariums.

Every so often there would be some sort of interactivity with the aquariums. These viewing bubbles were very common for the larger tanks.

A couple of the exhibits had bubbles shaped to allow visitors a unique view. These indents would be on the bottom, and people could be fully engulfed with the tank.

There are many more images to explore from this visit. Hope you enjoyed these ones :)

All images were taken with a Nikon D3200 at the Sea Life Aquarium in Michigan.

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