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| An overcast day at Shanty Hollow Lake, KY The Autumnal Equinox |
If you live in the Butler/Warren County area, then you have
probably been to Shanty Hollow Lake, on the border of the
two counties. This is a there & back trail that leads to a waterfall. Along the way are giant rock formations, and a variety of trees, wildflowers, mushrooms, invertebrates (insects/spiders), and vertebrates! A fantastic area to hike!
To find the trailhead face the lake and then turn right
and begin walking; it's on the other side of the gravel lot.
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| The Trailhead This trail takes you to the waterfall and back. There are also many side trails you can take. |
When I walk, I like to take my time, stopping often, to observe the
surroundings, mostly wildflowers, trees, and mushrooms, and to watch for salamanders in the stream, and to listen to the many species of birds, and to observe the white-tailed deer
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The first wildflower I saw was this beautiful Aster.
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| A Fall Aster |
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| Click any photo to enlarge it. |
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| Smartweed is all along the trail. |
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| Close-up of the Smartweed flower cluster. Click here for some interesting information. |
The great thing about this trail is that it has a variety of habitats,
from a beautiful large lake, to high boulders and rock walls with deep crevices, streams, and deciduous woods.
from a beautiful large lake, to high boulders and rock walls with deep crevices, streams, and deciduous woods.
Walking on this trail...
large lake, boulders, streams, and woods;
Autumn Equinox!
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| I like the look of moss-covered boulders. |
I heard and saw Cardinals during the entire walk. They're very
common and underappreciated...extremely beautiful.
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| Photo taken from the Cornell site (below) Click here for Information and to hear the cardinal's song. |
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| Many of these Zigzag Goldenrods (Solidago flexicaulis) were growing near the stream.
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Take a minute to celebrate the autumnal equinox!
To many people, including me, this is the heart of autumn, or
Mid-Autumn, and not the first day of autumn. Today, we
recognize that the hours of day and night are of equal length.
The sun's strength continues to diminish until Yule, or
the Winter Solstice, in December.
Mid-Autumn is a time of thanksgiving and balance, where we
stop to celebrate the crop harvest, as well as our personal harvests, and are grateful for the food we grew, the roofs
over our heads, our health, our friends, and our family.
Happy Mid-Autumn!!!
Under just about every Beech tree were these plants
called Beechdrops, which are extremely unusual plants.
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Here is a plant that does not have chlorophyll; in other words it is unlike typical plants in that it cannot make its own food!!! So, how does it get nutrients? See Information, below. |
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| Information on Beechdrops |
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| This is a very small fern. It looks like a form of Mountain Spleenwort. The longest frond was only about 2 inches long! Beautiful small fern, growing out of the rock wall; To the waterfall. |
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| This fissure (mini-canyon, about a 10 foot drop) is the result of a continuously running stream coming from the waterfall ahead. |
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| This mushroom was only about 4-5 inches tall. |
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| You can see the reflection of the tree canopy in the shiny cap! |
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| You can jump over the fissure up ahead. The waterfall is just beyond the large moss-covered boulder. |
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| One of my favorite ferns, the Maidenhair Fern. Information |
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| The fruit of White Baneberry look like the porcelain eyes used in old dolls, which is why some people call this plant Doll's Eyes. |
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| Information on White Baneberry or Doll's Eyes |
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| Found these Liverworts on a rock wall next to the waterfall. You can see the discoid reproductive structures (gemmae) on some of the leaf-like parts. Information about Liverworts |
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| Around the corner were these much smaller Liverworts (about 4mm wide) growing next to some smaller plants, which, I think, is Selaginella. (If I misidentify anything please correct me by emailing me...see my Profile in the margin) |
Heard and saw a Blue Jay.
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| Photo taken from the Cornell website, below. Blue Jay Information and Calls |
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| Tiny fern...not sure of species. |
There was no water falling down the waterfall!! So, no photo.
That surprises me, because we just had a good rain, yesterday, but we've also been
in a drought, so the ground must have absorbed all the rain...no runoff.
Click here to see the waterfall in Winter.
and here to see it on in August (last month).
Click here to see the waterfall in Winter.
and here to see it on in August (last month).
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| This rock wall is around the corner from the waterfall area. Saw a couple of interesting plants growing on this wall. |
Click here to see a video of this area in August.
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| This plant (left-center) doesn't look interesting until you get up close and look at the flowers. |
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| It looked like a saxifrage to me, but the flowers were unusual and growing at the wrong time of the year. |
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| I think this is Small-flowered Alumroot (Heuchera parviflora). What a neat flower...only about 2mm wide! Correct me if I'm wrong about the name. |
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| A very Karst landscape. |
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| This fungus was very small (~5mm), growing on a decomposing log. |
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| Also growing on the rock wall in a crevice were these plants called clubmosses...looks like Lycopodium porophilum. (The genus name may now be Huperzia). |
Clubmosses are vascular, but they don't make seeds nor flowers.
They produce spores, which grow into new clubmosses.
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| You can see the kidney-shaped sporecases in the leaf axils. |
A seedless plant --
Kidney-shaped sporangia;
Small clubmosses!
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| Horse Balm with its strange flowers. Information |
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| Watch your step! |
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| These florettes are the male structures of this species of Moss. The structures at the top of the photo look like the females. The male part makes the sperm, the female makes the eggs, and fertilization produces a sporecase, which make spores, which grow into new moss plant. Interesting Moss Blog |
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| I almost stepped on this Box Turtle. It was about 5 inches long. Watch this great Video. |
It was overcast the whole time, but I loved it, anyway.
Everyday is a good day for a walk in the woods...even when it's
raining; just take an umbrella or rain gear.
If you're in the area you must come by and walk this trail.
Get out and explore your surroundings.
It's essential for a good life!
Everyday is a good day for a walk in the woods...even when it's
raining; just take an umbrella or rain gear.
If you're in the area you must come by and walk this trail.
Get out and explore your surroundings.
It's essential for a good life!
