Hi, everyone!
This morning Grandma and I went hiking! The Nature Conservancy bought the land around Third Creek at Sodus last year, and today was the first hike with Nature Conservancy guides. Grandma and Grandpa and I drive past the Third Creek outlet all the time, and I was curious to find out what’s there! It was raining this morning, but the rain stopped just in time for the hike. Most of the hikers were neighbors, just like us! First, the Nature Conservancy guides talked to us about all the ways Third Creek is important to Sodus Bay and Lake Ontario. When the group split up, Grandma and I went with the guide who is an expert on pests and weeds. I learned a lot! We all had to keep track of the trail markers to keep from getting lost!
The path we took went around the edge of the Third Creek wetlands, so we saw lots of cattails. We mostly followed old logging roads, and we all had to climb under a big tree to get in and out! Shaker Tract used to have its own water supply, and we stopped to see the pump house for the well.
Our guide pointed out tulip trees and beech trees and cottonwood trees growing by the water. He pointed out one tree and told us it was a white tail deer tree! After we hiked around the forest, we walked downhill so we could see the actual creek better. I was surprised how much open water I could see!
It’s been raining a lot lately, so we saw lots of mushrooms on the hike. Grandma didn’t recognize any of them, but I think I saw the orange ones in Maine. Joe-san told me they’re called lions heads.
Today is the first day of autumn, but there are still a lot of fruits and flowers around. The Nature Conservancy guide showed me a ginseng fruit, and there are all sorts of wildflowers in bloom. I found a big feather! Do you think it could be from a wild turkey?
By the time we finished our hike, the sun was coming out. The view of the bay from Third Creek is very pretty!
Love,
Lion-san
Joe-san thinks the mushroom you remembered from Maine was a Chicken of the Woods mushroom. You might want to ask a better bird person than any of us, but I think you are right about the feather came from a turkey.