Tag Archives: ShawneeMac Lakes Conservation Area

Canada Geese Arrive

Plants are beginning to sprout defying the up and down temperatures of an Ozark spring. At ShawneeMac Conservation Area the main attractions are the Canada geese.

I hadn’t walked the trail there in months. The trees are still bare. The grass is thinking about growing.

The mowed area had lots of early saxifrage blooming. These plants were only four inches tall, but trying to set seed before the mowers start arriving.

Canada goose swimming
This Canada goose was curious about me as I walked along the trail around the upper lake at ShawneeMac Conservation Area. It swam toward me and then paralleled me for fifty or sixty feet until the trail turned back inland.

The honeysuckle was leafing out. The burning bush buds were swelling. These invasives are easy to spot along the trail.

The American holly was easy to spot as well. It’s the dark green plant scattered here and there off the trail. I am hoping to catch it in bloom this year which is challenging as it blooms for only a few days each spring.

group of Canada geese
Geese eat grass among other things. This group is on the edge of a picnic area mowing the grass. I guess the big one in the back is the male. The group honks quietly to each other while eating.

The honks of Canada geese kept me company during my hike. There were a couple of dozen birds in various groups around the upper lake. A couple swam by watching me watch them. Cameras are so interesting.

Much of the time the geese were behind lake edge vegetation and hard to spot. That changed when I got back to the parking area where I had left my truck.

pair of Canada Geese
One of these Canada geese is swimming quietly along. The other one came up beside her honking loudly and seems to be putting on a display for her. She is ignoring him.

A half dozen Canada geese had taken over a small point of land extending into the lake. Evidently it had one big male and several females. I really can’t tell the difference however another loudly honking goose started swimming over. The biggest goose in the group attacked and drove the interloper away.

Canada goose landing in lake
This Canada goose was up on shore when another goose came across the lake. It flew up and over landing in the lake to attack the approaching goose. Both were honking loudly.

Other geese swam, took baths, walked around in other areas and generally took over the lake shore. Some will be staying over the summer. Others move on to other lakes and ponds in the area or go farther north. The next Canada geese arrivals will be their goslings in late spring.

Read more about nature in the Ozarks in “Exploring the Ozark Hills“.

Invasive Plants Everywhere

It’s strange how I forget to take some pictures for so many plants. My quest to fill in these blanks took me back to ShawneeMac Lakes where I also found several invasive plants.

What is an invasive plant? It’s a plant usually from some other country that is now spreading through native habitats.

How do these invasive plants get here? Some arrive by accident. Colonists brought over crop seed to plant and the invasive plants were mixed in. These are such plants as the plantains, shepherd’s purse, corn speedwell and many other common weeds.

invasive plants include Oriental bittersweet

The native bittersweet and the Oriental bittersweet are very similar in appearance and seeds. The Oriental is very aggressive and can kill the trees it climbs. I’m not sure which this is and will check the flowers this spring.

Another way such plants arrive is by invitation. Some are herbs or edible and are brought over as crops. Some are pretty and gardeners bring them over to decorate their gardens.

Once growing, plants flower and produce seeds. The seeds scatter growing into new plants. Consider the dandelion and how many seeds one plant produces.

Walking around the trail at ShawneeMac I was not concerned with invasive plants. I had a list of plants I needed winter bud pictures for. Even though I knew about where to find these plants, I’m always on the lookout for new ones.

invasive plants include Japanese honeysuckle

Japanese honeysuckle flowers have a wonderful scent that hangs in the air around the vines. It blooms for months. It covers fences, other plants and buildings.

Japanese honeysuckle is an invasive plant. It can be a terrible problem piling up over native plants, smothering them under thick vines and leaves that stay green through the winter. There is a lot of this at ShawneeMac Lakes.

The little vine climbing up the side of a tree was a bit similar with opposite green leaves. It wasn’t Japanese honeysuckle. Those leaves have smooth edges. These had teeth. The winter bud is different too. I took pictures to look it up later.

invasive plants include wintergreen vines

Gardeners like wintergreen as a ground cover in shady areas. It spreads into wild areas and climbs trees and shrubs burying them under foliage.

The American holly plants are pretty this time of year. The hawthorn had nice buds on it. One of the hazelnuts still had a few nuts on it.

When I first saw this plant, I noticed the red seeds with wings over them. There are a number of plants with such seeds including the wahoo tree. But this wasn’t that plant. I took some pictures of bark, bud, twig and seed to look up later.

invasive plants include burning bush

Burning bush is easily recognized by the wings on its twigs. It makes a nice hedge when trimmed. In wild areas it spreads by seed crowding out native shrubs.

I knew about the bittersweet vines. There are two similar ones. One is a native plant. The other is an invasive Oriental vine. I tend to think the ones at ShawneeMac lakes are the invasive one, but won’t be sure until spring when the vines flower.

Once home I took out “Shrubs and Woody Vines” from the Missouri Department of Conservation. That vine seems to be wintergreen, as invasive species. The bush is burning bush, also an invasive plant.

Invasive plants grow wherever they can find a place. More than these few find a place at ShawneeMac Lakes.

Hiking ShawneeMac Lakes Conservation Area

Much as I enjoy hiking my own Ozark hills, Missouri has many lovely places to enjoy. ShawneeMac Lakes Conservation Area is one.

This area once belonged to a family named Ziske. They put up two earthen dams creating two fishing lakes. Old timers still call them Ziske Lakes.

upper lake at ShawneeMac Lakes Conservation Area

The upper lake at ShawneeMac Lakes Conservation Area stretches back into the woods where several streams feed the lakes.

Now the lakes are a Missouri conservation area. Fisherman come to fish from the banks or drift along in boats. Only electric motors are allowed.

I find many plants along the lake shores such as flax, swamp milkweed, common alder and Meadow Beauty. Water shield grows in the upper lake. Ducks and geese come by for a time, then move on.

lower lake at ShawneeMac Lakes Conservation Area

Looking across the lower lake at ShawneeMac Lakes Conservation Area from the trail, a bench and boat ramp access are visible on the far shore.

The lake shores are mowed. Picnic tables and benches are scattered around. A floating gazebo is a popular place for larger groups. ShawneeMac Lakes Conservation Area is only open during the day.

A nature trail goes around the lakes. Tall shortleaf pines shade the trail. It is a yard wide and graveled. It winds along the edge of the both lakes.

ShawneeMac Lakes Conservation Area trail

Sturdy wooden bridges span the streams and end of the lake as part of the trail going around the lakes. The trail is shaded all the way around.

Wooden bridges span incoming creeks. Monkey flowers bloom below some. Gayflower blooms near the lake. False Solomon Seal, American holly, Carolina buckthorn and more grow along the trail.

When time or energy is limited, a trail branches off crossing the first dam. It goes back to the second parking area near the gazebo.

The main trail continues on. A branch loop takes off onto higher ground. The trees are mostly hickories and oaks – white, black, post and blackjack.

picnic area at ShawneeMac Lakes Conservation Area

Two picnic areas with tables and grills overlook the upper lake at ShawneeMac Lakes Conservation Area. When no one is around, the view is relaxing with the breeze sifting through the shortleaf pines and calls from the ducks and geese that visit the lakes.

The loop comes back into the main trail just before it crosses the second dam. The lake side is covered with large rocks. Alder, hop tree, swamp milkweed, bittersweet and bent pod milkweed hide the rocks.

The other side is a long, dirt slope. Asters, grasses, common and butterfly weed milkweeds and sunflowers cover the slope.

ducks at ShawneeMac Lakes Conservation Area

A new flock of ducks on the lakes at ShawneeMac are real moochers. They swim ove to check out any visitor in hopes of tidbits tossed their ways.

The trail climbs a hill to an archery range and back down to the lake shore. This side of the lake shore is thick with multiflora and pasture rose bushes. Passion vine drapes itself over the bushes.

After two and a half miles, the trail climbs up a hill past a field of common milkweed and a second field scattered with rattlesnake master. It comes back to the second parking area.

Hiking the trail at ShawneeMac Lakes Conservation Area is relaxing. The trail is often empty of people leaving the forest fairly quiet even though people live close around the area. Missouri is lucky to have so many wonderful conservation areas.

Water Shield Flowers

Water shield is a strange name. Is it a shield made of water? Perhaps its purpose is to shield the water.

When I see green plant pads on the surface of a lake, I think of water lilies. A local Conservation Area lake has many such pads. They are small ellipses two to three inches long and half that wide.

Missouri does have water lilies. The smaller one is called spatterdock. I had seen this plant with its yellow flowers many years ago and looked forward to seeing it bloom again down on the lake.

Buds joined the leaves on the lake. I began making side trips hoping to catch the buds opening up.

water shield plants and flowers

Water shield can become a nuisance when the leaves become too numerous. The flowers are not spectacular like a water lily. These are second day flowers with the stamens up. The petals are small and translucent while I expected large colored ones

Finally it dawned on me. I was seeing the flowers. They weren’t the yellow flowers I expected. They definitely weren’t the fancy water lilies.

The most noticeable thing about these flowers were the many pink stamens with their black tips. The petals and sepals were small curved almost translucent things.

I put out a call for help as these weren’t in my guidebooks. The answer came back from the Missouri Native Plant Society: water shield. This plant doesn’t occur in my county. The colony in the lake hasn’t read the books.

water shield flower

A first day water shield flower opens close to the water surface and has fuzzy pink pistils inside waiting for pollen to blow over from nearby second day flowers.

With a name I checked my Flora of Missouri, volume 2, to find these flowers open twice. One day they wait for pollen to blow over. The second day they release pollen for the wind to blow to other flowers. The flowers sink into the water to make their seeds.

Fish love water shield. The red undersides of the leaves and stems are coated with gooey mucus type stuff attracting bacteria and slightly larger creatures eaten with relish by small minnows.

Fishing spider on water shield leaves

Water shield leaves are small but big enough for many creatures to land on. This fishing spider uses them like a dock while waiting for dinner like a small minnow, insect larvae or other spider delicacy to swim by.

Fishing spiders love this plant. They brace themselves over breaks in between leaves waiting for small minnows to swim by.

Other water plants hate this plant. The numerous leaves prevent light from getting to them.

My search for spatterdock continues.