I literally stumbled onto this preserve when my map app took me a different route to a golf course that I play on rare occasions. As I drove by at 35 miles an hour the swathes of yellow from autumn meadow flowers got my attention.

On my drive home I noted the sign for the nature preserve and planned a quick return.

The trail is flat and wove through a wet meadow. Based on the tall stands of thistle carcasses one could be confident that that the field was beautiful 2 months ago as well.

It was clear from the start that this was not going to be a hike about vistas and dramatic scenery, but rather one of observation of details – insects, flowers, seedheads and the like – more science than art.

The stage was set early when we noted numerous Monarchs as seen in the title photo and below. More than we have seen locally in years.

This one was quite battle worn as noted by the damage to the edges of its wings.

It is a reminder of the multi-generational Monarch migration that takes place each year. The first generation of Monarchs in a season will be born in Mexico and migrate to the southern U.S. in early spring. The second generation is born in the south and migrates north, where the third generation is born. The first, second, and third generations only live for 2 to 6 weeks. In late summer the fourth generation is born and they have the task of completing the fall migration to Mexico. There they will over winter and eventually lay the eggs for the Monarchs that will become next year’s first generation, who will return to the southern U.S. to repeat the cycle. The fourth generation can live for 8 to 9 months. I suspect the damaged specimen was from the third generation and that the perfect ones are members of the fourth generation that recently emerged from their pupate stage. The Monarch migration occurs via two routes. The larger one crosses the southern border along Texas, Arizona, and California, while a smaller one runs through Florida. We have been lucky enough to witness the Florida migration as it takes place across the panhandle and heads down the peninsula, allowing us to see hundreds of Monarchs at a time. This smaller group may cross over the Gulf of Mexico to Mexico, travel to a Caribbean island, or remain in south Florida.

In addition to the Monarchs, there were many other butterfly species seeking nectar in this wet meadow:

Painted Lady – is the most widespread of all butterflies, found on every continent but Antarctica and South America.

Buckeye – while many butterflies are named for plants that play a role in their life cycle, the Buckeye is named for the circular eyes on the wings, and not the tree.

Summer Azure – they were not recognized as a distinct species till 1995, having thought to be a summer variant of the Spring Azure. The wing markings on a Spring Azure have more brown in them and the wing looks a little more of a “dirty” white.

Female Eastern Tailed-Blue – the male has powder blue coloration to the dorsum (topside) of his wings.

One interesting specimen was this Orange Sulfur. In the first photo it is feeding on Teasel nectar. The detail of the photo is fascinating.

Then caught in flight, a view not often appreciated. If you look closely at the photo above you can see the dark border of the topside through the wing itself.

Grass Skipper – all butterflies have 4 wings, two forewings and two hindwings. Most butterflies hold the pair in the same plane, horizontal to the body. This Grass Skipper is a member of the “folded-wing” skippers that holds its forewings at a 45 degree angle. This positioning has led to the nickname of fighter jet skippers, as they resemble some of the early fighter jets.

One of the interesting things that we saw early in the hike was this clump of wind blown seeds that I was not able to identify.

We compared it to the more typical Milkweed seeds that are seen in my hand to the left in the photo. The seeds themselves were much smaller in the original clump.

The meadow hike did turn into a bit of an entomology hike for studying insects:

Milkweed Bug starting to feed on a Milkweed pod and unspecified wasp on Boneset.

Red Wasp on Boneset – while caterpillars are its primary food source, they also feed on nectar.

Bumble Bee and Honey Bee on Yellow Wingstem. You can see the orange pollen basket near the back legs of both of these bees. That is how pollen is transported back to the hive.

As is our habit when we see Monarchs, we will look on the underside of Milkweed leaves to search for Monarch caterpillars. While we did not find any caterpillars we did find these, which were a new observation for us.

On magnification you pick up more detail. They quivered as we watched them. The black one with the yellow spot is the mother Cobweb Spider, the white orb is an empty egg case, and all the black specks are spiderlings. Their legs are so small that you can not see them even with magnification. Interestingly, when I researched them, all the photos that I found on the internet were of the underside of a Milkweed leaf.

Continuing with our entomology theme, we found a large population of aphids on this otherwise healthy appearing Swamp Milkweed. For me aphids in the garden is a cause of panic, but in nature they are just part of the ecosystem.

Did you happen to notice the Crab Spider atop the Swamp Milkweed in the previous photo? They are called Crab Spiders because their ambulation and other behavior resemble those of crabs. They do not spin webs but rather capture their prey by ambush. They have the ability to change their color over a period of a some days to match the flower on which they are perched, making it easier to snatch a visiting insect.

Halfway through the hike the trail turns back, running along Ten Mile Creek. Here we had the creek and a mature wood to our left and the wet meadow to our right.

The wood edge hosted different flower species than we were seeing in the meadow:

Fall Phlox and Mist Flower. Fall phlox grows along moist streambanks.

Woodland Sunflower and Blue Lobelia

The last flower of the day stumped me at first. From a distance I thought that it was our first Aster of the season but as we got closer they clearly lacked the aster form. I think that they are a less common form of Ironweed, possibly Smooth Ironweed. It has a softer color and more open flower head than seen with the more common Tall Ironweed. The literature suggest that there is a lot of cross breeding between Ironweed species which may explain my trouble confidently identifying it.

Virtually every time we hike in the late summer and fall the photographer will find a Pokeweed specimen and snap away – but I have been resistant to feature the purple berries in our articles. Well today is a negotiated settlement. She found some Pokeweed early in the flowering cycle, and frankly it is quite interesting and pretty. It has a bit of a tropical look to it. You can see the developing fruit that will eventually turn purple in the eye of the flower.

In summary, this was a gem of a hike for an amateur naturalist. Sometimes the term “nature preserve” is used a little too loosely, but this small greenspace really delivered. Who could have imagined so much botanical and insect diversity on 31 acres. I think the fact that it is a wetland helps with that. It really demonstrates how “pocket parks” can have an impact of wildlife. If you are in the Cincinnati area and enjoy seeing butterflies, especially Monarchs, then I would encourage you to visit Ten Mile Creek Nature Preserve, especially in late summer, when the meadow is in full bloom.

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Photo credits to Peggy Juengling Burns

Overview:

Location – 711 10 Mile Rd, New Richmond, OH. 17 miles east of downtown Cincinnati.

Parking – asphalt lot for about 20 cars.

Facilities – none

Trail Conditions – gravel with some areas of mowed grass. Minimal altitude change.

Print Trail Map Link – https://www.clermontparks.org/media/user/our-parks/Ten%20Mile%20Nature%20Preserve-V2.pdf

Benches – none

Picnic Tables – yes, near the parking area.

Kids – kids 4 and over will do well on the trail.

Dogs – welcomed on a leash.

Paired Hiking Trails – none

Links:

https://www.clermontparks.org/ten-mile-nature-preserve/