A bullfrog emerges from the duckweed!

All photos by Jonathan Schechter

Holly State Recreation Area - Groveland Township, Michigan

In these closing days of May shallow ponds and secluded bays of inland Oakland County, Michigan are alive with aquatic reptiles and amphibians, dragonflies and beetles and a myriad of water-loving wildflowers.

These photos are to supplement the Oakland Outdoors hiking column in the May 27 issue of The Oakland Press (www.theoaklandpress.com)  that profiles the short McGinnis Lake Nature Trail at the Holly State Recreation Area. I could not help but recall the timeless words of Darwin as I stood in  a mix of  rich mix of organic life-giving muck and duckweed  - a primordial soup of nature - and watched the endless dance of nature swirl around me.

"...from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being evolved." The Origin of Species 1859