Another stroll through the marsh

I always have a hard time making myself actually go out and do anything after work, but I psyched myself up to go right after work and walk the loop at Sand Point Marsh. It's been a couple of months since I was through there, and I wanted to catch things before fall really got started.

If you want to compare these with pictures I took earlier this summer, check out these entries:

http://naturebrenda.blogspot.com/2014/05/first-explorations-of-pictured-rocks.html

http://naturebrenda.blogspot.com/2014/07/this-week-was-pretty-special-because-my.html

http://naturebrenda.blogspot.com/2014/07/sand-point-marsh-trail.html

There's a lot more growing out in the water than there was during that first walk-through in May! 

Just starting to turn yellow around the edges.

Not sure what these berries are. 

For some reason, all the white cedars were turning orange! In kind of a mottled pattern, with only part of the foliage actually turning. It contrasted stunningly with the dark red dogwood bushes.

Now these berries, I know! Blueberries, and very tasty! Not many that were within reach of the rail! 

The blooming shrubs I noticed previously turned out to be dogwoods. There are several varieties that live in wetland areas like this.

Ironically, the tamaracks - which are deciduous conifers - were not showing any sign of losing their color yet! 

If you look from the lower right toward the pond, you can see the deeper channel that is lined with willow bushes and no cattails. 

Some kind of smartweed, possibly... 

 Cattails!

Little red dragonfly! He finally stopped to pose for a photo... 

Somebody has been eating pine cones on the boardwalk! (Most likely a squirrel or chipmunk...) 

These next three are a semi-panorama...

I walked back to the house by taking the North Country Trail toward Sand Point, then walking across the sand to the backyard. I kept seeing mushrooms that were covered in sand! There was a lot of rain recently, but I can't figure it out - was the rain falling so hard that it knocked sand all over the mushrooms, or did the mushrooms come up from underneath the sand in response to the rain?

I could have taken a lot more photos of this phenomonon. What gives?!