Bandemer Park Ann Arbor, Michigan Bandemer Nature Area is located on the west shore of the Huron River at Argo Pond. You can access Bandemer from Whitmore Lake Road (near Barton Drive) or from Lakeshore Drive (off North Main Street). ----------------------------------------------------------------- This article originally appeared in the Natural Area Preservation News, Volume 7, Number 2, Summer 2002. It is reproduced here with the permission of the author, Beth Campbell, and Dave Borneman, Manager of Natural Area Preservation, a division of the City of Ann Arbor Department of Parks and Recreation. Tne NAP web site is at http://www.ci.ann-arbor.mi.us/framed/parks/nap.htm Bruce Bowman ----------------------------------------------------------------- Park Focus: Bandemer by Beth Campbell I recently attended an all-day meeting in downtown Detroit, two blocks from the Detroit River. It was a bright, warm, early spring day, so I walked down to the river's edge to picnic with my brown bag lunch. While sitting on the edge of the waters that connect two wild and wonderful great lakes, I was struck by the harsh geometries of the Detroit and Windsor skylines. I wondered about the time when the Detroit River ran free, edged not by concrete walls, but instead by woodland and wetland. A week later, I am sitting on the shore of the Huron River in Bandemer Park. Though not as well known as some other City parks, Bandemer is one of a series along the Huron that help create a fairly natural river corridor through Ann Arbor. I am thankful to look out across the river and see the treeline of Argo Nature Area, not an urban skyline, reflected in the calm waters. Despite these natural qualities, Bandemer has had a rather unnatural history: the land that now makes up the park has been used as a stockyard for the railroad, as pasture land, and as a staging area for the construction of M-14. Fortunately, Bandemer has long been in recovery, and thanks to a little help from NAP and volunteers, it is regaining a diversity of flora and fauna. Spring is a nice time to be here at Bandemer. It's marvelous to witness the changes happening in the natural communities of the park as spring gradually touches the wet mesic woods, dry prairie, wet meadow, and long curving shoreline. This is a favorite time of year for birders, who have long used the trails through the mesic shrubland of Bandemer to look for Warbling Vireos, Yellow Warblers, and Common Yellowthroats, among other birds. Although this shrubland consists of troublesome invasive European buckthorn and Asian honeysuckle, it does provide some habitat for breeding and migrating birds. In past years, Bandemer has been home to a small colony of Cliff Swallows. Look for their circular mud nests under the M-14 bridge, high about the Huron River. Bandemer also plays host to another group of winged creatures. Soon up to forty species of butterfly will be fluttering throughout the park, competing with the flowers they pollinate for the title of most colorful. Bandemer is a terrific place to see American Coppers and a variety of skippers, and is one of the few sites where Common Sootywings have been observed. The park's shoreline, most easily accessed by canoe, is a great place to check out the otherwise uncommon Harvester butterfly, the larval form of which is North America's only carnivorous caterpillar. On warm spring evenings, the mesic woods and wet meadows of Bandemer come alive with the calls of a melodious group of insect-eaters. Listen for the trill of American Toads on your next evening walk. And later in the summer, if you're lucky, you might hear the croaking of the elusive Bullfrog. Tucked in along the shore of the Huron River, a small wet meadow gives refuge to the botanical beauties of purple gerardia, tall swamp-marigold and swamp-betony. A close look at some of the less colorful plants here reveals the round heads of common bur-reed and the locally rare slender bog arrow-grass. While strolling through Bandemer, you may run into the NAP Natural Features Inventory biologists out surveying all of these plants and wildlife. You may also see the NAP conservation crew out doing restoration work. Recently we have focused our efforts at Bandemer on the dry prairie, which runs the western edge of the park. Folks might find us a peculiar sight, burning or pulling spotted knapweed right alongside the railroad tracks. This prairie, along with many intact prairie remnants in southeastern Michigan, was "protected" from other development because of its proximity to the tracks. NAP's prescribed burns and invasive species removal have helped transform this area into a beautiful mix of tall prairie grasses and goldenrods, including big bluestem, Indian grass, switchgrass, stiff goldenrod, and showy goldenrod. Bandemer is not only home to a wide variety of plants and animals, it is a great park for visitors as well. In addition to the hiking and biking trails, there is a picnic shelter near the north entrance and a large fire ring, the only one in the City park system (reservations necessary: 994-2780). There you will also find small docks suitable for canoe launching or fishing. Plans for future improvements include a direct trail connection between Bandemer and Barton Nature Area. As the Ann Arbor skyline fades into the treeline at the park's southern border, and a crew team rows quietly, rhythmically upstream, I am reminded that Bandemer is a good place to be still and observe. Today I witness a moment of spring happening around me, knowing that a few short days of sun and rain will transform the park once again. Reference: City of Ann Arbor Department of Parks and Recreation. (1999). Along the Huron. The University of Michigan Press. ----- Bandemer Nature Area is located on the west shore of the Huron River at Argo Pond. You can access Bandemer from Whitmore Lake Road (near Barton Drive) or from Lakeshore Drive (off North Main Street).