Woodman Fen {Five Rivers MetroParks}

It's amazing what a person can find out when walking a dog...a dog is a "chat magnet"; people want to know his name, breed, how old, "he looks like my dog," how much does he weigh...

So when Hunter and I were at Delco Park, a woman inquired about him and soon our conversation evolved into how an area at Delco should be planted with flowers to attract butterflies. There's a small butterfly garden in the park but this spot could be a butterfly meadow. Anyway, she asked me if I had been to Woodman Fen. I had not so when I got home, I looked it up and put it on my list of places to explore.

Woodman Fen is a 33-acre wetland ecosystem located in Dayton's Belmont neighborhood.   Many years ago, this area had been converted into a vegetable farm. In 2003, Five Rivers MetroParks bought the land and restored it back to its natural state. You'll see prairie and wetland plant species as you walk along the boardwalk. There is also a trail that circles the perimeter of the fen, but I didn't walk that because this time of year the bees are very busy gathering the last of the pollen. I sure didn't want to have them mad at me for disturbing their work!

This is a magical place in the middle of a city..."fen-nominal!"