The past two weeks brought us some of the nicest hiking weather of the summer. It truly felt like June-in-July. There were a few rain showers so lawn mowers were again heard in the neighborhoods. But drought remains. Nights have been cooler than usual but we are bracing for the high temps that have plagued people elsewhere in the country for the upcoming week. We are thankful for better air quality these two weeks despite the continuing Canadian wildfires.
The rain has had a great effect of native prairie plants. They are blooming everywhere and I have shifted my hiking destinations to get up to goat prairies and along flat sand prairies and planted pollinator gardens to enjoy the riot of color and re-discover rare natives. In other hikes, I have favored early mornings and shady hardwood forests.
Wildflowers
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| Spotted bee balm Image - Marge Loch-Wuuters |
- Wild bergamot
- Butterfly weed
- Lead plant
- Black-eyed Susan
- Compass plant
- Purple prairie clover
- Prairie coneflower
- Wild white indigo
- Prairie sage
- Little bluestem
- Big bluestem
- Tall cinquefoil
- False boneset
- Spotted bee balm
- Thimbleweed
- Prairie rose
- Deptford pink
- Poppymallow
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| Poppymallow Image Marge Loch-Wouters |
- Hairy puccoon
- Oxeye daisy
- Yarrow
- Spiderwort
- Hoary alyssum
- White prairie clover
- Purple prairie clover
- Hoary vervain
- Self-heal
- Flowering spurge
- Motherwort
- Ferns (Maidenhair, Interrupted, Lady, Ostrich)
- Coreopsis
- Spotted beebalm
- Tall anemone
- Hawks-beard
- Golden oyster mushrooms
- Evening primrose
- Canada lettuce
- Goldenrod (pre-bloom)
- Horseweed
- Germander
- Sweet Joe-Pye-weed
- Grey-headed coneflower
- Great mullein
- White vervain
- Tall hairy agrimony
- Catnip
- Evening primrose
- Yellow salsify
- Tickseed coreopsis
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| Monarch butterfly Image Marge Loch-Wouters |
- Red-eyed vireo
- Eastern Towhee
- Spotted towhee
- Eastern Pewee
- Common yellowthroat
- Field sparrow
- Goldfinch
- House wren
- Clay-colored sparrow
- Chipping sparrow
- Arcadian flycatcher
- Scarlet Tanager
- Tufted titmouse
- Nuthatch
- Chickadee
- Downy woodpecker
- Wood thrush
- Red-winged blackbird
- Catbird
- Yellow-bellied sapsucker
- White-breasted nuthatch
- Blue jay
- Cedar waxwing
- Buckeye butterfly
- Short-horned grasshopper
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| Short-horned grasshopper Image - Marge Loch-Wouters |
What are YOU noticing on your hikes?
Two weeks of hikes: Upper Hixon Prairie Loop/Boulder Trail, La Crosse (WI), Lower Hixon Hickory Trail, La Crosse (WI), Holland Sand Prairie, Holmen WI, Wildwood Trail, Winona (MN); Savanna Oaks/Greens Coulee, Onalaska (WI); Grand Crossing Trail, La Crosse River Marsh Trail, La Crosse WI; Kickapoo Caverns, Wauzeka WI.
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