I Spy on the Trails - June 18-30, 2023

We were thrilled to get almost 2 inches of rain on Saturday 6/17 - it's been about 5 weeks since measurable moisture.  Like many areas, the Driftlesss  had very poor air quality recently from wildfire particulates. I hiked masked often during these weeks. 

Clear air atop Maglessen Bluff 6/16/23

Same view with Canadian wildfire smoke  6/28/23

Most of the flowers I am seeing are in prairies and pollinator garden prairies. They are tough natives with deep roots that can survive. The birdsong more than made up for the lack of flowers in the woods though. 

I spent time in the middle of these two weeks at a conference in Chicago which increased my urban hiking and cultural intake but gave me much less nature to observe. I will say the cooled Lake Michigan air was a welcome respite in a city of concrete and glass.

Wildflowers

Red admiral butterfly

• Purple stemmed angelica
• Motherwort
• Hairy wood mint
• Fringed loosestrife
• Enchanter's nightshade
• Prairie coreopsis
• Harebell
• Leadplant
• Butterfly weed
• Sandbar willow
• Purple-stemmed angelica
• Ferns (maiden hair, interrupted, lady, ostrich,bulblet)
• Sweet cecily
• White avens
• Jacob's ladder
• Canada anemone

Wildlife (seen/heard/detected)

Perfectly hidden Leopard frog

• Northern leopard frog
• Sandhill cranes and colt
• Great spangled fritillary
• Meadow fritilllary
• Eastern comma butterfly
• Red admiral butterfly
• Hackberry emperor butterfly
• Deer (buck/doe/fawn)
• Black-capped chickadee
• Eastern kingbird
• Yellow warbler
• Common yellow-throat
• Red-winged blackbird
• Northern cardinal
• Common yellowthroat
• American redstart
• House wren 
• Song sparrow
• Eastern wood pewee
• Hairy woodpecker
• Red-headed woodpecker
• Goldfinch
• Indigo bunting
• Baltimore oriole
• Eastern towhee
• Red-eyed vireo
• Yellow-throated vireo
• Warbling vireo
• Veery
• Scarlet Tanager
• Great crested flycatcher
• Black-and-white warbler

What are YOU noticing on your hikes?

This week's hikes: Maglessen Bluff Hike, Rushford (MN); Beaver Creek State Park, Caledonia (MN); Whitewater State Park, Alture (MN); La Crosse River Conservancy, Onalaska(WI)

Sandhill crane

Beaver Creek State Park

The "I Spy on the Trails" column is a phenology (the study of seasonal changes in plants and animals) journal to chronicle year-round the weather, plant life and wildlife I observe while hiking. It is very useful in helping me compare observations from year-to-year. The column is published monthly from September through April and then twice-a-month from May through August when warm weather brings the natural world back to vibrant life.     

All images - Marge Loch-Wouters