The weather has been a real mix over the past two weeks. There have been some lovely, low-humidity June-like days mixed in with some storms, rain and some blistering hot and humid days. With little rain, the MN DNR declared on Friday August 4 that our area is in severe drought.
The air quality has been good these past two weeks. Any haze we see is mostly due to high dew points.
I've been doing some great early morning hikes to beat the heat. On the trails by 7:30 and off before 10:00am. There are fewer varieties of songbirds calling as many species are finishing their nesting seasons.
Prairies remain glorious while woods-hikes are less showy. The ferns and fungi are having their day though and the lush canopy despite dry times offers great hikes in the shade in the hot days of July and early August.
This week I am also sharing the Frontenac (MN) State Park Association Newsletter that perfectly captures the sense of August in nature. Lots to learn and great upcoming events as well!
Wildflowers
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| Deptford pink Image- Marge Loch-Wouters |
- Spotted bee balm
- Whorled milkweed
- Wild bergamot
- Tall cinquefoil
- Partridge pea
- Poppymallow
- Deptford pink
- Evening primrose
- Flowering spurge
- Black-eyed Susan
- Brown-eyed Susan
- Leadplant
- Common milkweed
- Hoary alyssum
- Thimbleweed
- Motherwort
- Hoary vervain
- Purple prairie clover
- Little bluestem grass
- Big bluestem grass
- Yarrow
- Spiderwort
- Silver wormwood
- Hairy hawkweed
- White sage
- Goldenrod (unbloomed)
- Mullein
- Narrowleaf hawksbeard
- Grey-headed coneflower
- Germander
- Ferns (Interrupted, maidenhair, bulblet, sensitive, lady)
Blooming false boneset - these plants
can have 15 ft long roots
Image - Marge Loch-Wouters - Fringed loosestrife
- Self-heal
- Blanket flower
- Indian pipe
- Canada rye grass
- Side oats gamma
- Prairie blazing star
- False boneset
- Goldenrod
- Culver's root
- Leafcup
- Bottlebrush grass
- Prickly lettuce
- White snakeroot
- Jump seed
- False sunflower
- Sweet Joe Pye weed
- Goldenrod
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| Brown-belted bumblebee Image - Marge Loch-Wouters |
- Field sparrow
- Indigo bunting
- Black-capped chickadee
- Red-eyed vireo
- Small copper butterfly
- Brown-belted bumblebee
- Giant swallowtail butterfly
- Black swallowtail butterfly
- Monarch butterfly
- Common yellow throat
- Meadowlark
- Pileated woodpecker
- Easter towhee
- Eastern wood peewee
- Catbird
- White-breasted nuthatch
- Song sparrow
- American goldfinch
- Tufted titmouse
- Red-bellied woodpecker
- Northern cardinal
- House sparrow
- Song sparrow
- Blue jay
- Red-winged blackbird
- Wood thrush
- American crow
What are YOU noticing on your hikes?
Two weeks of hikes: Holland Sand Prairie, Holmen WI, Whitewater State Park, Altura MN; Hixon Forest Oak Trail, La Crosse WI; Vetsch Park, La Crescent MN; Beaver Creek Valley State Park, Caledonia, MN, Hixon Forest Hickory Trail, La Crosse, WI; Hixon Forest Prairie Trail, La Crosse WI
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