Hoo boy, we had some hot days at the start of these weeks and then once again to end them. We rarely reach 100F but went right into them during the first week and finished out this week with one last scorcher.
The sumac are turning red and the leaves of deciduous trees continue to gray out. A few trees are showing their first hint of color change as they fade to yellow. It will be interesting to see what kind of fall color we will have with the drought conditions persistent throughout this summer.
The forest floor flowers are also dying back with the yellow of cutleaf coneflower, goldenrod and a few brave sunflower varieties predominating. Speaking of hanging on, the burrs are in evidence once off the trails...and don't even talk to me about chiggers. They replaced mosquitoes in this dry year as the pest du jour when off-trail.
All that said, we are entering a favorite part of the hiking season for me. I will be spending most of September traveling - hiking in Colorado and canoeing in northern MN. While I won't be reporting the usual local phenological changes and observations for that time, I'll still be noting observations in my other adventures. See you on the trails!
Wildflowers
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| Cylindrical blazing star on a prairie remnant Image - Marge Loch-Wouters |
- Wild cucumber
- Cardinal flower
- Joe-Pye weed
- Side oats grama
- Prairie goldenrod
- Leadplant
- Cylindrical blazing star
- Rough blazing star
- Naked sunflower
- Flowering spurge
- Mountain mint
- Indian grass
- Mustache grass
- Yellow flax
- Blue flax
- Cutleaf coneflower
- Goldie's wood fern
- Great blue lobelia
- Jewelweed
- Goldenrod
- White snakeroot
- Nodding beggarticks
- Purplestem aster
- Conk mushroom
- Honey oyster mushroom
- Round-headed bush clover
- Evening primrose
- COnk mushroom
Wildlife
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| Not wildlife but a foal following it's mom as horseback riders passed us on the trail Image - Nola Larson |
- Green herons
- Wood ducks
- Blue-winged teal
- Heron
- Egret
- Swans
- Warbling vireo
- Eastern wood-peewee
- American Goldfinch
- White-breasted nuthatch
- Rose-breasted nuthatch
- Blue jay
- Robin
- Black-capped chickadee
- Osprey
What are YOU noticing on your hikes?
Two weeks of hikes: Wagon Wheel Trail, La Crescent MN; Beaver Creek Valley State Park, Caledonia, MN; Riverside Park and Marsh Trail, La Crosse WI; Brownsville Bluff, Brownsville, MN; Forestville State Park, Preston, MN; Goose Island County Park, La Crosse, WI
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