I Spy on the Trails - Weeks of September 17 and Sept 24, 2023

Calico Aster

As fall equinox arrives, the flowers are slowly dying back and releasing seeds (or burrs!). Asters hold court. Ferns and goldenrod, along with other plant stalwarts, are beginning to fade. As Nola observed in the last "I Spy" post, fungi are prolific especially with more frequent rain. It is a treat to find them on almost every hike.

Cloud ocean below Magelssen Bluff top

Morning fog is frequent now as cold nights lead towards dawn. Hiking above the fog layer in the sun brings magical views of the "cloud ocean" roiling below. We are still in the long heat of early fall with lovely sunny days in the 70s and sometimes 80s. Early evening, though, tells us this lovely weather won't last long.

Quite a bit of rain is finally gracing us. It won’t make up for the severe drought but it will go a long way towards plants ready for winter.

Familiar summer song birds are noticeably less or absent in the sounds of woods and fields. They have begun their migrations. The conspicuous silence except for the calls of woodpeckers, crows, chickadees and jays are another signal that summer is well gone. Warblers are coming through but not lingering. Birdcast has been showing migration levels of half a million to upwards of a million birds making their journeys nightly in our state during these weeks. Scientists remind us to turn off unnecessary outside lights during this migration to help birds successfully migrate.

Crickets, grasshoppers cicadas have taken over the soundscape now. They are omnipresent. Bees and wasps are busy yet at any remaining blooms. But frost is not far away.

Waterfowl migration is just beginning. Pelicans are less frequently seen and soon the egrets and herons will follow. Ducks, geese, cranes and swans are just beginning their migration which will last into November.

Atop Sugar Creek Bluff
Image - Lloyd Lorenz

Leaves are just turning. It is with a great deal of surprise that I am seeing the usual vibrant colors despite the drought we have experienced this season. I wasn't sure what to expect. 

The biweekly phenology lists I note will shorten considerably as we begin to lose our flowers after the frost and wildlife begins to settle into their hibernation patterns. So there will be a picture or two of the fading foliage but fewer individual observations of flowers.

Happy autumn!

Wildflowers

• Late purple aster
• New England aster
• Calico aster
• Hairy aster
• Big bluestem grass
• Hoary vervain
• Purple clover
• Goldenrod
• Bitterstem mushroom
• Ostrich plume moss
• Spinulose wood fern
• Twinflower
• Lion shield mushroom
• Birch polypore mushroom
• Honey mushroom 
• Green cheese polypore
• Rosy Russell’s mushroom

Wildlife

• Deer
• American toad
• Hairy woodpecker
• Yellow-bellied sapsucker
• White-throated sparrow
• Golden-crowned kinglet
• Kingfisher
• Trumpeter swans
• Dark-eyed junco

What are YOU noticing on your hikes?

Two weeks of hikes: Sugar Creek Bluff, Ferryville WI; Magelssen Bluff, Rushford MN; Vetsch Park, La Crescent MN; Eighteen Lake, Isabelle, MN; Dry Lake Trail, Superior National Forest, Ely MN

All images - Marge Loch-Wouters, unless noted