Holy moly, spring is busting out early. We had some fine snow and rain at the beginning of the month followed by warm temps and the wildflowers went, well...wild!
It also helped that I went south 50 miles into Iowa to hike at the Yellow River State Forest a few times. We saw alot of great wildflowers that aren't quite up yet around here. And the trees were starting to leaf out there which is very early.
Bird migration is in full swing. The waterfowl have mostly migrated through but the songbirds are definitely returning in large numbers,. Adding to the chorus over the past two weeks are Eastern towhee, brown creeper, red-winged blackbird, rusty blackbird, brown-headed cowbird, eastern meadowlark, golden-crowned kinglet, northern flicker and more. Warblers are just starting their migration, although with trees beginning to leaf out, it will be a challenge to spot them.
And speaking of choruses, wood frogs and spring peepers are much in evidence.
It's a fine time to enjoy the spring woods!
Plant life
 |
| Dutchman's breeches. Canadian wild ginger, Bloodroot, scarlet cup |
- Shining clubmoss
- False rue anemone
- Lyreleaf rock cress
- Ramps
- Red stemmed feather moss
- Hepatica
- Dutchman's breeches
- Canadian wild ginger
- Bloodroot
- Cutleaf toothwort
- Long talk sedge
- Scarlet cup
- Rockcap fern
- Walking fern
- Bladder fern
- Sharplobe hepatica
- Roundlobe hepatica
- False rue anemone
- Rue anemone
- Liverwort
- Bristly buttercup
- Birdsfoot violet
- Common violet
- Bastard toadflax (unbloomed)
- Trout lily (unbloomed)
- Puddy root orchid
- Wild strawberry
- Spring beauty
- Prickly pear (!) - blufftop, dry prairie
- Virginia waterleaf
- Mayapple
- Hoary puccoon
- Pussytoes
- Sweet cecily
- Bellwort
- Shotting star
 |
| Hoary puccoon |
Wildlife (seen, heard, detected)
- Red cardinal butterfly
Mourning cloak butterfly
Red cardinal butterfly
nectaring on Dutchman's Breeches- Trumpeter swans
- Tundra swans
- Wood frogs
- Spring peepers
- Snapping turtle
- Dragonflies
- Pileated woodpecker
- Red headed woodpecker
- Downy woodpecker
- Red-bellied woodpecker
- Hairy woodpecker
- Yellow-bellied sapsucker
- Eastern towhee
- Tufted titmouse
- Song sparrow
- American tree sparrow
- Golden-crowned kinglet
- Painted Turtle
- Ruby-crowned kinglet
- Chipping sparrow
- Rusty blackbird
- Red-winged blackbird
- Goldfinch
- Black-capped chickadee
- White-breasted nuthatch
- Northern cardinal
- Northern flicker
- Great blue heron
- Sandhill cranes
- Blue jay
- Turkey vultures
- Brown creeper
- Brown-headed cowbird
- Barred owl
- Wood duck
- Blue-winged teal
- Green-winged teal
- Robin
- Widgeon
- Coots
- Pelicans
- Killdeer
What are YOU noticing on your hikes?
Two weeks of hikes:
Whitewater WMA, Nursery Trail, Altura MN; Mississippi/Big Bear/Mud Hen Trail, Painted Rock Unit, Yellow River State Forest, Harper’s Ferry, IA (2); Beaver Creek Valley State Park, Caledonia MN; Lytle’s Landing, Brice Prairie WI (2); Greens Coulee/Savannah Oaks, Onalaska WI; La Crosse River Marsh Trails, La Crosse WI
 |
| On the rocks at Yellow River State Forest, IA Image -Kris Lawson |
Images (unless noted) - Marge Loch-Wouters
No comments:
Post a Comment