Rain, sun, rain, sun, rain, sun...well, you get the picture. The past two weeks have been challenging for hiking for many, including me. With all the moisture, everything is growing by leaps and bounds. The lawn, the vegetable and herb gardens, the landscaping (and all those happy weeds) have been calling more strongly than the trails when the weather is good. So although I was on the trails less than I had planned, I caught up with all my yard - and computer - work and got in a ton of reading!
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| Fields of lupines at Trempealeau Wildlife Refuge |
The bird migrations are starting to slow as migrators stay or continue onward to more northern nesting grounds. There are still surprises in the birds one finds.
The early delicate ephemerals are starting to fade as the hardier and longer lasting flowers of summer push their way up and cover the forest and wetlands. We are still about 10-14 days ahead of last year although cooler nights are slowing the mad growth slightly. The lupines are stunning right now and trilliums are starting their time in the sun.
Weather patterns continue to indicate frequent rains. After last year's drought, I can't complain.
- Jack-in-the Pulpit
- Lady fern
Thigh-high Jack-in-the-pulpit
South Park, Houston
Image - Michaeleen Bonner - Sensitive fern
- Interrupted fern
- Ostrich fern
- Wood fern
- Hoary puccoon
- Fringed puccoon
- Lupine
- Hoary verbena
- Downy phlox
- Yellow salsify
- Poke milkweed
- Black snakeroot
- Wood betony
- Lyreleaf rockcress
- Large-flowered bellwort
- Leadplant
- Spiderwort
- Golden Alexander
- Prairie rose
- Leafy spurge
- Prairie groundsel
- Large beardstongue
Scarlet Elf cap fungi - Sage mugwort
- Bluntleaf sandwort
- Twoleaf miterwort (bishop’s cap)
- Littleleaf buttercup
- Bird’s foot violet
- Prairie blue-eyed grass
- Pussytoes
- Columbine
- Hairy sweet cecily
- Wild geranium
- False Solomon’s seal
- Mayapple, blossomed
- Rue anemone
- False rue anemone
- Canada anemone
- Golden ragwort
- Virginia waterleaf
- Marsh marigold
- Nodding wakerobin (drooping trillium)
- American stoneseed
Prairie smoke - Robin’s plantain
- Smooth horsetail, blossoming
- Wintercress
- Dryad’s saddle
- Oyster mushrooms
- Scarlet eld cap mushrooms
- Crown-tipped coral fungi
- Compass plant (unbloomed)
- Cup plant (unbloomed)
- Meadow Rue (unbloomed)
- White indigo
- Prairie smoke
- Lanceleaf coreopsis
- Hoary alyssum
- Prairie cinquefoil
Wildlife (seen, hear, detected)
- Woodchuck
I see the deer and the deer sees me!
Image - Kris Lawson
- Muskrat
- Deer
- American eagle
- Great blue heron
- Green heron
- Sandhill cranes
- Eastern wood peewee
- Eastern towhee
- American redstart
- Prothonotary warbler
- Yellow warbler
- Yellow-rumped warbler
- Common yellowthroat
- Warbling vireo
- Red-eyed vireo
- Yellow-throated vireo
- Bell’s vireo
- Indigo bunting
- Scarlet tanager
- Blue-gray gnatcatcher
- Great crested flycatcher
- Willow flycatcher
- Barred owl
- Rose-breasted grosbeak
- Pine grosbeak
- Tufted titmouse
- Ovenbird
- Gray catbird
- Brown-headed cowbird
- Eastern kingbird
- Eastern bluebird
- Orchard oriole
- Baltimore oriole
- Barred owl
- Northern cardinal
- American robin
- Red-winged blackbird
- American goldfinch
Silver-spotted skipper butterfly - American crow
- Song sparrow
- Field sparrow
- House sparrow
- White-throated sparrow
- Chipping sparrow
- White-breasted nuthatch
- Red-headed woodpecker
- Red-bellied woodpecker
- Hairy woodpecker
- Yellow-bellied sapsucker
- Wood thrush
- Monarch butterfly
- Karner blue butterfly
- Red admiral butterfly
- Eastern swallowtail butterfly
- Black swallowtail butterfly
- Silver-spotted skipper butterfly
What are YOU noticing on your hikes?
Two weeks of hikes:
South Park, Houston MN (2); Lost Creek Trail, Chatfield MN; Prairie’s Edge Trail, Trempealeau Wildlife Refuge, Trempealeau WI (2); Riverside Park and International Gardens, La Crosse WI; Appleblossom Overlook Park, Winona County MN; Upper Mississippi Fish and Wildlife Visitor Center, Brice Prairie WI
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| Lupines in their glory, Trempealeau Wildlife Refuge Image - Kris Lawson |
Unless noted, images by Marge Loch-Wouters
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