July came in with a bang, as it usually does. Fireworks, fireflies, heat and knee-high (wait, make that shoulder-high) corn by the 4th of July were back suggesting a more typical pattern to this month's adventures.
Our temps stayed in the mid-to high 80's with fairly high humidity most days. Abundant and frequent rain earlier this month in parts of the MN, IA and WI Driftless areas encouraged lush plant growth, higher river levels and faster currents, massive mosquito hatches and the annual return of the mayfly. We ended up with about 1.5 - 2 inches of rain over this two weeks.
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| Stoney Point prairie remnant (MN) |
The mosquitoes made woods hiking challenging during the latter part of these two weeks. Without bug repellent, head nets - and for me, my Rynoskin shirt - we would have reluctantly donated alot of blood to the female mosquito's reproductive cycle. A recent hike had swarms of mosquitoes surrounding us as we hiked through a woods towards our prairie destination. Talk about aerobic hiking! Once out on the sunny, open prairie, we enjoyed virtually mosquito-free time exploring. Prairies forever!
From July 11-13, we had significant degraded air quality in MN and over in WI from Canadian wildfires. The north and central part of the state had very high levels of particulates, while our Driftless area had slightly less. To check air quality, you can use the EPA Air Now app or website:
https://www.airnow.gov/ . It will help you determine the risk of outdoor activity during poor air quality times.
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| Holland Sand Prairie (WI) |
As an oldster, I hike with an N95 mask when the air quality deteriorates to the “unhealthy for sensitive groups.” Do I love it? Nope. But as a thinking human being, I know that the smoky haze I see in the distance is surrounding me as well. I prefer to ease things for my lungs and body systems by masking up and staying on mellow trails - if I head out at all.
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| Grant Park, Chicago |
I spent some time away from the woods during these two weeks in downtown Chicago. While classical music concerts and museums were on the agenda, I didn't have to leave nature far behind. The city parks and sidewalks were festooned with gorgeous planters and gardens that are only open in summer.
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| Rory McEwan print |
And a real treat was an exhibition of artist/musician Rory McEwen's amazing botanical drawings from the 1960s -1980s. It was wonderful to still feel connected to nature despite being surrounded by high rises, crowds and concrete.
As we enter the second half of the month, the woods are full of fungi and mosquitoes, the prairies are awash in flowers - and sometimes gnats. It's a great time, especially in the morning to get out and see all the amazing life - not just the plants but the bees, dragonflies, damselflies and other insects that are much in evidence.
See you on the trails!
Plant ObservationsFlowering/Mature plants:
- agrimony, tall hairy
- alyssum, hoary
- anemone, candle (cylindrical thimble weed)
- avens, white
- beebalm, spotted
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| Spotted beebalm flowers |
- bergamot, wild
- black-eyed Susan
- campion, starry
- cinquefoil, sulphur
- cinquefoil, tall
- cliffbrake, dwarf
- clover, purple prairie
- clover, white prairie
- columbine
- compassplant
- coneflower, gray-headed
- coneflower purple
- coreopsis, prairie
- Culver's root
- Deptford pink
- devil's paintbrush
- fern, bracken
- fern, interrupted
- fern lady
- fern, maidenhair
- fern, ostrich
- fern, wood
- fleabane, daisy
- fleabane, prairie
- flax, grooved
- germander, American
- harebell
- hawksbeard, narrowleaf
- hawkweed, hairy
- hyssop, anise
- indigo, wild white
- leadplant
- lobelia, palespike
- milkvetch, Canadian
- milkweed, butterfly
- milkweed, common
- milkweed, green comet
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| Whorled milkweed |
- milkweed, whorled
- mint, Virginia mountain
- New Jersey tea
- plantain, ribwort
- poppy mallow, purple
- primrose, common evening-
- puccoon, haory
- rockcress, lyreleaf
- rose, prairie
- spiderwort, Ohio
- spurge, flowering
- St. John's wort
- sunflower, false
- thimbleweed, tall
- toadflax, yellow
- vervain, blue
- vervain, hoary
- yarrow
Sprouts/unbloomed/past bloom:- aster, aromatic
- aster, Drummond's
- aster, hairy
- aster, western silver
- aster, white heath
- blacksnakeroot, clustered
- blazing star, dense
- blazingstar, dwarf
- blazing star, rough
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| Roundhead bushclover (WI) |
- boneset, false
- bushclover, roundhead
- camus, mountain death
- cecily, sweet
- coneflower, cutleaf
- Culver’s root
- cup plant
- feverwort
- goldenrod, elmleaf
- goldenrod, early
- goldenrod, giant
- goldenrod, gray
- goldenrod, prairie
- goldenrod, showy
- goldenrod, stiff
- goldenrod, tall
- horse-gentian, orangefruit
- honewort, Canadian
- lettuce, Canadian
- mayapple
- mint, mountain
- pussytoes, plantain
- rattlesnake master
- sunflower, stiff
- sunflower, woodland
- Pasqueflower
- white sagebrush
- wild ginger
- wood betony
Grasses/Sedges:- alfalfa
- bluestem, big
- bluestem, little
- brome, prairie
- brome, smooth
- ryegrass, Virginia wild
- grass, eastern bottle-brush
- grass, Canada wildrye
- grass, beardless
- grass, deertongue
- grass, sideoats grama
- grass, switch
- indiangrass, yellow
- panicgrass, Scribner's
Fungi/Moss/Lichen:- forkmoss, broom
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| Jellied false coral fungus (IA) |
- fungus, jellied false coral
- fungus, scrambled egg slime
- fungus, white jelly
- mushroom, clay-gilled milkcap
- mushroom, mustard-yellow polypore
- mushroom, oysterling
- mushroom platterful
- mushroom, puffball
- mushroom, ruby bolete
- mushroom, scarlet elfen cup
- mushroom, veiled-bulb aminita
- mushroom, weeping milkcup
- moss, American tree
- moss, silvery thread
- thyme-moss, woodsy
Wildlife Observations (seen, heard, detected)
Birds:- blackbird, red-winged
- blue jay
- bobolink
- cardinal, northern
- catbird, gray
- cedar waxwing
- chickadee, black-capped
- cowbird, brown-headed
- eagle
- dickcissel
- finch, purple
- finch, house
- flicker, northern
- flycatcher, Acadian
- flycatcher, great-crested
- gnatcatcher, blue-gray
- eagle
- finch, house
- flicker, northern
- grosbeak, rose-breasted
- hawk, redtail
- indigo bunting
- goldfinch, American
- kingbird, eastern
- meadowlark, eastern
- meadowlark, western
- nuthatch, white-breasted
- oriole, Baltimore
- oriole, orchard
- pewee, eastern wood
- purple martin
- redstart, American
- robin, American
- sandpiper, spotted
- sapsucker, yellow-bellied
- scarlet tananger
- shrike, loggerhead
- sparrow, clay-colored
- sparrow, field
- sparrow, house
- sparrow, song
- swallow, barn
- swallow, cliff
- swallow, tree
- swift, chimney
- titmouse, tufted
- towhee, eastern
- vireo, Bell's
- vireo, red-eyed
- vireo, warbling
- vireo, yellow-throated
- vulture, turkey
- warbler, cerulean
- warbler, yellow
- wild turkey
- woodpecker, downy
- woodpecker, hairy
- woodpecker, pileated
- woodpecker, red-bellied
- wood-pewee, eastern
- wood thrush
- wren, house
- wren, sedge
- yellowthroat, common
Waterfowl:
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| Black-and-gold bumblebee (WI) |
Insects:- beetle, American rose chafer
- bumblebee, black-and-gold
- bumblebee, common eastern
- butterfly, great spangled fritillary
- butterfly, monarch
- butterfly, pearl crescent
- butterfly, silver-spotted skipper
- butterfly, silvery checkerspot
- butterfly, tiger swallowtail
- damselfly, bluet
- damselfly, tule bluet
- dragonfly, blue dasher
- draginfly, Halloween pennant
- dragonfly, twelve-spotted skimmer
- dragonfly, widow
- moth, hummingbird clearwing
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| Two great spangled fritillary butterflies on a butterfly weed (IA) |
What are YOU seeing on your hikes?
Two weeks of hikes
Hikes below in colored, bold type or underlined have links to previous posts OR descriptions/location of the trails found online
IOWISOTA bluff, Lansing IA; Vetsch/Stoney Point Park, La Crescent, MN; Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge Visitor's Center, Brice Prairie WI (2); Yellow River State Forest, Harper's Ferry IA; Holland Sand Prairie, Holmen WI (2); Mathy Quarry, La Crosse WI; downtown Chicago sidewalks, Chicago IL (3); Apple Blossom Overlook Park, Winona County MN
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Iowisota (IA) bluff prairie view
of the Mississippi River |
The "I Spy on the Trails" column is a phenology (the study of seasonal changes in plants and animals) journal to chronicle year-round the weather, plant life and wildlife I observe while hiking. It is very useful in helping me compare observations from year-to-year. The column is published monthly from September through April and then twice-a-month from May through August when warm weather brings the natural world back to vibrant life.
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| Compass plant, Apple Blossom Overlook Park MN |
Images, unless noted - Marge Loch-Wouters
