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| A common milkweed's delicate seeds |
Then October decided to be a bit more seasonal in the second half of the month. We saw the daytime temps slowly drop down through the 50s and into the 40s before rallying at the end of the month to sunny 50s and 60s .
Significant wind accompanied the temperature drops. Those winds spread fluffy seeds of native wildflowers far and wide. They also contributed to massive songbird migrations south. The woods and prairies are so quiet now. A few rain fronts sweeping through kept things moist - including mushrooms popping up.
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| A frosty fog morning for hikers Image -Nola Larson |
Frost finally came and nipped us overnight in the third full week of the month. It jumped started one of the most dramatic patches of bluff color towering above the west end of the I-94 Wisconsin/Minnesota bridge. It's been a glorious week while driving into Minnesota.
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| A bee’s frosty end Image - Michael Ross |
The annuals, plants, herbs and mushrooms along with insects including worker bees were dealt a cold frost blow in many places. It’s always a sad moment.
The milder days around the Mississippi River basin slowed down the leaves in their color change. The delay muted some of the colors to more russet tones. I expect we will still see some jewel-like colors but any rain or significant wind will soon be stripping the trees. Expect more leaf-showers during your hikes and drives!
I hope you plan to continue your hiking as we go into the time change and the "see-through" season of bare trees that reveal rock formations and wider viewsheds. And remember, crisp weather means no bugs and less sweat on those bluff trails! See you there!
Plant Observations
Flowering/mature plants:
- alyssum, hoary
Aromatic aster - aster, aromatic
- aster, blue-wood
- aster, calico
- aster, hairy
- aster, New England
- aster, shotrts
- aster, skyblue
- aster, smooth blue
- aster, white arrowleaf
- chickweed, water
- compass plant
- evening primrose, common
- everlasting, sweet
- fern, bladderwort brittle
- fern, bladderwort, bulblet
- fern, cinnamon
- fern, interrupted
- fern, lady
- fern, northern maidenhair
- fern, rockcap
- fern, spinulose wood
Rockcap fern - fleabane, daisy
- goldenrod, elmleaf
- goldenrod, giant
- goldenrod, gray
- goldenrod, showy
- goldenrod, wrinkle leaf
- goldenrod, zigzag
- partridgeberry
- partridge pea
- spiderwort
- sweetfern
- sunflower, false
- yarrow
- anemone, false rueartichoke, Jerusalem
- asters (by end of month)
- blazing star, Ontario
- blazing star, rough
- boneset, false
- boneset, tall
- bushclover, roundhead
- clover, purple prairie
- clover, white prairie
- coreopsis, prairie
- goldenrods (by end of month)
- hepatica, sharplobed
- hyssop, yellow giant
- indian tobacco
- milkweed, common
- milkweed, whorled
- snakeroot, white
- sunflower, wood
- thimbleweed, tall
- verbena, hoary
- virgin’s bower
Fruited:
- barberry
- rose, prairie
- wintergreen
Prairie grasses
- grass, bluestem, big
- grass, bluestem, little
- grass, Canadian wildrye
- grass, prairie dropseed
- grass, side-oats grama
- indiangrass, yellow
- switchgrass
Fungi/moss/lichen:
- fungus, dog's nose
- fungus, jelly tree ear
- fungus, snow
- ghost pipe
- moss, shining club plus MANY others
- mushroom, artist’s conk
- mushroom, bitter oysterling (styptic panus)
- mushroom, deer
Fly agaric mushroom - mushroom, dryad’s saddle
- mushroom, fly agaric
- mushroom, golden oyster
- mushroom, honey
- mushroom, lung oyster
- mushroom, nitrous bonnet
- mushroom, puffball
- mushroom, resinous polypore
- mushroom, scarlet elfen cup
- mushroom, taeny grisette
- mushroom, turkey tail
Wildlife Observations (seen, heard, detected)
Birds:
- blackbird, red-winged
- blue jay
- bluebird, eastern
- chickadee, black-capped
- crow, American
- eagle, American
- goldfinch, American
- grackle, common
- indigo bunting
- junco, dark-eyed
- kinglet, gold-crowned
- nuthatch, red-breasted
- nuthatch, white-breasted
- pelican, American
- robin, American
- sparrow, clay-colored
- sparrow, chipping
- sparrow, savannah
- sparrow, white-throated
- warbler, yellow-rumped
- woodpecker, red-bellied
- wren, sedge
- crane, sandhill
- pelican, American
- swan, trumpeter
Reptiles/Amphibians:
- frog, northern leopard
- deer
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| Katydid at Iowisota |
- bumblebee, black and yellow
- bumblebee, common eastern
- butterfly, clouded sulfur
- Butterfly, eastern comma
- butterfly, orange sulfur
- butterfly, pearl crescent
- caterpillar, wooly
- dragonfly, autumn meadowhawk
- Fly, marginalized calligraphy
- katydid
What are YOU seeing on your hikes?
A month of hikes
Hikes below in colored, bold type or underlined have links to previous posts OR descriptions/location of the trails found online.
Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge Visitor's Center, Brice Prairie, WI; Holland Sand Prairie, Holmen WI (2); Necedah National Wildlife Refuge Visitor's Center, Necedah, WI; Lower Hixon Forest Trails, La Crosse WI; Upper Hixon Forest, La Crosse WI, Reno Spillway, Reno MN; Iowisota Retreat and Education Center, Lansing IA; Bluffside Park, Winona MN; Levis Trow Mounds, Black River Falls, WI (2), Yellow River State Forest, Harper’s Ferry IA
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| Welcome to MN at the west end of I 90 bridge |
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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| Getting up close and personal with moss Image - Nola Larson |
Images, unless noted - Marge Loch-Wouters
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