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| Marsh marigold |
It's always a pleasure to get on firmer trails in April as the March snows melt and the ground thaws. April finds me heavily hiking wetlands and forests with just a bit of blufftop and sand prairies.
What are we going to see in the lovely month of April?
Here is a sneal peek of just a few things you may discover this month as spring warmth takes firmer hold.
Wetlands
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| A yellow-bellied sapsucker's neat work |
Snowy egrets - return in April.
Ducks - everywhere, all at once. Be sure to bring your binoculars to spot some of the less common migrants like wood duck, merganser, bufflehead, canvasback, northern shovelers, blue-and green-winged teal, lesser scaup.
Songbirds - rusty blackbird, ruby-crowned and gold-crowned kinglets are prominent in wetlands and...
...Warblers - the earliest returnees and migrators are yellow-rumped warblers.
Yellow-bellied sapsuckers - unlike other woodpeckers that over-winter, the sapsucker returns in April to drill orderly holes in trees (think cribbage board) searching for sap and insects.
Remember, you can follow the daily migration predictions of songbirds at Cornell’s Lab of Ornithology’s Birdcast (with other partners) through the spring. Pro tip: from now through the end of May migration periods, please turn off outside lights from midnight until dawn to support birds in their nightly migration.
Plants
Marsh marigolds - bright flower clumps in streams are a pop of color this month.
Watercress - this is the last month to reliably harvest watercress but warm temps mean lots more bugs; hence more careful cleaning. But this peppery foraged green found in clear running streams is worth it. There is no gathering allowed in MN state parks.
Amphibians/Reptiles
Frogs are calling - spring peepers and wood frogs join chorus frogs in loud mating calls. Toads and tree frogs aren't far behind with leopard frogs adding their two cents, filling ponds with a raucous cacophany of sound.
Turtles - continue their activity spending significant time on logs as they re-energize from their winter underwater.
Forests and Prairies
Birds - listen and look for the eastern phoebe (one of the first flycatchers to return each spring), bluebirds, meadowlarks and numerous sparrows on the prairies. Warbler alert is on!Swans - migration will be slowing considerably as they race to their nesting grounds. You may see a few trumpeter pairs who will nest in the Driftless during our warm season.
Plants/Fungi
Insects
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| Wild ginger's ground level flower |
Ephemerals - this month brings our earliest ephemerals - roundlobe and sharplobe hepatica, spring beauty, anemones (rue, false, wood), bloodroot, bellwort, Dutchmen's breeches, trout lily, birdfoot violet.
Wild Ginger - look at the base of this plant for it's flower. Beetles are its pollinator so its flower is hidden at geound level.
Lyreleaf rockcress - this small hardy perrenail can be forund in sandy as well as rocky areas.
Ramps - this oniony delight of spring woods will start to cover north facing hills and forest floors. In MN state parks, no foraging is allowed, but on other public lands, you are free to take some. Remember to only take a few to preserve the resource.
Morel mushrooms - if it's warm and damp enough, keep your eye out for early morels.
Catkins - these male flowers will double in size and turn yellowish with their pollen. They depend on wind to help them with pollination before the trees leaf out.
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| Tricolored bumblebee |
Bumblebees - the queens will be emerging from the winter hibernation finding a home for the new colony she'll make and foraging on early blooms to restore energy for her work ahead.
Butterflies - watch for the return of red admirals later this month. Nettles are their larval host plant so keep an eye out while you are near them!
Around the yard
Flowers - early flowers like daffodils, dandelions, crocus, scylla and a few more early risers. We'll see if April showers keep moisture levels high and herald in the riot of growth and greening that May will bring. See you on the trails!
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| Ooooh, an early morel! |
Images, unless noted - Marge Loch-Wouters
You can read my quarterly column on seasonal hiking suggestions in Inspire(d) Driftless Magazine available online or pick up a free copy at businesses and organizations around the Driftless areas of Minnesota, Wisconsin and Iowa.
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