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| Tree frog |
The first half of the month continued our usual weather roller-coaster. We had significant climate-change-fueled storms that dumped huge amounts of rain throughout the Driftless region. At out home, we felt lucky to only receive 5 inches over a two-day period; many other areas received far more. Flooding and storm damage was reported across a number of parks, trails and communities. With much of Minnesota suffering drought, the rain was still welcome. Plants loved it and so did the fungi. The temps were about normal for early July with high 70s and 80s before ending these two weeks with humid 90s and a heat dome over our area. Ugh.
While my hiking has been curtailed due to a bum foot, I still had time to go on a hike with friends sponsored by the Friends of the Blufflands and led by naturalist Danielle Hudson. It was exactly as described in the program: "Many of us are aware of honeybees. But did you know that honeybees are actually nonnative and that there are 400-500 native bees that live in Wisconsin? Most of these bees are small and inconspicuous, lead solitary lives, and nest in the ground. Despite their small size, however, they play a huge role in pollinating many of the plants that grow in our area, including on the remnant prairies that Friends of the Blufflands has been restoring."
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| Danielle Hudson sharing information on Wisconsin native bees in the field |
And on this hike, I learned from a friend who co-owns a prairie that, despite my fascination with Deptford pinks, alas, they are also non-native and compete on prairies with our native plants.
I love the fact that so much learning happened on this hike. It's one of the reasons I am such a huge advocate for guided hiking and curious learning. The more we know, the more we can support conservation efforts and share positive practices. As the Friends of the Blufflands quoted post-hike on their Facebook page: "In the field of observation, chance favors only the prepared mind." I'm working on it!
You can join other "Second Saturday" guided hikes with the Friends of the Blufflands coming up. Plus they added a guided “Bumblebee and Blossoms” hike with Mike O'Brien on Saturday July 18. Meet at 9:00 am on Dobsen's Tract (meet at 5788 Thistledown Dr, La Crosse, WI). This is an easy hike on mowed trails on a small prairie right next to the parking lot that is packed with bumblebees.
I finished out the two weeks up on the shores of Lake Superior where kayaking was more my mode of adventuring. Along with the rest of the Driftless region, we shared very rare mid-90s temps on the big lake’s shore The evacuation of the BWCA and other wilderness areas on both sides of the border on Monday was prompted by multiple wildfires in that area. It made for a masked and very smoky drive back through Wisconsin Wednesday.
See you on the trails!
Plant Observations
Bloomed
- alyssum, hoary
Small flowered leaf cup about to bloom - avens, white
- basil, wild
- bedstraw, northern
- bergamot, wild
- black-eyed Susan
- buttercup, meadow
- catnip
- cinquefoil, sulfur
- cinquefoil, tall
- columbine
- coneflower, grey-headed
- coneflower, purple
- coreopsis, prairie
- daisy, oxeye (non-native)
- Deptford pink (non-native)
- fern, bulblet bladderfern
- fern, interrupted
- fern, lady
- fern, sweet
- flax, grooved
- fleabane, prairie
- harebell
- hawkweed, narrowleaf
- honewort, Canadian
Whorled milkweed - leafcup, small flowered
- leadplant
- lettuce, Canada
- loosestrife, whorled yellow
- milkweed, butterfly weed
- milkweed, common
- milkweed, whorled
- mullein, common
- nightshade, bitter
- nightshade, eastern enchanter’s
- poppy mallow, purple
- prairie clover, purple
- prairie clover, white
- puccoon, Carolina
- raspberry, dwarf red
- rockcress, lyreleaf
- rose, prairie
- spiderwort, Ohio
- spikenard, American
- spurge, flowering
- spurge, leafy
- thimbleweed, tall
- verbena, hoary
- woodsorrel, slender yellow
- yarrow
- bee balm, spotted
- boneset, false
- roundhead bushclover
- alumroot, Richardson's
Fruited false Solomon's seal - baneberry, white
- beardtongue, large
- candle anemone
- ground cherry
- Jack-in-the-pulpit
- raspberry, black
- raspberry, dwarf red
- Solomon’s seal, false
- Solomon’s seal, smooth
- Waxfloer shinleaf
- wild ginger
- fungi, star jelly
- moss, broom forkmoss
- moss, delicate fern
- moss, pincushion
- moss, red-stemmed feather moss
- moss, woodsy thyme-
- mushroom, bitter bolete
- mushroom, scarlet elfin cup
- blackbird, red-winged
- blue jay
- cardinal, northern
- catbird, gray
- cedar waxwing
- cowbird, brown-headed
- crane, sandhill
- dickcissel
- dove, mourning
- finch, house
- flycatcher, great-crested
- goldfinch, American
- grosbeak, rose-breasted
- indigo bunting
- oriole, Baltimore
- redstart, American
- robin, American
- sparrow, chipping
- sparrow, clay-colored
- sparrow, field
- sparrow, house
- sparrow, song
- starling, European
- swallow, barn
- swallow, northern rough-winged
- swallow, tree
- thrush, wood
- towhee, eastern
- turkey, wild
- vireo, Bell's
- vireo, eastern warbling
- vireo red-eyed
- warbler, northern yellow
- wood pewee, eastern
- woodpecker, downy
- woodpecker, red-bellied
- wren, Carolina
- wren, northern house
- yellowthroat
- bee fly, greater
Eastern amberwing dragonfly - bumblebee, brown belted
- butterfly, common eastern
- bumblebee, two-spotted
- butterfly, juvenal duskywing
- butterfly, Monarch
- butterfly, northern crescent
- butterfly, small white
- damselfly, tule bluet
- dragonfly, eastern amberwing
- dragonfly, green darner
- dragonfly, Halloween pennent
- dragonfly, twelve-spotted skipper
- dragonfly, widow skimmer
- mantidfly, brown wasp
- moth, eight-spotted forester
- tree frog
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 and/or location of the trails found online.
Holland Sand Prairie, Holman WI; Necedah National Wildlife Refuge, Necedah WI, ; Dug Rd Trout Run Trail, Decorah, IA; Upper Hixon Forest, La Crosse WI; urban Chicago hiking, Chicago IL; Meyer Beach, Bayfield WI
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| Purple poppy mallow |
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.
Images, unless noted - Marge Loch-Wouters
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| Seagulls standing sentry in Bayfield WI |
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| Early morning paddle Image - Nola Larson |
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