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| BWCAW fires as seen from a paddler's canoe Image - Lyndon Tyler |
While many of the fires still burn, the addition on more national firefighting teams, moderating temperatures and milder winds as well as the dissipation of the heat dome quickly returned air quality to pre-fire levels. Like many, I mostly stayed inside or masked on the bad air days. But when I look at the last two weeks, I had plenty of good weather to head out on the trails. The latest news indicates that rain and a swift response by firefighters have helped contain some of the fires and the BWCAW is partially open again.
Highlights of the the past two weeks included:
- guiding a hike up Reno Quarry, a favoriite haunt
- participating in a guided hike to find the elusive fameflower which only blooms 4 -7:00pm on sunny days - no really!
- going on a hike led by Jim Rogala of The Prairie Enthusiast and learning to identify two new-to-me plants: silky prairie clover and hairy hawkweed
- being introduced to the Twin Springs/Odin Loop in Decorah IA by a local naturalist-friend I recently met
- sharing with a friend the delight of the spectacular flowering prairies and newly opened vistas at Apple Blossom Overlook Park
- stumbling upon a newly fruited chicken of the woods mushroom with my husband in a fine bluff rim walk
All of these adventures were on flat or slightly rolling trails. It did my heart good to know that I can still see incredible sights on the trails even if I can't do the bluff climbs I love at the moment (hope springs eternal there are better days for my bum foot).
My hope for YOU is that you get out early and enjoy the luscious flowers of the prairies and fruits of the mycelial network in the woods. In a few days, I'll be publishing a sneak peak at what delights to look for on August trails. Let's get out quick before fall creeps in on us!
Plant Observations
BloomedGreened/sprouted:
Moss/Lichen/Fungi
Wildlife (seen, heard, detected):
Birds
Plant Observations
Bloomed
- agrimony, tall hairy
Tall hairy agrimony - alyssum, hoary
- avens, white
- bee balm, spotted
- bellflower
- bergamot, wild
- black-eyed Susan
- blazing star, prairie
- boneset, false
- boneset, tall
- brown-eyed Susan
- cinquefoil, tall
- coneflower, gray-headed
Tiny fameflower at 5:27pm - Culver’s root
- fameflower
- flax, grooved
- fern, bulblet bladderfern
- fern, interrupted
- fern, New York
- fern, ostrich
- fern, sensitive
- flax, grooved
- fleabane, prairie
- germander, American
- ghost pipe
- goldenrod, gray
Hairy hawkweed leaves -
note the long hairs that
capture moisture - goldenrod, Missouri
- hawksbeard, narrow
- hawkweed, hairy
- indigo, wild white
- ironweed, prairie
- jewelweed
- Joe-pye weed
- leadplant
- leafcup, small-flowered
- loosestrife, yellow fringed
- milkweed, whorled
- onion, nodding
- partridge pea
- poppy mallow, purple
Silky prairie clover
often mistaken for leadplant - prairie clover, purple
- prairie clover, silky
- prairie clover, white
- prairie rose
- primrose, evening
- quinine, wild
- rattlesnake master
- rockcress, lyreleaf
- sagebrush, white
- self-heal
- spiderwort, Ohio
- spurge, flowering
- St. John’s wort
- verbena, hoary
- yarrow
Grasses/sedges
- bluestem, little and big
Tall flatsedge - bottlebrush grass
- flatsedge, globe
- flatsedge, tall
- grama, blue
- grama, side oats
- indiangrass, yellow
- porcupine grass
- prairie dropseed
- prairie junegrass
- purple lovegrass
- sedge, eastern woodland
- sedge, white bear
- aster, western silver
- aster, white heath
- blazing star, rough
- bushclover, roundheaded
- everlasting, sweet
- goldenrods
- milkwort, racemed
- sunflowers
- thistle, field
- alumroot, Richardson's
Jack-in-the-pulpit fruiting - anemone, candle
- coreopsis, prairie
- ground cherry, Virginia
- mayapple
- milkweed, butterfly weed
- milkweed, clasping
- milkweed, common
- milkweed, green comet
- New Jersey tea, narrowleaf
- puccoon, Carolina
- sweet cecily
- snakecotton, plains
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| Chicken of the woods -num! |
- mold, scrambled egg slime
- mushroom, chicken of the woods
- mushroom, eastern cauliflower
- mushroom, lung oyster
- mushroom, pinewood gingertail
- mushroom, rufous candycap
- mushroom, rosy russula
Birds
- Baltimore oriole
- blue jay
- bluebird, eastern
- cardinal, northern
- catbird, gray
- cedar waxwing
- chickadee, black-capped
- chimney swift
- crow, American
- dickcissel
- finch, house
- goldfinch, American
Sedge wren
Image - Brad Imhoff, Merlin ID - indigo bunting
- killdeer
- kingbird
- mourning dove
- northern flicker
- phoebe, eastern
- purple martin
- redstart, American
- robin, American
- sparrow, chipping
- sparrow, clay-colored
- sparrow, field
- sparrow, grasshopper
- sparrow, house
- sparrow, song
- thrush, brown
- towhee, eastern
- vireo, red-eyed
- vireo, yellow-throated
- warbler, northern yellow
- wood-pewee, eastern
- woodpecker, downy
- wren, northern house
- wren, sedge
- yellowthroat
Insects:
- bumblebee, brown-belted
Brown-belted bumblebee at wild bergamot - bumblebee, common eastern
- bumblebee two-spotted
- butterfly, Monarch
- butterfly, regal fritillary
- damselfly, eastern forktail
- damselfly, tule bluet
- dragonfly, eastern amberwing
- dragonfly, eastern pondhawk
- dragonfly, green darner
- dragonfly, widow skimmer
- dragonfly, Halloween pennant
- grasshopper, Keelers spur-throat
- moth, sociable renia
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| False sunflower & bergamot brighten prairie trails |
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.
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 (2); Kellogg Weaver Dunes SNA, Kellogg MN; Twin Springs, Decorah IA; Butterfly Garden and Community Prairie, Decorah IA; Apple Blossom Overlook Park, Winona County MN; Bluffside Park, Winona MN; Riverside Park and International Garden, La Crosse WI
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| Apple Blossom Overlook Park |
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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| Searching for the fameflower as the sun begins setting |
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