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| September full moonrise Badlands National Park |
Based on the above, I can’t say much about September’s Driftless climate other than what I’ve read! Suffice it to say, we had moderate and slightly warmer temperatures, some real gullywasher rain and a pleasant Autumn Equinox. Frost wasn’t yet in the picture.
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| Ghost pipes everywhere |
We are well into the slowdown and final seed production of plants and forbs. Mushrooms are heavily evident in Driftless areas that have received rainfall this past month. Ghost pipes are in their glory. Asters and tall grasses are also at their peak.
Songbird migration has been heavy this month, often increasing ahead of dropping cold fronts. The first swans are just starting to appear along the Mississippi Flyway. Canada geese continue their flights as well. Observant eyes have spotted migrating egrets, cranes and herons in the area. Monarch butterflies are also migrating through. Migrations of birds and insects will continue through fall.
I hope you enjoyed this mild September on the trails and are looking forward to the colorful time ahead.
Plant Observations
Bloomed:
- aster, aromatic
Panicled aster - aster, blue-wood
- aster, calico
- aster, Drummond's
- aster, hairy
- aster, large-leaved
- aster, New England
- aster, panicled
- aster, sky-blue
- aster, western silver
- bellflower
- brown-eyed Susan
- fern, braken
- fern bulblet bladder
- fern, interrupted
- fern, interripted wood
- fern, lady
- fern, maidenhair
- fern, New York
Stiff gentian (agueweed) - fern, sensitive
- fern, spinulose wood
- gentian, stiff (agueweed)
- goldenrod, Canada
- goldenrod, elm-leaf
- goldenrod, gray
- goldenrod, showy
- goldenrod, tall
- goldenrod, zigzag
- grooved flax
- lobelia, great blue
- self-heal
- sunflower, false
- sweetfern
- thistle, field
- white rattlesnakeroot
- white snakeroot
Past Bloom/Fruited:
- American spikenard
Blue cohosh - blue cohosh
- bluebead lily
- false Solomon's seal
- hairy Solomon's seal
- Jack-in-the-pulpit
- leadplant
- white baneberry
Grasses/Sedges:
- grass, bluestem, big and little
- grass, eastern bottlebrush
- grass, yellow indiangrass
Moss/Fungi/Lichen:
- fungi, coral
Well-named snakewort lichen
Image - Laurie Arzaga - ghost pipe
- lichen, snakewort
- moss, broom forkmoss
- moss, delicate fern
- moss, interrupted club
- moss, red-stemmed feather
- moss, treelike clubmoss
- mushroom, brittlegill russula
- mushroom, crowded parchment
- mushroom, dryad's saddle
- mushroom, honey
- mushroom, lobster
- mushroom, northern tooth
Crowded parchment mushroom - mushroom, pearly webcap
- mushroom, puffball
- mushroom, red-gilled cort
- mushroom, rosy russula
- mushroom, turkey tail
- mushroom, two-colored bolete
- mushroom, white grissette amanita
Wildlife (seen, heard, detected):
Birds:
- belted kingfisher
- blue jay
- cardinal, northern
- cedar waxwing
- chickadee, black-capped
Ruby-throated hummingbird - crow, American
- egret
- flicker, northern
- goldfinch, American
- goose, Canada
- great blue heron
- grosbeak, rose-breasted
- hummingbird, ruby-throated
- junco, dark-eyed
- loon, common
- nuthatch, red-breasted
- nuthatch, white-breasted
- owl, barred
- pelican, American
- raven
- robin, American
- swan, trumpeter
- veery
- vireo, red-eyed
- vireo, yellow-throated
- warbler, yellow-rumped
- wild turkey
- wood-pewee, eastern
- woodpecker, downy
- woodpecker, hairy
- woodpecker, pileated
- woodpecker, red-bellied
- yellowthroat
Insects/Arachnids:
- bumblebee, common eastern
Unexpected cycnia moth caterpiller
- yes, that's it's actual name! - bumblebee, tricolored
- butterfly, monarch
- caterpillar, banded tussock moth
- caterpillar, turbulent phosphila moth
- caterpillar, unexpected cycnia moth
- dragonfly, autumn meadowhawk
Reptiles/Amphibians:
- snail, western dusky
- toad, American
Badlands Observations
Plant Life:
- aster, aromatic
Curlycup gumweed
Gummy and fun curls on the seed head - aster, false hairy
- aster, white heath
- coneflower, prairie
- fleabane, prairie
- goldenrod, Missouri
- gumweed, curlycup
- grass, blue grama
- grass, crested wheatgrass
- grass, green needlegrass
- grass, Indian ricegrass
- grass, little bluestem
- grass, thread leaf sedge
- milkweed, whorled
- mullein, common
- prickly pear, twist spine
- rabbitbrush, rubber
- sagewort, prairie
- saltlover
- snake weed, broom
- sunflower, common
- verbena, hoary
- yucca, great plains
Wildlife
- beetle , reticulated net-winged
Western meadowlark
Image - Linda Pohle - bison
- bumblebee, gyne, southern plains
- eagle, golden
- meadowlark, western
- mule deer
- prairie dog
- pronghorn
- spider, jumping cardinal
What are YOU seeing on your hikes?
Hikes below in colored, bold type or underlined have links to previous posts OR descriptions and/or location of the trails found online.
Hixon Forest, La Crosse WI (2); Holland Sand Prairie, Holman WI; Sylvania Wilderness, Watersmeet MI; Reno Quarry, Reno MN; Castle Trail, Door Trail, Window Trail, Cliff Shelf Trail - Badlands National Park, Wall, South Dakota
See you on the trails!
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| Checking out a waterfall near Sylvania Wilderness Area in Upper Michigan Image - Sue Knorr |
The "I Spy on the Trails" column is a phenology (the study of seasonal changes in plants and animals) journal to chronicle the weather, plant life and wildlife I observe while hiking year-round. 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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| Roadside encounter in the Badlands Image - Sue Knorr |
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