Nature Sneak Peek - June 2026

Bulblet bladderferns

Summer is here! We are officially in the warm season of abundant plant growth and abundant wildlife activity. As the weather heats up, nature is enjoying a massive growth spurt. It makes June a particularly beautiful month to be outdoors.

Here are some of the things you might notice on the trails in June. Enjoy!

Woods

Now that the leaves are fully out and shading the trails, the season of delicate ephemerals is mostly behind us. Sturdier, shade-loving plants come to the fore. Nettles, cleavers, woodbine and other green growth is explosive.

Ferns - are in their glory this month as they reach towards their full growth. Watch for interrupted, ostrich, lady, sensitive, wood and maidenhair ferns in the woods. Note the small ferns like rockcap and bulblet bladderferns that nestle in rock faces. These hardy beauties need little soil to be successful.

Leaves three, let it be -poison ivy

Fungi - mushrooms like inky caps, oysters, conks and shelf mushrooms like Dryad's saddle are much in evidence on the trails. Watch for chanterelles and old man of the woods make an appearance as well. Be sure you know which mushrooms are edible before foraging.

Poison ivy is out in plant, bush and vine form not just in woods but in wetlands and prairies too. Be cautious near trail edges and don't touch any plant with three leaves if you're not sure of it's identity.

Prairies

Death camus

This is the beginning of their shining season. I hike often in  prairies for the sheer diversity of blooms throughout the warm season. Sun loving plants and their insect pollinators (and their predators) are out in force. There are swaths of big bold color on the prairies (think butterfly weed, puccoons, spiderworts and more) but watch for the blooms of rare plans like bastard toad-flax, beardtongue, Canada frostweed, four-o-clock and Deptford pink.

Leonard's skullcap

Leonard's skullcap and mountain death camus - these tiny blooms on short stalks are some of my favorite June finds. Every part of the camus is deadly to ingest for wildlife and humans. The skullcap's bloom is no bigger than a small child's fingernail but one of the most beautiful blooms on the prairie.

Milkweeds - while we are used to seeing the common milkweed and its attendant butterflies nectoring on them, there is a wealth of other milkweeds to discover. Among the ones you can spot in the Driftless area: butterfly weed, narrow leaf, clasping leaf, purple, short green, green comet and whorled milkweed. Keep your eyes out!

The Solomon's seals - it's finally bloom time for these elegant forbs. Often people struggle between identifying smooth (true, as some people say) vs false Solomon's seal. If you are one of them, this mnemonic can help: false on the lip; true under hip. In other words, the false Solomon's seal sets it bloom from the tip while smooth Solomon's seal has blossoms under it's leaves. 

The top photo shows a false Solomon's seal with it's flower "on the "lip" or at the tip of the leaf structure.

The photo below it shows a smooth Solomon's seal with it's pendant buds ready to open "under hip", sheltered by its leaves above. 

I admit I wish poor false Solomon's seal had its own lovely name without the word "false" but that's life!

Wetlands

Plants that love wet feet are in abundance including marsh ferns, grasses, and flowers. But the real star here is the wildlife.

Widow skimmer dragonfly

Dragonflies/Damselflies - mosquito hatches in wet, damp areas also bring out a rich variety of flying predators. Wisconsin has over 118 species of dragonflies alone. It's fascinating to watch the skimmer, clubtail, forktail, darner, cruiser and spiketail dragonflies, along with the more delicate broad-winged and spread-winged damselflies, go about their business. And I can't help thanking them!

Turtles - it’s time for turtles to dig their nests and deposit their eggs. This is a dangerous time for the females. Keep a sharp eye out on roads near wetlands and bodies of water. If you can do it safely, you can help a turtle by following this guide to the left.

Birds - the nesting and fledging season for a variety of songbirds is in full swing. Early morning or late evening walks are a symphony of sound in the trees and brush of wetlands as the many warblers and songbirds call. While the leaves obscure the view, with a pair of binoculars you can still spot some of the flitting birds on the hunt for food for their young.

Finally, Fireflies  

While you may not be hiking at night, one of the most iconic and anticipated insect appearances of June is the firefly. As darkness falls, these beetles that can produce bioluminescence through a chemical reaction within their abdomen, begin their mating ritual. Their winking nightly flights always feel to me like the proof that summer is well upon us.

No matter where you go, be curious. Take some extra time to look and see what you can see along the trail. You’ll be delighted!

Purple milkweed

Images, unless noted - Marge Loch-Wouters

Scaly inky cap mushrooms

Nature Sneak Peak - May 2026

Trout lilies

Well, April showers did not disappoint so the end of that month gave us first glimpses of our May - early arrival of dandelions, explosive lawn growth, flowering fruit trees and shrubs - all hallmarks of  the month of May and Mother's Day.

Now that the growing season is upon us, here are a few things to look for in your May hiking and excursions into nature.

Wetlands

Virginia bluebells
Duck Egg County Forest, Viroqua WI

Virginia Bluebells - these lovely blue-and-pink flowered plants love wet feet and are best found in wetlands. Carley (MN) State Park has scads of them as do the lower trails of Duck Egg County Forest near Viroqua WI. 

Trout Lilies - are ready to open and curl back their white or yellow bells. They like damp feet and can be found in profusion near water, floodplains and moist woods

Frogs - The singing continues with wood frogs and leopard frogs joining the peepers and chorus frogs. American toads add their trill for a short time during the month. 

Long-legged Shore Birds - Herons, egrets and sandhill cranes are all back and feasting on fish and amphibians

Thigh-high Jack-in-the-pulpit
South Park, Houston
Image - Mike Bonner

Woods
Jack-in-the-Pulpits - are springing up (and in some natural areas, waaaay up) in May. They are fascinating flowers, choosing their gender from year to year. According to the Minnesota Wildflowers website: "Males tend to be smaller than females and have a small hole at the bottom of the spathe (the "hood) which allows pollinators to escape (with their pollen) more easily. Female plants lack the hole and pollinators are more likely to become trapped, better ensuring successful pollination. Sneaky devils."

Trilliums - the short blooming season and carpets of the large-flowered trillium make it a showstopper in the woods. Sharp-eyed hikers can spot the more rare nodding trillium by looking below the leaves to find its white flower with distinctive pinkish purple tips (anthers). Ants are it's pollinators.

Shooting star

Shooting Stars - our Driftless area is rich in these bright purple-pink, limestone-loving ephemerals. Hotspots to find them - blufftops in Wyalusing (WI) State Park, La Crescent's Stoney Point and Perrot (WI) State Park.

Ferns - turning to our showiest greens, ferns are bursting out and gaining height as they unfurl. Look for maidenhair, interrupted, lady, wood, ostrich, cliff, bladder and rock ferns as you walk. My two favorite fern hikes are at Winona's Bluffside Park Wildwood Trail and Rushford's Maglesson's Bluff.  It is fern heaven at a number of places along these trails.

Bishop's cap
Note the 5 tiny fronds
on the tip of each flower

Bishop's Cap  - aka Two-leaf Miterwort, is a tiny but distinct ephemeral. Each flower on its stalk is shaped like a miter (bishop's cap) with fearthery fronds at the tip. Two distinct opposite leaves halfway up the stalk clinch the identification. One of my personal favorites.

Leaves - and shade are back, baby. May is the time of more fully leafed-out trees that shade our walks and provide energy for each tree's growth year. They are always welcome in the Driftless even if we do have to bid farewll to our sun-loving first ephemerals.

Prairies
Prairie Smoke - for my money, one of the most beautiful first flowers of the prairies. A breezy day always finds me on prairies like Holland Sand Prairie enjoying their delicate fuzzy pink flower fronds blowing in the wind. They are also known as "old man's whiskers."

A sea of May lupines & puccoons
Trempealeau Wildlife Refuge

Wild Lupine - during certain years, these deeply purple-blue flower stalks create oceans of color on sand prairies. On good bloom years, the best reliable display is found at Trempealeau Wildlife Refuge on their Prairie Edge Loop (driving, hiking, biking) trail. Wowser.

Male field pussytoe

Field Pussytoes - these humble, short, white plants hug the ground. You need a sharp eye to find them. The male and female flowers are distinct. The females appear furrier with five distinct “toes” like their namesakes. The males are less fuzzy with their brownish stamens protruding above their scalier flowers. Keep a sharp eye out to see them above their grayish basal leaves.

Hoary puccoon

Hoary Puccoon - this impossibly bright orange-yellow flower is also impossible to miss on the prairie. Closely related is the Carolina or hairy puccoon - both continue blooming right into the summer.

Birdfoot Violet - this rare species of violet sports a deep purple bloom with neon bright stamen. What sets it apart from the more  common blue violet are its leaves at the base of the plant. They are lobed and remind one of a bird’s foot. Always a delightful find!

Birds
Warbler Migration - continues with many species resting briefly before continuing on to nesting grounds further north. Yellow-rumped, prothonotary, and palm warblers are a few that will remain here to nest and raise their young. Be sure to keep your binoculars handy and your ears sharp. The Merlin app can help you with this!

The Color Guard - rainbow-bright birds like Baltimore orioles, scarlet tanagers, indigo buntings, rose-breasted grosbeaks and yellowthroats return to begin their nesting season. They bring additional sounds to nature walks.

Orange-crowned warbler, Frontenac (MN) State Park 
Image Steve Dietz

I hope you get out on the trails this month. The weather is bound to warm up, right? 

No matter where you go, be curious. Take some extra time to look and see what you can see along the trail. You’ll be delighted!

Prairie smoke aka Old Man's Whiskers

If you're interested in some great Driftless hiking destinations to find the above May treats, please stop here for my top picks.  See you on the trails! 

Birdfoot violet

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Images, unless noted - Marge Loch-Wouters