Nature Sneak Peek - August 2026

Tall grass prairie at Frontenac State Park
Image - Pamela Miller

The first weeks in August are always special. August 1 is the midpoint of summer, halfway between the solstice and the coming  autumn equinox. This day, Lammas or Lughnasadh, has long been celebrated as a harvest festival. Our gardens and farmer's market, lush with vegetables and fruits, are a continuing testament to this day.

Monarch on blazing star

Days are inexorably growing shorter. Already there are signs from birds and waterfowl that the busy season of mating and raising young is morphing into preparation for coming migration as daylight decreases. Plants and insects are responding as well to decreasing daylight  - we'll have lost over two hours of daylight since solstice by the end of August.

But there is plenty of activity during the dog days of August. Let's look at what you might you see on the trails this month.

Prairies

Big bluestem grass and
coneflowersgray-headed

Tall Grasses - bluestems, yellow indiangrass, Canada wild rye and eastern bottle brush are beginning to dominate in the prairies. Shorter grasses like prairie dropseed, purple lovegrass and side oats grama are also present.

Goldenrods - in the Driftless regions of Wisconsin, Minnesota and Iowa, there are between one and two dozen distinct species of this forb. While they are often tough to tell apart, their distinct butter yellow flowerheads lend their sunny color to August prairies.

Sunflowers - are clocking in for the month. They too have many varieties and can be found in sunny spots in the woods as well.

Blazing Stars - their pink-purple stalks are prominent in prairies this month. A favorite of butterflies, bumlebees and humans too!

Margined calligrapher hoverfly
on grooved flax

Insect Life - is positively bursting in August. Butterflies, flies, wasps, beetles, bumblebees and native bees are nectaring and gathering pollen at warp speed on all the yellow, white and purple blossoms. Their predators - damselflies, spiders and dragonflies are also busy! It's a perfect time to catch them on blooms as your hike. The sound of grasshoppers, katydids, and crickets are fast replacing the songs of nesting birds, many of whom are gathering  for the beginning of migration. 

Woodlands

Ghost pipes - not a fungus

Ghost pipe - this ghostly white plant is easily confused with a fungus. While they don't need sun, they also don't need chlorophyll. Instead, they tap into the mychorrizal network to get their food. Once established, they will reappear in the same spot each year.

Mushrooms and fungi - the damp, humid nights and heavily shaded forest floor of August are perfect to support the explosive growth of many types of mushrooms, fungi and molds. Chicken of the woods, russela, ink caps, coral fungi, slime molds, jelly fungi are all lurking, ready for you to find and identify. One of my favorites is lobster mushroom which is formed when a parasitic mold takes over a russela or inkcap mushroom changing not ony its appearence but also taking it from non-edible to edible. Ah, nature!

Trees - the changing light is also beginning to slow the chlorophyll production in deciduous leaves. You will start to note later in the month that the bold greens of the canopy becomes slightly less vibrant and often take on a hint of gray. While the leaves will remain on most trees throughout September, the road towards fall will begin as August comes to the end.

Wetlands

Jewelweed - have you been marking where patches of this flower are? Good. Because now it's playtime. The lovely orange and yellow trumpet-shaped flowers are now going to seed. And nothing is more fun for kids and grown-ups than popping their seed covers and watching the seeds spring out.

Frogs - spring peepers often still have something to say! While no longer mating calls, their call can be heard this month. Listen too for tree frogs in woods adjoining wetlands. You may also hear their call as well. And this is the month you may see some tree frogs on your doors or windows. Clever hunters that they are, they pursue the insects attracted to your lights at night to catch easy meals. 

Graphic courtesy earthsky.org

Finally be sure to look up! The Perseid Meteor showers which began in mid July will be peaking August 12-13. Fortunately, these dates coincide with a new moon so the sky will be marvelously dark. While the meteors originate in the constellation Perseus, thay can be spotted in any part of the night sky.

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

Images, unless noted - Marge Loch-Wouters

Blazing stars on an August day - Holland Sand Prairie
Image - Kris Lawson

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.

I Spy on the Trails -July 16-31, 2026

BWCAW fires as seen from a paddler's canoe
Image - Lyndon Tyler

As this dramatic photo from Lyndon Tyler shows, the second half of  of July started with a climate-change-fueled series of wildfires in Canada and around the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in Minnesota. High winds, dry conditions, a heat dome and lightning strikes contributed to spreading the smoke and ash from massive crown fires throughout the region. The strong winds pushed the particulate-laden smoke through the Driftless region and far beyond into the upper midwest and northeast United States. 

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
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

Greened/sprouted:

• aster, western silver
• aster, white heath
• blazing star, rough
• bushclover, roundheaded
• everlasting, sweet
• goldenrods
• milkwort, racemed
• sunflowers
• thistle, field

Fruited/Past bloom:

• 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

Moss/Lichen/Fungi

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

Wildlife (seen, heard, detected):
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

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.

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

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

Searching for the fameflower as the sun begins setting

Nature Sneak Peak - July 2026

July hiking and nature observations are always a treat, despite the heat and humidity. Wetlands, woods and prairies all have interesting plants and wildlife to find.


Like the blooms on the common milkweed on the left, found widely throughout the Driftless area, both we and wildlife are attracted to the flowers of so many plants.

Here are a few July highlights to keep your eyes out for on the trails.

Prairies

Rainblow of Blooms - the prairies are bursting with colorful flowers this month

• Pink - Deptford pinks and purple poppy mallows have an almost neon brilliance

  

  Tiny Deptford pink

• Yellow - prairie coreopsis, black and brown-eyed Susans, sunflowers, evening primrose, cinquefoils, and partridge pea are just a few of the yellow flowers you'll see this month
• Orange - butterfly weed is always a star, not just for its flowers but also for the pollinators it attracts
• Blue/purple - lobelia, purple prairie clover, harebells, wild bergamot, hoary verbena
• White - false boneset, yarrow, white prarie clover, spotted bee balm
• Gray - Leadplant - also once known as "devil’s shoelaces" because of its deep taproot that can be as long as 15 feet which made it difficult for farmers to plow under - is a sure sign of a healthy prairie The white hair on its leaves gives it a downy appearance. It has just started it's brief blooming period so don't miss it.

Plus keep your eye out for the towering flowers and grasses - yellow cup plant and compassplant, pink Joe-Pye weed and common milkweed, and the greens of big bluestem, indiangrass and Canada wildrye

Want to learn more about the above flowers? Stop by Minnesota Wildflowers webpage or Online Virtual Flora of Wisconsin.

White-faced meadowhawk dragonfly

Damselflies and dragonflies are whirring around the prairie. These tiny predators are great mosquito hunters. Wisconsin alone has over 160 types of these onodates. One's time in the prairie can be well-spent quietly observing and identifying these busy insects that sometimes rest perched on leaves, grasses and flowers long enough for you to get a photo!

Bumblebees - With the increasing blooms, bumblebees and butterflies are beginning their pollinating, foraging and nectaring. Plump young queen bumblebees (gynes) are less in evidence as their first hatched smaller female workers are taking over the foraging and brooding tasks. The queens then devote their life to egg-laying in the nest. 

Wetlands and Woods

Jewelweed aka touch-me-nots, will begin to flower

Jewelweed

 this month, especially in wetlands and in damp, partially-shaded woods. Their arresting yellow and orange horn-shaped flowers continue blooming into August. Look for their seedpods - when ripe, the seeds explode out at a touch. They are a favorite when hiking with kids. 

Birds and Birdsong - with their young raised, birdsong that marks territory starts to decrease in frequency. One exception is the common yellowthroat’s “witchity, witchity, witchity” song heard in prairies, marshes and woodlands. This warbler is one of my favorites - perhaps because it’s season-long singing was long enough for me to learn it!

Mushrooms and Fungi - this is the month that fungi begin to fruit in earnest. puffballs, boletes, chantarelles, lobster mushrooms, chicken of the woods are just a few of the types of mushrooms you may find on the trails. Jelly and coral fungi are also much in evidence. With their varying colors and unique shapes, they are a delight to spot and marvel over. As always, do not forage any mushroom unless you are absolutely sure what it is and that it is edible.

Leadplant in bloom
Great River Bluff State Park MN

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

Images - 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.

I Spy on the Trails - June 16-30, 2026

Apple Blossom Overlook Park, MN

The last two weeks of the month presented many days of classic June weather with a slight harkening back to cooler early spring temps. Sunny days and temps in the 70s were much in evidence with some rain and storms around the Driftless and cooler overnight temps. Mosquito numbers and humidity were relatively low which made those two weeks especially hike-worthy! The very last few days brought unwelcome 90s and high humidity. Ah, the weather vicissitudes.

The woods have given over to ferns and fungi with only a few flowering plants like avens and northern bedstraw brightening the shaded trails. That shade will be welcome on coming hot days but the colorful flower action is elsewhere in the prairies and fields.

Prairies are awash in color

Prairies are putting on their spectacular summer show, with one stunning flower display after another. Dominating right now are the purple blues of Ohio spiderworts, blue hoary vervain and flowering leadplants and the whites of flowering spurge, prairie fleabane, foxglove beardtongue, wild indigo and tall thimbleweed. Pops of orange butterfly weed and the gray-green leaves of leadplant and mountain mint are much in evidence as well. The bright pinks of prairie roses and Deptford pinks are everywhere. The yellows of sunflowers and Black-eyed Susans are starting to bloom as well. 

Bumblebee queens and now, more commonly, female workers, butterflies, moths, dragonflies and damselflies are nectoring, pollinating, foraging and preying on the blossoms and in the skies.  One's time in the prairie can be well-spent quietly observing and identifying these busy insects around the flowers. 

I hope you get a chance to head out and enjoy all that nature brings us in the summer. There is so much to see in the busy prairie on hikes. Stop here for a list of Driftless prairie hiking suggestions to try.

Plant Observations
Flowering:

• anemone, candle

  

  Tall cinquefoil

• alyssum, hoary
• avens, white
• beardtongue, foxglove
• bedstraw, northern 
• black-eyed Susan
• cinquefoil, sulfur
• cinquefoil, tall
• clover, white prairie
• columbine
• compassplant
• coneflower, purple
• coreopsis, prairie
• daisy, oxeye
• Deptford pink
• fern, interrupted
• fern, spinulose wood
• fleabane, daisy
• fleabane, prairie
• four o’clock

  

  Four o'clock

  
  
• harebell
• hawksbeard, narrowleaf
• indigo, wild white
• grass, bottle brush
• grass, Canada wildrye
• grass, junegrass
  
• grass, smooth brome
• hawksbeard, narrowleaf
• indigo, wild white
• Leadplant 
• meadow rue, purple
• milkweed, butterfly weed
• milkweed, clasping
• milkweed, common
• motherwort

  

  Tall thimbleweed

  
  
• mountain mint, Virginia
• mullein
• nightshade, bittersweet
• plantain, wooly
• puccoon, Carolina
• raspberry, black
• rose, prairie
• sedge, troublesome
• sorrel, sheep
• spiderwort, Ohio
• spurge, flowering
• spurge, leafy
• sunflower, false
• thimbleweed, tall
• thistle, musk
• verbena, hoary
• wild quinine
• woodsorrel, slender yellowleaf
• yarrow

Sprouting/greened/budded:

• bergamot, wild
• blazing star, rough
  

  

  Rattlesnake master bud

• boneset, false
• coneflower, gray-headed
• cup plant
• goldenrods
• grass, big bluestem
• grass, little bluestem
• prairie clover, purple
• prairie clover, white
• prairie coreopsis
• rattlesnake master
• roundhead bushclover
• sweet Joe-Pye weed

Past bloom:

• false Solomon's seal
• rockcress, tower

Fungi/Moss/Lichen

Leathery-veiled bolete mushroom

• fungi, scarlet elfin cup
• moss, woodsy thyme-
• mushroom, leathery-veiled bolete

Wildlife Observations (seen/heard/detected)

Birds: 

• blackbird, red-winged
• blue jay
• cardinal, northern
• cedar waxwing
• chickadee, black-capped
• cowbird, brown-headed

  

  Can you spot the indigo bunting?

  
  
• crow
• dickcissel 
• finch, house
• flycatcher, willow
• goldfinch
• grosbeak, rose-breasted
• indigo bunting
• meadowlark, western
• kingbird, eastern
• mourning dove
• nuthatch, white-breasted
• ovenbird
• redstart, American
• robin, American
• sparrow, chipping
• sparrow, clay-colored 
• sparrow, field
• sparrow, Henslow’s

  

  Northern yellow warbler

  
  
• sparrow, house
• sparrow, song
• sparrow, Vesper
• swallow, barn
• swallow, northern rough-winged
• swallow, tree
• tufted titmouse
• vireo, Bell’s
• vireo, eastern warbling
• vireo, red-eyed
• warbler, northern yellow
• wild turkey
• wood-pewee, eastern
• wood thrush
• woodpecker, downy
• woodpecker, hairy
• woodpecker, red-bellies
• wren, northern house
• yellowthroat, common 

Insects/arachnids: 

• beetle, American rose chafer

  

  Twelve-spotted skimmer

• beetle, flat-headed baldycypress sapwood
• bumblebee, black and gold
• bumblebee, brown-belted
• bumblebee, common eastern
• bumblebee, lemon cuckoo
• bumblebee, two-spotted
• butterfly, gorgone checkerspot
• butterfly, great spangled fritillary 
• butterfly, Monarch
• butterfly, small white
• butterfly, sulfur,  orange

  

  Brown-belted bumblee on
  common mullein

  
  
• butterfly, sulfur, yellow
• butterfly, summer azure
• damselfly, bluet
• damselfly, stream bluet
• dragonfly, eastern amberwing
• dragonfly, four-spotted skimmer
• dragonfly, Halloween pennant
• dragonfly, twelve-spotted skimmer
• dragonfly, white-faced meadowhawk
• dragonfly, widow skimmer
• honeybee, western
• grasshopper, two-spotted
• moth, bent wing owlet

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 (3); Upper Mississippi National Wildlife & Fish Refuge Visitor's Center, Brice Prairie WI; Apple Blossom Overlook Park, Winona County, MN (2); Upper Hixon Forest, La Crosse WI; urban Chicago hiking, Chicago IL

Commom milkweed flowers inviting pollinators in!

Images, unless noted - Marge Loch-Wouters

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.

Deptford pink
Image - Sue Knopf

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.

Tall cinquefoil stands sentry along the trail
US Fish & Wildlife Visitor's Center, Brice Prairie

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