April 30, 2024

Ephemeral Wildflowers

A lot has happened in the woods in the last month.  Wildflowers this time of year are called ephemerals which means they only last for a short time.  The Pasque flowers, snow trilliums and hepaticas that I showed pictures of in the last update are at the end of blooming.    Bloodroots that are pictured below bloomed during the last few weeks and are making seeds after the petals fell off.  Notice that as the leaves unfurl the flowers come out.  On all nature walks that I do at Fort Ridgely at about this time of year I show why this plant is called "bloodroot".  Not just the root but also the stem of the flower and leaves have a reddish liquid flowing through them.  Their sap is like blood.   The native Americans used it as a dye and it has medical applications as well.

There are a few hepaticas still around.  I remember when I was a child, they grew all over the ravines near our house outside North Mankato. Here they are found only in a few areas in the park.  This year Becky and I found them all over a hillside near the south bridge over the creek, Most have white petals on the flower but some are pink and blue as well. The flower comes out first and later the leaves.  I send pictures of flowers and other wildlife to a place online called iNaturalist.  I sent some pictures in to them and they wanted to see the leaves to identify the species but I had a hard time finding any with the leaves showing yet.

On the left as you are driving into the campground there are lots of wildflowers.  Often there are a few hepaticas in there but now the dominant flower is the false rue anemone.  It has spread all over this area and on the other side of the creek near the old bathroom building.  It is a native plant and has pretty white flowers at the end of its stem.

Another plant found all over the park is wild ginger,  Its plant unfurls into 2 furry oval green leaves and a unique purple flower that is right at ground level.  This is convenient as it is pollinated by ants.  They are often in huge patches and you only see the flowers if you push away some of the leaves once they are all unfurled. I dug up the root for the first time this year.  I cleaned it off at home and tasted it.  It was sweet and somewhat spicy like ginger.  By the way it is illegal to take even a root of a very plentiful plant like wild ginger from a state park.  They are found in other wooded areas if you are curious and want to taste it. Berries are legal to pick in state parks but only for your own use and not for selling to others.

Another very unique wildflower that is found all over the park is the Dutchman's breeches.  The white flowers are shaped like upside down white pants like the Dutch men wore in the past.  They are all along the flower stem that comes up from the frilly leaves of the plant.  An interesting fact is that bumblebee queens that come out of hibernation about this time each year get some of their nectar to get energy to build their hives and lay their eggs from Dutchman's breeches.  The queen is the only bumblebee that survives the winter. They are very hungry and dehydrated when they emerge.  Becky and I were lucky one year to see a number of these queens flying around and landing on the flowers in a patch of Dutchman's breeches along the path going by the old bathrooms and going up to the campsites up the hill.

Near the south bridge on the east side of the creek are several marshy areas and all over in these areas are marsh marigolds.  This again is an ephemeral flower so the beautiful yellow flowers are only blooming right now for a while. The second picture is from the hill above the swampy area on the right side of the path going east from the bridge.  I found out from Gary Rieke  on one of the walks I did on Saturday that there is a spring in the middle of this area. He is a lifelong resident of this area. He said that there is a structure that was built into the marsh that was used to get fresh spring water from it.  It may have been built in the 1930's when the CCC and VCC workmen were here building the rock structures in the park or even when the Fort needed water in the 1860's.  Does anyone else know know more about this spring?

Many edible berries are blossoming now or will be soon.  Gooseberries have an interesting hanging down blossom that is happening now. The berries that develop later are green first and get to 1/4 inch in diameter, When they are ripe, they will turn black. There are two types of elderberry bushes in the park.   The first to blossom and have berries are red elderberries.  These are not edible and are the ones blossoming now.   Later the black elderberries will bloom and have lots of small dark berries develop where each of the flowers were. These are the ones that are used to make jelly, wine and tonics.

Leeks, or ramps as some people call them, are an onion relative that is also growing in the park. They again would be illegal to forage in a state park. If you find them in another wooded area, make sure you only harvest a few in a big patch.  They can be over-harvested and they will not be there the next year. Another edible plant is ground plum.  It is a member of the vetch family. I did not see the plum like fruit until last summer. Each of these purple flowers can develop into a grape sized 'plum". These plants are found on sandy hillsides like below airplane hill.

Violets are very common now. The blue violet is the most common.  A few yellow violets are starting to come out and in the prairie there are a few prairie violets.  Their flowers are very similar to common blue violets but their leaves are very different.

A flower that will soon be blooming but is not as common is the nodding trillium.  The tri of course means three.   There are 3 leaves and the flower has 3 white petals. This plant is much bigger than the snow trilliums from last month.  The plant is 8-12 inches tall and the 'nodding' flower hangs down below the leaves.

Recent bird sitings

Walking through the park recently I saw a hawk up in a tree and it turned out to be a broad-winged hawk.  It migrates to Florida, Mexico or Central and South America in the fall and may be on his way further north this spring.  A rather amusing bird that we saw on the nature walk on Saturday is the yellowbellied sapsucker.  It was banging on the roof of the pit toilet for the primitive campground.  It made a louder noise than a log or tree would when it pecked on it.  We hypothesized it was trying to impress a female with its clatter. It is a woodpecker after all!

I love to get pictures of swans, geese or ducks when they take off or land.  It is amazing how they get out of the water and seem to run across the water as they get up speed to take off.  Here is a sequence of trumpeter swans taking off from the pond outside Fairfax.

Becky and I went to a Bluebird  Expo in Redwood Falls on April 20.  It was put on by the   Minnesota Bluebird Recovery Program (BBRP).  We learned about correct types and placement of bluebird houses to attract and help bluebirds raise broods of babies, I also was told by several people that Fort Ridgely was a great site for them and there was interest in restoring the bluebird "trail". in the park.  Some of the houses are very old and in need of repair or replacement.   Newer types of houses have been found to be more effective at protecting the bluebirds from predators and weather.  I bought two houses in the silent auction and maybe BBRP would help in getting some for us.  Let me know if you are interested in helping to set these up and/or monitoring the houses after they are in place.

Turtles at Flandrau

There are lots of painted turtles in the backwaters of the Cottonwood River near the camping cabins in Flandrau State Park.  On one of the warmest days this spring our son Brad and I walked along the path that goes by where we knew the turtles were.  We thought they probably would be out sunning themselves on such a nice sunny day.  We weren't disappointed as you can see below.  The logs were covered with turtles of all sizes crowded together to catch all the rays they could.  I'm sure we saw 50 turtles. They were on almost every log available and as you can see, very crowded!

Butterflies of spring

I have seen 3 different kinds of butterflies and several kinds of moths.     The most common type of butterfly is the red admiral and I have seen it in quite a number of places this spring.  We were wondering where it got enough nectar this early in the spring with so few flowers out.  One answer came when we saw multiple red admirals on trees that seemed to be leaking some sap on their trunks. They were gathering right on the wet areas where the sap was leaking.  On one of these sap leaks was a comma butterfly as well.  On a walk at the horse camp part of the park I also saw a mourning cloak. This butterfly is one of the earliest butterflies in the spring because it overwinters in cracks in the bark of trees as a butterfly. There must be the right tree that it likes at the horse campgrounds as this is the only place in the park where I have seen them.

 I have seen many small moths flying around this spring.  Most are tan-colored and a few have interesting markings when you zoom in for a closer look. As we headed down inro the woods near the chalet we saw a very unusual tiny moth.  We thought at first it was a small bumblebee but as I zoomed in on my camera . I saw it had butterfly or moth wings.  It had pretty red and black markings. With ifs wings spread it was not much wider than your index finger. It was my first time seeing one of this type.  iNaturalist identified it as a grape epimenis moth.

Breaking news

The water fountains and camping water faucets are now ready to be used.  The water lines to them were flushed with chlorine this week.      The new bathrooms are to be opened by May 4.  If you have been out to the park this week you know they burnt the prairie on the north end of the valley below the chalet on May1.

History buffs, don't forget about the Dean Urdahl movies about the Dakota Uprising that I mentioned in the last update.  They will be shown in the Fairfax Library from 5:00 to 7:00pm on May 23 and June 13.

There was another spectacular sunset a few days ago and I will close with a picture of it.

History buffs, don't forget about the Dean Urdahl movies about the Dakota Uprising that I mentioned in the last update.  They will be shown in the Fairfax Library from 5:00 to 7:00pm on May 23 and June 13.