July 5, 2024

June 16 Butterfly Hike at Fort Ridgely

On Sunday June 16 I went for a hike around the park to catch up on what had happened during the two weeks we were gone to Montana. The night before Becky and I went out briefly to the park for Kelsey's presentation on Sounds of the Night in the stone building just up from the new bathrooms in the camping area. Several families with kids were also there and had fun interacting with Kelsey and listening to her recorded sounds of various common woodland creatures (frogs, crickets, owls, coyotes, foxes and skunks). She also had coyote, fox and skunk pelts for the kids and their parents to see and feel. A park staff told me after the presentation about the butterflies that were all over the upper picnic area when he was there.

I had to find out which kind of butterflies he saw, so I started my walk the next day at the parking lot by the cemetery. Every year about this time a little butterfly called the hackberry emperor is all over the woods and campground area. I thought they were what he was talking about but did not see any in the woods by Kelsey's presentation on Saturday. Everywhere I walked on Saturday these little butterflies were flying around on the west side of the park. They were most plentiful in sunny areas next to the woods. Here is a link to a video of the biggest group that I saw on my walk near the pit toilet by the woods in the upper picnic area. Each little speck flying around and on the ground is an emperor!

https://youtube.com/shorts/eagSihckO2g?feature=share

Hackberry emperor butterfly

Hackberry emperor landed on my thumb. Notice its size, its 2 striped antennas and the proboscis coming out of its mouth curling down to my thumb.

Many other butterflies were flittering round on this hike . I will just show their pictures below with a few comments. I also saw a cool moth while I was out picking strawberries at home in Fairfax that I will include. I also include a small very unique moth that I saw on my potatoes while I was trying to squash potato bugs so they would not eat the plants.

Male clouded sulfur butterfly (bright yellow color)

Female clouded sulfur butterfly (more muted color)

Question mark butterfly - inside wings

Question mark butterfly - outside wings

Very small summer azure butterfly

Currant spanworm moth. I first saw these in large numbers on my red currant bush, They are also out in the wild as this one was at the park.

Monarch on common milkweed

Another monarch getting food from a milkweed flower and helping to pollinate it.

Herald moth that was near my strawberry plants.

Another view of the herald moth

This is a plume moth. There are many varieties of them, It appears to be a normal small white moth when it is flying but when it lands its wings roll up and make it look like a cross.

iNaturalist identified this one as a morning glory plume moth. There were lots of morning glories growing as weeds and ground cover in my potato patch.

Fort Ridgely Creek after lots of rain

During the last weeks of June we have had huge amounts of rain in the area. Rivers and many creeks are full and farmer's fields have large areas where crops have drowned out. Fort Ridgely Creek has been full at times and now is back to almost normal. Here are a few pictures and a video of it from the bridge by the campgrounds. The video is the link below to a video that I uploaded to YouTube. It was taken on June 17 and had the highest flow that I saw and recorded

https://youtube.com/shorts/OxXRw9ZBBqQ?feature=share

Fort Ridgely Creek from the bridge by the campground looking north on June 25

Fort Ridgely Creek from the bridge by the campground looking south on June 25

Fort Ridgely Creek from the bridge by the campground looking north on July 4. Notice how much more of the rocks you cab see.

Fort Ridgely Creek from the bridge by the campground looking south on July 4

One of the results of so much rain is that many mushrooms come out of the ground. Mushrooms are the fruit of fungus that is growing as long filaments below the ground and decaying organic material. Most mushrooms have a short life and often are only there for a couple days. Here are a couple of mushrooms that I saw recently.

White jelly fungus on June 21

White jelly fungus on July 3. It is drying up and most is no longer white

Dead man's fingers fungus on June 25. Looks like more than one man's fingers! Actually these are smaller in diameter than a pencil so they must have been a rather skinny dead man.

Dead man's fingers fungus on July 5. These may not be the exact same fingers but they are from the same place where lots of fingers are up. They have not changed much.

Interpretive Programs at the park

I wanted to send this out about June 20 but as you can see I did not. Here are Kelsy's programs for the month. I am planning 2 walks on August 10 but they have not been posted yet, Kelsey plans to post all August programs next week. I know she is planning a monarch tagging event on Sunday August 11 so put that event in your calendars. I will give details on the next update.

The Hidden World of Fungi Hike SATURDAY, JULY 20th 3 – 4 p.m. (also at Flandrau State Park in New Ulm on July 12 from 3-4pm)

Meet at Upper Picnic Shelter Near the Amphitheater.

Join a park naturalist on a guided hike to uncover the diverse ecosystem of fungi that thrives beneath our feet. With each step, we'll encounter a stunning array of fungal species, from colorful mushrooms to intricate molds and lichens. Learn the tricks to fungi identification and gain a deeper appreciation for the beauty and resilience of this often-overlooked part of our environment.

The hike will be about 1.5 miles long and be on dirt and gravel trails with moderate hills. Please wear appropriate footwear and bring along water, sunscreen, and bug spray, if preferred.

Discover our Prairie Ecosystem- Saturday August 10, 2024 10:00 - 11:00 am

There is much interest in native plants and planting them for pollinators and other native insects and animals. Walk with Bix Baker, volunteer naturalist for Fort Ridgely, and see how many of these plants are in the park and how they give us a picture of what life was like hundreds of years ago in this area. You may see some plants, insects and animals that you have never seen before. Meet in the chalet parking lot. We will walk through the prairie in the valley below the chalet.

Cell Phones in Nature - Saturday August 10, 2024 2:00 - 3:00 pm

Technology, like cell phones, can be used to help you appreciate the natural things at Fort Ridgely. Meet Bix Baker, volunteer naturalist for Fort Ridgely, at the park office to download a few apps onto your cell phones. We will then take them out to help us identify birds (by their song or a picture) with one app (Merlin). ANother app (iNaturalist) will identify all living things including plants, animals, insects, mushrooms and lichens. Good information about each item is often there on the app to give you new insights into how they fit into the beautiful ecosystem we live in.

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