June 1, 2020

Visitors

There have continued to be lots of people coming to the park even though the detour makes it harder to get there.  I see usual people on the trails but lots of new people that I have never seen before.  I anticipate lots of campers if the restrictions loosen as the summer progresses.  Sunny days are when there are most people but I see cars and horse trailers in parking lots most days all around the park.  The picture attached was on a very busy day and was down in the camping area.  People love to get out in nature and get fresh air in a safe place.  Social distancing is easy in a park like Fort Ridgely.  An indication of how many people are out on horses is the presence of fresh horse poop on most trails.

Ohio Buckeye Trees Blossoming

Observing the blooming of the Ohio buckeye trees around the park have been a fun tradition for our family the last few years.  Orioles and hummingbirds get nectar from the huge Christmas tree like beige flowers that later develop into round chestnuts.  They are not the edible ones to roast over an open fire.  This year like usual we have seen both Baltimore and orchard orioles and also ruby throated hummingbirds whizzing in and out of the blossoms. 

I had never noticed how the Baltimore orioles chitter at you to get away when they want to get nectar.  This year we also noticed how many bumblebees are on the flowers.  Their buzzing is easily heard even if you cannot always see where they are. Other bees and birds are also present on the tree and blossoms.  The day I saw Baltimore orioles on these trees in the park for the first time, I went home and they were on my grape jelly feeder for the first time.  The tree is a harbinger of their arrival and I'm sure they come when it is blossoming.

A Fort Ridgely State Park Adventure by Megan Benage

Fort Ridgely Creek flows more than twenty eight miles through its 44,561 acre watershed starting in south central Renville County to its confluence with the Minnesota River near Fort Ridgely Creek State Park.  The headwaters have been highly modified through straightening and channelization.  Prior to settlement the watershed was dominated by grassland with a scattering of wetlands.  Hardwood forest dominated the floodplains lower reach.  Today the floodplain remains similar but much of the upper areas would be unrecognizable have been converted to agriculture with some urban and recreational development.  The lower reach of the creek is one of the few streams in south central Minnesota managed for trout with annual stocking of catchable size rainbow and brown trout.

Birds seen at Fort Ridgely Recently

Fort Ridgely is a great place to bird watch.  Some are here year round and some are here only spring to fall and fly south to escape the cold winter.  Some also just are here for a while in spring and fall on their way farther north in the spring and back south in the fall.  In the first category are some woodpeckers, cardinals, bluejays, some sparrows, some hawks and some eagles. 

In the middle category are bluebirds, blackbirds, cowbirds, towhees, yellowthroats, some sparrows, robins, some warblers, some ducks and some geese. Many eagles,  some ducks, some geese, most swans, some thrushes and cranes are in the last category. Red winged blackbirds, robins, cardinals and woodpeckers are easily seen if not heard all across the park.  

If you are observant you can see bluebirds, redstarts, towhees, yellow warblers, yellowthroats and brown headed cowbirds.  I would like to know if anyone has seen a bobolink at Fort Ridgely.  I have not this year or last seen one at Fort Ridgely but used to see them in the prairie and see them in other prairie areas.  I am including a picture of one I saw near Gibbon earlier this week.  They fly all the way to the Pampas in Argentina in our winter.

Other Tree Blossoms

In addition to Ohio buckeye trees it is very interesting to observe other trees and bushes blossoming and forming seeds during the spring and summer.  I am including a picture of walnut tree blossoms and Siberian peashrub flowers. 

Wildflowers

The last few weeks the trails in the woods have had all varieties of violets all along them.  The most common are blue and yellow.  There not as many blue now but the yellows are everywhere.  If you are observant and know where to look you can also find white Canadian violets and prairie violets.  The usual violets have heart shaped leaves but the prairie violet has toothed leaves (see picture) and can be found on grassy hillsides at several lookouts. 

Blue phlox, jack in the pulpits and red columbine are also easy to find.  The Virginia waterleaf, which is everywhere in the woods, is just starting to open its flowers. 

A few rarer flowers in the woods are nodding trillium and showy orchis.  A fun encounter I had was a bumblebee pollinating a showy orchis recently. It had to stick its head way into  the flower and shook its head for some reason when it pulled it out. 

In the prairie now (mostly on hillsides at overlooks) there is the bright orange hoary puccoon. Less common is downy Indian paintbrush and fringed puccoon.