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Snowstorm Walk
Snowstorm Walk
You may call me weird but I love to walk in the woods during a snowstorm. Obviously I don't go out in a blizzard but gentle snows are a great time to see the beauty of the woods and take pictures. The March 15 storm was not a good one to be out during but the next day was great. I was the first person out on all trails and the snow was hanging from the trees in places where the wind did not blow it off. It was a very wet snow so in addition to being very heavy to shovel, it stuck well to all things it hit.
The deer had been on the trails by this time and I saw their tracks on and off the trails. They watched me from various places. They ran a few yards away and then looked again at me. I wonder if they thought I was weird being out there too.
The snow stuck to things in the prairie like these thistles as well.
By the time I walked through the snow was falling off the trees making cool patterns in the snow below. At one place I saw what looked like several old footprints and looked around and saw no other ones around so unless Superman flew in it couldn't have been footprints. I figured out that big clumps of snow fell from above and made the foot shaped indent in the snow. Several of these clumps from above hit me on the shoulders and head. Thankfully my hood kept it from going down my neck.
Before falling off trees, snow can take some interesting shapes before it actually falls.
Spring Changes after the Snow
Spring Changes after the Snow
It is hard to believe a week and a half after the snowstorm mentioned above that we have Pasque flowers blooming and lots of other things coming up. The snow was all gone in a week with temperatures in the 60's many days and over an inch of rain. The mosses and lichens are green with all the moisture on the ground, rocks and dead or alive tree trunks and branches. This picture makes it look like this tree is trying to keep off the mosses for some reason.
This tree had moss flowing down its trunk.
Lichens on rocks and tree branches are very colorful after all the moisture too.
One of the most colorful things I found in the woods recently were scarlet cup fungus growing on dead branches on the ground. There are lots of them on the path through the woods just below the amphitheater. They are often in this area when the soil and branches are moist. We used to call them Indian peace pipe when I was a kid.
Easter is a little over a week away but the Pasque (Easter in French). flowers are blooming early this year. They are related to crocuses which are one of the earliest flowers in many people's flower beds. They are a very unique plant that pops right out of the dead grass and leaves with a purple flower that is found in bunches all over the grassy hill below the observation deck at Airplane Hill.
Here is another picture of a couple Pasque flowers that are completely open.
I even saw a little grasshopper in the dry grass near to a few flowers. It is called a velvet-striped grasshopper.
There was also a little beetle on one of the Pasque flowers. Soon bees will be getting nectar and pollen from these and many other flowers.
Stinging nettles are just forming their first leaves.
So is this catnip plant as its leaves form around an old stalk of it from last year.
Frogs are starting to fill the air around marshes where they live with their raucous mating calls. Each species has their distinctive calls; from the high pitched sounds of the spring peepers to the low twang of the bullfrog. Last week I heard for the first time this spring the boreal chorus frogs in the marsh on the east side of the park near highway 4.
Birds are flying in from their winter vacation homes in the south. Robins are in the park in greater numbers now. Instead of an isolated sighting there are groups passing through and pairs getting ready for summer and their offspring. House sparrows have been around all winter but they are getting their nests ready for laying eggs and raising their young. The picture below is of one pair that took over a birdhouse in our yard. The male is bringing in grass for the female to put in the nest.
Geese, swans and ducks are flying over in familiar v-patterns to go further north to their summer nesting grounds. Driving on highway 19 last week I saw about 50 swans in a plowed field spread out across it. They must have stopped for a rest on the long flight to the tundra in Canada and Alaska. Their usual rest stop is a lake or flooded area but this flock must have been so tired it didn't matter if there were snacks during this stop.
his second picture is from a week or so ago when the ice was still not out on this flooded marsh near the river below Fort Ridgely. Notice both Canadian geese and trumpeter swans.
Various types of blackbirds and other birds fly in odd shaped flocks and don't form V's. It is amazing how they can be so synchronized to fly around together in close formation without hitting each other. The picture below shows one flock I saw on highway 4 near Fairfax.
I have heard this week the familiar killdeer sounds in the park and near Fairfax but have not gotten close enough to get a picture yet this spring. Grackles have been visiting my bird feeders for the last few weeks. They are here in plenty of time for Winthrop's Grackle Days that will be held the weekend after Easter.
Even the trees are starting to bud and blossom. Here is a picture of maple blossoms opening up. Spring is here and summer won't be far behind. I hope to plant some lettuce this week and maybe potatoes sometime around Easter weekend.
Friends of Fort Ridgely
Friends of Fort Ridgely
The board of the friends group did not meet during the pandemic and recently met outside at Squirrels in Fairfax. This was an active group that did many things for the park. They fought hard to try to keep the golf course open but have been discouraged and lacked direction since this attempt was unsuccessful. We are asking for your ideas and help in getting active again to help make Fort Ridgely a more active and better place for all visitors.
Any of you with computer skills we need people to get our Facebook page active again. Maybe a website could be done as well. The Friends of Minneopa paid a university student to design their website. We could do the same if you are interested. I have been putting these updates on this Google site and there could be a link to it from the Facebook page as well as the website if it is developed.
Call, text or e-mail me your ideas.
Bix Baker
Bekahjbaker@gmail.com
507-995-5635
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