March 31, 2025

Spring is here!!

Yesterday (March 13) Becky and I saw our first robins. There were 6 or 8 of them looking for worms or something in the grass in Lions Park across the street from our house. We had seen and heard red winged blackbirds, killdeers, Trumpeter swans, grackles, flocks of Canadian geese and house finches trying to build a nest in our wreath by our front door. Some starlings were also eying a decoration birdhouse near our front step. Both the finches and the starlings have done this in past springs. We love the rosy house finches and have seen several batches of them hatched and fledged in this wreath. We love to watch the progress of the baby birds. A robin family also used this or a similar wreath a few years ago. We clean it off every fall before we put it in the garage for the next year. They still bring in the materials for their nests and prefer if we go through the garage rather than the front door when we leave or enter the house. We are not as thrilled about the starlings. They are dirty and noisy. They raised young one year in this birdhouse. We have blocked the doorway into it the last several years to prevent their entry.

A farmer from Fairfax told Becky that the maxim is that robins will get three snows on their wings before spring is finally here. There may be one tonight even though it is 70 degrees as I write this.

One of the first robins we saw this year.

The wreath by our front door that robins and house finches have built their nests in. The red barn like bird house is on the bench. Notice we put a rag in the entrance to keep starlings from using it.

This house finch pair flew away from the wreath when I came out and landed in our apple tree where I got this picture. The male is the redder one on the left and the female is on the right.

Trumpeter swans in a puddle in a field. There were at least 8 of them so I assume they were migrating through.

Canadian geese pair on a still frozen pond. Many flocks are flying over in v formations, honking away.

Red-winged blackbird. This male with its red patch on the wing comes first to establish an area before the female arrives next month.

New Bluebird Houses

We were recently notified by the Minnesota Bluebird Recovery program that we had been awarded 10 brand new bluebird houses to put up around Fort Ridgely. I had applied for this grant and had volunteered to monitor them this summer to see how many bluebirds use them and fledge babies. We are going to put up the houses on April 12 from 10am until we get them up. Nancy Engel, from this group, will bring them down and help us decide where to put them. She came down last fall and surveyed our situation with her husband.

Idaho and Utah Wildlife

Between the time I wrote what is above and what follows, Becky and I flew to Missoula, Montana to visit our daughter and her family. The next day we drove in their car over to Butte and headed south into Idaho. We stayed overnight in Lava Hot Springs and took advantage of being there by soaking in pools of very hot (105+ F) water. There was snow in the hills around the town but there were some spring flowers blooming in the gardens of the hot springs.

Crocuses blooming near the hot springs in Idaho

Miniature irises blooming in a hot spring garden

Daffodils ready to bloom near the hot springs pool.

Notice the snow near the camping cabins we stayed at a KOA in Lava Hot Springs, Idaho

We went from Lava Hot Springs through a part of Wyoming into northeast Utah to a town called Vernal. We stayed in a log cabin house that we rented through AIRBNB. This area in Utah has the largest concentration of dinosaur bones found in any part of the world. We went to the DInosaur National Monument near the city. It is considered a National Park so we got in free with my senior pass to national parks. We went on several hikes in this park and visited the Quarry Exhibit Hall. There were not just dinosaur bones visible in a few places on our walks but Native American Pictographs carved into stone walls and interesting wildlife. Here are a few pictures I took.

The AirBNB that we stayed at near Vernal, Utah. Notice the snow on the roof and the hills in the background.

Becky walking into the visitor center at the Dinosaur National Monument.

Sandhill cranes near a river along the road to a hike. In several places we saw and heard flocks of sandhill cranes flying over us in the familiar v-formation.

Eastern towhee male is a colorful bird found both in Utah and Minnesota. I have seen them for several years in different locations at Fort Ridgely. A bird app called Merlin that can identify birds by their calls heard many of this bird and a relative called the spotted towhee on our walks in Utah.

A little lizard trying to hide in some rocks.

Big sagebrush grew in huge areas of Idaho and Utah.

Native American pictographs of lizards.

Quarry Exhibit Hall with dinosaur bones preserved and still partially buried inside the rock in this wall with a building built to protect this wall.

This is from the back of the

A mountain bluebird and towhee on big sagebrush that we saw on a walk near Vernal, Utah

An inch long caterpillar of a moth that was crawling in the sand.

A prairie dog hid under some sagebrush to get away from us as we approached on a walk.

More signs of Spring on March 27 in Fort Ridgely and nearby

Each spring I go out looking for the first wildflowers. Pasque flowers and snow trilliums are usually the earliest. Pasque is Easter in French, so they usually are blooming by Easter. Easter is late this year (April 20) . Last year it was on March 31, but we had an early spring and Pasque flowers were blooming on March 12. I hope you enjoy seeing the pictures of the ones I found. They were shorter than usual this year but that could be due to the dryness. I also found snow trilliums in the woods on the south side of the Minnesota river valley in a place where I have found them in previous years.

Pasque flowers emerging through the debris from last years vegetation.

Other Pasque flowers blooming or about to bloom.

Furry stem and outside of a Pasque flower about to bloom

A tiny snow trillium, Notice the three petals and leaves.

Many snow trilliums emerging from the hillside.

Mourning cloak butterfly landed in some leaves on our walk in the park. Sorry this is blurry.

Mourning cloaks do not fly south in the winter like monarchs. They overwinter as adult butterflies by hiding away in cracks in rocks or holes in trees. They are able shut down their bodies and hibernate. That is the reason why they are usually the first butterfly you see in the spring.

Burn Prairie Burn

Prairie plants grow better if once in a while there is a fire that sweeps through burning up old decaying grass and other plants from several previous years' growth. Lightning ignited fires in the prairie before most of it was converted to farmland. Native Americans also ignited the prairie to promote its growth. Fort Ridgely and other parks with prairie have a three-year plan for burning each section of the prairie in the park once every three years. This year it was the prairie near the Chalet. The prescribed burn of this area occurred last week. Staff use torches to ignite the dry grass and flowers but keep the fire under control, so it doesn't spread to the woods or buildings.

Prescribed burn of the prairie west of the Chalet near the office.

Burnt prairie south of the chalet

Interpretive Programs at the Park

Spring Awakening: Ephemeral Wildflower Hike 2 - 3 pm Saturday April 12, 2025 Meet at the Chalet.

Spring is a time of new beginnings and is a welcomed sight after many long winter days. Join volunteer naturalist Bix Baker to explore the exciting wildflowers that are some of the first signs of spring and how they reveal a landscape that awakens with life each year.

The hike will be approximately 1 mile long and follow the Fairway Trail but stay in the woods rather than going out in the prairie. Most ephemeral wildflowers are woodland. There are some gentle descents and climbs along this dirt trail. There should still be Pasque flowers blooming just below airplane hill if people want to hike up to see. Please wear appropriate footwear and dress for the weather.

If you need an accommodation, please contact Bix Baker at bekahjbaker@gmail.com or (507) 995-5635 , two weeks prior to the event.

Late Spring: Ephemeral Wildflower Hikes 10 - 11 am and 2 - 3 pm Saturday May 3, 2025 Meet at the Chalet.

According to an old saying: April showers bring May flowers. Join volunteer naturalist Bix Baker to explore the exciting wildflowers that result from those April showers. They are truly unique in varieties, colors and shapes. We should also see and hopefully identify many different birds singing to us in the trees.

The hike will be approximately 1 mile long and follow the Fairway Trail but stay in the woods rather than going out in the prairie. Most ephemeral wildflowers are woodland. There are some gentle descents and climbs along this dirt trail. The afternoon walk will explore a different path to see other flowers in other parts of the park. Please wear appropriate footwear and dress for the weather.

If you need an accommodation, please contact Bix Baker at bekahjbaker@gmail.com or (507) 995-5635 , two weeks prior to the event.

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