Activity of the staff at Fort Ridgely

A healthy prairie needs to be burned every 3 or 4 years. This occurred naturally when lightning struck and started a fire on the prairie that spread naturally when it was dry. Native Americans knew the value of this phenomena and started fires to make the prairie more productive. Staff has burned several areas of the park this spring. Here is a picture of one area. It is amazing how quickly the area burned turns green and grows back as big or bigger than the previous year.

In a park with as many trees as Fort Ridgely, there are many trees or branches on the trees that die. These can fall down at anytime and for the safety of campers and hikers need to be cut down preemptively. Staff does the lower branches and dead trees where needed. Higher branches that they cannot get to, they recently had a tree company come in and cut off. Staff has gradually cleaned up the branches the company left on the ground.

May Flowers

I am amazed each spring at the diversity of flowers in the woods in May. Minnesota is the home to many amazing flowers. Many of these are called ephemeral meaning they only last for a short period and are soon gone. Many also are adapted to the extra light that gets through the canopy of the trees before their leaves come out. I will first show a few that have already bloomed and then mention some that are flowering now. Many pollinators are just coming out of their winter situation at just the right time to pollinate the flowers that are blooming. I will give a few examples of this.

On May 7 I did a wildflower walk for campers and visitors to the park. Several plants that especially the kids were interested in were the wild leeks or ramps and the bloodroots. We tasted the leaves and roots of the leeks and found them to have an onion taste. The bloodroots have a red-orange liquid in their stems and roots that can easily be put on skin to look like you are bleeding.

Bloodroots had a variety of pollinators visiting them. I include three bees to show the variety of sizes that bees can have.

Dutchman’s breeches were just starting to bloom on May 7. Again one of the kids on the walk said something interesting. She thought the breeches looked like butterflies more than pants or breeches. This relative of the bleeding heart is one of the very unique flowers in the woodlands.

Only the queen of each group of bumblebees survives the winter. Like bears she is very hungry when she comes out of hibernation. Some of them time their emergence with the Dutchman’s breeches blooming. Last year my wife and I saw many of these queens foraging through a patch of Dutchman’s breeches along the trail from the bridge near the camping grounds up to the old primitive campgrounds. On May 9 of this year I saw the same. It is interesting to see them grabbing onto the breeches, hanging on while they get the nectar and weighing the whole stem down so it bends sometimes almost to the ground. They need the energy from this nectar and pollen for themselves to help them lay their eggs for future bees in their small colony. They also store much of the nectar to feed the larva that hatch from the eggs. One bee landed on the ground in some leaves and disappeared. I assume that it had dug a hole and formed a nest for its colony to live in.

Jack in the pulpit is one of my favorite wildflowers and it is very unique. Jack is the little appendage sticking up inside the chamber under the pointed awning. My mom used to tell us that if you rubbed the sides of the flower, you could make a sound (Jack preaching from his pulpit). This picture has another unique flower that is all over the surface of the woods: wild ginger. It has 2 soft furry leaves that unfurl in spring and stay as a ground cover all summer. The purple flower emerges from the lower part of the stem and is right next to the ground. We called them sugar bowls as kids.

Violets are all over the park right now and have been for several weeks. There are many different varieties and colors. The most common is the blue violet. There are many yellow violets in bloom right now. Both are shown in this picture.

Two less common types are the white or Canadian violet and the prairie violet. Blue violet flowers and prairie violets are similar in color and shape but notice that prairie violet leaves are not the regular heart shaped leaves of most other violets.

Two other less common flowers are the nodding trillium and the largeflower bellwort.

Blue phlox and red columbine are very common and are just starting to be found all over the park.

The Ohio buckeye tree has also some very interesting flowers. I call them Christmas tree flowers. You can only see part of the bunch of flowers in the pictures below but each group forms a Christmas tree shape. They draw in many pollinators. Here is a honey bee and a brown belted bumblebee both feasting on the flower. After pollination these flowers form into nuts that are much like chestnuts

Birds also enjoy the nectar. A female Baltimore oriole is in amongst the leaves. Hummingbirds also are often seen sticking their long beaks into the flowers to suck out the nectar.

Other Birds in the Park

Upcoming Interpretive Programming

Fort Ridgely State Park (May 28, 2022) Archery – 10:00 a.m. to 12 noon. – The sport of shooting arrows has been around for thousands of years. First humans used archery as a way to hunt animals and later as a way to compete against each other. Archery is an activity that people from all walks of life and almost every size and ability can participate and have fun. This program covers the basics of archery (safety, proper care of the equipment and how to use a bow). Participants will be able to practice their new skills. Meet at the Upper Picnic Area

Flandrau State Park (May 28, 2022) Nature Hike – 3:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. - Looking to learn more about the natural ecosystem found in Flandrau. Go for a naturalist-led walk with a number of stops to talk about the historical and natural significance of this state park. Some of the items to be covered include the development of Flandrau in the 1930s, the Cottonwood River floodplain and use of goats to eliminate invasive species. Meet at the Pollinator Exhibit in the Day Use area.

Minneopa State Park (May 28, 2022) MN State Parks – 7:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. - Minnesota’s 75 state parks and recreation areas are found throughout the state and represent a diversity of landscapes. Each state park also has their own unique characteristics and features. In this presentation, we will cover some of the more iconic parks, such as Itasca and many found in the local area including Minneopa, Flandrau and Fort Ridgely. Meet at the Group Campground Picnic Area on the campground side of Minneopa.

Swan Lake Paddle (May 29, 2022) – 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. Swan Lake is a local treasure and one of the most healthy shallow lakes in southern Minnesota. Take a leisurely paddle on Swan Lake with the Minneopa Area Naturalist Scott Kudelka to learn how to paddle and more about North America’s largest prairie pothole. We will paddle out into the lake for just over an hour. Be prepared for all types of weather and bring water and a snack. Pre-registration is required by contacting Scott Kudelka at scott.kudelka@state.mn.us.

Minneopa State Park (May 30, 2022) American Bison Experience – 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. - Join the Minneopa Area Naturalist Scott Kudelka to learn about North America’s largest mammal and the MN Bison Conservation Herd effort. Bison were reintroduced to Minneopa in September of 2015 and have become an integral part of this state park. We will talk about some of the interesting characteristics of bison and the plan to build a herd of 500 animals spread out across Minnesota. Pre-registration is required by contacting Scott Kudelka at scott.kudelka@state.mn.us.

Fort Ridgely State Park (June 11, 2022) Pollinator Walks 10:00 a.m. and 3:00pm - Join Bix Baker, amateur naturalist for Fort Ridgely, for a pollinator walk at either 10am or 3pm on June 11. We will be looking for pollinators like butterflies, bees and flower flies while they are pollinating wildflowers, bushes and trees in the park. Last year the hackberry emperor butterfly was all over the park, landing on everything at about this time. We may see them and most likely will see monarchs, possibly swallowtails and an assortment of other moths and butterflies. Bumblebees, honeybees and many smaller native bees should be easy to find. As an added bonus, June 11 is National Get Outdoors Day and a free day at state parks (no permit required).