November 4, 2020
Sunset at Fort Ridgely
I went out just before sunset with my camera to the east side of the park for a walk and some exercise. The first cool thing that I saw was a cardinal pair in a tree near airplane hill. They were chirping back and forth to each other in short chirps rather than the long calls that make them famous. It was cold so their feathers were both fluffed up as you can see in both pictures. The male was the familiar deep red color and the female had slightly red gray feathers.
I walked along the prairie trail south of airplane hill and saw a hawk up in a tree near the second overlook of the valley. As I got closer and took more pictures, I saw that 2 hawks were up in the tree. Soon another one flew by and eventually all flew away as I approached. They made the raptor screech sound also as I approached. You can see in the picture that the hawk was vocalizing as it flew by.
It turned out that all of them were rough-legged hawks. This species is more common in Minnesota in the winter and nests in Canada's Northwest Territories and Alaska. I'm not sure if they will stay here or were just migrating through. I saw another one on the bottom road on my way to New Ulm a day after seeing these in Fort Ridgely. It was soaring on a thermal above a juvenile bald eagle. I like the sunset hues on the pair as they took off from the tree in the picture.
There was a brilliant sunset that I caught in the picture below.
I proceeded down the hill into the woods and along the trail below. As I walked up by the old bathroom and shower building I came to the remains of the ghost or Indian pipes that I have mentioned in previous updates. There was just enough light to get a picture of several poking up through the snow.
Rough-legged hawks must be more common than I thought as 2 days after the walk described above I had another encounter with one. It was hovering over a small marsh between the horse campground and the main park. It was not more than 10 feet off the ground and I saw it swoop into the weeds and fly over to the ditch next to my car with something in its mouth. I got the picture below before it flew off and another one on its flight away.
Nature Scavenger Hunt at Fort Ridgely
Looking for a fun way to get out as a family and get some exercise and fresh air? The GFW Lego robotics team has just the thing for you! We have put out orange laminated numbers on about 30 objects along the paths on the east side of Fort Ridgely State Park. Some are easy to find and some are more challenging. We have a map of where to go and the list of all numbered objects to find that we can send you. It is a contest that is scored by how many you find. Extra points are given for animals, animal tracks or insects that you see. When we were putting out the numbers we saw a group of 7 deer in the valley near the creek. That would have been 70 points. The hike is about a mile with going down the path from airplane hill and back up on the path to the left of the old bathrooms and back up through the woods and prairie on top to where you park at the beginning of the walk.
Bring a camera or cell phone to document some of what you see. A photo or description is required for points on some things. Contact Bix Baker our coach at 507-995-5635 or harold.baker@gfwschools.org and give your e-mail or address and he will send you instructions. We include two pictures of Shaylah and Connor Clobes, members of our team, out doing the scavenger hunt. We hope you have as much fun doing it as we have making it and trying it out. We will leave the numbers out for a few weeks and may do another different one this winter and/or spring.
