September 21, 2022

Friends of Fort Ridgely Meeting

On August 30, 2022 there was a meeting of the Friends of Fort Ridgely at the upper picnic area and about 20 attended.  A history of the organization was given by several members and District 18A representative Dean Urdahl gave his perspectives on the park and told of his upcoming documentary that he is doing on the Dakota Uprising of 1862, part of which he will film at Fort Ridgely.  The consensus of those there was to keep the organization going .  Fritz Busch from the New Ulm Journal was also there and wrote the article below .

https://www.nujournal.com/news/local-news/2022/09/03/fort-ridgely-to-be-shooting-location-of-dakota-uprising-film/?fbclid=IwAR1uaKZ4QQ5WC5ZCglo7G_mfuya2LTgn3ScjDczCYTf0dCglqvZYpyaR8E0

Monarch Migration

One of the most fascinating parts of the monarch butterflies' story happens in the late summer and fall.  All the last generation of this butterfly in the fall in the eastern part of North America migrate down to a special forest in Mexico and overwinter there.  They do not lay their eggs and form the first  generation for next year until they have started north toward northern Mexico and Texas.  It is usually the 2nd or 3rd generation that arrive here in early summer.  While it is true that monarchs only lay their eggs on any variety of milkweed, the adult butterfly get their food (nectar and pollen) from a variety of flowers.  The caterpillars that hatch from the eggs only eat milkweed and can do this during all stages of the milkweed plant, not just when it is flowering.  The butterfly gets its food from almost any flower,  Thankfully there are different flowers blooming all summer.  Now it is changing to fall and there are lots of flowers blooming as well.  The following are just some of the flowers I have seen monarchs having a meal at.  They are bulking up for the long flight to Mexico.

Often large groups of monarchs pass through and roost in a tree or two in the park. This year I did not see this but have in past years.  Many of the monarchs from a few weeks ago have already started south.  There are still quite a few in the park but these will leave soon.  We brought in a monarch caterpillar a week or so ago and kept enough milkweed in the enclosure for it to eat.  Earlier this week it formed its chrysalis and now we are waiting for the butterfly to emerge so we can let it go to feed on flowers and fly south.

Asters of Fall

Asters are the second largest family of flowering plants in the world (Orchids are largest but most species are in tropical areas of the world.).  All of the flowers that are pictured above in the monarch section except anise hyssop are from this family. I am going to include a few pictures of the wide variety of other asters blooming right now.

Trumpeter Swans in Fairfax Pond

For over a year now the Fairfax overflow pond, right next to highway 4, has been dredged and expanded.  It is an artificial lake that was excavated over 10 years ago as a place to put excessive rainfall so that storm sewers would not back up into people's homes.  Over the years it had filled in with lots of dirt and many trees had grown up around it.  Thus the dredging and cutting down of trees.  

My wife and I go for regular walks around the pond and and prairie next to it.  We do this when we do not have time to go out to Fort Ridgely but need to get exercise.  We were delighted to see that a couple trumpeter swans were frequent visitors to the pond during late summer.  I don't know if they told friends about the pond or if they had a family and decided it was safe to bring the mostly grown kids here for meals. We have seen up to 8 swans at a time in the pond (see pictures below).  I am not sure what they are finding to eat in a dredged out pond but we often see them with their heads under water searching for something.  

Two nights ago shortly after sunset, I heard a group of coyotes yelping and it sounded like it was coming from the pond area.  I thought maybe they had surprised the swans and caught one to eat.  Yesterday there were only 6 swans at the pond and I saw something white on top of one area of the pond.  It may not have happened as I did not go down and wade into the water to see if it was swan feathers.  

I have seen 2 other shore birds wading in the pond.  It is very shallow so they can easily wade in the pond.  I caught the heron as it was flying away after we frightened it.  The greater yellowlegs stayed for quite a while and then flew away as we got closer

Progress on bathroom building for campgrounds

Here is a quote from Joanne Svendsen, assistant manager Of the park.

"The new shower/bathroom building is progressing well.  The block foundation and backfill were completed last week.  Work is continuing on the French drain and other plumbing, and an old well was sealed near the site.  A septic drain field will be installed in the marked area in the prairie above the campground, which can be seen from the chalet overlook.  We're also getting a new vault toilet in the upper picnic area - that should be installed in the next few weeks in the same location as our old one. "

Upcoming Interpretive Programming

Fort Ridgely State Park Program - October 1, 2022

Seed Collection - 10 - 11:30 am  Families, friends, individuals and groups are asked to help with Fort Ridgely State Park's annual Prairie Seed Collection. Volunteers should wear proper clothes including gloves and appropriate footwear for working in uneven terrain and among tall grass and plants. Free daily permit for those who volunteer. To register please send an email to: scott.kudelka@state.mn.us 

Fort Ridgely State Park Program - October 1, 2022

Nature Scavenger Hunt/Walk at 2:00 - 3:00pm  It is amazing what we notice around us when we just look.  A paper showing what to look for can be picked up from the park office before the walk by campers or when you arrive for the walk.  The objective is to see as many different things in nature as possible.  If you know the common name, write it down in the correct category .  If you don’t know, describe it or take a picture.  Bix Baker, volunteer naturalist for the park, will help you identify it.  We will walk together and collectively find things but you can start before the walk and write down extra things you see (only on this day!).  Prizes will be given at the end of the walk. Meet in the chalet parking lot.

Gentians recently blooming

I close with some pictures of some rare flowers that bloom this time of year.  They are called downy gentians and Joan Sommers showed me where they bloom a couple years ago.  She also was asked by Molly, a DNR specialist in prairie planting, to collect some of their seeds that year.  Molly's full title is Regional Resource Management Specialist for the southern region.  Due to their rarity I will not say where they are in the park but just give a few couple pictures for you to enjoy.

I have not found any bottle gentians, another related flower,  in the park but here is a video and 2 pictures of some from a prairie near Gibbon. This bottle flower cannot be opened by anything but a bumblebee.  Both of the bumblebees pictured are larger than most bumblebees you see and are of a species that is in decline.  They certainly are not claustrophobic when it comes to bottle gentians