Red Wing Nature Notes

On July 25th, we were treated to a spectacular full moon over Rattlesnake bluff known by the Native Americans as the full thunder moon because this is the time of the year we can expect thunderstorms.  This certainly has been the case as frequent rains have brought a bumper crop of mosquitoes in our backyard.

I have reported in previous posts that it is more and more common to receive reports of sandhill crane sightings in the local area.  On Saturday July 17th as I was driving to Frontenac State Park for my morning hike, I observed a family of three cranes picking up spilled grain along the railroad tracks adjacent to the Perched Valley Wildlife Management Area.  Local resident Brian Schreiber has reported observing nesting cranes in this area for several years.  One of my photos could be titled “Are You Watching For Trains?”  I find it interesting that this week the Department of Natural Resources announced a hunting season for sandhill cranes to be conducted in the fall for far northwestern Minnesota.  Even though I am an avid hunter, I can’t imagine hunting much less shooting one of these majestic birds.  Fortunately the cranes that nest and frequent our area are of a different sub-species and will not be subjected to the hunting activities.

As the popularity of non-motorized watercraft such as canoes and kayaks increases, I am frequently asked for suggestions of places to paddle along the Red Wing riverfront.  People are mainly interested in paddling the river and backwaters without encountering the intimidating wakes resulting from large cruisers.  I usually recommend putting in at the public access near the eagle viewing area in Colvill park.  From there it is an easy paddle across the river to the backwaters by travelling through a no-wake zone.  By paddling slightly upstream, you can enter the backwaters through a passage known as 3rd cut.

Early Thursday morning, I paddled this route solo and had the opportunity to observe a variety of wildlife including wood ducks, mallards, sandhill cranes, blue herons, herring gulls and tree swallows. 

I also observed an adult and immature eagle in close proximity to the nest in Colvill park.  The young eaglet was constantly screeching for some food and attention.

As I was paddling in the backwaters known as Dead Slough lake, I encountered a commercial fisherman from Hager City tending his gill nets.  He was gracious enough to let me take a few photos and ask questions related to his fishing with gill nets.

1. The rough fish he removed from the nets were sold to a fish processing facility in Pepin, Wisconsin.
2. He sells the fish and receives a live weight price of .07 per pound for carp and .21 for buffalo carp.  Even the lowly dogfish (bowfin) command a good price and are sold as a delicacy for some southern fish connoisseurs.

He was especially adept at using a special tool to remove the tightly held flopping fish from the nylon net.  The yellow rain suit helped him deal with all the fish slime, but must have been pure torture to wear on a hot sunny summer day.

You probably have observed the last week to ten days all the white flowers in bloom along the various road right a ways.  Those white blooms belong to an invasive plant known as Wild Carrot of Queen Anne’s Lace.  I can remember the first that I saw these plants was in the summer of 1992 in northern Illinois.  Since that time, this invasive has taken advantage of global climate change and expanded it”s range many miles north. 

Nature Notes readers might be interested to learn that our domestic carrots have originated from this plant.  Even though Queen Anne”s Lace has an edible taproot. it is prudent not to try eating it as the highly toxic poison hemlock looks very similar.  To end this post on a lighter note, this plant is sometimes called the bird nest plant as the dried up flower head resembles a bird nest.

The recent abundant rains have not only produced a bumper crop of hungry mosquitoes in our yard, but on the positive side an abundance of colorful wildflowers and butterflies along the new trail.  When fighting with mosquitoes becomes too much of a challenge, I opt out for a bike ride on the nearby trail.  Part of the enjoyment derived from that experience is observing the new prairie wildflowers that seem to be showing up on a daily basis. 

The only exception is the white daisy fleabane which has been blooming for several weeks and will continue throughout the summer.

Shortly after the trail was constructed, the shoulders were seeded down with a mixture of various colorful prairie species.  Some of these prairie plants require a couple years before they begin to reveal themselves.  I have included photos of the four most colorful and abundant of these new prairie plants ; Black-eyed Susan, Gray-headed coneflower, Orange coneflower and Upright prairie coneflower.

Other colorful wildflowers not included in the seed mix, but still providing interest along the trail include the wild bergamot a native plant in the mint family which has just started to bloom in the past couple days.  Native Americans used this plant for flavoring meats, making beverages and several medicinal uses.

The wild red raspberry is now ripe and follows on the heals of the black raspberries which were a couple weeks early and very numerous.

The final wildflower photographed was the musk mallow a member of the hibiscus family in which the seeds are used in making perfumes.  In addition, this plant yields fibers which are used locally for clarifying sugar.

On this morning’s bike ride, I observed three different species of butterflies feeding on nectar from the pink blooms of a single Canada thistle.  There butterflies included the well known monarch as well as the painted lady and clouded sulphur butterflies.

I also observed numerous dragonflies which no doubt are having a banner year given the fact that their primary source of food is mosquitoes.  Dragonflies are ancient insects and look very much like they did 300 million years ago, except much smaller.

As a follow-up to my last post on the Peregrine falcons, I would like to report that this past Saturday morning I observed my first young falcon chick at the Rattlesnake bluff nest site.  It was fully grown and the only easy indication it was a young bird were the numerous downy feathers that were still fluttering in the breeze.

I will conclude this post with a colorful sunset at the head of Lake Pepin taken over the holiday weekend.  In addition to the lake providing a spectacular ending for the day it also coughed up a massive hatch of mayflies.

Can you imagine observing a bird of prey diving through the air at speeds approaching 220 mph. and plucking a duck or pigeon out of midair?  That experience might have been possible along the Mississippi river in the Red Wing area until the 1950’s or early 60’s.  During that period of time, the widespread use of the insecticide DDT caused the populations of bald eagles and Peregrine falcons to drop dramatically.  In fact by 1965, no Peregrine falcons were fledged in eastern or central United States.  Beginning in 1982, captive bred chicks were released from cliffs, towers and tall buildings where they were monitored and given assistance while learning to fly and become independent.  The chicks that fledged and survived from these hack sites were the beginning of a wild generation of Peregrine falcons.  Bob Anderson of the Raptor Resources Project was one of the leading biologists to initiate a nesting effort in the Red Wing area.

According to Chuck Bremer, manager of Red Wing Grain Elevator, this effort started in 1992 when a nesting box was lowered about ten feet from the top and attached to the side of the structure at a height of 200 feet above the ground.  For eight years, falcons were observed near the nest box but no nesting was initiated.

So in 2000, the box was removed from the side and placed directly on top of the elevator.  Immediately a pair of falcons accepted the box and started nesting.  Since that time, 21 Peregrine falcon chicks have successfully hatched.  This past Friday morning I accepted the invitation of Chuck to accompany him to the top of the elevator for an up-close observation of the falcons.

This spring there were two chicks that hatched, but because of a malfunction of a video cam it is not known if they have fledged yet.  Given the reception that Chuck and I received when we crawled out onto the very top by the mother falcon, I would guess they are still in the nesting box.  She would fly around us and come in from behind us and dive at our heads.  In fact, once she hit the top of my head with an impressive force.  Thankfully I was wearing a hardhat.

The few minutes we were on top I did manage to snap a couple photos.  However the image that will be imbedded in my mind for a long time happened as I was descending down through the trap door.  As my head reached the level of the top of the building, I glanced up for one final look and was stunned to see her hovering five feet directly overhead.  It was as if this majestic bird with wings outstretched was suspended in midair.  What an incredible moment and sight.

For regular readers of Red Wing Nature Notes, you might recall from my April 3rd post that I reported seeing two Peregrine falcons hunting overhead as I was on top of Barn bluff early one morning.  More than likely, they were the same birds that I had just encountered.

As Paul Harvey used to say “And now for the rest of the story.”  On June 6, 2010, Jacquelyn Fallon of the Midwest Peregrine Society discovered an active falcon nest on the face of Rattlesnake bluff in Wacouta.  The nest on a ledge of sandstone rock is called an eyrie is easily observed with binoculars from the white excrement staining the rock.  According to Fallon, Peregrine falcons have been seen in this area in recent years, but not until year have they nested successfully.  She indicated that both adults have been previously banded, but she was unable to read the bands to determine where they originated.  Three chicks in the eyrie/nest ledge two male and one female were banded on June 11th.  Fallon estimated that at the time of banding, the chicks were 19 to 20 days old and will probably fledge by July 1st.  Fortunately, once the chicks fledge, they will typically stay around until September when they migrate to an unknown location.
This past week Kathy and I have biked on the new Wacouta trail to an observation area near the base of the bluff to try and see the falcons.  All but one evening we were fortunate to see and hear the adults flying off and around the face of the bluff.  In fact on Wednesday evening, we observed something quite impressive.  A mature bald eagle evidently flew a little too close to the nest and immediately was greeted by an angry defensive diving female falcon eventually driving the eagle away.  I would highly recommend this outdoor adventure to anyone interested in falcons and witnessing firsthand a most incredible milestone in the recovery of a most amazing bird of the Mississippi river valley.  In light of the tragic human caused environmental disaster unfolding before our eyes in the Gulf of Mexico, it is uplifting to realize that the species Homo sapiens can have a positive influence upon their natural environment.

At this time, I would like to acknowledge and thank Chuck Bremer for the opportunity to visit the falcon nest on the Red Wing Grain Elevator and Jacquelyn Fallon for providing the photos of the falcon chicks as well as sharing information about her exciting discovery and efforts.  For further information on Peregrine falcons, I highly suggest going to the Midwest Peregrine Society website at www.midwestperegrine.org or the Raptor Resource Project at www.raptorresource.org.

Since the first of May, there has been a remarkable symphony of beautiful bird calls emanating from our backyard.  Actually beginning April 30th, that musical gift has been led by a short series of rich, clear, whistled notes of the Baltimore Oriole.  For many years, we have encouraged their participation by providing sugar water syrup and grape jelly at our feeding station.  For the most part, we have two pairs of orioles that frequent our sweet treats.  An added bonus that attracts these colorful birds to our yard is the presence of two very large mature trees, one cottonwood the other a silver maple.  For many years, oriole hanging nests have been constructed in each tree.  Try as hard as we might, we can never locate the nests until the leaves drop with the coming of fall.  There well camouflaged nests are usually built at the ends of slender twigs to discourage visitors such as red or gray squirrels.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, every evening I retrieve all our bird feeders and bring them in so as not to be frustrated by pesky raccoons.  Sleeping with our windows open, my day usually is greeted at daylight with oriole calls at the feeding station.  I can only imagine them saying “bring out the syrup and jelly.”  This past Friday morning, we experienced a fairly substantial rainfall punctuated by about twenty minutes of gale force east winds.  Later that morning as we were working out in the yard, we discovered three full sized flightless oriole nestlings dead in the lawn below the cottonwood tree.  I learned  Saturday that at the same time the fierce wind was bringing down the oriole nestlings, it also blew down a large bald eagle nest in Frontenac State Park.  This nest contained two black feathered eaglets that were at least two to three weeks away from fledging.  Yes, nature can be cruel.  Fortunately in the case of the eaglets, park staff were able to construct a temporary platform (nest) ten feet off the ground and replace the uninjured birds.  As of late Saturday afternoon, the parent eagles were attending to their eaglets.  Hopefully that will continue until the young birds fledge.

Due to the fact that last Saturday was open house day for Frontenac State Park, I was asked to conduct two interpretive hikes for park visitors.  The first hike was on the trails through the wooded area adjacent to the picnic grounds.  Highlights of that hike included observing the fairly rare Indigo Bunting and the colorful red flowers of the wild coffee plant.  As I posted last fall, the mature ripe orange berries that develop from these flowers can be dried and roasted and used as a coffee substitute.

As we were nearing the end of our hike, we observed a Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker working it’s way down the side of a dead aspen tree.  Upon closer examination, it had a nest in a cavity of this tree filled with young birds clamoring for their next meal.  Standing quietly along the trail, we were able to observe the parents returning to the nest with beaks full of insects.  After our hike concluded back at the picnic pavilion, I returned to the nest site for further observation of the sapsucker activity.  During my twenty minute stay in which I stood  fifteen feet away from the tree, I discovered something quite interesting.  The male flew directly to the tree at least six times with food while the female would fly back and forth from tree to tree and never once reveal the location of it’s nest.

The second hike of the day took place in the open prairie area just north of Frontenac Pond.  Observations on this hike included wild roses and blanket flowers blooming.  Along this trail are several bluebird nesting boxes.  Most of these boxes are being used by tree swallows.  It is very easy to distinguish swallow nests from those of the bluebird.  Swallows have white eggs while the bluebird has blue.  Another interesting characteristic of a swallow nest is the use of feathers in building the nest.  In nests constructed near water, feathers of waterfowl are frequently used.  Nests I have examined in the park, many times possess wild turkey feathers.  These feathers are used to provide added insulation for the young nestlings.

I will conclude this post with a photo I took this morning from our kitchen window as I worked on this writing.  It is of the very rare Red-Headed Woodpecker that surprised me with a short visit.  Fortunately, my camera was close at hand.

As we move closer to the summer solstice, the landscape is changing with a new array of wildflowers and unusual activity.  In our backyard, the predominant color is now provided by the white ox-eye daisy which is native to Europe and was introduced into North America.  It is also sometimes referred to as the moon or dog daisy.

This past Sunday afternoon as Kathy and I were driving along an area road, she spotted a patch of the rare yellow lady’s slipper in full bloom in the nearby road ditch.  We couldn’t believe that such a beautiful wildflower could survive repeated abuses that roadside ditches experience every year.  We reported our sighting to the appropriate officials at the Dept. of Natural Resources hoping some protection might be provided.  This perennial wildflower grows best on moist wooded hillsides in regions of limestone and is still threatened by plant collectors though it can seldom be successfully transplanted.

On Saturday morning May 29th, I conducted my first interpretive hike for the summer at Frontenac State Park.  On the way to the park, I drove by Frontenac Pond and observed the colorful Dame’s rocket in full bloom.  This wildflower grows best along the edges of ponds, streams and is frequently mis-identified as a purple phlox.  The flower of the phlox has five petals where as the Dame’s rocket has only four.

Upon reaching the entrance to the park, I noticed that an elm tree next to the road was missing it’s leaves.  Upon closer examination, I observed a significant infestation of tent caterpillars (sometimes called army worms).  In the life cycle of this insect, once the foliage has been removed from the tree the caterpillars fall to the ground.  I recall a camping/biking experience that Jug and Margaret Johnson had several years ago at Jay Cooke State Park near Carlton.  They said the roads and trails were literally greasy with the huge number of caterpillars.  Not to mention the challenge they encountered keeping them off their camper and picnic table.

On our hike in the park, a wonderful fragrance was present along the trail belonging to the blooming wild grapes.  Once you identify the sweet smell it is hard to forget.  Besides harvesting the ripe fruit in the fall for a variety of purposes, the wild grape vines provide some additional special wild edible treats at this time of year.  I recall several wild edible lunches with ELC participants in which we would add tender grape tendrils to a salad for a lemon flavor.  Another favorite was wrapping cooked rice and ground beef with steamed grape leaves and baking them in a Dutch oven.  For possible recipes, go to greekfood.about.com/od/stuffedgrapeleaves/Stuffed_Grape_Leaves.htm.

Another interesting observation on our hike was all the nesting activity taking place in the numerous nesting boxes built and maintained by park volunteers.   We observed these boxes being used by bluebird, tree swallows and house wrens.  According to park manager Harry Roberts, these volunteers found several dead bluebird and swallow nestlings immediately after the cold wet weather we experienced the second week of May.  Swallows and bluebirds feed their young primarily insects.  Evidently, during that particular cold spell, the adults couldn’t find enough insects to feed their nestlings.

A final fond memory of this past weekend was an early morning canoe trip down the Cannon river with my daughter Angie.  We launched our canoe early enough in the morning that the river valley was cloaked in shifting and rising banks of fog.  These conditions made for a peaceful and spectacular canoeing experience.