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.

We are well into summer. It’s like a rainforest out there. Tree limbs hang low with moisture from frequent rains. Vines of woodbine and wild grapes grow thick and lush. I know this mainly because I see it from the window of my car as I drive down the gravel road from our house and eventually  to work.  Country living is a stark contrast to life in the “cities”.

Friends took us to the Twins game a couple of nights ago in the new stadium. Not being a big sports fan I wondered if my attention would wander and if I could make myself sit for several hours. I shouldn’t have worried. The new stadium, with it’s capacity of 30,000 is beautiful in it’s own way. When we first walked in I looked around and wondered what it would be like if everyone had to get out of there in a hurry. 

There is a big screen that, at times, shows what is going on with individuals in the stands – we actually saw one guy propose to his girl friend. He got on one knee and you could see his lips move “will you marry me”. Twenty thousand people participated in her teary eyed acceptance. It was sports and reality TV all wrapped into one. At one moment the big screen zoomed in on a Falcon perched somewhere in the stadium watching the game — why would it do that? Commerecial jets carrying hundreds of people crossed the sky high above. I wondered if they could see us. Mauer bunted – what?

It occured to me as we sat in that stadium we could set our eyes on at least twice the number of humans as the entire population of earth 10 to 20 thousand years ago. Because of the level of DNA similarity between any two humans scientists are sure our population dropped to just several thousand souls sometime before the last glaciers receded. There is evidence that massive volcanic eruptions spewed ash into the air that caused an unforgiving “nuclear winter ” planet wide, killing much life on the planet earth. How would we deal with that today? — just a thought.

I spend a lot of time in my job driving around Dakota County checking on foreclosed homes. Yesterday I found myself  making random turns, driving down long gravel roads in the Umore Park area never meeting another car. I theorize no one drives those roads because they don’t want their cars to get dirty. I discovered gravel road driving is a good thing to do if you want to see hawks. I saw several big ones that must have been immature red tails. One was so large I thought it must be an eagle. I saw many, many small hawks sitting on wires or swooping over roads and fields. I forgot I was working as I wandered without destination down gravel roads for an hour or so. I wandered towards Farmington but never got there.

Eventually I made my way to the roller coaster highway between Highway 52 and Red Wing.  It climbed and dropped repeatedly as I drove  through the glacial morrain left behind 10,000 years ago.  Close at hand were healthy brown fields of grain waivng in the wind punctuated by fields of deep green leaves of healthy corn fully tasseled.

The view was to my right, farm fields following the countour of the land as the hills soften to flatter land in the distance.  No matter how many times I drive that road I feel like a tourist. And every time I drive it I think of the economic development meeting I attended a couple years back where a business man, like me, said it was important to flatten that road and make it four lanes so that Red Wing can survive and compete. I am afraid someday the “improvement” will happen.

Quintuplets:

When I got home and let the dog out I noticed the air was filled with more swooping, bug eating birds than normal. Some seemed so slow and awkward  I was worried the dog might snap one out of the air. As evening came I saw five of the  birds lined up on our retractable closeline with an adult swallow swooping in to stuff bugs in their mouths. Just after I pulled out cell phone to snap a photo of the line up they scattered to the wind.

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.

This past week, I had the wonderful experience of being inspired for the second time in ten days.  The occasion was a six day canoeing/camping trip into the BWCA with Tony and Marc Vogel and Jim Isensee who just happens to be 85 years young.  After all, how many people of this age do you know that enjoy, much less are capable of paddling, portaging and getting up off the ground following a restful night of sleep?

Our destination was Pine Lake at the end of the Arrowhead Trail up from Hovland.  It was a most enjoyable week of beautiful weather and a minimum number of black flies and mosquitoes.  Without a doubt, one of the highlights of our week in the north woods was observing the annual spring courtship behavior of the Minnesota state bird, the common loon.  Their mournful and melodic calls especially in the early mornings and late evenings were enjoyable, memorable and at times spiritual.

Our intended fishing target was lake trout and the results were disappointing.  It seems that with the early ice out and warm weather, the trout were already in deep water instead of near the surface.  Fortunately, the smallmouth bass were more accommodating.

This past Friday morning for a little diversion, we decided to hike the mile long portage trail from Pine to West Pike Lake.  This trail intersects the 65 mile long Border Route Trail that crosses the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.  It was the first long distance, wilderness backpacking and hiking trail established in Minnesota.  It connects the Superior Hiking Trail on the east with the Kekekabic Trail on the west.

On our hike, we observed fresh timber wolf tracks in some soft mud near the trail.  There was also an abundance of Princess Pine sometimes known as Ground Pine or Round branched Club moss  This 8 to 10 inch tall plant has small branch tips that resemble a wolf paw hence it’s scientific name Lycopodium.  Lyco is greek for wolf and pod for paw.

The only live wildlife we encountered on our hike was a ruffed grouse and a couple pine squirrels.  Pine squirrels have a reputation of being a big nuisance around the campsites by stealing food and getting into packs.  I vividly remember an ELC trip to the canoe country many years ago when a pine squirrel chewed a hole in the top of a Duluth pack and promptly consumed a half loaf of bread belonging to one of the participants.

Some other common foliage along the trail were the leaves of the Large Leaved Asters.  These wildflowers bloom in the fall with a white blossom.  On more than one ELC trip to the BWCA,  the leaves of this plant have served as an excellent emergency source of toilet paper for an unprepared camper.

As we neared a swampy area near West Pike Lake, we noticed that the Marsh Marigolds were in full bloom.  Sometimes in this country, the first small green leaves of this wildflower can be seen cradled in the last crystals of snow. As you might recall from my post of April 16th, the Marsh Marigolds were in full bloom along the Cannon Valley Trail.

On our return hike to Pine Lake, we took time to inspect the white flowers of the June berry shrub.  They do well in full sunlight and produce edible and tasty fruits (berries) by the end of June.  More than once on ELC kayak trips to the canoe country, we would use a Dutch oven to prepare a delicious June berry cobbler.  This shrub is also known as Serviceberry because it starts to bloom in mid-April when long delayed religious services were held throughout 19th century New England, as snow covered roads became accessible again.  But not everyone was religious, and others would just as soon go fishing, especially when the first run of shad migrated upstream from the ocean, heralded by the blooming of the shadbush.

To conclude this post, I would like to report my first sighting of Canada geese goslings on May 16th on Frontenac pond in Frontenac State Park.

This morning Friday May 14th, I had the very pleasant experience to hike up Barn Bluff with two of my former ELC. participants Keri O’Rourke Marty and Lisa Marty.  After several days of cloudy rainy weather, we had a near perfect day to explore a wonderful area right in the heart of Red Wing.  Not only did we take time to reminisce of memorable ELC. adventures from many years ago, but we had the opportunity to observe a variety of interesting birds and colorful spring flora. 

Our hike began on the secluded trail that travels through the wooded north side of the bluff.  Upon reaching the west end, we climbed to the top and took a rest break feasting our eyes on the beautiful scenic view from an elevation of 1000 feet above sea level.

Before heading back to the parking lot, we traversed the top of the entire bluff.  It was on this section of our hike that we experienced the highlight of the day.  Travelling along the same summit trail was an elderly couple from Red Wing who informed us that they have a goal of climbing the bluff at least once a year and today was their day.  They went on to say that she was 87 and he was 90 years of age!  What an inspirational moment that was for all three of us.

Some of the colorful flora we observed on our hiked included the yellow forget-me-not, many ferns and the seed heads from the pasque flowers and oyster plants.

On a different subject, this has been a very exciting and active week for observing colorful birds at our feeders.  The grape jelly feeder has been a great attractant for orioles and catbirds while the thistle feeder has been visited by goldfinches.

Cardinals and rose breasted grosbeaks have been enjoying our sunflower seeds.  May 14th was the first day we observed ruby-throated hummingbirds and grosbeaks.  The only downside of our feeding activity is that every evening I have to bring our feeders inside because of very persistent raccoons in the neighborhood.

My local outdoor adventures since the last nature notes post of April 25th have involved time on the trout stream and hunting for morel mushrooms. 

Common spring flowers that I encountered along the stream included the yellow marsh marigolds, blue phlox and several large patches of may apples which are sometimes known as mandrakes.  The nodding, waxy 6 to 9 petaled white flowers have already bloomed and the unripened fruit is visible in one of my photos.  The lemon flavored fruit eventually ripens later in the season and is very edible.  All other parts of this plant are toxic.

On a couple different occasions, I had a muskrat swim right up close to me as I was standing motionless in the water.  On trout streams, muskrats live in bank dens and frequently travel up and down the stream in search of fresh greens to eat.

I also mentioned last time that because of the warm weather in April, the morel season had started much earlier than normal.  Prior to the .6″ of rain last weekend, the mushrooms were in short supply as the forest was extremely dry.  My three outings to the woods since that rain in search of the elusive morels have yielded many interesting things besides mushrooms. 

My first discovery was a deer shed from this past winter.  Buck whitetails drop their antlers every winter after the mating season.  It is quite common that these fallen antlers are gnawed upon by rodents like squirrels and field mice as a source of calcium in their diet.  As an excuse to go for a spring hike, I have hunted for sheds many times and usually come home empty handed.  In this case, I practically tripped over the shed within five minutes of leaving my car.  This morning I called Bushel and Peck just outside of Lake City and learned that since the weekend rain, many morels have been brought in to be sold.  Incidentally, the sale price for a pound of morels is 25 dollars.  I have always felt that hunting morels is too much work to turn around and sell the harvest.  I would much rather give a few away to someone who appreciates the gift.

Wild flowers encountered on my morel quest included the beautifully colored columbine and jack in the pulpit.  I even came across two stinkhorns which have a very slight resemblance to morels.  Stinkhorns are amazing mushrooms and are known for popping up suddenly in urban landscapes.  They also possess a foul smelling slime that covers part of the fruiting body of the mushroom.

To conclude this post I will report that we observed our first Baltimore oriole of the spring last Friday April 30th.  In addition, I have included a photo of a pair of Canada geese that were out for a morning swim and feeding session.  I watched the female leave the nearby nest for a very short period of time.  The young goslings should be hatching by mid-May.  Any nature notes readers can report their first sightings of goslings by making a comment on this site.