On May 27th, a friend and I traveled by canoe on the Cannon River from Welch to Highway 61. Shortly after we launched the canoe, we encountered a hen wood duck trying to lead us away from her very young brood. After leading them into some cover provided by a large silver maple that had recently fallen into the river, she started to perform her broken wing routine designed to draw our attention to her and away from the tiny ducklings.
As we continued downriver, we soon came across the first of six broods of Canada geese goslings. They too had recently hatched and possessed fluffy yellow down feathers. Most broods we observed were six to eight in number, but one had ten goslings.
As we approached these geese, one parent would be in front and it’s mate would bring up the rear. This was in contrast to the wood duck which were supervised by the hen. If we drifted too close to the geese, the parents would simply lead them up the bank and into the tall vegetation along the riverbank. With the cooler than normal spring we have experienced this year, the appearance of young goslings and ducklings is about two weeks later than recent years.
There is a stand of interrupted ferns I drive past each morning. ? They are located on a north-facing slope beneath a stand of mature red oaks. ? In previous years, their sudden height surprised me. ? So this year, starting on May 1st, I ?photographed ?the same ?fern each week and ?measured its height. ? In four weeks, the fern grew 41 inches–averaging about 10 inches of new ?growth each week.
 ? ? ? May 1st: ?7 inches tall. ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? May 7th: 12 inches tall. ? ? ? ? ? ? May 14th: 27 inches tall. ?
 ? ? ? May 21st:  ?36 inches tall. ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? May 28th: 48 inches tall.
This has been a rather cool, dry spring, so I don’t know whether this is typical for this species.
Last Saturday, members of the Minnesota Native Plant Society participated in our walk up Barn Bluff. ? They provided great information, and identified Pasqueflower, blue-eyed grass and prairie sorrel (among many others). ? Many thanks to the two dozen members who visited Red Wing.
I wanted to get a photo of a trillium flower – almost missed it. Last week most of the plants had blooms. this morning(5/23/08) I had trouble finding even one. It’s easy not to notice trillium flowers.
The flower ? isn’t obvious. The stalk droops so the flower ends up facing the ground under the leaves. You have to look for it.
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Jack-in-the-pulpits are all over the place. In our woods it looks as though something has been nipping off the flowers. Many plants with just the leaves.
The violets are like a carpet in some parts of the woods. No photo, but I’ll mention the wild geraniums ar just starting to bloom.
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I came across a few mushrooms and picked them. I found a really nice spot with lots of little ones coming up. Went back three days later and they were all gone. Someone else must have known “my” spot.
 ?Oriols keep trying to come to our new humming bird feeder. I felt sorry for them so I put out an orange.
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May 12th of last week marked the first day of a six day canoe trip into the BWCA just off the Gunflint Trail out of Grand Marais. Our paddle into an unnamed lake featured snow flurries and significant drifts of snow on the shorelines of north-facing hillsides. ?After all, the ice had gone out of the lakes just two days earlier.
The next morning we were poised to try our luck at fishing following a hearty breakfast. As we were paddling our canoe along a white cedar lined shore, we happened upon a cow moose less than 10 yards into the woods. As we sat in our canoe no more than 15 yards away, we could hear some very soft whimpering nearby. Upon further observation, we discovered two newborn calves barely able to stand up. We were most certain that they had just arrived into this world. After 10 minutes of quiet observation, we silently paddled away.
Three hours later as we returned from an unsuccessful fishing adventure, cow and calves were still in the same location. However this time, the cow stood up and slowly ambled back into the protection of the cedars. Not far behind were a pair of frisky calves very capable of standing and running after their mother.
We all agreed that we had just witnessed a once in a lifetime experience soon forgetting about the fact that there would be no fish for dinner.
On Saturday there is a free program sponsored by the Anderson Center called “A Walk with Thoreau.” ? The program includes a discussion about Henry David Thoreau’s 1861 visit to Minnesota, and then a hike up Barn Bluff. ? The program starts at the Anderson Center at 9 a.m. and the hike will finish by 12 noon.
Thoreau traveled from Concord, Massachusetts ?to Minnesota in 1861. ? During that visit he spent four days in Red Wing, hiking the bluffs, talking with residents and identifying wildflowers and other plants. ? I’ll ?give the talk on Thoreau’s visit. ? Bruce Ause and I will lead the hike.
Earlier today, Bruce and I hiked up Barn Bluff. ? Despite the cool spring and relatively dry conditions, we identified a number of wildflowers–including some of the same species Thoreau identified here nearly 150 years ago. ? Some of the flowers we found include goatsbeard and ?hoary puccoon (both identified here by Thoreau), plus narrow leafed puccoon, birdfoot violet and hairy vetch.
The May 24th programs ?are open to the public. ? Meet at the Anderson Center if you want to participate. ? About two dozen members of the Minnesota Native Plant Society will ?attend. ? In addition to sharing information with them, we suspect they will help us better understand this area’s native plants.
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