Red Wing Nature Notes

As a young person growing up in Fillmore County of southeastern Minnesota, I had very limited options for fishing close to home.  Until the smallmouth bass season opening up on the Upper Iowa river in June, the only other game in town was trout fishing on Camp creek a few miles north of Harmony.  Hence my deep appreciation for trout fishing was nurtured by numerous early morning experiences on that creek.  Several of those early fishing outings were before school and helped to explain my difficulty in staying awake during first hour math class.

Since those memorable days many years ago, I still enjoy spending a morning along the stream in search of trout.  What is different today compared to then is that now I enjoy what the experience has to offer besides catching fish.  On this past Thursday morning April 22nd, I gathered up my waders and fishing equipment and headed for nearby Hay creek.  In addition to catching a few trout, most of my morning was spent walking the extremely dry forest in search of spring wildflowers and sitting along the stream bank being entertained by early morning wildlife activity.

The most common wildflowers that I encountered were yellow and white trout lilies, buttercups, wild ginger and wild leeks.  I have fond memories of harvesting wild leek bulbs with ELC participants for use in wild leek stew that was eaten on camping trips and served a few times at our wild edible food banquets.  In the case of the banquets, the leeks were harvested in the fall just prior to the meal.  What makes that a challenging activity is that the only foliage above ground for this plant in the fall are the globe shaped seed heads. 

It was always quite helpful to locate a patch in the spring of the year.  At this time of year, a couple leaves can be harvested and added to a sandwich for some onion flavor.

I have found that to be somewhat successful in observing wildlife activity along the stream bank requires one to sit very quietly for twenty to thirty minutes.  It seems that after that amount of time the creatures of the forest accept and almost ignore the intrusion.  On this particular morning, I had visits from wild turkeys, wood ducks, song sparrows, pileated woodpeckers, chickadees and one mature bald eagle just to name a few. 

The most interesting observation of the morning was watching an eastern phoebe put the finishing touches on it’s nest built in a hole of a limestone rock just above the creek.  Phoebes are easy to recognize by their habitual tail bobbing as they sit on small twigs.  This bird would fly in and land on a small shrub close to the nest.  Once satisfied that no danger was lurking, it would fly directly in with moss and small bits of dried vegetation in it’s beak with which it would line the nest.  From the location of the nest, I would guess that it would be quite safe from predation.

To end this post, I will provide a couple additional phenological observations.

  1. On Tuesday April 20th, a friend and I paddled the Cannon river from Welch to highway 61.  On this stretch of river, we saw many pairs of Canada geese that would suggest that nesting has started. Given the fact that neither  of the pair was on a nest, actual incubation might still be a couple days away.

 2. On Wednesday April 21st, the lilacs in our yard started blooming.  This is at least two weeks  earlier than last year.  It also has been a well documented fact for many years that the lilac bloom ushers in the start of the morel mushroom season.  The next day my friend from Lake City Al Knudsen who happens to be the local authority on mushrooms informed me that a few of the small gray morels were now being found in that area.  Hopefully the rain falling this weekend should improve conditions for the large yellow morels to spring forth.  Good luck in your quest for these tasty treats of the forest in the spring.

With the water level on the Mississippi river at 8.9 feet and dropping rapidly, I decided last Friday April 9th to make one last floodwater canoe tour into the flooded Cannon river bottoms.  My canoeing partner Don Brooks and I planned to launch our canoe in Spring creek behind the Public Works building in lower Burnside.  Before we had the canoe in the water, we encountered our first surprise of the day.  A pair of Canada geese landed high up in a big nearby willow tree and immediately started to vocally declare their territory.

Over the years, I have observed geese resting on floating logs, sitting on top of stumps but never have I seen them this high up in a tree.  It reminded me of a phone call I received one afternoon in the spring of 2008.  A Red Wing resident who claimed he hadn’t been drinking reported a most unusual observation that he had made earlier in the day.  On his drive to Lake City, he had pulled off to the side of highway 61 to observe the eagle nest high up in a dead tree on the east end of Frontenac Pond.  Expecting to see an eagle through his binoculars, he was completely surprised to discover a Canada goose occupying the nest.  The next day a DNR biologist confirmed his rare sighting.

Our paddle down the very winding Spring creek and across Spring creek lake and Bonner’s lake presented us with a whole host of interesting observations including wood ducks, hooded mergansers, mallards, blue-winged teal, shovelers, scaup, redheads and several large rafts of coot.  We also observed muskrats resting and feeding on top of floating mats of vegetation, after having been forced from their houses by the high-water.

Our most interesting observation of the day took place in the area surrounding Round lake where we saw no less than two dozen eagles in a small area.  All but two were immature birds.  They were sitting high in trees as well as on branches and logs near the flooded woodland.  Adult eagles have long since been in their nesting territories, while the immature one are acting like teenagers hanging out with no place to go.

On Monday morning April 12th, I took a short hike along the Cannon Valley Trail to check on the status of early spring flora.  With the warm weather that we have been experiencing, it was not at all surprising to see lush beds of watercress and the yellow marsh marigolds in full bloom.  Nature Note’s readers should be aware that the harvesting of watercress along the trail is strictly prohibited.

Yesterday morning April 14th, I took a morning long hike in Frontenac State Park to check on signs of spring down there. 

In the prairie area near the visitor center there was an abundance of bird activity including eastern meadowlarks, bluebirds and tree swallows calling and establishing nesting territories and nest sites.

On the steep north-facing bluff land just below the picnic area, I encountered a dozen turkey vultures sitting in trees and soaking up the warm morning sunshine. 

Below the vultures on the forest floor was a carpet of Dutchman’s breeches in full bloom.  What bloodroots I observed were well past the flowering stage.  We are definitely well ahead of schedule this spring.

As I mentioned in my post of March 28th, spring high water is a great time to explore the backwaters of the Mississippi river by canoe or kayak.  This past Monday morning,April 5th, I decided to take advantage of the nice warm sunshine and the ten foot river stage to see what wildlife might be observed.  The area I decided to visit was the flooded lowland forest surrounding Wacouta bay at the head of Lake Pepin.  One of the main objectives of my solo paddle was to check out some beaver lodges.  At this water level, the beaver would no doubt be forced to vacate their living quarters.  When this happens, they frequently just sit on top of the lodge until the water recedes.

There are three active eagle nests in the Wacouta bay and surrounding bottomlands.  To get to the first beaver lodge, I would have to paddle within 100 yards of the most southerly nest.  As I was paddling along, I noticed an adult eagle sitting in a large dead willow tree not far from the nest.  On three separate occasions, I observed the eagle leave the tree and swoop down over open water as it tried to pick up something in the water.  In each case, it was unsuccessful.  On the fourth attempt, it caught such a large fish that it couldn’t lift it out of the water.  After brief struggle, the eagle flopped into the water and was bobbing around like a gull.

I immediately started to paddle in it’s direction hoping for the opportunity for a rare photograph.  As i continued to get closer, the eagle began to swim away by using it’s wings for propulsion.  Eventually it released the fish and flew back to the nest empty (taloned) handed.

After viewing that most interesting spectacle, I continued paddling and soon arrived at the first flooded out beaver lodge and was not surprised to observe a big splash.  The beaver had detected my presence before I could retrieve my camera from the waterproof case.  My only chance for a good photo was to remain quiet and hope it might return.  I secured my canoe in some floating vegetation about 15 yards away from the lodge with my camera in hand. 

About 20 minutes later, I detected some movement about 40 yards away in the water.  A couple minutes later, it swam right in front of the canoe and crawled up on the lodge.  It immediately began grooming itself.  Beaver have one grooming toe on each hind foot and do all their grooming with those toes.  Beaver also have very poor eyesight which became quite evident by the fact I was able to watch it for nearly 30 minutes without being detected.

Before heading back to where I launched my canoe, I decided to paddle along the edge of the forest in search of some waterfowl.  This portion of my morning included observations of mallards, blue-winged teal, wood ducks, coot, hooded mergansers, pelicans and two sandhill cranes. 

As I glided silently along, a large Canada goose gander appeared from the flooded trees with loud and repeated calls swimming directly towards me with it’s neck fully out stretched.  It was obvious that it was defending it’s territory.  Nesting season has no doubt started.

For anyone looking for an outdoor adventure close to home, I would suggest a hike up Barn Bluff.  With the unusually warm weather that we have been experiencing recently, I hiked up the bluff this morning to see if the spring pasque flowers were blooming on the open south exposure. 

To no surprise, they were in full bloom which is one week ahead of last year.  There should still be several flowers blooming for another week to ten days.

Because the timing of my early morning hike, I had the opportunity to observe numerous turkey vultures, one mature bald eagle and a pair of peregrine falcons taking advantage of the rising thermals. 

It appeared that the falcons were actually hunting for their breakfast.  I would guess this pair of raptors reside at the nesting site located at the top of the nearby Continental Grain elevator.  Successful nestings have taken place there for the past several years.

On a couple related matters, we continue to observe up to six sandhill cranes on a daily basis in the field adjacent to our house.  I also have received several reports of cranes being observed at various locations in the Red Wing area.  It shouldn’t be long before their nesting will begin.

Finally, on the north facing woods below our house, the first of the woodland spring wild flowers were observed yesterday.  The first snow trilliums to bloom at this site last spring wasn’t until April 18th.  Enjoy spring.  It appears that it has arrived in full force.  I wonder if we have seen the last of the Minnesota snow flurries?