Cosmos

I planted some Cosmos in my prairie this year and they seem to be doing quite well. With any luck they will self seed and return next year.

 

Fall Colors on the Morning Walk

As I’ve mentioned several times with the Covid problem we are spending more time around home. We typically do a two mile walk in the morning. The fall colors are really starting to near their peak right now.

Monarch Caterpillars

These photos were about six years in the making. Years ago I found a few milkweed plants in my garden. I thought it was great because I was able to photograph and watch the Monarch Caterpillars grow. However, I soon discovered that milkweeds can easily take over and they are very difficult to remove. After putting up with them for a couple of years I decided they had to be moved out of the garden. It took about three years to complete the process. Milkweed roots are bigger than a person’s finger and it is very difficult to kill them. During the removal process I found that I could always find caterpillars  in my garden when I could not find them in my prairie. As I thinned out the milkweed plants I kept finding caterpillars on them even though the milkweed plants might only be a couple of inches tall. At the time I thought that it would be an interesting project to plant some milkweed seeds in planters where they would be isolated and wouldn’t spread into the surrounding area. The hypotheses being that Monarch Caterpillars are attracted to Milkweed Plants isolated  in a clear area away from other vegetation.

 

As it turned out we purchased an urban cabin in Duluth, Minnesota and started to travel frequently. I forgot about my project to plant milkweed plants in containers. This year with Covid 19 I’m stuck at home. Almost every day my wife and I walk a couple of miles down our rural road. I started seeing milkweed plants along the road and many Monarch Butterflies flying around. I remembered that I wanted to try growing milkweed in pots to attract Monarchs. I didn’t have any milkweed seeds so I decided to dig up a few small plants from along the road and transfer them to pots. I diligently watered them every other day for over three weeks. They started to grow but they looked a bit straggly.  On July 11th I was watering the plants and noticed two large Monarch Caterpillars on them. I have no idea where they came from. The nearest milkweed plants were forty yards away in my prairie and I had not seen any caterpillars on plants in the prairie. These are the two fellows that appeared that day. I watched them eat for about a week and spent time photographing them.

 

 

It soon became obvious that they would devour all of the plants in my pots so one morning I took them out to another area on the farm where I had milkweed growing. I continued to check on them and occasionally found them eating on milkweed plants. Several days after removing them I was Surprised to find three more Monarch Caterpillars on my milkweed plants. Interestingly they were of varying sizes with one large one, one medium sized and a third smaller. Once again I photographed them for about a week.

 

 

 

While my milkweed plants were growing I didn’t have enough plants to feed three more caterpillars so after about a week I removed them and took them out to another milkweed patch. In the meantime I had been noticing that Monarch Butterflies were landing on my potted plants. Were they laying eggs was the question?The question was soon answered when I found several more caterpillars on my plants. This time there was one that had clearly recently emerged as a caterpillar. They grew realy fast.  As you can see my plants were a little straggly. The caterpillars seemed to be feeding on the stalks. My wife named them dot and dash.

 

 

I happened to be trying to photograph the smaller one when it was having a bowel movement and wouldn’t stay still. After his bowel movement he ate for a short time then picked up his poop and moved it several times. I had never seen that behavior before.

 

Once again I had to move them because there was not enough food.

My hypotheses seemed to be correct. Monarch Caterpillars are attracted to Milkweed Plants isolated  in a clear area away from other vegetation. In all I had over a dozen Monarch Caterpillars on my potted plants. Next year I’m going to try and raise some of them into butterflies in a terrarium.

 

 

 

Bumblebees

A few shots of bumblebees.

Abstract Zinnias

A few abstract photos of my Zinnias.

 

Some of my favorite fall photography locations

Gile Flowage– is located just south of Ironwood, Michigan. What I like about Gile Flowage is that you can photograph at sunrise and sunset and get some great photos. In fact, at both times you can photograph the color of the trees and just turn around and then photograph the rising or setting sun.

Copper Peak International Ski Flying Hill – Copper Peak is the largest artificial ski jump in the world and the largest ski jump in North America. The top of the jump is nearly 1200 feet above lake Superior. On a clear day you can see for over 40 miles from the top of the jump. Lake Superior and the Porcupine Mountains are visible from the top. The ski jump is open on weekends during fall color season. You can ride the ski lift to the top of the hill and take the elevator part way up the ski jump and then walk to the top.

 

 Black River  –  It is down the road from Copper Peak and offers some great fall views of waterfalls along the Black River. I particularly like to photograph the reflections found under the bridge that crosses the Black River.

Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park – Offers a wide variety of photography locations from the Lake of the Clouds, Union Bay on Lake Superior to mountain streams and waterfalls.

Bonanza Falls – Locate just south of Silver City, Michigan on the Big Iron River. It offers great color and some intimate waterfall shots particularly when the water levels are low.

 

Bond Falls – Located just outside of Paulding, Michigan. This is a great place to photograph waterfalls any time of year but it is particularly beautiful in the fall. The last week in September is usually a good time to visit.

 

 

Hiawatha National Forest – is located just south of Munising and offers some great photography opportunities along the many lakes in the area. The peak colors in the national forest are usually a week or so before the colors in Pictured Rocks. Most of the lakes are best photographed early in the morning. More information can be found in an earlier Blog.

Petes Lake

Moccasin Lake

Red Jack Lake

Council Lake

Thornton Lake

Doe Lake

Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore – offers some spectacular photo opportunities. The fall sunset boat cruise is not to be missed. The many miles of hiking trails through the park offer a wide range of subjects for fall photography.

Oberg Mountain – My favorite place for fall photographs on the Minnesota North Shore. The top of Oberg Mountain offers stunning 360 degrees of the surrounding forests and Lake Superior.

Crex Meadows – stands alone as a destination for photographing the fall Sandhill Crane migration. It is also a great place to photograph fall colors, sunrises and sunsets. You will want to plan on spending the night in Grantsburg, Wisconsin so you can take in the evening and morning flights of the cranes. About an hour before sunset the cranes start returning to the meadows. Folks bring their lawn chairs and just sit and watch them fly into their rousting grounds. You can return to the same location at sunrise and watch the cranes leaving to feed for the day in the surrounding fields. During the day you can drive the back roads south of town to watch the cranes feeding. I have more details on photographing at Crex in an earlier Blog.

 

 

 Pewits Nest – Located in the southern part of Wisconsin just outside Baraboo. It’s a small gorge with a stream flowing through it. The top of the gorge is covered with large maple trees. If you hit it right the maple trees are spectacular. The gorge itself is worth the trip even after most of the leaves have fallen.

 

Blue Hills – The Blue Hills rise about 600 feet above the surrounding area. The Native Americans called this area  Paja Toyela or the Blue Hills. This makes for a great fall drive. We usually take county road O west from Rice Lake, Wisconsin. Less than a mile past the Christie Mountain ski area we make a left on Fire Lane Road. This goes past the Blue Hills Cross Country Ski Area. We take a left on Perch Lake Road. We make a small detour to Audie Lake then return to Perch Lake Road. We then take North or South Buck’s Lake Road.

Lost Creek Falls – a beautiful series of waterfalls along the Lost Creek River. They are located just south of Cornucopia, Wisconsin just off of county road C. The falls are well marked and offer an easy 3 mile hike out and back.

 

Flowers from around the Farm

The Dahlias an Zinnias are blooming on the farm.

 

The Bachelor Buttons are also blooming.

Crescent Butterflies

A few shots of Crescent Butterflies taken around the farm.

 

Flowers and Grass at Hoffman Hills

Recently photographed flowers at Hoffman Hills Recreation Area.

Purple Coneflower

Evening Primrose

Big Bluestem

Grey-headed Coneflower

Prairie Blazing Star

The Bridge

On our hike around the Ice Age Trail, Chippewa Moraine Segment loop we encountered a bridge that was under water. We walked the detour only to discover that it was possible to walk across the bridge without getting wet.