Spring Beauties along the Red Cedar State Trail

Lots of Spring Beauties have been blooming along the Red Cedar State Trail.

 

Spring Flowers along the Red Cedar Trail

On a beautiful cool morning my wife and I took a walk on the Red Cedar State Trail. There were large numbers of flowers out along the Trail. The Bloodroot and the Pussy Willows were just about done blooming. It was early in the morning and the Bloodroot had not opened yet.

Bloodroot

Pussy Willow

The White Trout Lillie’s were out in some places. When we walked by the first time they were not open yet but when we returned they had opened.

 

The Anemone were out in large numbers along the trail.

 

Wood Anemone

Canada Anenome

There were large groups of Spring Beauty blooming on the side of the trail.

Lots of Common Blue Violets can be found.

Spring Flowers on the Red Cedar Trail

We were out for a walk on this beautiful spring day and noticed a large number of flowers on the Red Cedar Trail.

Marsh Marigolds

Bloodroot

Common Blue Violet

Spring Beauty

Spring Beauty

On a hike along the Red Cedar State Trail we found large numbers of Spring Beauty Blooming.

Found Along the Red Cedar River

My wife and I took a walk along the Red Cedar Trail. There were a variety of flowers out. Spring Beauty seemed to be the most prominent. There were still a few Marsh Marigolds around. I managed a few shots of backlit leaves. It seems the wind has been blowing all spring and this day was no exception so all of the shots were hand held.

Spring Beauty

Marsh Marigold

Backlit Leaves

Flowers abound at Nerstrand Big Woods State Park

Last week we made our second trip over to Nerstrand Big Woods State Park this spring. Nerstrand is a White Trout Lilly heaven. The woods are carpeted with Trout Lilies. It is also the home to the rare Dwarf Trout Lilly which can only be found in three counties in south eastern Minnesota.

White Trout Lily

The White Trout Lilies were just starting to bloom so this week should be an excellent time to visit the park.

White Trout Lily

The park ranger indicated that a single Dwarf Trout Lilly was in bloom and indicated where we could find it. As expected we walked right past it. Fortunately there were some flower folks ahead of us and they point it out to us. Luckily it was right along the trail but it is so small that it is difficult to see. It’s about a fifth the size of the normal Trout Lilly. It was a popular stopping point on the trail with lots of folks gathered around to look at it.

Dwarf Trout Lily

There were also a lot of other flowers blooming. Spring Beauty, False Rue Anemone, Bloodroot, Downy Yellow Violets, and Common Blue Violets were only a few of the flowers blooming in the park. The park website does an excellent job of identifying the flowers in bloom.

Spring Beauty

False Rue Anemone

Bloodroot

Common Blue Violet

What’s Blooming on the Red Cedar State Trail this Week

I’ve had a chance to walk portions of the Red Cedar State Trail this week. A few Skunk Cabbage continue to bloom along the trail mainly in areas that were shaded. However, most of the cabbage is leafing out now along the trail.

Skunk Cabbage

The False-Rue-Anemone are out in force along the trail. You can see large patches of them all along the trail.

False Rue Anemone

Spring Beauty are starting are also starting to bloom along the trail.

Spring Beauty

Marsh Marigolds are in full bloom in sunny areas but in shady areas they are just starting to bloom.

Marsh Mariogld

I was also looking for birds but was surprised not to find many around. A couple of weeks ago there were numbers of Yellow Throated Warblers but I didn’t see a single one today. If the warblers don’t migrate through soon it will be very difficult to spot them because the trees will have leafed out.

Seen on the Red Cedar State Trail This Week May 5, 2011

Ruby-crowned Kinglet

Ruby-crowned Kinglet male

There were a variety of birds along the trail this week. The hundreds of Yellow-rumped Warblers that came through a couple of weeks ago are gone. I did find quite a few Ruby-crowned Kinglets along the trail. It is hard to tell them apart unless the male displays his crown. They are difficult to photograph because they are in constant motion and they are a very small bird. The Bald Eagles have hatched and there three eaglets in the nest. The nest is located at about the 1.5 mile mark in a large pine tree on the east side of the river.

This week the flowers have really started to bloom along the trail. Rather than list them I’ve posted photographs.

Spring Beauty

White Trout Lily

Swamp Buttercup

Marsh Marigold

Bloodroot

Cut-leaved Toothwort

Rue Anemone

Nodding Trillium

Common African Violet

Local Wildlife Roundup April 29, 2011

Bald Eagle

My wife and I spent the morning checking the local wildlife areas for action. Our first stop was Gilbert Creek. We did get a nice photo of a Bald Eagle in a tree overlooking a pond. In the past it has taken off as we approached but today it let us get close and even then it didn’t fly away. There are some Canada Geese nesting but several of the nests that had Geese no longer have them. We also saw a pair of Sandhill Cranes walking along Gilbert Creek. They apparently are not a nesting pair since they are not on the nest.

Tree Swallow

We then drove out to Hoffman Hills Recreation Area. The pair of geese in the first pond are on the nest and I would expect the hatch to take place in a little over a week. Lots of Tree Swallows around and a few Eastern Bluebirds. One pair of Tree Swallows were building a nest in one of the houses and stopped working and posed for some nice photos. We saw a couple of Sandhill Cranes flying and another on the ground. There were others around calling and they were making quite at bit of noise.

Spring Beauty

We then drove over to the Red Cedar State Trail. Not a lot has changed since my last report. The hundreds of Yellow-rumped Warblers that were around last week are gone. I did notice the first of the Spring Beauties are starting to appear along the trail.