The trill of the American Toad joined the chorus of Wood Frogs, Spring Peepers, and Chorus Frogs in this evening.

Rue Anemone

Bloodroot

Our Rue Anemone and Bloodroot are just about ready to pop. Rue Anemone are beautiful, native woodland sunflowers always remind me of my childhood home in Stillwater, where they grew in thick stands along the oak-shrouded hills of Long Lake. I rescued those in my garden from my parent's yard, just prior to my father mowing them down.

Rue Anemone so easy to seed that I assumed that these hardy annuals were actually perrenials until Wayne from Kinninatives set me straight on the subject. Native Americans were said to use the mildly poisonous roots in tea to settle the stomach.

Bloodroot, meanwhile, always remind me of my early spring trips to William O'Brien State park, with its seasonal wetlands, noisy Peepers, and clumps of Bloodroot, Rue Anemone, and Marsh Marigold.

Same Pasque Flower from May 1.

Beautiful weekend; put the fish back in the pond, and took the canoe out for her maiden voyage; a short jaunt around Pet Lake. It worked quite well though it's less stable than the rowboats I'm used to, and the dog will have to learn to stay seated (or at least towards the center of the boat) if we aren't going to get swamped. Chickadees and Red-winged blackbirds could be heard from the reeds and oak trees as we glided along the lake.

Saw a pair of Turkey Vultures wheeling over Linwood Township Saturday, and Tree Swallows performing their insectovorous acrobatics over the farmer's fields that border the Sunrise trail north of Stacy.

Photo along the Sunrise Trail north of Stacy, MN

Did quite a bit of work on adding a feeder pond to one of the waterfalls. In theory, it collects the slow but persistent leak I seem to have gotten around the mouth of the watefall no matter how much hydraullic cement I applied, and passes it down a short streamlet back into the pond. The feeder pond has a small solar-powered pump to keep the water moving and the mosquitos out. Added a few planters with transplanted Swamp Buttercups to the feeder pond. As the water is slow-moving, protected, and easy to access, it should be perfect habitat for frogs.

Heavy rains towards the end of the week, and even a bit of hail. I'd have measurements, but the freak snowstorm put a small hairline crack in my gauge. Will have to break out the caulk.

Spring Peepers are strident all day long. Sunny pretty much all weekend with winds, often strong, moving in towards evening; temps holding in the 60's with lows in the humble 40's.

Wildlife Spotted Recently:

• Black-capped Chickadee


• Blue Jay


• Chorus Frog


• Crow, Common


• Eastern Bluebird


• Goldfinch


• Grackle, Common


• Grey Squirrel


• Loon


• Mallard Duck


• Mourning Dove


• Northern Cardinal


• Nuthatch


• Pileated Woodpecker


• Purple Finch


• Red-bellied Woodpecker


• Red-shouldered Hawk


• Red-winged Blackbird


• Robin, American


• Sandhill Crane


• Spring Peeper


• Tree Swallow


• Turkey Vulture


• Virginia Opossum


• Wild Turkey


• Wood Duck


• Wood Frog


• Yellow-rumped Warbler

Wildflowers in Bloom:

• Purple Pasque Flower

Emerging Native Plants:

• Columbine


• Elm-leafed Goldenrod


• Leadplant


• Prairie Smoke


• Showy Goldenrod


• Wild Bergamot

First wildflowers of the season blooming!

The Purple Pasque Flower, a Minnesota prairie native, are extremely cold-tolerant, often emerging from the ground before the last of the snows reside (as was the case this year). Most Pasque Flowers grow and go to seed before other flowers or grasses move in for competition. If their large, early white-to-purple blooms and prominent yellow pistils don't give them away, their look for the fine white hairs covering their stems and leaves.

Spotted the blooms (shortly to be shown above) yesterday afternoon.

Sunny this morning, highs in the 60's, then cooling off in the afternoon as a fine drizzle moved in.

Photos from the Maplewood Nature Center:



A Pair of Wood Ducks in a small pond along the Heron Loop



Shot of the Boardwalk going over the pond



A lot of wildlife along the boardwalk as migratory waterfowl returned to the pond in search of food and a quiet place to nest among the cattails and swamp grass; here a Canadian Goose eating a lily pad stem.







Tree Swallows wheeled over the surface of the pond, nabbing insects, pausing now and then to perch and sun themselves on the boardwalk



A Yellow-rumped Warbler perched along the boardwalk



The trees and reed beds were alive with the "rusty wheel" call of the Red-winged blackbird.



A photo of a Red-winged blackbird belting out its call. Eager to get at their nesting grounds, these are one of Minnesota's earlier Spring migrants, and can often be seen picking away at seed feeders in the late winter before shifting over to insects and cattails as the snows reside.

The MNC is always interesting. Such a unique location, with its shallow pond and handsomely maintained woodlands bordered by busy streets and suburban houses. It looks like the first pond lilies are starting to spread their buds, the elms begining to spread their budding leaves, and the earliest Marsh Marigold just about to pop.

On a short walk, we spotted or heard:

• Black-capped Chickadee
• Canadian Goose
• Grackle, Common
• Grey Squirrel
• Mallard Duck
• Pied-billed Grebe
• Pileated Woodpecker
• Red-bellied Woodpecker
• Robin, American
• Tree Swallow
• Wood Duck
• Yellow-rumped Warbler

No egrets or herons, though I have seen them in the park along 35W just North of Hugo. Weather is warm and sunny; pushing 50's in the morning. Spring Peepers and Chorus Frogs heard last night as the overnight temps slowly climb.

Drove down from Brainerd area yesterday afternoon. There was still snow in the ditches and forested spots all the way down to Foley, but it tapered off entirely before we hit Cambridge. Down in the upper 30's again last night, could only hear the Spring Peepers on the pond.

Got a hammer drill (thanks Dad) over the weekend, which I used to take another major step towards having a presentable pond garden. Used a 5/8" masonry bit to carve a hole in the bottom of one of my 18" ceramic pots. Caulked generously around the hole and inserted a garden hose repair fitting (threaded male on one end, barbed on the other). Tightened it up by attaching a small section of garden hose to the barb and battening it down with a small muffler clamp; worked just like a nut on a machine screw. Screwed a bubbler on to the male coupler so the pump fills the pot, allowing the water to splash artistically over the edge instead of just gushing from the end of the hose, arching over a good part of my intended stream and wasting a good deal of my pond to splatter. Will add it to the top of the waterfall later this week. In retrospect, I suppose I would have used a 3/4" bit so I could give the hose more purchase by fitting it through the hole cut in the pot, but really, this makes for a tighter fit with less leakage.

A few scattered flakes on the drive down to the cities this morning with temps hovering in the mid 30's.

Some photos of the (unfinished) waterfall and pot bubbler. Thanks for the interest, Lynn!

Near Lake Edna in Nisswa, MN

Just when we thought it was over and the first of the Eastern Bluebirds arrived, the snows roll back in -- six inches in the Brainerd Lakes area, a little over in an inch down in the cities, with temps holding in the thirties overnight.