June 10

Wednesday, Remi and I returned to Forest Hill Nature Area for our weekly nature hike. Arriving early in the morning, I was greeted by mostly sunny skies, a temperature of 68 degrees and a refreshing breeze out of the southwest. From the top of Energy Hill, I headed west past Mallard Marsh into Bobolink Meadow where both the small flowers of Hop Clover and the larger flowers of Red Clover dotted the landscape. Also, on a Milkweed leaf, I spotted a tiny Rust Fly while off in the distance I noticed a Whitetail deer staring at me. Moving into North Woods, I was pleased to see the results of last Saturday’s effort by scouts from Breckenridge in spreading bark mulch on the trail. I exited the heavily shaded woods into bright sunshine and circled Succession Field where I saw both a Green Bottle fly and a Crane fly sitting close to each other on leaves of Virginia creeper. Rounding the bend through Birch Row, I saw some white froth stuck to the side of grass blades. Removing some of it, I exposed the tiny organism that produces this stuff, a Spittlebug nymph. Further along, I noticed the colorful hallucinogenic mushroom, Amanita. Next, I turned into South Woods and proceeded onto the boardwalk in Swanson Swamp where I observed several Wild Irises blooming among the cattails. Leaving the woods, I walked east where a Garter snake slithered across the path in front of me. Up ahead at Artist Overlook, I paused to smell the sweet aroma of Multiflora rose blossoms. Around the next bend, I headed east on the south trail, where I got a glimpse of a Robin’s nest where a baby bird poked its head out from under the sitting mother. Continuing past Frog Fen and Brady Cemetery, I turned north into Native Grassland where the first of many colorful prairie wildflowers, Spiderwort was starting to blossom. On the edge of the trail, what appeared to be red ripe berries were actually the closed up petals of the Orange Hawkweed flower. Curving around Grebe Pond, I approached the barn where I noticed the tiny flowers of Bittersweet Nightshade among the cattails. Just west of the barn, I stopped to observe a patch of disturbed ground where a few days ago a large female Snapping Turtle laid and buried her eggs. The eggs should hatch sometime around Labor Day. Finally, we got back to the car and headed home.

Spring nears summer

Fledglings learn to fly

Basking in the sun

Garter snakes lie

In the lush meadow

Milkweeds add more green

On the floating logs

Turtles can be seen

Dark beneath the canopy

In the forest deep

Reverence for life

A covenant I keep

D. DeGraaf