Wild August

Getting my walking in at least twice a week in the hot and humid Midwest summer can be challenging, but the worst of the heat broke and some cloud cover helps too.

Restored prairie in Genoa City

The wildflowers are hanging in there despite the wilting heat, and a drier than normal summer has meant less mosquitoes.

I've really enjoyed using the 24-70mm Canon lens I've been trying out, but have decided that it is a little bit heavy even though they make one that is even heavier.  It is very versatile as you can see from the pictures in this post, but for someone who has to carry it for miles along with other equipment every pound counts.

So I've decided to get the 40mm lens that I enjoyed from my previous kit and I'm going to test out the 24mm pancake lens Canon makes as well.  They both weigh about a 1/3 pound each but of course it will mean that I have to switch lenses more often.  But they are so small one could easily fit in a pocket for quick access.

For a switch from the prairies I headed out to Volo Bog to see what it was like in August.  The answer was hot and humid of course, but I've never seen so much wild Bee Balm.

I had a chance to pull out the 300mm lens and get a pretty good hand held shot of a dragonfly.  Unfortunately it flew off before off before I could get a better angle.

I also spied a Monarch butterfly gathering nectar.

This is what it found so attractive.  I can see the appeal.

I didn't see any birds in the bog, but there was certainly no shortage of turtles.

One thing that was surprising was the abundance of Purple loosestrife. Purple loosestrife is a very hardy invasive perennial which can rapidly degrade wetlands, diminishing their value for wildlife habitat.  When purple loosestrife gets a foothold, the habitat where fish and wildlife feed, seek shelter, reproduce and rear young, quickly becomes choked under a sea of purple flowers.

The best time to control purple loosestrife is in late June, July and early August when it is in flower. Plants are easily recognized and it has not yet gone to seed. Once flower petals start to drop from the bottom of the spike, the plant begins to produce seed.

If you see any and you want to help out, pulling and digging the plants is the way to control the spread.  Chemical use at wetland sites is not advised!

Spring Arrives in Wisconsin

When we came back from Idaho we were greeted by spring's arrival in southern Wisconsin.  Things are starting to green up, and there are more days above 50F now than below.  That means conditions are ideal to start hitting the trails here before the arrival of tick and mosquito season.

In the Southern Unit of Kettle Moraine State Forest they've been busy cutting and piling up logs since last fall, which made the Eagle segment of the Ice Age trail look completely different.  Hopefully the resulting openness in the forest floor will lead to more wildflower growth like these early Hepatica I found on Saturday.

Down by the State Forest headquarters I found some Pussytoes on another segment of the IAT.

Lots of folks were out with their families and their dogs using the trail.  There is a shooting range nearby and it was quite loud over that way so I won't use that section again.  The turtle I spotted was doing his best to escape all the ruckus but I doubt he was successful in outrunning it!

On Sunday I drove out to Texas Island, part of the Rome Pond Wildlife Area in Jefferson County.  It wasn't in Texas or Italy, just an hour north of home here in Wisconsin.  The parking lot was located .10 mile away from the intersection of County Hwy E and Herr Road and was easy to see from the road.

The "path" is a service road that starts to narrow as it gets closer to Texas Island.  I overheard the ranger on a hike two years ago mention this spot so I've been meaning to check it out.

Not truly an island the land rose above a marshy area and provided good habitat for Mayapples and Trillium.  It is open to hunting and I did spot lots of deer tracks in the mud!

Little clutches of Wood Anemone were scattered around too.

The trail ended kind of abruptly and from there it was just a series of vague game trails marked by the occasional spent shell casing (why do hunters not bother to pick these up??) so I just wandered around for an hour enjoying the views and the sounds of the birds in the trees.

I wasn't worried about getting lost since the views were so open it was easy to keep track of the direction I had come from and head back when I had enough.  I would have loved to see big patches of Trillium but I made do with the few that were opened up since most were sporting buds only.

Yesterday at work it was pointed out that they could get along without me next Monday so I'll be leaving for my big trip on Friday morning and don't have to be back at the office until June 2nd!  Wayne and Cory will follow on the 12th with the fifth wheel but I'm packing up my little Vibe and motoring down to Tennessee for a few days before we all meet up on the coast of North Carolina. Big adventures ahead!

Kayaking Again!

Though we are in the Manitowoc area camping this weekend we do not have wifi at Scheffel's Hideaway Campground so I will continue trying to catch up on old posts instead of showing you what we're up to right now.  Wayne's work laptop has a Verizon aircard but it's just not as "zippy" to do the blog using his setup.  Luckily I have posts that are already mostly ready and easy to put the final touches to on such occasions!

As you may or may not remember, last summer I was recovering from surgery to repair some minor tearing on the labrum in my shoulder joint.  It's been a long time since I was in a kayak.  Wayne's been working a lot of overtime this past month, so I've been out on our lake twice without him.

Now, just so you don't go feeling bad for Wayne, we did get out together one time last week.  I left the camera behind so I could spend my time looking at him.  I haven't seen him much lately, after all.

I like to head down to the south end of Lake Elizabeth with my camera when I'm by myself.  It doesn't take but 10 minutes for me to pass all the boaters and have the place to myself.  Except for the wildlife, that is.

Don't know what kind of bird this guy is so suggestions are welcome! The first time I went out in the kayak I spotted it along with a ton of the Yellow Water Lilies and the Fragrant White Water Lilies.

I also spied three different large turtles, I think they were Spiny Softshell.  Females can live up to 50 years, which means there might be turtles in our lake as old as I am!

Last week when I went out for the second time alone I didn't spot any more of the large softshell turtles, just a handful of the smaller Painted Turtles with their heads poked up above the surface.

When Wayne and I were out together we spotted an abandoned nest.  I went back to it to get a shot, hoping someone out there might know what the eggs were.  They were fairly large but still would've rested easily in the palm of my hand.  Wayne thought they might have been abandoned because the water rose high enough to flood the nest.  I know they're not turtle eggs.  I learned from the DNR website that most likely the reason we saw that turtle crossing the road in Door County was to lay eggs, they tend to do that in May and June.  Glad we helped out!

The turtles may have been my big discovery the first time out, but my second time out alone it was all about the Great Blue Heron.  He tried to play hide and seek with me, but I wasn't fooled.

I was ready when it took to the air.

As you can see in the pictures, they curl their long neck into an "S" shape which makes for a more aerodynamic flight profile.  Believe it or not, these large birds only weigh 5 to 6 pounds due to their hollow bones.

It didn't go very far, and within a few minutes I had caught up to it again.  I couldn't help it that it flew in the same direction I was headed.  I swear I did not mean to stalk this poor bird.

Thanks to the All About Birds website I can tell that this was an adult, not a juvenille, by the black and white striped head.

The statue-like pose is common for them as they scan for fish.  Those feathers on their neck continually grow and fray and are used while preening.  They use a fringed claw on their middle toe to gather the "powder" from the feathers and then reapply it to their underparts to protect from the slime and oils.  I'm not kidding.

Of course while I was admiring the Great Blue Heron I drifted closer than I intended to and scared it off.  I made sure to head in the opposite direction this time.  I also saw a pair of Herons and a Great Egret a little further down the south end of the lake but they were too far out in the lily pad covered area for me to investigate.

Whatever type of bird this is pictured above is very plentiful on the lake.  I know it's a bad shot, but identification help would be appreciated!  Some type of tern maybe?  That makes two types of birds I need help identifying in this post, hope someone out there knows their bird stuff!  This is where I would normally pop in a link to Travels With Emma, but Wayne's laptop won't do that for me so click on Judy's link in my blogroll if you've got the time.

Cana Island

If you make the trip out to Baileys Harbor you can't leave without visiting Cana Island Light. It's $6 each for adults to access the 8.7 acre island's grounds and keeper's quarters.

We skipped the climb to the top for the extra $4 each and made our way out to the shore for some of the best views in Door County.  Views from the top are overrated in my opinion.

Don't mind the bugs flying around they won't bite (much), and watch your step on the loose limestone surface.

Just turn around now and then for views of the lighthouse as you pick your way around the shore.

There are cairns everywhere,  and gulls too.

Lots of plants were growing and blooming in all that rocky, sandy soil that I didn't see in the other places we visited in Door County.

I was so grateful to Wayne for letting me drag him around on the rocks that I even blew him a few kisses.

I loved these tiny pink flowers against the speckled limestone...Cranesbill maybe?

And Dame's Rocket may technically be invasive...but who could resist that riot of color on roadsides and rocky beaches alike?

To top it all off we rescued a turtle who was foolishly trying to cross the road where people were flying by without paying much attention.  I don't know if the publishers of the Door County Visitors Guide had any idea their publication would ever be used as a turtle scoop, but I'm sure they'd approve.

I'm way behind on posting, life keeps getting in the way.  Funny how that happens.  Tonight I'm actually solo camping at Harrington Beach State Park, but I have so much more to tell you about Door County still!

Bike Ride is a Snap!

Katrina took off to meet some friends in Milwaukee while we were staying at Kohler-Andrae and I took my newly healed shoulder out for a bike ride until she returned.  Riding was a snap, but not as snappy as the Snapper crossing the road.  Why did it cross the road?  Death wish maybe, I've seen quite a few turtle-meets-vehicle deaths this summer.  Maybe that means turtle populations on the rise?  Or are turtles getting slower?

Just past the cranky turtle was the visitor's center and their lovely pond garden.

From there I turned onto County V and just a short ride down the road to Neighbors for Trails area.  This trail system is unusual in that bikes are allowed.  Nice ride through the pine forest and the wildflower meadows.

More than flowers to see on the trail and in the park, wildlife is very happy with the comfortable summer weather we've been enjoying.  Lots of rain, but I'll take that any day over the heat wave and drought we suffered through in the midwest last summer.

Okay, it's not bison and elk, but I'll take what I can get! Out of state adventures will just have to wait another month at least.  We have the MN/SD border set for August, Falls of the Ohio for September and the Smokies in October, but any one of those may change if Katrina lands an out of state job.  I don't know if I mentioned it yet, but she interviewed for a company that is looking to fill a position in Maine and in Connecticut.  Maine in August?  Bring on that blueberry pie!