A Wildflower Walk in South Woods

I was looking through my pictures and trying to decide which to keep and which to delete.  I take way too many, and it isn't possible to keep them all.  I save them on thumb drives organizing by person or subject.  I have an external hard drive that doesn't work anymore so I have tons of pictures I can't access.  I don't understand the cloud.  There are photos there but you have to pay if you store too many.  I used to save them on CD's but I don't have a computer with a CD drive any longer and some computers don't have USB ports so the thumb drives will be obsolete very soon.  Oh well, I'm getting to the age where accessing the pictures will soon be someone else's problem just like we were left with movie camera film which turns brittle and needs an operating movie projector.  We have recordings on Beta and VHS tape also that will never be looked at again.

This is the reason I blog and make hard cover books of the blog.  At least there is a hard copy of my life which includes a few pictures.  My daughter makes beautiful scrapbooks with her family memories that will also be there for the future.

Last weekend my daughter, her mother in law, our grandson and I attended a Wildflower walk through South Woods in Ripon Wisconsin.  It was sponsored by the South Woods Park Association and led by a former biology professor from Ripon College.  Before I delete any of the pictures I took, I will put some of them into this blog.

It was a beautiful day and we spent over two hours walking the trails in the woods and learning about plants that are often overlooked.  Many people showed up.  This walk is done yearly but this was our first time.  Its amazing what appears in the woods early in the Spring.

I have written about our grandson Ewan many times, and even though I may be prejudice, he is the most interesting kid.  It doesn't matter what it is, he goes all in.  He showed up with his walking stick (which he made himself), his rubber boots, a water bottle and his canvas bag which contained everything he needed.   He had a journal, a pencil and various items which may be needed for survival in the woods.

We started out learning about the bloodroot plant.  Dr. Wittler explained about the structure of flowers and how different plants survive and are pollinated.

Bloodroot

Ewan kept very good notes.  The instructor picked several of the plants to pass around.  Ewan somehow ended up being the last one to look at the plant and would then stash it in his book to press and preserve.  He told me that he didn't want to get in trouble for picking the flowers but as long as the professor had already picked them, it was alright to keep them.

Ewan with his mom and his other grandma.

We saw a lot of different plants and heard stories about all of them.  Dr. Wittler was a college professor for many many years, so he had a lot of anecdotes and stories taken from his experiences.

We saw skunk cabbage, hepatica, trillium, wild leeks, Dutchman's breeches, trout lily and spring beauty to name a few.

  Dutchman's breeches 

 

Skunk Cabbage

 

Wild Leeks (Ramps) 

 

Spring Beauty 

 

Trillium 

 

It was a great day.  We ended the tour with some information on some invasive species.  Someone found some Morel mushrooms which are a delicacy to some people.  Ewan even managed to go home with them.

There were a couple logs to climb and steep hills, but we managed just fine.  I have to admit, I was a little tired by the end of the day, but that kind of tired is good.  Fresh air, sunshine and exercise is a great combination. 

Spring 2019 and the discovery of a Great Blue Heron Rookery

The spring migratory birds are returning or have returned in the past few weeks.  The Red winged blackbirds arrived very early.  They were one of the first to show up.

The Baltimore Orioles and Hummingbirds are back.

The whooping cranes have returned from the south to an area nearby.  Some were raised there and some have just showed up at the habitat for the first time.

The sandhill cranes are nesting within sight of our windows.  They were beginning to nest closer but some bad weather and flooding moved them a short distance away.  We can't see them as well, but we will be able to see when the egg or eggs hatch.

There are always the bluebirds, the various ducks and the tree swallows.  Neither the tree swallows nor the bluebirds are nesting in our yard yet, but they are in the area and should begin soon.  I can't even begin to mention all of the species of birds we see around our house.

This year the most exciting times have revolved around the Great Blue Heron.  Every year they come to our marsh to fish.  I see them and I photograph them often.  This spring I saw one actually eating fish.  They wait so patiently, then slowly move in as if they are walking on tip toes and suddenly dip their head into the water and come out with a fish.  I saw it twice so far this spring.  One fish was very large and it took him a long time to swallow it.  Another time it looked like a pan fish.  It is amazing how they can just swallow a fish whole.

This morning a Great Blue Heron flew up into a tree outside our dining room window.  He sat there for the longest time.  I don't usually see them sitting in a tree unless they are nesting.

Speaking of Great Blue Herons nesting in trees, we actually have a Great Blue Heron Rookery in our area. If you have ever seen a group of huge nests made of large sticks in tall tree tops, you have seen one of these rookeries.  They are the spring nesting place for these large birds.  I was always under the impression that Great Blue Herons had young ones in the south during our winter.  I never really knew for sure, I just assumed.  Assuming is never a good thing.  Rookeries can have more than a hundred nests in them, but this one has around 20 or so.

I don't know how long this rookery has been here or why they chose this particular location.   This is the first year I knew about them.  As much as things stay the same, they also evolve.  You never can predict what the changes will be or what you will see from year to year.

Easter Sunday April 21, 2019

Today was Easter Sunday 2019.  Ever since I was a small child, we had egg hunts.  My dad was really into being the Easter Bunny.  We would color eggs the night before and then in the morning we would search for our basket and the colored hard boiled eggs.  He was very clever in choosing the hiding places and sometimes they took a long time to find.  When my sister and I had families of our own, the tradition continued.  I have to admit, I wasn't a very good Easter bunny but my dad continued the tradition for his grandchildren for many years.  My daughters then picked it up for their families.  Now our grandchildren are ages 9 to 18.  My daughter hosted brunch and all I had to do was show up.  I was pretty sure the egg hunt tradition was over forever.  Then last week our daughter called and asked if we could help with a big kid egg hunt.  We were to buy 5 four packs of Sprecher soda and buy 5 gift cards.

The weather was perfect.  Sometimes Easter Sunday is cold and snowy.  This year it was sunny and the temperature was near 80 degrees.  This made the egg hunt plan a lot easier because most of it could be outside.

The first thing we did was eat an awesome brunch.  It seemed strange to just show up pretty much empty handed, but I loved it.  I know when we are gone, the family tradition will continue.  We were missing my son in law's family this year as they had other plans.  As families increase, it gets harder to have everyone together.

Our daughter even made an awesome Pinterest cake which really did look as good as the original.  Usually when we try to copy a cute idea, it bombs.  This was great and tasted good too.

Then the instructions came.  At first the older kids just went along with the whole idea to be pleasant, but soon they got into it just as much as the younger kids.  Each kid had a color assigned to them.  The first egg was hidden inside the house.  They had to find their color egg.  Inside the egg was a QR code.  They needed to use their smartphone with a QR reader installed.  Our oldest quickly downloaded her own reader and she was off and running.  I had a reader on my phone so the others who needed it had to come to me.

When you scan this QR, this is what it said.  All the QR's were different. 

This one was Jack's so off he went to the fire pit.  My son in law made this fantastic fire pit that looks like a fire breathing dragon.

Things were moving so fast, I'm not sure where they all went running off to.  Melissa ran out the front door to the mailbox and the rest of them scattered.  With the first clue they found another egg with a second clue.  The second clue took them to an empty soda pop carton.  From there they had to check the yard and fill their carton with Sprecher sodas.

Jack has his carton

 

Ewan found his empty carton. 

 

Sam found his carton under a rock. 

 

Dylan leaving no rock unturned.

 

They looked everywhere and eventually every egg and pop bottle was accounted for.

 

Melissa, the least competitive of the group, was the first to finish. 

 

The youngest and the oldest grandchild sampling what they found. 

 

Grandpa with all five grandchildren.

It was a great day.  I thought our days of happy egg hunts were over, but I was wrong.  This will be a day to remember.

Thank you Heather

Another Dreary Sunday

Today I woke up to a beautiful day.  The temperature was mild, and it became sunny.  We have had a long winter, and spring has not been what I had hoped for.  It has been cold.  The weather people say it has been seasonable or above normal, but I don't believe that.  I thought today would be different.  We were looking forward to doing a couple projects outside.  I have been making birdseed blocks regularly.  http://www.thecabincountess.com/2018/12/diy-for-birds.html  The birds enjoy them and normally they last a long time.  The red winged blackbirds and other birds can't just scoop the seed onto the ground.  Recently some of the cakes were getting eaten way too fast.  I discovered that a pesky raccoon was coming after dark and eating them.  The only one they left alone was one protected by a tubular raccoon guard.

This guard is in need of a spring cleanup but it works great.

We decided it was time to make a couple more.  We went to the lumber yard a few days ago and purchased some stovepipe, a cap to fit the stovepipe and a longer pole.  The next step was to cut the pole to size and drill the proper size hole in the metal cap.  Since our son in law has a very complete shop, we paid him a visit.  Within five minutes, he had the job done.

When we pulled into their driveway, our youngest grandson Ewan was busy as usual.  This time  he was making a pond for his frogs.  Last year he settled for a habitat in a plastic tub, but I guess he decided to expand.  Just like his dad, Ewan is always busy with something.  If he can't be outside, he is inside writing books and making movies.  He told me the pond started out a little larger but the water is escaping.  He is damming it up with mud and rocks so it will last all summer.  He isn't afraid of working hard, that's for sure.  Hopefully his pond will not drain away although it may also be a perfect mosquito breeding ground.

After a short visit, we headed home.  We had things to do.  As the pond photos show, the skies had become overcast but it was sixty-six degrees so I was ok with that.

When we were about half way home, it started to rain.  I was not happy.  So here I'm sitting waiting for the rain to stop.  It doesn't look promising.  The fog is rolling in, and I can hear the rain on the roof.  If I were a napper, this would be the perfect Sunday afternoon for that.

The raccoon/squirrel guard is completed.  It will need to be painted and installed when the weather improves.  Hopefully that will be soon.  There is a spring storm coming at the end of this week.  Hopefully it fizzles out or doesn't bring bunch of snow.  I know summer will get here eventually, but I would prefer it be sooner than later.

Raccoon guard ready to be installed.

*Update:

What a difference a day makes.  Today, April 8, 2019, is simply gorgeous.  The sun is shining brightly, the wind is light and the temperature is around 70 degrees.

Quite an improvement over the rainy and foggy picture of yesterday.

My husband was able to get outside and install the raccoon/squirrel guards on two of the bird feeder poles.

I found some spray paint in the basement which will work for now.  Later I will repaint and clean up everything for the summer.  Now it's time to put out more seed and see what happens.  Hopefully these will keep the masked mischief makers away from our bird feeders.