Jeri Jo's Minnesota Master Naturalist Blog: May 2018

Sunday, May 13, 2018

Mother's Day

Spent Mother's Day fishing at the lake with a 4 year old, his very pregnant momma, and his beloved aunt. The temperature was in the low 70s, light breeze, bright sun, very few bugs--a perfect day in The Land of 10,000+ Lakes.

The lake was posted for invasive species.

Help stop aquatic hitchhikers! To avoid spreading aquatic invasive species before launching your boat and before leaving the water access you must: clean off aquatic plants and animals, drain lake or river water away from the landing, and dispose of unwanted bait in the trash. Itâ€™s the law. You may not transport aquatic plants, zebra mussels, or other prohibited invasive species. You may not launch watercraft or place a trailer in the water if it has aquatic plants, zebra mussels, or other prohibited invasive species attached. You may not transport watercraft without draining water, removing the drain plug, and leaving all water-draining devices open.

Sign 1 says Help stop aquatic hitchhikers! Before launching your boat and before leaving the water access you must clean off aquatic plants, zebra mussels, and other prohibited invasive species, drain lake or river water away from the landing, and dispose of unwanted bait in the trash. Itâ€™s the law. You may not transport aquatic plants, zebra mussels, or other prohibited invasive species. You may not launch watercraft or place a trailer in the water if it has aquatic plants, zebra mussels, or other prohibited invasive species attached. You may not transport watercraft without draining water, removing the drain plug, and leaving all water-draining devices open. Penalties up to 1 thousand dollars. Call a conservation officer to report violations. Sign 2 says This is a designated infested water. Sign 3 says Protect this lake from aquatic invasive species.

Just a bit of trivia: Earthworms are NOT native to Minnesota. They are actually considered an invasive species.

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The remnants of the neighborhood Pileated Woodpecker's hard work

Prairie grass restoration 1st week of May 2018

May 13, 2018

Had a wonderful discovery today--a Brown Bat hanging on a tree

The neighborhood Cottontail hoping I wouldn't see it.

Saturday, May 5, 2018

It was beautiful out there today. The lakes must have opened up because the water birds were scarce on the river today.

Some of these I took to put on iNaturalist.

Wild Turkey inside the wildlife sanctuary. He almost showed his full colors. Sorry about the rough footage. Not the best camera. Hopefully I'll get better with time.

Anyone recognize these?

A tough sight today. She was lying under my favorite tree. She wasn't there yesterday evening. There was no sign of predation. She was either pregnant or had just had her babies. Either way it was very sad.

This is an area that they're trying to restore to original prairie. They just cut back all the dead growth. These two Oaks they left. I hope to take pictures of this spot as it progresses through the year.

Friday, May 4, 2018

Today's Views From My Wheelchair

I may have to rename my blog. LOL

I've been trying to figure out how to use a site called iNaturalist. https://www.inaturalist.org/ It allows you to enter your nature observations, and helps you make identifications. All observations have the potential to become research data. It's not the most user-friendly site but I'm not giving up. If you want to follow my observations, my username is Dreamweaver.

The local retired florist turned his front yard into a flower garden. When we scootered by today, it was a carpet of blue and white (flowers yet to be identified) playing host to a plethora of bees. Unfortunately they did not show up on the video.