Bluffs overlooking Wacouta
As one can see, there still is very little color showing up on the bluffs of Wacouta as of Sunday September 25, 2016. This view of the head of Lake Pepin from the top of Rattlesnake Bluff does reveal the very recent harvest of soybeans that were featured in a previous post.
New England Asters
The colorful New England Asters are a sure sign of fall and are very numerous along the Rattlesnake Bluff trail at this time. This plant is easy to distinguish from other asters because it's compound flowers are large in size and have more numerous ray florets.
Mature Bald Eagle
Bald eagles are still observed on a regular basis on my canoe outings on the bay. Faint tinges of yellow colors are appearing in the leaves of silver maples in the floodplain.
Duckweed
While paddling in the flooded willows at the Head of Lake Pepin, I happened upon quite a patch of green duckweed. these are floating aquatic plants that appear on or just below the surface of the water. This scene brought back memories of time spent in the Okefenokee Swamp of southeastern Georgia minus the cypress trees. Duckweed is a wonderful high protein food source for local puddle ducks like teal and wood ducks.
False Map Turtles
False map turtles are avid baskers, spending many hours during the day in the sun. They can be communal with other species, sharing space on the same log and using each other for predator watching. These turtles were taking advantage of one of the last warm sunny days before colder weather.
Greater Yellowlegs
Greater yellowlegs are one of the largest North American shorebirds. They breed and nest in the bogs and marshes of the boreal forest regions of Canada and Alaska. Right now they are on their way to their wintering grounds of the Gulf of Mexico and South America. This yellowlegs was observed working back and forth along the beach of Presbyterian Point hunting for and feeding on small fish.