"Monarchs, Great Egrets, Interesting Gull Behavior and Water Lotus"
As we near the end of summer, I have had the opportunity to observe signs of fall migration and new colorful aquatic flora.
On Thursday August 27th, I had the opportunity to join Diane Mueller and Rachelle Cobb as we hiked and toured the 135 acre Wacouta Prairie with Claire Colliander from the Minnesota Land Trust. The purpose of the hike was an annual inspection of this restoration project.
While we observed numerous interesting aspects of the prairie, the most memorable were the sightings of swarms of monarch butterflies feeding on the flowers of native thistles.
The field thistle (Cirsium dicolor) has one of the most highly attractive blossoms for feeding monarchs. As I mentioned in my last post, now is the height of the annual fall migration.
In addition to monarchs, these flowers attract bees, flies, beetles, ants and many other pollinating insects.
As I have been paddling my canoe and walking the shoreline at the Head of the Lake the past couple weeks, I have observed an increase in the number of egrets feeding in the shallow waters. They tend to start migrating a few weeks before the blue herons.
Every year, I notice egrets starting to migrate two to three weeks before blue herons. The main reason for the earlier departure is they depend on easily accessible prey and have a much lower tolerance for ice covered shallow water.
During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, more than 95% of these birds were killed for their plumes to decorate fashionable hats.
Due to the low water levels on the river this summer, there have been high concentrations of gulls especially Franklin's Gulls. In the evening of August 28th, Kathy and I had a most remarkable experience observing these gulls.
As we were sitting down for dinner on our deck, we observed a swarm of flying ants nearby. At this time, no gulls were in the area.
Within ten minutes of observing the flying ants, there was a large flock of gulls circling a large cottonwood tree in our backyard. According to biologists at the Michigan StateUniversity, these ants will live in the decaying tissues of cottonwood trees.
During their mating season, these ants leave their nests in a synchronized breeding event. This nuptial event will attract large numbers of insect eating birds.
This observation left me with a nagging question. How in the world do these birds communicate?
With the low water conditions this summer in Bay City Bay, conditions were optimal for Minnesota's largest and showiest aquatic plant to flourish. The American Water Lotus is a perennial plant emerging from the muddy river bottoms.
A single stem is attached to a circular shaped leaf with a two foot diameter. These leaves have a water repellent coating causing water to bead and roll off the leaf.
The water lotus has the largest bloom of all the Minnesota flowering plants. These blooms can reach a diameter of up to ten inches and are held up on stalks reaching up to three feet above the water.
This last photo was contributed by Nancy Barth an avid Nature Notes follower from Greens Point. On the early morning of August 29th following an overnight .4 inch rain, Nancy captured this turkey vulture attempting to dry off.
I have observed this behavior before as temps drop to freezing during the fall. Vultures will spread their wings in an attempt to create more surface area to warm up faster.
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