Last weekend the first ruby-throated hummingbirds, Baltimore orioles, orchard orioles, and rose-breasted grosbeaks returned to our yard at Lake Waconia.
Observing spring wildflowers, birds and how fox families work
Naturalist Jim Gilbert also has two favorites places in Nerstrand Big Woods State Park and Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden.
By Jim Gilbert
May 12, 2022 at 9:57PM
These birds are night migrators, coming mostly from Central and South America. On Monday, an indigo bunting male and Harris' sparrow arrived — the first of the year.
Woodland wildflowers currently are covering floors of southern Minnesota natural forests. Snow trillium, violets, wild ginger, Dutchman's-breeches, cut-leaved toothwort, white trout-lily, and spring-beauty are among the species in bloom.
Two of my favorite places to observe spring birds and wildflowers are:
- Nerstrand Big Woods State Park, located northeast of Faribault and just outside the small town of Nerstrand. Take the Hidden Falls Trail.
- Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden and Bird Sanctuary, a 15-acre natural area located along Theodore Wirth Parkway on the west side of Minneapolis. Founded in 1907, it's the oldest public wildflower garden in the United States. Per its original charter, it is maintained in a natural rustic state, as might have been encountered in early settlement up to 1900.
Lately I have been observing a red fox den from a distance. Like other wild dogs, they hunt mainly at night. They are found throughout Minnesota, but their range includes North America and Eurasia, and they live in a variety of habitats from arctic to temperate zones. Red foxes especially like countrysides where there are mixed woodlands and fields. Mating season is between January and March, and the females typically bear four to six kits after a 51-to 53-day gestation.
The male and female, both monogamous, stay with each other from the breeding season until the young are dispersed, usually at the end of September.
The den is only occupied for birthing and raising young. It consists of a burrow that the foxes dig themselves or remodel from the den of another animal. While the mother stays with the young in the den, the father hunts for his family, bringing back mice, voles, rabbits, squirrels, birds and fish. Red foxes are omnivores, so they also eat berries and other fruits, nuts, insects and carrion.
Adult red foxes weigh 7 to 15 pounds, are about 3 feet long, including the large bushy tail with the white tip, and stand about 15 inches. They are normally rusty red with black legs and a white chest and belly.
Jim Gilbert has taught and worked as a naturalist for more than 50 years.
about the writer
Jim Gilbert
None of the boat’s occupants, two adults and two juveniles, were wearing life jackets, officials said.
