October brought crunchy leaves, frosty mornings, and skeins of honking geese overhead. I couldn’t think of a better time of year to be outside. As I sit here debating which piece(s) of my 8-year-old’s Halloween candy will best fuel my next outdoor adventure, let’s take a virtual stroll and see what’s happening outside right now.

Most leaves stay green for the majority of the year thanks to a pigment called chlorophyll. This green pigment allows plants to absorb sunlight and convert it into energy through photosynthesis. When the temperatures start to drop, the chlorophyll begins to break down. This reveals other pigments (carotenoids) hidden beneath the green and gives autumn leaves their beautiful yellow and orange colors.

The brilliant reds and purples we see in fall come from a different pigment called anthocyanin. This pigment forms in the fall when sugars become trapped in the leaves. Think of trees like sugar maple, red oak (pictured above), and sumac, which put on some of the season’s most vibrant displays.

While you’re out admiring the colorful leaves, take a moment to notice the bark on the trees, too. You might spot some interesting patterns, like the neatly drilled rows of holes made by yellow-bellied sapsuckers. These native woodpeckers are easy to recognize by their precise work, each tiny hole they make forms a straight line or even a perfect grid.

These holes, called “sap wells,” are just deep enough to let small amounts of sap flow out, which the woodpeckers drink. The sugary sap also attracts insects, providing an extra snack for the sapsuckers to feed on.

While out at Westport Prairie collecting prairie seed for our upcoming planting this year, I came across some brightly colored mushrooms. I had never seen these before and thought it was strange to see them in October. It seemed fitting that they were the color of a jack-o-lantern!  These mushrooms are vermillion waxcaps and they do very well in dry, sandy prairies in the fall.

I’ll leave you with these turkey vultures hanging out on some exposed branches. Like a lot of other birds this time of year, turkey vultures are migrating in great numbers. Watch for them soaring overhead or taking the occasional break like the ones in my photo above.

Finding cool things in nature is easy; you just need to get outside.

Last week brought the autumnal equinox, that special moment when day and night share the sky in equal measure. Though I wouldn’t have minded a little more summer sun, the crisp air and clearer skies feel amazing after the smoky haze of recent months. As the season turns and winter slowly approaches, let’s take a virtual stroll outdoors and see what’s happening!

September brings splashes of yellow and purple across the landscape as goldenrods and asters come into bloom. In the weeks ahead, these fall flowers will put on a spectacular show, drawing in the many pollinators that rely on them for food and survival.

Speaking of pollinators, I’d like to invite you to join us to help create more prairie for pollinators at Westport Prairie. We’ll be holding Seed Collection events on October 1, 8, and 15. Come for one, two, or all three! Training and tools provided. Learn more and register here.

The other day in my backyard, I spotted a bumblebee on a sunflower, absolutely dusted in pollen. Did you know bumblebees keep collecting pollen until early October? As the weather cools, most of the colony dies off, but the queens stay busy gathering pollen to build up fat reserves that will sustain them through winter hibernation.

When spring arrives, the queen lays her eggs and starts a brand-new colony. The young queens from this new generation will continue the same cycle as their queen before them. It’s just one more reason why planting flowers that bloom into the fall is so important.

On a recent hike at Westport Prairie, I came across a small patch of flowers with the most striking shade of blue. The photo above doesn’t quite capture it, but it gives you a sense of just how special the color of downy gentian really is. Part of its charm may be that blue is the rarest flower color in the world, with fewer than 10% of flowering plants producing that color.

I looked into why blue is so rare and the answer was quite complex. It came down to energy cost and pigment instability, which basically means that it takes a lot of energy to produce blue and once it is produced, it’s difficult to maintain. An easier and more common method that plants use is to produce red pigment, which is much easier to produce, and modify it so that it looks blue.

Lastly, I’ll leave you with this adorable little tiger salamander that I spotted crossing the road while driving to one of my favorite trout streams. I helped it across so that it wouldn’t get hit by a passing car. This time of year you have an increased chance of spotting salamanders, because similar to birds, they are in peak migration. After spending the summer maturing in breeding ponds and going through metamorphosis, they are now dispersing and on the hunt for deep burrows where they can spend the winter hibernating.

Finding cool things in nature is easy; you just need to get outside.

Remember, you can join us in October at Westport Prairie for one or all of our Seed Collecting events. Learn more and register here. I look forward to sharing another nature update with you next month!

The days are getting (slightly) shorter, the nights are cooler, and the last of the fireflies still flicker in the night sky.  Summer seems to be flying by, but there’s still so much to explore before it’s over.  I  hope you’ll join me on a quick virtual exploration to see nature as it’s happening!

This month’s nature update focuses on the various types of insects you might come across if you were to head outside right now, like the blue dasher dragonfly (pictured above).  I found this one in my garden perched on a leaf and was fascinated by its large eyes.  They are so much different than our own and it got me wondering what life looks like to them.

It reminded me of a recent camping trip we took just a couple weeks ago.  A speedy horsefly was doing laps around my wife Carolyn, looking for an opportunity to land and take a bite.  Unable to swat the horsefly, she continued unpacking her things, when out of nowhere a dragonfly swooped in and grabbed the horsefly mid-flight!  The dragonfly’s eyesight and speed was extraordinary!  Wanting to learn more, I found this short video explaining how dragonflies see the world.  I highly recommend watching it!

Moving at a much slower speed, this caterpillar that looks like it came straight from an episode of the The Twilight Zone, is the caterpillar form of the white-marked tussock moth.  The small “tussocks” or hairlike structures on the caterpillar actually have backwards-angled barbs that cause them to stick into predators, much like the defense of a porcupine.  While I had no interest in eating this particular caterpillar, it’s good to know that they can be quite pokey if you were to touch one.

Speaking of moths, I also recently stumbled upon a creature that looked nothing like a moth, but apparently was.  At first glance it looked a small piece of bark from a tree or a shriveled-up leaf, but upon closer inspection, it had legs and wings!  I can only imagine how effective this camouflage would be if it were resting on a brown tree branch.

Not knowing what it was, I did a little research and determined it was a common looper moth.  Supposedly it got the name “looper” based on its movement as a caterpillar.  If you’ve ever seen an inchworm cruising along, the looper has a very similar movement.

Lastly, I’ll leave you with this terrifying photo of a beetle that I discovered while out with our Prairie Partners intern crew at Patrick Marsh.  It was easily two inches long, and was ready to use those pinchers at the drop of a hat!  It’s called a Reddish-brown stag beetle and the next time I find one, I’ll take my photo from a little further away!

Finding cool things in nature is easy, you just need to get outside. I hope you take the time to explore, and I look forward to sharing another nature update with you next month.

Fireflies are lighting up the night sky, pelicans have returned to Patrick Marsh, and Eastern bluebird chicks are hatching in nest boxes near you. Summer is here, and there’s so much to experience outdoors right now (if you can handle the heat)! But if the high temperatures have kept you inside, let’s take a quick virtual tour of nature as it’s happening.

With all the wildflowers in bloom, bumblebees are hard at work visiting each one to collect as much pollen as they can. In the photo above, you’ll notice two large pollen baskets attached to the bumblebee’s legs. The pollen is gathered from flowers and packed tightly into specialized structures on their hind legs called corbiculae, where it’s stored for later feeding. Sometimes, they even add a bit of nectar to help the pollen stick together.

It’s also that time of year to check the undersides of milkweed plants! If you’re lucky, you might spot a brightly colored monarch caterpillar happily munching away. Their vivid colors serve as a warning to predators about their toxicity. Because monarch caterpillars feed exclusively on milkweed, which contains toxic sap, they become poisonous themselves. Those bright colors are nature’s way of saying, “Eat me, and you’ll regret it!”

While monarch caterpillars are generally safe from predators because of their toxicity, did you know that toads have evolved an immunity to the toxins found in monarchs? They can eat as many monarch caterpillars as they like without any ill effects.

Interestingly, toads themselves are actually poisonous. They store a milky white toxin called bufotoxin in glands on their skin, which can impact the heart and nervous system of predators that try to eat them. But it doesn’t stop there! Some species, like the Eastern hognose snake, have evolved to be immune to the toxin in toads. In fact, toads are their favorite meal.

All of this just goes to show how beautifully complex nature is, and how remarkably good it can be at figuring out ways to eat poisonous things!

Lastly, I’ll leave you with this photo of a blooming prickly pear cactus I came across recently. Unlike monarchs and toads, it isn’t poisonous, but you probably wouldn’t want to take a bite out of it either! While prickly pears are technically edible, I think I’ll keep my distance after seeing all those spines.

Finding cool things in nature is easy, you just need to get outside. I hope you take the time to explore, and I look forward to sharing another nature update with you next month.

The sun is shining, the birds are singing, and it’s an absolutely wonderful time to be outside.  This past month we’ve seen nighthawks swooping overhead, sandhill crane chicks walk clumsily on their stilt-like legs, and tadpoles swimming by our feet.  Nature is in full swing!

If you want to see what else is happening outside, join me on this quick virtual tour!

As you walk through a forest and bask in the shade of the trees overhead, it can be magical to think that many of those trees started out as a seed.  While on a camping trip this past weekend with my family, we noticed that some of the acorns on the ground were cracked open.  We’ve never seen the inside of an acorn before and upon closer inspection, we noticed that tiny seedlings were emerging.  We all got a chance to see the tiniest oak tree in our lives!

If you were to step out of that forest and into a prairie, you might hear meadowlarks or dickcissels singing nearby. You may even flush a bird from its nest while walking a trail. That’s what happened to me at Westport Prairie. I spotted where a sparrow emerged and flew away. As I gently pushed aside a clump of grass, I discovered a tiny nest, no bigger than a teacup. This nest belongs to a field sparrow that built it in a prairie we planted three years ago!

Maybe a forest or a prairie really isn’t the type of natural setting you’re looking for.  A local wetland might do the trick, although you may want to bring a little bug spray along!  While doing our annual monitoring of Groundswell-owned land, we discovered a fairly large garter snake sunbathing on the marsh grass.  While garter snakes are not restricted to wetlands, it’s not uncommon to find them soaking up the sun near a marshy edge.

You might decide to skip visiting a forest, prairie, or wetland today and just relax in your yard instead. I was doing just that when golf ball-sized hail fell from the sky a couple of weeks ago. I had never seen anything like it, and I was glad to be home that day so I could quickly run inside!

Finding cool things in nature is easy, you just need to get outside. I hope you take the time to explore, and I look forward to sharing another nature update with you next month.

As the days get warmer and the chances of an overnight frost decrease, I find myself gravitating to my backyard garden more often than not.  I am well aware that come July/August I’ll be kicking myself for planting way more veggies than I have the motivation to care for, but for now I’m dreaming big!

We always account for a ~20% wildlife tax on the fruit/vegetables we grow (I’m looking at you, chipmunks and rabbits) so it’s good to plant more than you need if you have the room.  Anyway, if you were to take a break from veggie garden dreaming, here are some things you could find out in nature right now!

Right now, some of the loveliest spring ephemeral plants are in full display.  Mayapples are unfurling in great numbers, spring beauty is in full bloom, and Dutchman’s breeches are hanging out to dry!  It’s a lovely time to be outside!

Head out to a local green space near you, and you might also find plants like wild ginger, Virginia bluebell, trout lily, bloodroot, and false rue anemone.  These early spring flowers take the spotlight before the trees begin to leaf out.  It’s important to head out now though, because their blooming window is usually short and you don’t want to miss them!

If you’ve ever gardened even remotely close to a maple tree, the photo above probably gives you some anxiety.  These “whirlybirds” or “helicopters” are the little seeds that floated down from maple trees last summer and fall.  All winter they rested wherever they landed, but now they’re coming back to life.

Every day I uproot at least a dozen of these in an effort to prevent my yard from becoming a maple forest, but as frustrating as they can be, they’re pretty darn cool.  Their ability to disperse seeds like mini helicopters and set root wherever they land (I’ve seen them emerging from the cracks of the sidewalk) is remarkable, and without them we wouldn’t have maple syrup!

While I most definitely have plants on the brain right now, I couldn’t write a nature update without mentioning all of the birds that have migrated back.  Sandhill cranes have begun pairing up and building nests, yellow-rumped warblers can be seen flitting about overhead, and pods of pelicans are loafing around in the water.  Pair that with all of the frogs chirping, and it’s finally starting to look and sound like spring!

Well, that’s all for this month! It’s easy to find cool things in nature—you just need to get outside! I hope you make time to do so yourself, and I’ll see you next month for another nature update.

Spring has sprung!  Eastern bluebirds have returned, chorus and leopard frogs are singing their hearts out, and some of our earliest spring ephemeral flowers have begun to emerge from the soil.  It’s an exciting time of year that never gets old.  Join me for a quick virtual hike to explore what’s happening outside right now!

While there are no leaves on the trees yet, if you look up at the tips of the branches you may notice that many different tree species are starting to produce buds.  They come in all different shapes, colors, and sizes but some of my favorite are the fuzzy catkins (pictured above).  Birch, willow, and aspen are a few different types of tree species that produce these super soft buds and they’re some of the first to emerge.

The main reason these buds are so fuzzy is for protection from the cold.  Because these trees bud out so early, they need their own version of a puffy jacket!

If you step outside right now, you might spot plumes of smoke rising in the distance. That’s because fire season is in full swing—a key part of managing and restoring native habitats.

As these controlled burns sweep through our favorite natural areas, they clear out invasive woody plants while leaving native species unharmed. With their deep, resilient roots, native plants remain safely underground, ready to thrive once the fire has passed.

If you have the chance, visit a recently burned area. You’ll be amazed at how quickly native flowers emerge, often weeks ahead of plants in unburned areas. It’s a powerful reminder of how fire, when used responsibly, restores and revitalizes the land.

Lastly, I’ll leave you with one of my all-time favorite flowers—the pasque flower. They are one of the first native wildflowers to bloom, and they are a sight to behold!

If you look closely, you might notice that this little flower is covered in fuzz. Look familiar? Like the fuzzy catkins found on trees such as birch, willow, and aspen, pasque flowers have a thin, fuzzy layer for the exact same reason. Many of our spring ephemeral flowers are fuzzy to help insulate them from the cold.

Well, that’s all for this month! It’s easy to find interesting things in nature—you just need to get outside! I hope you make time to do so yourself, and I’ll see you next month for another nature update.

Well, the cold snap seems to have passed and the snow is melting rather quickly.  Buds on trees are getting bigger, the cardinals are belting out their songs, and I’m constantly cleaning mud off of my dog’s paws.  All signs that spring is near!

While we’re still a ways out from the first official day of spring, let’s see what’s happening outside in late February!

Throughout the year we clear invasive brush from some of our favorite outdoor spaces like Westport Prairie and Patrick Marsh.  The brush piles tend to accumulate on the land until we get a little snow and then it’s time to light them up!

Every once in awhile I see a cottontail rabbit run out of one of the piles as we’re lighting it.  It’s a good reminder that while they just look like piles of sticks to us, they can actually provide habitat (or I suppose rabbitat if you’re a bunny) for various critters.  I always try to leave a few brush piles scattered here and there instead of burning them all for just that reason.

Abandoned bird nests are very easy to spot this time of year since branches are much more exposed without the foliage.  Just about every time I spot one within reach, I take peek inside to see if there is any evidence of it still being used.  A lot of times you’ll find a large pile of seeds that have been stockpiled by rodents over the winter.  It’s a nice little insulated place to eat a winter snack.

As you can probably tell, most of the photos I took for this monthly nature update were from earlier this week when we still had a decent amount of snow.  Now that a lot of the snow has melted and the ground is wet, keep an eye out for tracks in the mud.  Just this week I’ve seen deer, turkey, squirrel, and even some raccoon tracks.

Mouse tracks are a little harder to find in the mud because mice are so light.  Since they don’t weigh that much, it’s easier for them to walk around without leaving a trace.  In the snow, however, rodent tracks are almost impossible to miss (like the photo above).  While small (each individual track was <0.5″), it’s easy to find these little mouse highways on top of the snow.  If you’re lucky, you can sometimes follow these tracks and find a pair of wing prints in the snow where they end… a sign that an owl or hawk swooped down for the mouse (unlucky for the mouse).

Well that’s all for this month!  It’s easy to find cool things in nature, you just need to get outside!  I hope you make the time to do so yourself and I’ll see you next month for another nature update.

Happy April!  Wait, that can’t be right.  If you head outside right now it certainly feels like the beginning of spring, but surprisingly we’re in the middle of winter.  While it’s a nice break from the cold snap that we recently had, I’m trying not to get too used to it.  Soon, the snow will (hopefully) arrive and just maybe it will start to feel like a true winter in Wisconsin.

As we prepare for winter to get back into gear, let’s get outside and see what’s happening right now!

The warmer weather makes ice fishing a whole lot more fun!  I took my son out on the ice the other day and we had a blast.  He caught the biggest bluegill of the evening and was very excited to show it off. It was fun just admiring the fish and seeing how beautiful they are when the sunlight hits their scales.   It’s hard to deny the beauty of a brown or rainbow trout, but take a second to look at our various species of panfish and you might be surprised at how colorful and intricate their patterning can be.

After snapping a couple pics, we sent the fish back on its way and hoped it didn’t tell its friends so that we could catch another.

Despite the warmer temperatures and lack of snow, if you were to head outside early in the morning, you might get a chance to see some hoar frost.  While out at Westport Prairie one morning, I noticed that every once in a while there would be a tiny patch of frost hanging onto the grass.  If you get up close for a better look, you might notice that the frost looks a little different.  It seems spikier and has a unique look.

If you get even closer, you might notice that the frost leads to a tiny hole in the ground.  The hole is the den of a small rodent like a deer mouse or meadow vole.  The frost outside of the den is created when the water vapors from a rodent’s breath makes its way out of the den and comes in contact with the cold air.  This type of frost is called hoar frost and I encourage you to go find some!

Speaking of rodents in winter, I was out walking our newly planted 7.5-acre prairie planting when I came across a large clump of prairie seed.  This clump of seed was tossed by hand during our prairie planting.   Often, when you include the seed from plant species like thimbleweed in a planting, it can create large clumps that causes the seeds to stick together.  Thimbleweed feels similar to sheep’s wool and can be difficult to separate out.  It has always frustrated me just a little because I really like getting an even distribution of seed.

When I approached the clump of prairie seed, I reached down to grab a small handful so that I could spread it out.  To my surprise, someone had taken residence in this cozy, insulated blanket of seed!  It startled me more than I’d like to admit.  I took a picture because I knew no one would believe me, put the fluffy seed roof back onto the mouse house, and went on my way.

It’s easy to find cool things in nature, you just need to get outside!  I hope you make the time to do so yourself and I’ll see you next month for another nature update.