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!
A mighty oak emerges
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!
Field sparrow nest with eggs
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!
Garter snake
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.
Large hail stones
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.