One thing I forgot to mention yesterday is that in Johnson Creek we went to the landfill, thinking it was close to where we could see egrets nesting from the highway. It was closed, but we pulled onto a public road from which we thought we might be able to see the birds without disturbing them. We didn't see any sign of them, but only one guy lived on this road, so he came to see what we wanted. This is how a conversation between birders and non-birders goes:
Us: Do you ever see egrets around here?
Him: Eagles? Yeah, we see them now and then.
Us: No, egrets. They're big, white birds.
Him: Yeah, we see seagulls around here too.
So we just thanked him and left.
Today we went to Okee, but there is very little bird action there now, just a few gulls flying around. I wanted to go to Baxter's Hollow, which is on the north side of the river, but it was so windy and the water was so rough that we decided against taking the ferry. We drove along the south side of the river and stopped at the park from which you can see the island in Sunset Bay.
The trees on the other side of the river were so pretty with their fresh green leaves.
Then we drove to Sauk and went to the dam, where we saw lots of pelicans.
In this photo, the bird in the foreground almost looks like two bodies with one head.
I like how these pelicans are gathered in a circle in front of the dam. It's probably a fishing technique, but it looks like some sort of contra dance.
And these three have formed a conga line!
This is a view of the conical mound across the river, along the road to Wollersheim Winery.
We had been to Baxter's Hollow a couple of years ago, but it was in March and the trail was icy so we didn't hike there. Today it was perfect, and I looked for jack in the pulpit flowers.
Next to this one I found a morel, and since we had seen a sign that said that hunting was allowed, I figured foraging was as well, so I picked it. We also saw this enormous trillium. I've never seen one this big!
We hiked down to a shallow, rocky creek. Here I am in front of it, holding the morel.
We saw a bluejay, and Travelon got a shot of him. I also saw a scarlet tanager, but Travalon couldn't see him so he gave me the camera. I got a photo, but it isn't very good - you can just see some red and black among the leaves of a tree. (On the birding social media page, one person described scarlet tanagers as "black-winged redbirds.") Travalon is definitely a better photographer.
We also saw these cute mushrooms, which I think are golden oyster mushrooms, which are supposed to be delicious. Since I wasn't sure, I didn't pick any.
We drove along a dirt road way back into the preserve, and it felt like being up north, so remote. It's so quiet that bumblebees sound loud. Then we found a bigger trail, and along the way we found what looked like the foundation and fireplace of a former house.
Here it is from the back.
Check out the very old Pepsi and Mountain Dew cans! Travalon says they must be fifty years old, since they are designs from the Seventies.
In this photo, you can see four jack in the pulpit flowers if you look carefully.
Here is Jack! It's the spadix that is covered in tiny flowers - the pulpit is called a spathe. It is a modified leaf. This is typical for how plants in the arum family bloom. The foliage leaves are three-part and sometimes mistaken for poison ivy.
We saw a more detailed sign that said no plant, animal, or mineral matter may be removed from the preserve without written consent, but it said nothing about fungal matter. This does beg the question of whether people can forage for mushrooms in the preserve, but I am assuming that I was not supposed to take the morel. There weren't any others, and one morel between two people wouldn't be much, so we went to the co-op and got shiitake mushrooms, so then we had plenty to make mushroom quesadillas. Yum! (Unless you are Jilly Moose.) I washed the morel and sliced it, and there was a slug inside of it! He had eaten a little hole into the mushroom. I don't know how I managed not to slice him, but he did have a little dent in his tail, so maybe I got him just a little bit. I took him outside and put him under a tree by the marsh. I guess he didn't have a very good Sunday - one minute he is living inside a mushroom in the woods, happily eating it, and the next thing a giant knife is swiping at his tail! Hopefully he adjusts to life in our marsh, although honestly I don't really care if the cranes eat him. They already lost their two babies to some sort of predator. Nature is cruel like that.
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