Days are progressively shorter and Nature knows it! Wild grapes, elderberries, and dastardly burdock fruits are ripening! The odd dandelion can be seen blooming on the lawn again, and thistle seed is unabashedly blowing on the breeze. Are birds migrating? Blackbirds have joined their neighbors to form massive flocks, and I spied a Cooper's Hawk, a broad-winged hawk, a yellow warbler and a pair of American Redstarts today.

 

The Larson Lake Trumpeter Swans, having spent the last several weeks confined to smaller quarters at Spring Lake Park in Cherokee, have been transported back to their nesting site at Larson Lake County Park. The floodwaters that caused their original move have receded. The pen (adult female) and one cygnet (immature swan) are spending a few days with Orphaned and Injured Wildlife, Inc., in Spirit Lake, IA, where they are treated like royalty and will receive attention for some health issues. They are expected back in a matter of days. The cob (adult male) and other four cygnets are enjoying the summer, building their fat and feathers for the cold months to come. The cygnets will be nearly full-grown by the time the snow flies.

 

Have you noticed clouds of butterflies along the highways of Cherokee County? Most of the medium-sized orange-ish butterflies whipping past your windshield are Painted Ladies, common insects whose caterpillars feed upon thistle and burdock. (Hooray!) Your local naturalist has been gathering the fallen butterflies from roadsides for closer observation by students in upcoming programs...

 

logged by Ginger Vietor

First, the good news... A lot of Cherokee County landowners are excited about finding native prairies and wetlands on their properties. Sometimes I get lucky and they invite me out to help identify native plants. We are living in a beautiful county! Anyone interested in options for protecting the natural treasures on their own land might be interested in The Nature Conservancy's website dedicated to explaining Conservation Easements. You can click this link to visit: http://nature.org/aboutus/howwework/conservationmethods/privatelands/conservationeasements/.

If you have some rare plants/critters on your land and you are in the Little Sioux River Watershed, you might consider applying for LIP funds to help manage the property's ecological aspects. To learn more about LIP, visit: http://www.iowadnr.com/wildlife/files/lip.html.

 

And the bad news...I found a great blue heron that had been hit by a car on my way home from work yesterday. In the spirit of education, I picked the deceased bird up, put it in the back of my car, took it home, wrapped it in plastic and put it in my freezer. If you think that's weird, please stop and see the freezer here at the office some time... Hopefully the bird can be professionally preserved as a museum quality mount, so that visitors to our education center can enjoy this gorgeous and enormous bird up-close. The CCCB renews its state and federal permits every year to allow our staff to pick up dead birds and save them for later. If you don't have the permits, please don't try this at home!              ..................Ginger