July 3, 2011 - Itasca County Summer Sightings

The Showy Lady’s Slipper is the official Minnesota state flower. Near our home in Itasca County, Minnesota, we have a spot where they grow along a rural, gravel road. Each year, about the middle of June, we drive along this road to see these beautiful flowers. Each plant is 2-3 feet tall and has one or two blossoms. This was a very good year for them.

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It takes up to 15 years before the plant matures and starts producing flowers. Then, each year, the clump of plants gets a little larger. This group must be pretty old.

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Along that same road I found this Chestnut-sided Warbler. They breed in the northeastern and north central states and across most of southern Canada. Brushy areas are their favorite habitat. They are apparently much more numerous than in the past. For example, one source says that James J. Audubon only saw one of these birds as he explored eastern North America in the early 1800s.

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Goat’s Beard is common along Minnesota roadsides. This photo was taken along the same road where I found the Lady’s Slippers. The plant can be up to 3 feet tall with a 2.5 inch flower. The flower only opens on sunny mornings and then closes by noon, so it is often difficult to find. More people notice it in the seed stage when it looks like a giant dandelion. The seed head can be up to 4 inches in diameter. Here’s a link to a photo of the seed head. http://www.earlorfphotos.com/Wildflowers/Wildflowers/5693852_4bzPF#351076617_vLizP

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This is the time of year when dragonflies are plentiful. We’re happy to see them because they eat lots of mosquitoes. This Four-spotted Skimmer was in our yard. It’s a species that can be found all around the globe: it’s been recorded all across North America and Europe, down to northwestern Africa, and over to Japan.

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We are fortunate to have Yellow Lady’s Slippers growing in our yard. They bloom about two weeks before the Showy Lady’s Slippers.

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I found this insect resting on a thistle in the cleared area where our wind turbine is located. I had no experience with this species so I submitted it to my favorite insect web site, bugguide.net. It was identified as an Elm Sawfly. I haven’t found much information about them but, in addition to elm, they can also be found on maple, birch, willow, and basswood.

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We have some friends who live south of Grand Rapids, Minnesota. A Robin built a nest under their deck. When the babies fledged, our friends discovered that two of the juveniles were albinos. One study that is often sited found that, among North American bird species, Robins had the highest percentage of albinos. I think it is very unusual to have two in one brood, but an Internet search found at least one other instance when this happened. I couldn’t get very close to the albino Robins, but I did get photos of both birds that showed they had pink eyes, a sign of true albinism.

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