False Turkey Tail (Stereum ostrea)

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False Turkey Tail

Photo by Kirk Nelson

False Turkey Tail (Stereum ostrea) is an extremely common and widely distributed, wood decaying, bracket fungi. It is found on logs and stumps of dead hardwood trees, especially oaks. It appears as individual, overlapping, thin, semicircular or fan-shaped brackets. The upper surface is densely hairy and concentrically zoned dark reddish, orange, yellowish, brown, and buff. The under surface is smooth or slightly bumpy, with no layer of pores or tubes. Older caps are usually buff or gray above, gray or whitish below, and often greenish or blackish due to being partially covered with algae.

False Turkey Tail can be easily mistaken for the more common Turkey Tail (Trametes versicolor). That species has brackets that often fuse into overlapping rosettes. The underside of the cap is covered with a layer of spore-bearing pores.

http://www.minnesotaseasons.com/Fungi/False_Turkey_Tail.html

Tympanuchus Prairie

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Tympanuchus Prairie

Tympanuchus Prairie is a The Nature Conservancy preserve in Polk County. It was acquired with funds provided by the Outdoor Heritage Fund, which was created by the 2008 Clean Water, Land and Legacy Amendment. Its 160 acres of mesic and wet prairie protect habitat for the Greater Prairie Chicken, a species of special concern in Minnesota. is bordered on the east and in part on the north by Tympanuchus Wildlife Management Area (WMA). The southeast corner is adjacent to Thorson Prairie WMA.

Visitors to Tympanuchus Prairie this week (8/28 to 9/3/2016) will see many prairie plants at or near their peak blooming time. These include flat-topped, New England, smooth blue, white heath, and white panicled asters; Maximillian and stiff sunflowers; bottle and lesser fringed gentians; and giant, grass-leaved, late, Riddel’s, and stiff goldenrods. If they are lucky, they may even see a Great Plains ladies’ tresses in full bloom.

http://minnesotaseasons.com/Destinations/Tympanuchus_Prairie.html

Mississippi National River and Recreation Area, Coldwater Spring

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Mississippi National River and Recreation Area, Coldwater Spring

Photo by Kirk Nelson

Mississippi National River and Recreation Area (MNRRA) is a 72-mile, 53,775 acre corridor along the Mississippi River. It stretches in the north from Weigh Station Highway Park on US Highway 10 in Ramsey to the Dakota County/Goodhue County border in the south. MNRRA, pronounced “minnra”, is a partnership park, a new and unique kind of national park. Aside from the St. Anthony Falls Visitor Center, Coldwater Spring is the only parcel of land within the MNRRA owned by The National Park Service.

The site that is now Coldwater Springs was formerly owned by the Bureau of Mines. In 2011 and 2012 the buildings were demolished, invasive species were removed, trees were planted, and native plants were seeded. The goal was to restore the oak savanna, 12 acres of prairie, and one acre of wetland.

http://minnesotaseasons.com/Destinations/MNRRA_Coldwater_Spring.html

Greenwater Lake SNA

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Greenwater Lake SNA

Greenwater Lake SNA is 815 acres of second-growth mixed hardwood and coniferous forest with many small wetlands and the 81-acre Greenwater Lake. It is on the White Earth Indian Reservation and is bordered on the north and west by Becker County Forest land. The lake is fed by a stream to the north and is mostly surrounded by forested hills. It is popular with anglers fishing for bluegill, largemouth bass, northern pike, and walleye. The shoreline is undeveloped. A 1.8-mile section of the North Country National Scenic Trail passes through the SNA.

Thirteen native plant communities have been identified on Greenwater Lake SNA. A survey in 1980 found 34 butterfly species here, including eastern pine elfin, green-veined white, and Appalachian brown. If you plan to visit this month (August, 2016), bring a can of mosquito repellent. You will need it.

http://minnesotaseasons.com/Destinations/Greenwater_Lake_SNA.html

Sword-bearing conehead (Neoconocephalus ensiger)

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sword-bearing conehead

Photo by Bill Reynolds

Sword-bearing conehead (Neoconocephalus ensiger) is a common, large, meadow katydid. It is often heard at night but seldom seen in daylight. During the day it perches head down on the lower stalk of vegetation with only its wings and hind legs visible, appearing like a grass blade. At night the female can be found near a calling male feeding on the seed head of a grass plant.

Sword-bearing conehead has two color phases, leaf green and dark tan. It is most easily identified by the song of the male. The male has sound-producing organs, a “scraper” at the anal edge of the right front wing and a “file” near the base of the left front wing. By rubbing the file against the scraper the male produces a distinctive song. It is a continuous series of high-pitched lisps, clearly separated, produced at the rate of 10 per second. It is often compared to the sound of a distant locomotive.

Aside from its song, sword-bearing conehead is identified by the long wings and antennae; the rounded “cone” at the top of the head that is separated from the head by a gap; the narrow yellowish edging on the thorax and the front wing; and the curved, sword-like ovipositor on the female.

http://minnesotaseasons.com/Insects/sword-bearing_conehead.html

Kentucky coffee tree (Gymnocladus dioicus)

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Kentucky coffee tree

Photo by Randy

Kentucky coffee tree (Gymnocladus dioicus) has the largest leaves of any tree in Minnesota. They are 12″ to 36″ long, up to 24″ wide, and twice compound with 40 to 100 leaflets. They are the latest to appear in the spring in Minnesota and one of the first to drop in autumn.

Kentucky coffee tree is uncommon or rare wherever it is found. The large fruit pods of Kentucky coffee tree are probably an adaptation to large mammals of the Pleistocene epoch. Horses, giant sloths, mastodons, and mammoths were present on the North American continent for millions of years. They probably ate the pods and dispersed the seeds in their scat. They disappeared in the Late Pleistocene extinction event, 20,000 to 10,000 years ago, when all large mammals (over 2,200 pounds) in North America went extinct.

Kentucky coffee tree is identified by its large, twice-compound leaves with 40 to 100 leaflets; and the thick, somewhat flattened, 3″ to 6″ long fruit pod.

http://minnesotaseasons.com/Plants/Kentucky_coffee_tree.html

Masked hunter (Reduvius personatus)

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masked hunter

Photo by Bill Reynolds

Masked hunter (Reduvius personatus) is native to Europe and was accidentally introduced into North America. It is now common in eastern and central North America, including Minnesota, but has been reported across the continent.

Masked hunter inhabits woodlands but is often found in human homes. It eats bed bugs and other small insects, spiders, centipedes, and millipedes. It is active at night and hides during the day. If handled or trapped between clothing and skin, it can deliver a painful bite. The swelling and stinging from the bite will last up to a week.

At ⅝″ to ⅞″ in length, masked hunter is much larger than any otherwise similar assassin bugs in North America.

http://minnesotaseasons.com/Insects/masked_hunter.html

American badger (Taxidea taxus)

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American badger

Photo by Wayne Rasmussen

American badger (Taxidea taxus) is a solitary, medium-sized, common but seldom seen, carnivorous mammal. It is a solitary animal, active mostly at night but also often during the day, especially in early morning. It has a home range of about 1 square mile in which it may have up to 46 burrows. It is a good digger, the only mammal that can dig out pocket gophers. It eats mostly ground squirrels and pocket gophers, but also voles, mice, reptiles (including rattlesnakes), amphibians, ground-nesting birds and their eggs, insects, and other invertebrates.

Badgers are easily recognized. The low, flattish profile and white middorsal head stripe are diagnostic. The common name is thought to refer to the black “badge”-shaped markings on their cheeks. There are four, fifteen, or twenty-one subspecies of badger in North America, depending on who you ask. All sources recognize the two subspecies found in Minnesota. Common badger, the largest subspecies, is found in the western border counties. Jackson’s badger, typically darker and smaller, is found in the remainder of the state.

http://minnesotaseasons.com/Mammals/American_badger.html

Oxbow Park & Zollman Zoo

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Oxbow Park & Zollman Zoo

Oxbow Park & Zollman Zoo is a County of Olmsted park less than 20 minutes west of Rochester. The 620 acres of mostly woodland span both sides of a bend in the Zumbro River, South Branch, Middle Fork. It includes about 12½ miles of hiking trails. The trails pass through moist oak-hickory forest along the river, through drier oak forest along the crests and upper slopes of the river bluffs, and around a restored or recreated prairie carved out of the woods at the bluff top. Some of the trails are narrow footpaths through dense forest, some are two-track seldom used utility roads through more open woodlands, some are wide mowed paths skirting the prairie.

Oxbow Park contains two native plant communities. Three plants with conservation status in Minnesota are found here: handsome sedge, an endangered species; and rattlesnake master and white wild indigo, both special concern species. The Nature Center and Zollman Zoo are open from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm. They may not be open yet when you arrive early in the morning, and may be already closed when you finish your hike in the late afternoon.

http://minnesotaseasons.com/Destinations/Oxbow_Park_Zollman_Zoo.html

Pale green assassin bug (Zelus luridus)

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pale green assassin bug

Photo by Bill Reynolds

There are five Zelus species native to North America. Pale green assassin bug (Zelus luridus) is the most common. Due to variation in body color, this species has often been misidentified in the past as Zelus exsanguis. However, that species is very rare. With the exception of a single collected specimen, all sightings of Zelus exsanguis in the United States should probably be recorded as Zelus luridus.

Pale green assassin bug is an elongated, ½″ to 11 ⁄16″ long, nearly parallel-sided true bug. The overall body color is usually pale green, the color of a Granny Smith apple, but may be yellowish-green, yellow, or reddish-brown. Its beak is short and curved. When at rest it is tucked into a groove between the forelegs.

Pale green assassin bug is distinguished by its color; a spine at both rear corners of the pronotum; and a band at the end of the femur that may be dark or red and conspicuous or barely visible.

http://minnesotaseasons.com/Insects/pale_green_assassin_bug.html