White-spotted Sawyer.  Found this one on the deck.  They bore into pines and lay their eggs-the larvae then eat wood.  Not good news for us as we have many White Pine.

Jumping spider.  This species is about 3/8 of an inch in size and lives under our deck.  Look closely and you can see a row of 4 eyes.  It let me get within about 4 inches of it the first time but now ducks under the deck when it sees me.

Millipede.  Found it crossing our driveway.  There are over 1400 species of millipedes in North America.  Often found in rotting vegetation.

Chipping Sparrow.  Almost everyone has this small bird living in their yard.  See the nest below.

A friend of ours photographed this small nest of a Chipping Sparrow.

PRAIRIE FLOWERS CONTINUE TO PUT ON A SHOW

The Yellow Lady's-slippers continue to bloom on Hayden Prairie.

Prairie Phlox varies in color from purple to white, with the darker colors being most common.
To see more nature photos go up on to the right and click on June 2013 or any desired month.

Blue Indigo and White Indigo blooming side by side.  Both are found on high quality prairies but the White is much more common in our area.

Yellow Star Grass.  A small prairie loving flower.  There is also a Blue Star Grass Species.

Goat's Beard.  A tall ditch loving species that blooms in the morning and closes during the day.  The flower will turn into a large spherical, dandelion-like, seed form.  Related to similar flowers called hawk weeds.

Campion-an alien species but still interesting-grows in our ditches and blooms in the morning.

Wild purple pea-one of many pea species.

Virginia Waterleaf.  Not a prairie species, but often blooms in damp, semi-open areas.

EAGLE NESTING UPDATE

We have been watching 4 active eagle nests in our area.  The young eagles are now large enough that they can be seen standing on the egde of the nests.  Each nest appears to be down to one surviving immature eagle now. (Some nests are very hard to see now because of foliage).  It has been a very tough nesting spring.  Snowstorm in May, record rainfalls, flooded rivers, and cold.  In past years we have seen many nests produce two young eagles and sometimes even three-not this year.

PRAIRIE SMOKE ON HAYDEN PRAIRIE

Prairie Smoke at Hayden Prairie.  Hayden Prairie is a 242 acre natural prairie that is located 5 miles west of Lime Springs, Iowa on county road A23.  It is just a ways south of the Minnesota border. Hayden Prairie has never been under the plow, and it is the best natural prairie we have ever seen. The prairie flowers are just now beginning to bloom and they will continue to put on a show from now up until a hard freeze.  We try to visit this prairie every week from about mid-May on.  The prairies at Leroy's Lake Louise State Park are also very interesting all summer long.

Shooting Stars have been blooming in large numbers at Hayden for about two weeks now.  They love prairies that have had a fresh burn.

Yellow Lady's-slipper.  This flower is found in our forestlands but is also found on some high quality prairies.  It blooms in late May or early June in large numbers on Hayden Prairie.  We found a few early bloomers on June 3rd of this year on Ivy Ave. of the prairie. Next week should be spectacular at Hayden Prairie.

Puccoons are fairly small (about 6 inches tall) early bloomers on the prairie.

Golden Alexanders are one of the very first prairie flowers to bloom.

Cream Indigo.  TO SEE MORE NATURE PHOTOS GO UP AND TO THE RIGHT AND CLICK ON JUNE 2013 OR ANY OTHER MONTH IN THE ARCHIVE.

Bluebird on prairie near Leroy, Mn.

Flower of the Honeysuckle bush.

Even the lowly dandelion is quite spectacular.