Astronomy

Wednesday the 11th is the Full Moon. This Moon is called the Strawberry Moon. . . because this time of year is when wild strawberries ripen! Take a hike and look for these tasty morsels.

Birds

A “mnemonic” is pattern or sequence of words to help with remembering something or other. Birding enthusiasts use mnemonics to help identify birds by their calls. The idea is to come up with a phrase that sounds like what the bird’s call sounds like. Late spring and summer is a good time to practice using mnemonic phrases to identify birds at Afton, since birds are more vocal in the spring and summer than in winter. Take a break on a bench alongside the trail, close your eyes, and listen.

Baltimore Oriole: “here, here – come right here, dear”
American Goldfinch: “potato chips-potato chips-potato chips”
Rose-breasted Grosbeak: “cheer-up—cheer-a-lee – cheer—ee-o”

Brown Thrasher: “drop-it, drop-it, cover-it-up, cover-it-up”
Indigo Bunting: “fire, fire. where? where? here, here. see it? See it?”
Western Meadowlark: “hip! hip! hurrah, boys! three cheers!”

Insects

The Monarchs that recently arrived in our area have laid eggs, and you may see their caterpillars on the leaves of milkweed plants. You may also see the caterpillars of Milkweed Tussock Moths on milkweed leaves! Another caterpillar to look out for looks a bit like a Monarch larva but is greenish in color with yellow and black spotted bands. This is the caterpillar of the Black Swallowtail butterfly, and you will most likely see it on carrot or parsley plants, not milkweeds.

Among the dragon and damselflies you may see in mid-June are the Common Whitetail and the Emerald Spreadwing. The Common Whitetail has a very descriptive name, since its abdomen, which people often think of as the tail, is white. But it’s only the adult males that have a white “tail”. The adult females have a brownish abdomen, and do not have white patches below the interior spot on the hindwings, which are present in both adult and juvenile males. The “tails” of juvenile males turn white as they mature.

The dragonflies and damselflies are both in the order “Odonata”. The dragons hold their wings open when they’re resting, while the damsels hold them closed together, except for the spreadwings! The spreadwings are a subgroup of the smaller and more delicate damselflies, and they hold their wings spread out at close to a 45 degree angle.

Mammals

Diurnal, Nocturnal, and Crepuscular are all words used to describe the time of day when an animal is most active.

Diurnal animals, like squirrels, are most active in the daytime.

Crepuscular animals, like deer and rabbits, are most active at dawn and dusk. Mother deer may still leave fawns hidden in the grass while they browse, but more and more the fawns are accompanying their mothers.

Nocturnal animals, like bats, skunks, raccoons, mice, opossums, coyotes and foxes, are most active at night, although many of these animals may also be crepuscular. At this time of year you may see young skunks out with their mothers in the evening and early morning hours.

Plants

There are lots of flowers blooming on the prairie. You might see Blue-eyed Grass, which is not really a grass, White Wild Indigo, Butterflyweed, Leadplant, Yarrow, Ragwort, Spiderwort, Black-eyed Susans, and Hoary Vervain.

And that’s not all! Some others you might see are Long-leaf Bluets, Sulfur Cinquefoil, Golden Alexanders, and Hedge Bindweed.

Weather observations

Here are some weather observations from past years.

Friday, June 6	2024: cloudy and blustery, 60s; 2011: Thunderstorm before sunrise, record high of 97°. Hot and sticky
Saturday, June 7	2024: partly cloudy, low 70s; 2023: continued haze from Canadian wildfires; 2016: low 50s in the morning rising into the high 60s with a cool north breeze; 2011: record high of 103°
Sunday, June 8	2020: mid-90s with a dry wind
Monday, June 9	2024: low bridge over Trout Brook completely submerged; 2021: record high of 96°; 2020: 80s in the morning, with light rain from Tropical Storm Cristobal reaching Minnesota. Cooler air arrives in the afternoon
Tuesday, June 10	2023: thunderstorm in late afternoon with almost an inch of rain; 2022: pleasant day in 80s; 2017: high in the 90s and windy; 2011: ¼ inch of rain overnight, in the 50s to start the day
Wednesday, June 11	2008: 60s through day with dark skies, with a half-inch of rain by nightfall and another three-quarters by morning
Thursday, June 12	2015: sunny and 50s in the morning, rising into the 70s

Photo credits

All photos copyright Nina Manzi, except:

• Alan G. Nelson, Dembinksy Photo Associates, MN Conservation Volunteer: Striped Skunk
• Dudley Edmondson, MN Conservation Volunteer: Baltimore Oriole, Indigo Bunting
• Michael Furtman, MN Conservation Volunteer: American Goldfinch
• Dean Lokken: Black Swallowtail Caterpillar, White Wild Indigo
• Bill Marchel, MN Conservation Volunteer: Brown Thrasher, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Western Meadowlark
• Gary Sater: Full Moon
• John Watson, trail camera: Whitetailed doe and fawn