Events and announcements

Nature Walk 9 – 10 a.m.: Come on a walk with a Naturalist, where we will see the different ecosystems of Afton State Park. We will hike through the different environments of Afton and explore the plants and animals that call them home. This will be a non-strenuous, hour- long walk. We will start and end at the Upper Picnic Area with many stops along the way.

New Program: The last Saturday of every month, Afton Area Naturalist Carolyn will be doing a program at a nearby State Trail. This Saturday, May 30th will be Track Tales from 1-3 p.m. Ever wonder what animal made those tracks? Stop by the Naturalist Table at Duluth Junction, where the Gateway and Brown’s Creek State Trails meet between 1 and 3 p.m. to learn how to identify animals and what they were doing based on their tracks.

Astronomy

In the western sky on Saturday, May 30th, look for the reddish-colored star Antares to the left of the nearly full Moon. Antares is the ninth brightest star in the northern hemisphere, and is in the planet Scorpio, the Scorpion. Seeing Scorpio in the early evening is a sign of summer. Remember Orion the Hunter? In Greek Mythology Orion was killed by a scorpion, and the constellation Orion sets in the west before Scorpio rises in the east. The two are never visible at the same time.

The Moon is full on Sunday the 31st. Since this is the second full Moon in the month of May, it’s called a “Blue Moon”.

Birds

When you’re walking on the prairie you might see Eastern Bluebirds, Eastern Kingbirds, Chipping Sparrows, and Song Sparrows.

Above the river you might see Ospreys, which are sometimes called “Fish Eagles,” for their superb fishing ability. They can spot a foot-long fish in clear water from a height of 200 feet, and can fully dive under the water to catch it! Also look for ospreys on the nesting platform on the prairie. Ospreys prefer to nest in dead trees, but since humans remove a lot of dead trees from the landscape most osprey nests these days are on manmade platforms like the nesting platform on the prairie at Afton. You may see the heads of recently-hatched young osprey sticking up above the platform. Along the banks of the St. Croix look for Great Blue Herons, and Great Egrets.

Mallard Ducks and Canada Geese lead ducklings and goslings around on water and land, and Wood Duck ducklings are jumping out of their nests in hollows in trees and nest boxes.

Insects

There’s a subfamily of butterflies called the “Blues”. Two members of that subfamily you may see at Afton are the Spring Azure and the Eastern Tailed-Blue. The Eastern Tailed- Blue has a white border on the upper side of its wings, while the Spring Azure does not. The group of Eastern Tailed Blues in the photo on the right are “puddling”, which is a behavior in which they gather around a puddle and obtain needed nutrients by sipping the muddy water.

Many species of “skimmer” dragonflies are flying now. While some skimmers have clear wings, many have black and white patterns or colored spots. Several species take their names from the number of spots. The Four-spotted Skimmer has four dark spots on its wings, in addition to the “stigma” which are the dark blotches on the leading edges of the wings. The Twelve-spotted Skimmer has, you guessed it, twelve dark spots on its wings, and the males also have white spots. And farther west of us, as close as South Dakota and Nebraska, is a dragonfly called the Eight-spotted Skimmer!

The Whitefaces are also in the Skimmer family. Belted Whitefaces have red or yellowish belts around their abdomens; the yellow belts are more common to the east of us and the red ones to the west of us, and both forms probably fly at Afton. Dot-tailed Whitefaces have dots on their abdomens. The abdomen is the part of the dragonfly you might think of the tail. The other main body parts are the thorax, to which the legs and wings are attached, and the head, which is in front and has very large compound eyes.

Reptiles

It’s egg-laying season for turtles. At this time of year female turtles venture out of ponds, lakes, and rivers and choose a place to lay their eggs. They dig a shallow nest with their powerful hind legs, then over the next several hours lay white leathery eggs – 20 to 40 eggs for Snapping Turtles, and four to ten for Painted Turtles. Then they cover over the nest and return to the water. The eggs will incubate for at least 72 days; in some nests the eggs won’t hatch until next spring. The temperature while the eggs are incubating determines the sex of the young turtles – cooler temperatures result in male hatchlings, and warmer temperatures lead to female hatchlings. If you see a turtle nesting please be respectful and watch from a distance. And be alert for turtles crossing roads at this time of year when you’re driving anywhere near a wetland, lake, pond, or river.

Plants

There are lots of flowers blooming on the prairie at this time of year. You might see Blue-eyed Grass, which is not really a grass, but is a member of the Iris family, Thimbleweed, Puccoons, Black-eyed Susans, Golden Alexanders, and Shooting Stars. In the woods look for Canada Anemones, and Wild Geranium.

Trees

At this time of year the seed capsules on female Eastern Cottonwood trees open. The seeds are covered with fluffy fibers resembling cotton. Thanks to the cotton the seeds float away in the breeze, often landing far from the mother tree.

Weather observations

Here are some weather observations from the Afton State Park area from past years.

Friday, May 29	2024: sunny and 70s; 2006 and 2018: tie for record high of 94°; 2015: rain through the day
Saturday, May 30	2018: Muggy and in the 70s in the morning; 2012: high in the 60s
Sunday, May 31	2023: Humid and in the 80s; 2015: high in the 60s; 2010: sunny and in the 80s
Monday, June 1	2015: sunny and near 70°; 2014: record rainfall of 2.37 inches
Tuesday, June 2	2020: hot and sticky with a thunderstorm in the late afternoon
Wednesday, June 3	2025: 60s, with rain into the afternoon; 2024: steamy and in the 80s; 2016: rain off and on through day; 2013: sun in the morning gives way to clouds, high in the 60s
Thursday, June 4	2024: sun early with clouds moving in with rain and heavy winds; 2021: record high of 97°; 2019: Thunderstorm with dark clouds in afternoon;

Photo/image credits

All photos and images used by permission.

Copyright Nina Manzi, except:

• Dean Lokken: Eastern Kingbird, Great Egret, first three Snapping Turtle photos
• Gary Sater: Eastern Bluebird, Osprey, Song Sparrow
• Bryce VandenHeuvel: Great Blue Heron