Whoos Who? July 31 from 2-3 pm inside the Visitor Center: In this interactive program, we will explore how owls hunt and thrive in the forests and prairies around Afton State Park. Visitors will learn what makes owls such extraordinary predators. After the presentation, visitors will dissect a real-life owl pellet! We will find real bones, identify what the owl ate, and piece together the story inside each pellet. Suitable for ages 6 and up. Registration is required, call or email Carolyn at carolyn.kocken@state.mn.us or 651-201-6785.
Osprey Watch! August 1 from 9:30-11:30 am near the Visitor Center: Learn some interesting facts about Osprey and look through a spotting scope at the local nest. Located near the Visitor Center area. Story time: We All Play August 1 from 12:30-1 pm near Afton State Park Beach: Join Naturalist Carolyn in reading the book “We All Play” by Julie Flett. We will read, do activities, and play games to explore how animals play. This program is most suitable for kids under 7.
Geocaching August 1 from 2-3 pm near the Afton State Park Visitor Center: Join us for a real-life treasure hunt as you learn the basics of geocaching using GPS technology. This beginner-friendly program will introduce you to how GPS units work and guide you on a search for hidden caches in the park. A limited number of GPS units will be available to borrow, or feel free to bring your own.
Astronomy
This first week of August the planet Venus is at its brightest of the year. Look for it in the western sky in the evening. August 1st is the cross-quarter day now known as Lammas, halfway between the summer solstice and the fall equinox, marking the start of the harvest season. “Lammas” is a contraction of “Loaf Mass”, a special church service in which farmers would bring bread baked using the first grain harvested to church to be blessed.
Birds
Ruby-throated Hummingbirds like to nectar on red flowers and also pale purple bergamot. If you’re wearing a red shirt they may approach you to see if you are a flower! Hummingbirds are the smallest bird in Minnesota. Adults weigh just over half an ounce. It would take more than 150 birds to weigh one pound. Although hummingbirds are small, they are very fierce; the Aztecs believed that warriors who died in battle would be reincarnated as hummingbirds. Someday I hope to get a good photo of a hummingbird!
Other birds you may see at Afton in the summer but not winter are the Baltimore Oriole, Bobolink, Eastern Bluebird, and Scarlet Tanager. The call of the Baltimore Oriole sounds like “here, here, come right here, dear.” Scarlet Tanagers are most likely seen in the woods. Bobolinks, like Bluebirds, are birds of the prairie, so that’s the place to look for them.
You may spot Bluebirds using any of the many bluebird houses throughout the park. Bluebirds often have more than one brood per season. The young from the first brood leave the parents and go off on their own after fledging, but the young of the second brood may stay with the parents over the winter. Birds that have more than one batch of young are called “recurrent nesters”.
Amphibians and reptiles
Sunny days are a good time to watch for turtles and snakes basking. Reptiles are “ectotherms”; they don’t generate as much internal heat as do mammals, which is why they are active in the summer and not in the winter. The warmth of the sun also helps turtles digest their food. If you see them basking on a log or rock please watch them quietly from a distance.
Insects
The Green Darner is one of the more common dragonflies in our area. It has a green head and thorax and a blue abdomen. But it is only one of the many species in the Darner family of dragonflies. Another you might see in our area is the Lake Darner. It has a green head like the common Green Darner, but a blue thorax and blue markings on its abdomen.
Look for grasshoppers jumping and flying short distances. They come in many colors! The Katydid is a grasshopper, and is sometimes called the Long-Horned Grasshopper. Ever wonder why you start seeing grasshoppers leaping and flying in July and August, and not so much earlier? Grasshoppers develop through what’s called incomplete metamorphosis. They don’t have a larval form like butterflies, whose eggs hatch into caterpillars which then metamorphose into butterflies. Grasshopper eggs hatch into tiny grasshoppers and are called “nymphs.” As the nymphs grow they molt their exoskeletons, and a new soft one underneath hardens. Each successive version of the grasshopper is called an “instar” and is a little larger than the previous version. Grasshoppers have wings only after the last time they molt; that is why you see grasshoppers flying short distances in the late summer and fall, but not in the early summer.
Plants
The parade of wildflowers continues! Look for St. John’s Wort, Prairie Onions, both Yellow and Purple Coneflowers, Yarrow, Butterflyweed, and Common and Swamp Milkweed. Butterflyweed, Common Milkweed, and Swamp Milkweed are all members of the genus “Asclepias”, which is named after the Greek god of medicine, Asklepios. In the past people used milkweed to treat lung diseases and to remove warts.
Weather observations
Here are some weather observations from past years.
Friday, July 31
2024: record rainfall 1.26”; 2015: breezy and sunny, high In the low 80s
Saturday, August 1
2023: muggy and in the 80s; 2012: 70s in the morning, rising into the 90s. Hot and humid
Sunday, August 2
2006: Record rainfall of 2.69 inches
Monday, August 3
2023: rain and thunder in evening; 2020: in the 50s in the morning, high in the 70s; 2002: Record rainfall of 2.36 inches
Tuesday, August 4
2023: hot and humid, temperature over 90°; 2014: ½” of rain overnight
Wednesday, August 5
2015: sunny and pleasant, temperature in the 80s
Thursday, August 6
2023: gray and rainy through day, low 70s; 2020: partly sunny, 70s; 2001: Record high of 99°
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