Rearing monarchs!
On July 27 the volunteers collected monarch eggs on milkweed leaves near the main parking area at Coldwater Spring. Mississippi River Biotechs and volunteers are currently caring for 7 caterpillars.
- Monarch caterpillars only eat plants in the Milkweed family (Asclepias Sp.)
- An egg is usually laid on the underside of a milkweed leaf
- At Coldwater Spring we have four species of milkweed: Common, Butterflyweed, Marsh, and Whorled.
- We are adding a milkweed and pollinator patch this fall for National Public Lands Day, September 26, 2015 - Volunteer opportunities are available!
Pollinator plantings!
Checkout the towering wildflowers on the hill overlooking the parking lot.
These native flowers can grow 7 to 10' tall!
- Yellow giant hyssop is in the mint family, and has square stems. Leaves are arrowhead-shaped. Tiny yellow flowers in clusters are arranged on terminal spikes.
- Cut-leaf coneflower is also called green-headed coneflower. The leaves are deeply "cut", 3-5 parted and the central disk of the flower is green.
Is that a... Turkey nest!?
Ranger Gullickson found a wild turkey nest!
"One morning last week as I watered the sapling oak trees I saw a turkey and her brood of four chicks sitting at the base of this little tree.
Turkey nests can be as simple this shallow depression scratched into the ground."
-Gullickson
Turkey Nesting Facts:
- Clutch Size: 4–17 eggs Number of Broods: 1
- Nestling Period: 1 day
- Egg Description: Pale yellowish tan, evenly marked with reddish brown or pinkish spots.
- Egg Length: 1.9–2.7 in
- Condition at Hatching: Well-developed and covered with tawny, brown, pinkish, and gray down.