Early summer is busy time for Wisconsin wildlife
The month of June is a busy one for the wildlife of our area as they begin feeding families, raising young and preparing for big changes to come. The natural world is bustling with newborn creatures in all shapes and sizes, at the same time trees, shrubs and wildflowers are bursting with new growth.
Here's a quick guide to what's happening in our back yard.
•Songbirds are busily stuffing hungry mouths in the nest, while larger birds such as wild turkeys, sandhill cranes, pelicans, geese and trumpeter swans herd curious young around their territories.
•Monarch butterflies have returned, while turtles and several snake species begin to nest or give birth to live young.
•Peak breeding season has arrived for black bears in the area and the young of foxes, coyote and wolves begin to explore the world outside their dens.
•In our prairies and woodlands, wildflowers and grasses explode with fresh growth as they ready for their blooming seasons.
• Whitetail fawns are growing quickly and now join their mother, brothers and sisters on feeding journeys throughout their homelands.
June is a month of explosive growth as the wildlife and wildflowers of our area take advantage of warm temperatures, beneficial rains and an abundance of fresh, natural sources of food.
Woodland butterflies waken to explore their forest world, looking for love among the towering ferns and lush leaves.
Among them, giant tiger swallowtails dance on glistening wings of gold, striped in jet black. Striking white admirals wear a coat of black and metallic blue with a wide white band across each wing.
A number of beautiful butterflies called wood nymphs, pearly eyes and satyrs, dressed in shades of chocolate brown also flit and dart among the ferns and forest grasses.
Breathtaking in soft green, the incredible luna moth sails silently on silky wings on quiet June evenings.
Marshes and wetlands in our area bustle with activity during June as well. American white pelicans feed in several large marshy areas throughout the region, while sandhill crane families stalk the shallows and dikes.
Black terns, silvery bullets in the sky, hunt over flooded wetlands, while the bizarre voices of pied-billed grebes, American bitterns, rails and yellow-headed blackbirds echo through the reeds.
Dragonflies and damselflies are in full flight, with dozens of colorful species gracing our wetland areas.
Turtles throughout our area are nesting, including the rare and striking Blanding's turtle, painted turtle, as well as large, decades-old snapping turtles.
Turtles nest in areas with loose sand and soil by digging deep holes with their rear legs and powerful claws, shoveling soil with alternate sweeping strokes of each paddle-shaped foot.
Often, turtles must travel long distances from their wetland homes to find suitable nesting sites.
Unfortunately, this means many of these beautiful creatures are destroyed each spring and early summer by motor vehicles on area roadways.
Always take extra caution when driving through wetlands during early summer to avoid unnecessary injury or death to turtles traveling to nesting sites.
Many beautiful and important native wildflowers bloom during June, as well. Prairies in our area begin to show their true colors with wild lupine, wild false indigo, coreopsis, shooting stars, orange milkweed, swamp milkweed, blue flag iris and others coming into bloom.
Among the prairie blooms, monarch butterflies, dressed in regal orange and black, dance among the wildflowers, the promise of new generations to come.
Along the forest edge, look for sparkling white Canada anemone, as well as wild columbine in beautiful red.
Native orchids also begin to bloom, including the exotic and elegant lady slippers. Yellow lady slipper and pink lady slipper, or moccasin flower, bloom first, followed by the rare beauty of the showy lady slipper.
—Rob Zimmer of the Appleton-based Rob Zimmer Outdoors writes on nature each Wednesday and gardening each Sunday. Write to him at email@example.com or at www.facebook.com/RobZimmerOutdoors.