First Day of Summer on the Katy Trail

This is my 21st year bicycling on the Katy Trail.  Since my Wellness Center membership is over in May, June is when I spend more exercise time riding my bicycle at least once per week until it gets cold in November.  Gardening takes up most of my time in between both at home as well as service projects.  But when I'm pretty much caught up, I go bicycling and kayaking.  There are many articles on this blog about other biking activities if you want to see more variety of what I do while biking on this and other trails.  But for now I'm into getting to know one stretch of the Katy Trail really good which is the one closest to my home - Clinton to Windsor for 34 miles round trip that I do in 3-4 hours depending on how much I stop and enjoy the wildlife.  Typically, it takes me about 1.5 hours to get to Windsor with maybe one stop for water.  After a brief rest and snack at Windsor, I take my sweet time on the way back to my car parked in Clinton.

I don't usually plan what I'm going to do while biking but keep myself open to the possibilities.  Sometimes it's about the ride and challenging myself to improve my time.  The weather can be a challenge especially going against the wind which usually occurs on the return trip when I'm more tired.  That's a great time to stop often and look closely what's around me.  There are some interesting people also on the trail and there are opportunities to visit.  There is wildlife such as rabbits, squirrels, turtles, snakes, foxes, and so many birds and insects!  But mostly I stop to take photos and try to remember the names of plants.  I enjoy researching when I get home and learn something new every time.  By sharing them on this blog and other media online, I hope to bring a little of the natural world to others who do not get out much and will appreciate my perspective...

My first stop is usually to look at what is blooming at a small garden before the first bridge where several park benches are provided also.

A short time later begins the first Prairie Restoration Area.  I like to ride fast through and just notice what I want to check out closer on my way back again.

There are two of these areas in the section between Clinton and Windsor.  

Common milkweed in bloom.  I'm involved recently with a group that is promoting monarch called Missourians for Monarchs with the Missouri Master Naturalists Lake of the Ozarks Chapter.

Common milkweed is the only food source for the monarch butterfly which has had decreased numbers in recent years.  We are planting a lot of various milkweeds and nectar plants and also harvesting seed for distribution.

White wild indigo

Ox-eye

Ox-eye group

Obedient plant - usually shows which way the wind blows and on a still day, you can rearrange the blooms and they will stay where you put them.

Goat's beard, pale purple coneflower, butterfly milkweed.

Black-eyed Susan

Elderberry cluster

Elderberry cluster close-up

Elderberry group

Box turtle

Dewberries

Dewberries for breakfast tomorrow!

Michigan lilies are about 4' tall and a rare find in the wild!  This is the first time I've seen one.

One plant has 2-3 blooms

I think I want to order some next year from Missouri Wild Flowers Nursery for my yard.  Hopefully, the deer won't eat them like they do many of my other lilies!

So I get home around noon and look who walks by in front of my house in the middle of the day…   a fox!

I guess I don't have to go very far to see wildlife as it is all around me!

Sunday Morning at La Petite Gemme Prairie

It was a beautiful Sunday morning in June with gentle breezes on the prairie near Bolivar, Missouri.  Temperatures were in the 80's and climbing to the low 90's expected by afternoon.  A perfect day for a bicycle ride on the Frisco Highland Trail.  This is the closest trail to my home and it is very familiar.  It has been great to see the rails-to-trails programs grow since I began riding 21 years ago in this area which includes the Katy Trail across the state and the future expansion with the Rock Island Trail.

One of the best sites that is a common project along these trails is the restoration of native prairies.  Today I attended a BioBlitz on the Frisco Highland Trail sponsored by the Missouri Prairie Foundation of which I am an active member.  I am also active in Lake of the Ozarks Missouri Master Naturalist which had a meeting last week organizing a project to help Missouri Monarchs.  It is so cool that so many separate organizations are coming together for the purpose of restoring and preserving native plants for use by pollinators and butterflies.  It's all about the balance of nature.  I am very happy to be a part of it!

Bicycling to the BioBlitz on the Frisco Highland Trail

Information boards always available and a tent set up for the weekend event.

BioBlitz Tent

This event was for two days at the LaPetite Gemme Prairie which is about three miles south of Bolivar, Missouri by road.  I got on the Frisco Highline Trail mid-town and rode about five miles out on the paved trail that runs partly on the highway.  There was a campsite set up for those participants that came as far away as St. Louis.  The local Citizens Memorial Healthcare Foundation of Bolivar donated box lunches for those that RSVP.  Portable potties were also provided.  In addition to prairie fieldwork to tag plants for identification for later seed collection, there was a soil presentation, stargazing, nocturnal insect observations, and several classes.  I came for the butterflies.  There were several interesting and knowledgeable people with nets to follow around…and that's what I did!

Phil Koenig was the Butterfly Guy

This one I know is a Painted Lady

Of course, it is all about the wildflowers!  I knew several of them and learned some new ones...

Purple coneflower field with yellow tickseed coreopsis and some purple sensitive plants

Lead plant has both purple and orange blooms at the same time!

Purple milkweed - very good for monarch butterflies!  They have a toxic juice that  when ingested by the butterflies, the birds leave them alone.

Penstemon (Beard-tongue) - related to fox-glove

Sensitive plant - touch the leaf and it curls into itself

Obedient plant - move the flower to another side and it will stay there on a windless day.  The breeze is blowing the blooms in one direction today.

Also, I got to the event a little early and observed a class about snakes.  This is the same instructor I knew from the recent Master Naturalist State Conference, John Miller, and took his class on hellbenders and turtles.

Albino bull snake

Rat snake

Bull snake

I know I will be back many times and each time I will find something old and something new to me.  This time was especially fun since I got to share the experience with like-minded people!