Field Trips & Programs Spring/Summer 2019
The Friends of Sax-Zim Bog is continuing to build and offer diverse programming for all of the seasons! This summer, education programs will consist mainly of field trips! All of the field trips are FREE for members who have donated over $25 in the last year. Any non-field trip educational program is free to attend for all. If you are not a member, the $25 Field Trip fee includes a membership and 12-months of free field trips. If you have any questions about any of the programs, field trips, naturalist hikes, or workshops, and to RSVP, please contact Head Naturalist Clinton Nienhaus via email at naturalist@saxzim.org. Field Trip dates are subject to change, but will typically be run rain or shine!
**RSVP is REQUIRED for attendance to programs or field trips**
Saturday, May 4
Things that go Buzz, Croak, Hoot, and Bump in the Night!
Max Participants: 20
4:30-5:30 pm Early Dinner at Wilbert Café in Cotton
6:00-10:00 pm Field Trip meeting at the Welcome Center
Spring in the Bog is full of burgeoning life…and dusk is a great time to SEE and HEAR some of the unique critters. On this evening event we will listen for early season frog species, American Bittern, Wilson’s Snipe, American Woodcock, and search for Great Gray Owls! This year, we are excited to add a part of the trip focusing on “listening” for bats! However, you never know what these late-afternoon-to-dark trips might turn up!
Wednesdays, May 8
Warbler Wednesday #1
Max Participants: 25
6:00- 12:00 pm Meet at the Welcome Center
Warblers! That is what the target of this weekly field trip will be! Of course there are MANY other species of birds to see and hear in the bog during this time: Up to 75 species or more can be expected in one day! The Sax-Zim Bog is home to many species of warbler, including Connecticut Warblers, who draw folks from across the country each year! Join us each Wednesday to find these beautiful and diverse songsters! We will concentrate on learning our bird songs and give you tips that will help you remember them. We will split up into two smaller groups and meet back at the Welcome Center at noon to go over our list and share stories.
**Please RSVP to naturalist@saxzim.org for each Warbler Wednesday you will be attending!**
Wednesday, May 15
Waffles and Warblers
Max Participants: 30
6:00- 12:00 pm Meet at the Welcome Center
Who doesn’t like Warblers and better yet, who doesn’t like Waffles?! Join us for this one of a kind field trip, where we will be searching for warblers in the morning and then enjoying waffles in the afternoon! This field trip will have an extra fee of $10 for each participant, even if you are a current member. More details to come, so check in with our website for up to date information: saxzim.org/events.
Wednesdays, May 22
Warbler Wednesday #2
Max Participants: 25
6:00- 12:00 pm Meet at the Welcome Center
Warblers! That is what the target of this weekly field trip will be! Of course there are MANY other species of birds to see and hear in the bog during this time: Up to 75 species or more can be expected in one day! The Sax-Zim Bog is home to many species of warbler, including Connecticut Warblers, who draw folks from across the country each year! Join us each Wednesday to find these beautiful and diverse songsters! We will concentrate on learning our bird songs and give you tips that will help you remember them. We will split up into two smaller groups and meet back at the Welcome Center at noon to go over our list and share stories.
**Please RSVP to naturalist@saxzim.org for each Warbler Wednesday you will be attending!**
Wednesdays, May 29
Warbler Wednesday #3
Max Participants: 25
6:00- 12:00 pm Meet at the Welcome Center
Warblers! That is what the target of this weekly field trip will be! Of course there are MANY other species of birds to see and hear in the bog during this time: Up to 75 species or more can be expected in one day! The Sax-Zim Bog is home to many species of warbler, including Connecticut Warblers, who draw folks from across the country each year! Join us each Wednesday to find these beautiful and diverse songsters! We will concentrate on learning our bird songs and give you tips that will help you remember them. We will split up into two smaller groups and meet back at the Welcome Center at noon to go over our list and share stories.
**Please RSVP to naturalist@saxzim.org for each Warbler Wednesday you will be attending!**
Sunday, June 2
Bog Plants Field Trip
10:00 am- 3:00 pm Meeting at the Welcome Center
Bogs are home to a very special community of flora and fauna. Often, the plants growing in and around bogs are very specialized! Sundews and pitcher plants have adapted a carnivorous lifestyle to make up for a lack of certain nutrients in their environment. Plants like leatherleaf and Labrador tea have similarities to plants you may find growing in desert conditions. This field trip will hope to find a few of these specialists, along with a suite of other wetland wildflowers!
Moths and more Evening Program
8:00- 10:00 pm Meeting at the Welcome Center
Moths are a familiar group of insects and can often show amazing diversity in color and pattern. However, since these are mostly nocturnal insects, there isn’t often as much excitement in actively searching out moths. We have documented nearly 200 species of moth in the Sax-Zim Bog and this field trip will serve as a good introduction to moths and moth watching! Plan on bringing a head lamp or flashlight to this program.
Saturday, June 8
Wildflowers Field Trip
9:00 am- 2:00 pm Meeting at the Welcome Center
The Sax-Zim Bog is a network of habitats, which, in turn, allow for a large diversity of flowering plants! In one day, you could find true bog specialties, prairie plants, and boreal forest staples, all within a few miles of one another. This trip will hope to give a good introduction to common northwoods wildflowers, as well as a nice introduction to those specialized species in the Sax-Zim Bog.
Saturday, June 15
Dragonfly and Damselfly Field Trip
12:00- 5:00pm Meeting at the Welcome Center
Dragonflies and damselflies are an easily seen group of bugs and recently have become targets of cameras and nets! “Dragonflying” is becoming a popular hobby across the US and northern Minnesota has an incredible diversity of odonates! In the last year, Sax-Zim Bog has held 2 new county records of dragonfly… Who knows what we could find out in the bog! All ages and ability levels are welcome! Extra nets will be available for those wanting to catch a few odes!
Saturday, June 29
Orchids Field Trip
9:00 am- 4:00 pm Meeting at the Welcome Center
The Sax-Zim Bog is home to at least 14 species of orchid, including healthy populations of Pink Ladyslipper, Purple-fringed Orchid, and Minnesota’s State Flower: Showy Ladyslipper! This trip will cover a lot of ground hoping to find orchids that represent the diversity of the Sax-Zim Bog. This trip will likely involve a little “bog stomping” so rubber boots are a must! Last year, this field trip found 8 species of orchid… Hopefully we can match that number this year as well!
Saturday, July 6
Butterfly Field Trip
12:00- 5:00 pm Meeting at the Welcome Center
Bogs are home to a diverse set of plants, most of which have a particularly close relationship to butterflies or moths. This field trip will focus on exploring the diversity of butterflies in the Sax-Zim Bog! Because of the diverse plant communities in the Sax-Zim Bog, there is strong diversity in butterflies. We will hope to find bog specialists like Bog Copper, to southern species like Black Swallowtail, to fast moving Skippers and Blues. The Sax-Zim Bog offers a lot for the casual butterfly watcher, to the seasoned butterfly enthusiast! All ages and ability levels are welcome!
Saturday, July 20
Sax-Zim Bog BioBlitz VII
9:00 am- 2:00 pm Meeting at the Welcome Center
The concept of a bioblitz started a couple decades ago…and for a noble but bittersweet reason; teams of biologists (ornithologists, mammalogists, botanists, lichenologists and so on) were sent to tracts of rainforest jungle that were on the verge of destruction; their mission was to record every living species and every bit of natural history they could before it was lost to humanity forever. The concept evolved in North America to become an educational event where the public can go in the field with a specialist in any one of many disciplines and record what they find and learn about it at the same time.
Friends of Sax-Zim Bog has made this an annual summer event. In 2017 we hosted over 40 folks who went in the field to learn about birds, orchids, butterflies, dragonflies, spiders, moths, wildflowers, fishes and bog ecology. Each year seems to find new species to our Bog Species List and it is exciting to showcase the biodiversity of the Sax-Zim Bog to attendees of all ages!
Field Trip Leaders and Trips TBD.
Saturday, August 3
Fall Wildflowers Field Trip
10:00 am- 3:00 pm Meeting at the Welcome Center
The fall can be an overlooked time of the year to search out wildflowers, as many of the familiar species of summer have finished flowering and are starting to die back. However, fall is a wonderful time to observe the diverse Aster communities of uplands and wetlands. There is some great diversity in late season wildflowers: goldenrods, swamp aster, late season orchids, and more could be found on this field trip!
Saturday, August 10
Lichen Field Trip
12:00- 5:00 pm Meeting at the Welcome Center
Northern Minnesota is home to a diverse lichen community. These species cover nearly 8% of the terrestrial surface of the earth, yet are relatively unknown to most of us. Join us on this trip to get firsthand experience in lichen identification, as well as to learn a few of the more common lichens in our area. During the trip, we will be making small collections of lichens for the Welcome Center or personal use!
Saturday, August 17
Mushroom Field Trip
9:00 am- 2:00 pm Meeting at the Welcome Center
Mushrooms are an important part of any ecosystem and early fall is a great time to see fungi of all shapes and sizes. These important decomposers have an important role in the boreal forest and attract attention from people enjoying their beauty to those of us who enjoy eating a few mushrooms morels! Come join us for this field trip exploring some of the basics of identifying mushrooms and enjoy a fall day searching for mushrooms in the Sax-Zim Bog. This trip will be a partnership between the Friends of Sax-Zim Bog and the Minnesota Mycologial Society!
Directions to Welcome Center on Owl Avenue
**Open mid December to mid March from 10am-3pm daily
**Also marked on our birding map
Directions from Cotton, MN on US53…
*Go West from Cotton on CR52/Arkola for 11 miles
*Turn South (left) on Owl Avenue
*Go 1.75 miles (second curve) to Welcome Center
Directions from Meadowlands, on CR133…
*Go West on CR133 to CR229/29
*Turn North (left) on CR229/29
*Go North to T at Correction Line Rd
*Turn West (left) on Correction Line Rd
*Road curves North and becomes Owl Ave
*Go North on Owl Avenue for 2.5 miles to Welcome Center
Naturalist programs are new for the FOSZB, funded in part by grants by the Lloyd K. Johnson Foundation and the Carl and Verna Schmidt Foundation. Public programs are free to attend, but donations are always welcome! All field trips are free for members who have donated $20 in the last year. Membership is $25 and includes free entry to any field trip in a 12 month period! If you have any questions about any of the programs, please contact Head Naturalist Clinton Nienhaus via email at naturalist@saxzim.org.