September: In our park, sea upon sea of grass
Frontenac State Park Association newsletter
September 2025 (Vol. 3, No. 9)
Comments, contributions, compliments, complaints? Reach your newsletter editor at pamelamarianmiller@gmail.com.
September: In our park, sea upon sea of grass
Suddenly, summer is ebbing. Darkness falls earlier every night, and the steamy days of our unusually rainy August (buh-bye, drought!) have given way to chilly mornings and crisp evenings. What could be more pleasant for our overheated bodies and souls?
A walk on one of Frontenac State Park’s prairie trails is ever restorative, especially this time of year. Prairie grasses taller than you or your tallest son sway in the wind, bending to caress your face as you trot along a trail brightened by hardy late-summer flowers and frequented by whitetail deer and cottontails that stare daggers at you, then zoom away as you approach. This is their terrain — and yet it is also yours.
Your Frontenac State Park Association pals have a passel of intriguing events taking place this fall. In honor of our park’s beautiful oceans of undulating prairie grass, we’d like to highlight this one:
Saturday, Sept. 6, 11 a.m: Dave Hage and Josephine Marcotty, authors of “Sea of Grass: The Conquest, Ruin, and Redemption of Nature on the American Prairie,” will lead a walk on a park prairie trail, followed by a Q&A session/book signing up at the main park picnic shelter. We’ll meet in the big parking lot outside park headquarters, near the park entrance, at 11 a.m. Dave and Josephine are Minnesotans, longtime journalists now retired from the Minnesota Star Tribune. Their book, a beautiful, eye-opening, sometimes heartbreaking read, has been highlighted on such major media sites as NPR’s “Science Friday.” Come walk with them, and us!
We hope to see you there! Here are other upcoming events … from our calendar to yours:
Tuesday, Sept. 2, 10-11 a.m.: Nature Explorers program on butterflies for preschoolers, with interpretive naturalist Sara Holger. Meet at the park’s main picnic shelter/upper parking lot.
Saturday, Sept. 6, 10-11 a.m.: Guided nature walk with interpretive naturalist Bruce Ause. Meet at the campground shower building kiosk.
Saturday, Sept. 6, 5-5:30 p.m.: Music in Nature II
Sunday, Sept. 7, 10 a.m.-noon: Damsels and Dragonflies: Explore the life of one of the oldest flying creatures on Earth on the trails of Frontenac State Park. Discover the attributes that have helped dragonflies become the most proficient predator on the planet. Featuring Jeff Fischer, a founding member of the Minnesota Dragonfly Society and past president of the Wisconsin Dragonfly Society. Meet at the park entrance station.
Thursday, Sept. 11, 10 a.m.: Forest bathing: Join certified Nature and Forest Therapy Guide Sara Holger, from Project Get Outdoors, for a peaceful, subtly sensory immersion in nature. Meet at the park’s main picnic shelter/upper parking lot.
Saturday, Sept. 13, 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m.: Guided fungi talk/walk with Minnesota Master Naturalist volunteer Pam Miller. We’ll talk about (and hope to find!) some interesting late-summer fungi. Meet at the campground shower building kiosk.
Saturday, Sept. 20, 9-11 a.m.: Guided Sand Point bird walk with Minnesota Master Naturalist volunteers Janet Malotky and Steve Dietz. Meet at the park’s Sand Point parking lot at the intersection of Hwy. 61 and County 2 Blvd at 9 a.m. Walk through the riparian forest and along the beach to Sand Point for the beginning of fall migration. We will look for migrant shorebirds such as Caspian Terns and possibly American Avocets, as well as an amazing panoply of resident and migrating forest birds. Bring binoculars. The trail is well-maintained and flat. The full loop is about 2 miles long, but you can head back anytime you need to. Questions? Email janetmalotky@gmail.com.
Saturday, Sept. 20, 10-11 a.m.: Guided nature walk with interpretive naturalist Bruce Ause. Meet at the campground shower building kiosk.
Saturday, Sept. 20, 7 p.m.: Starry, Starry Night program with the Rochester Astronomy Club, main picnic shelter/upper parking lot.
Saturday, Sept. 27, 10-11 a.m.: Guided nature walk with interpretive naturalist Bruce Ause. Meet at the campground shower building kiosk.
Saturday, Oct. 4, 10-11 a.m.: Guided nature walk with interpretive naturalist Bruce Ause. Meet at the campground shower building kiosk.
Tuesday, Oct. 7, 10-11 a.m.: Nature Explorers program on spooky critters for preschoolers with interpretive naturalist Sara Holger. Meet at the main picnic shelter, near the upper parking lot.
Saturday, Oct. 11, 10-11 a.m.: Guided nature walk with interpretive naturalist Bruce Ause. Meet at the campground shower building kiosk.
Saturday, Oct. 11, time TBD: Seed gathering with Great River Greening.
Saturday, Oct. 18, 9-11 a.m.: Guided bird walk with Minnesota Master Naturalist volunteers Janet Malotky and Steve Dietz. Meet at the campground shower building kiosk. Walk through a mixed habitat of prairie and woodland looking for late migrating and over-wintering birds. The trail is mowed grass and is well maintained. Bring your binoculars or borrow some from the park office. Questions? Email janetmalotky@gmail.com.
Help us chronicle life at the Frontenac pond
Bird note: Our big, graceful heron
By Janet Malotky, Minnesota Master Naturalist volunteer
In the low country of the southeastern United States and along the southern coast, long-legged wading birds appear to be everywhere. It seems like every wet ditch has its egret or heron, and often more than one. Up here in cold Minnesota, these fish-stabbing birds are less abundant, even though we have a lot of water. However, we do have them. Some, such as Great Egrets, just pass through during migration. But a few, such as the Great Blue Heron, arrive in the spring and stay with us all summer to breed. Any day now, they’ll head back south for the winter.
Great Blue Herons are our tallest bird, though they weigh a lot less than Bald Eagles and the shorter, chunkier Sandhill Cranes. Once they arrive in spring, they are commonly seen in almost any wetland setting, stalking slowly along reedy edges or standing stock still in shallow water. They usually hang out alone when hunting, but more than one can populate wet areas with abundant food. In Frontenac State Park, we see them in the Sand Point bay, the nearby beaver pond, the mouth of Wells Creek, and Pleasant Valley Lakelet.
The exception to their solitary rule can be observed in their breeding habits. It’s strange to see this large of a bird standing high up in a tree, but that’s where they build their nests. They nest near other Great Blue Herons in colonies known as rookeries. Year after year they’ll come back to the same rookery to raise their young.
One such rookery can be observed in Red Wing from a pull-off on Levy Road across from Pottery Pond Park. Looking out across the bay, you can see many large nests high in the trees, especially in the spring before the trees leaf out. With binoculars, you can see herons standing in the nests or flying to and from them from the shallow waters below.
The name Great Blue Heron suggests exciting coloring, but from a distance they look pretty gray. Seen up close, however, their plumage is strikingly beautiful, including mixed areas of soft beige, black, white, and fawn brown in addition to the blue-gray of their namesake. They have very large orange-yellow bills from which they emit the most awful harsh rasping sound. Birdsong is not a strength for these birds!
They do excel at fishing though, and fish make up the bulk of their diet. They also eat snakes, frogs, crabs, dragonflies, aquatic insects, crayfish, small birds, grasshoppers, mice, voles, and any related prey they can get their bills around. They have even been known to eat muskrats and squirrels. They are visual hunters who patiently and slowly stalk their prey, occasionally fluttering their wings, perhaps to startle prey from their hiding places.
Great Blue Herons are a common sight flying overhead. Their tucked S-shaped necks, long outstretched legs, and slow, steady wingbeats make them pretty easy to identify in flight, once you know what you’re looking for. Check them out!
Notes from the field: Goldilocks Bats
By Steve Dietz, Minnesota Master Naturalist volunteer
In the sadly long list of things we no longer see as much since childhood — salamanders in the window well , insects on the car windshield, Eastern Meadowlarks singing in the prairie — bats, which have been on Earth for 50 million years, are on the list of MIA.
Of Minnesota’s eight species of bats, little brown myotis, known colloquially as little brown bats (Myotis lucifugus), are Minnesota’s most populous species. They hibernate exclusively in caves, which makes them particularly susceptible to white-nose syndrome, which is caused by a fungus that thrives in the same environment in which these bats hibernate. During the winter, the fungus growing on the bats causes them to awaken more frequently,and they then go looking for insect food, which is not available. In doing so, the bats burn up valuable fat reserves. Many eventually die from the effects of starvation. In fact, up to 90% of their population has been decimated since 2016.
While various populations have come perilously close to extinction — the northern long-eared has recently been listed as endangered under the federal Endangered Species Act — some individuals do survive, and it is critical to the chances of any recovery for the species that these individuals reproduce and successfully raise young who, over time, may have the right genetic makeup to survive the syndrome.
Which brings us to bat boxes.
Bat boxes are artificial roosting structures that provide vertical crevices for bats to rest during the day. Bats use boxes in spring, summer and fall. Female bats gather in bat boxes to give birth and raise their pups. Effective bat boxes can become important habitat for supporting bat populations, especially when bats are excluded from buildings. … Research has shown that bats will return to the same roosting site for many years. With little brown bats living more than 32 years, reliable roosts are important!
Bat boxes have been around for decades, but for almost as long, there has been little rigorous research into what makes a good bat box and none specific to the climate of Minnesota and the Upper Midwest. For the past several years, however, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources has been more systematically studying bats in numerous state parks and other DNR areas, including what types of housing have been the most successful, and it recently released guidelines for what makes a good bat house.
To grossly oversimplify, the answer is … Goldilocks. Bats are very sensitive to temperature. They “need a warm roost (86 to 104°F) to raise their young. Too hot and bats may overheat, leading to mortality. Too cold and bats must expend their energy reserves to keep warm.”
Lacking an adjustable heat pump for a bat box, the best thing to do is give bats options. Some days they will choose to roost in a sunnier spot, sometimes in the shadier. Even during a single day, they may move up or down a chamber, seeking just the right spot. Goldilocks.
Many of the most successful bat house installations around the state, including at Whitewater State Park, have multiple bat houses near each other, facing in different directions, more and less in sun and shade, with varying distances from nearby trees, differing heights, even different exterior paint. Bats can easily migrate among these shelters depending on the weather, the availability of food and other considerations.
Bat boxes are not a silver bullet. White-nose syndrome remains a deadly killer, the collapse of many insect populations creates food shortages, and the loss of habitat to human development leaves fewer naturally occurring roosting spots. But thanks to rigorous, evidence-based research, Minnesotans now have some guidelines that can help ameliorate the crisis for some bats in the state.
With the help of Whitewater State Park naturalist Jeremy Darst, the presence of little brown bats has been confirmed in Frontenac State Park. The FSPA intends to take advantage of the new DNR guidelines and erect suitable bat housing in the park.
Individual homeowners can help as well, even with single-pole installations. But be careful — not all bat houses are equal. RTM! (Read the manual! Artificial Roosts for Bats.)
A reminder: ‘Prairie Dreams: Trail of Quilts,’ an amazing new event, coming in June 2026
We’re so excited about this event, planned for June 13, 2026, that we’re going to feature it in our newsletter every month till then. That day, the FSPA will present a startlingly beautiful, artistic, one-of-a-kind, one-day exhibit of art quilts that we’re calling “Prairie Dreams.” Want to submit a quilt? Register online to receive some free materials or attend one of the following events:
River Road Quilters, Sept. 2
Quilters Sew’ciety, Sept. 8
Winona Quilt Guild, Sept. 8
Material Girls, Sept. 9
Evening Star Quilters, Oct. 23
Mushroom of the month
The beauty around us: Notes from Bruce Ause
Interpretive naturalist and treasured friend of the park Bruce Ause has granted us permission to feature his blog entries in our newsletters. This month, we were fascinated by his post about pollinator activity near his home just north of the park’s Rattlesnake Bluff. Check it out.
Poem of the month
At August’s quarterly FSPA meeting, many important, earnest, complicated issues, ideas were discussed, yadda, yadda. All good! But we couldn’t help but notice that our members, many of them a tad arthritic, sat up straightest for ranger Jake Gaster’s update on White Lightning, the buckthorn-chomping goat who has survived for more than two years up on Rattlesnake Bluff. WL is doing fine, Jake said. He added that the goat herder from whose paddock WL escaped in late 2022 is trying anew to recapture him/her. At that, we all looked a little glum, clearly thinking the same thing: Run free, White Lightning! His/her adventure has inspired many a scribe, including FSPA member Janet Malotky, who recently penned this ode:
“The Legend of White Lightning”
By Janet Malotky
Summer on summer on Rattlesnake Bluff,
high above the ferries,
come humble goats for season’s hire
to graze the bluffside prairies.
Their task: preserve the southside slopes
by chomping down invasives
on land too steep for human toil;
for rattlesnakes and gold cinquefoil
and butterfly weed and clover.
So here is where our legend starts:
A goat looks up from munching.
She spies the plants outside the fence —
those succulent oak seedlings.
That’s where, she thinks, I’m lunching.
None knows for certain how she crossed
the electric demarcation.
Did she leap or roll or crash right through?
Did she suffer in the crossing?
But there she was outside the fence,
with freedom in the offing.
Did she try to rejoin her clan right then
or blindly follow taste temptation?
Perhaps she baa’d to beckon friends
or gamboled in celebration.
All we know for certain is that
when the shepherd returned to collect them,
all the goats but one were there —
the young white goat was missing.
A winter passed, then two,
and all assumed she’d died without a sighting.
But in the second spring on a bluff-top ledge
there stood our own White Lightning!
How she lived through winters’ grip,
survived coyotes prowling …
Is she lonely on her ledge at night
when the Great-horned Owl is calling?
Now as seasons come and seasons go,
she roams her Driftless acres,
and seems to shun her rented kin,
evading all recaptures.
Each afternoon at the bluff’s cliff edge,
her wild ancestors stirring,
she nimbly leaps down steep decline
and lights upon a narrow spine
above the park’s north boundary.
Some afternoons from the road below —
but only if we’re lucky —
we may chance to see that dignified pose
of our very own free White Lightning.
Interested in joining the FSPA?
If you are a member, thank you! You help us pursue our mission of supporting this treasured park in myriad ways.
If you’d like to join us, we’d be honored to have your support. Dues are $25 per year for an individual, $35 for dual/family membership. Here’s a link with signup information.
A reminder that joining us occasionally to help with volunteer efforts is awesome too, even if you’re not a member. The FSPA’s goals are to support Frontenac State Park activities and share our love of this beautiful park with as many people as possible.
To sign up to regularly receive this free, spam-free monthly newsletter, click on “Subscribe” below. Feel free to send questions or comments to your newsletter editor at pamelamarianmiller@gmail.com. Questions about the FSPA? You can reach hard-working FSPA chair Steve Dietz at stevedietz@duck.com.
Handy links for more information and education
Frontenac State Park
Frontenac State Park Association
If you take pictures in the park, tag us on Instagram
Frontenac State Park bird checklist
Frontenac State Park on iNaturalist
Parks & Trails Council of Minnesota
Website for our township, Florence Township
Minnesota Master Naturalist programs
Red Wing Environmental Learning Center
Lake City Environmental Learning Program on FB
Visit Lake City
Zumbro Valley Audubon Society
Bruce Ause’s Wacouta Nature Notes blog
Marge Loch-Wouters’ Hiking the Driftless Trails blog
Frontenac State Park staff
Jake Gaster, park manager; Amy Jay, assistant park manager; Amy Poss, lead field worker
Parting shots
Thank you, readers and park visitors!
This is Volume 3, No. 9 of the Frontenac State Park Association newsletter, which was launched in April 2023.
Here’s where to browse the full archives of this newsletter.