Native yellow sunflowers in a field
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Graphical banner reads: Scavenger Hunt 2023

Scavenger Hunt at Father Hennepin State Park

Please note: The official 2023 season is finished. There are no more weekly drawings. However, you are still welcome to enjoy the hunts.

Welcome! You are tasked with finding "items" from these categories:

  • Trees
  • Wildflowers
  • Arthropods
  • Birds
  • Mushrooms & Lichens
  • Signs of wildlife
  • Amphibians & Reptiles

Happy scavenging!

 

 

Note: The icon below shows # of entries at this park for this year.
Banner reads: trees

Leaves: 3 pointed lobes with 2 smaller points near the stem (symbol on Canada flag).
Bark: Smooth, light gray to brown becomes almost black with irregular plates or scales.
Fun Fact: Maple syrup is made from this tree by collecting sap in the spring.

photo: MnDNR

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SUGAR MAPLE

Tree - Sugar Maple

Leaf: 5-9 finger-like lobes that can be notched deeply or shallow.
Bark: Pale gray with scaly ridges and shallow fissures.
Acorn: light brown and enclosed in a bowl-shaped cap.

photo: MnDNR

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WHITE OAK

photos of oak leaf, nuts and bark

Leaf: oval to triangular shaped with jagged teeth.
Bark: Thin, papery; becomes pure white with age, marked by black pores; peels off into thin sheets.
Fun Fact: Bark historically used to make canoes and wigwams by Ojibwe peoples.

photos: MnDNR

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PAPER BIRCH

Tree - Paper Birch
Banner reads: Wildflowers

Blooms: June - August
Commonly Found: Along shores and wood edges.
Petal Color: Pink or white.
Fun Fact: Monarchs lay their eggs solely on milkweed.

photo: USFWS

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COMMON MILKWEED

flower with big green leaves and pink petals

Blooms: June - October
Found: Sunny fields, along roads or lakeshores.
Petals: Cheery yellow petals swirl around a black center.

photo: Luke Lawreszuk / Sprayedout.com

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BLACK-EYED SUSAN

Flower - black-Eyed Susan

Blooms: June - September
Found: Floating in slow-moving water where it forms dense colonies.
Petals: White petals swirls around yellow stamens.

photo: Jacek Halicki / Wikimedia

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WHITE WATER LILY

Water Lily
Banner reads: Arthropods

MN is home to a few native crayfish, plus an invasive one. They all look like baby lobsters that reach 2-5 inches long.
Found: In streams and rivers with rocky bottoms and logs to hide under.
Fun Fact: While humans have 46 chromosomes, crayfish have 200. This allows them to self-amputate limbs if caught and then re-grow them.

ALAN SCHMIERER, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

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CRAYFISH / CRAWDAD

Crayfish on rocks

This water beetle is usually found swimming on the surface of a lake or pond where they swim wildly in circles. This movement makes small waves, which may help them find insects to eat via echolocation.

Udo Schmidt from Deutschland, CC via Wikimedia Commons & Under the same moon via Flickr CC

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WHIRLIGIG BEETLE

Beetle floating on water

Appearance: 140 species in MN come in a rainbow of colors.
Dragonfly: Bigger and keep wings spread out when resting.
Damselfly: Smaller and close their wings when resting.
Fun Fact: They can fly upside down, backward, and turn 360° on a dime.

photos: John Wright / Flickr CC; Jim Johnson / iNaturalist CC; Wayne Fidler / iNaturalist CC

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DRAGONFLIES / DAMSELFLIES

Three photos showing different species of dragonfly
Banner reads: Birds

Male: Green head.
Female: Mottled brown
Found: Swimming in lakes/rivers.

photo: Fcb981 / Wikimedia CC

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MALLARD

Male mallard with green head standing next to brown female mallard

Appearance: Sleek bird with crest and black mask.
Found: Open woodlands. Very social with flocks moving together as they look for berries and insects to eat.

photo: Judy Gallagher CC2.0/ Wikimedia CC

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CEDAR WAXWING

bird with black mask

Appearance: Largest woodpecker in MN, about the size of a crow. Red crest.
Found: In the forest, perched on tree trunks where they hammer holes in search of insects to eat.

photo: Will Stenberg / P&TC photo contest

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PILEATED WOODPECKER

Bird with red head clinging to tree
Banner reads: Mushrooms and Lichen

Appearance: Sorta like a turkey's tail growing out of a tree. This mushroom has wavy, leathery brown, white, gray, or reddish stripes.

Found: May-Sept. growing on logs or dead trees, especially on oaks.

CAUTION: Never eat any mushroom unless knowledgeable.

photo: Matt Welter / Wikimedia CC & Ryan Hodnett / Wikimedia CC

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TURKEY TAIL

Brown, wavy mushroom

Appearance:  Looks like a leaf of lettuce glued to a tree. It's pale yellow-green with wrinkly, wavy lobes.
Found: On the trunk of broad leafed trees such as maples, oaks, etc. and shrubs.
Fun Fact: Some people use it to dye wool.

photo: Björn S.../WikimediaCC

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COMMON GREENSHIELD LICHEN

Green lichen
Banner reads: Human Made

Many animals, such as squirrels, raccoons, owls, bats, weasels, porcupines, songbirds, and others, make their homes inside tree holes. The holes can occur from tree decay or broken branches, or else with the help of woodpeckers. While it's rare to see the occupant, let's assume it's a home for someone.

photo: Lorianne DiSabato / Flickr CC

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TREE CAVITY
(possible animal den)

Raccoon in a tree hole

Squirrels love to eat pinecone seeds. You may come across a pinecone cob and scales in a pile called middens that the squirrel left behind. Some middens get a few feet deep under a squirrel's favorite lunch spot.

photo: Lorianne DiSabato / Flickr CC

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SQUIRREL MIDDENS

Lodges (Beaver homes): Look in shallow water for mounds of sticks. Beavers made these by chewing, carrying, and placing each stick in place with mud. The entrance is underwater.
Chew Marks: Beavers gnaw on trees to fell them and use them in building dams. The marks are unique to beavers and one of the best signs of beaver presence.

[photos: Kyle T. Ford/P&TC photo contest; Keith William/FlickrCC]

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BEAVER LODGE OR CHEW MARKS

compilation photo of beaver, lodge and chew marks
Banner reads: Amphibians and reptiles

Color: Red-orange bottom shell (appears painted on) and black-olive upper shell. Yellow stripes on neck.
Found: On logs in lakes.

These rather adorable reptiles are docile and have no teeth.

photo: Steven Katovich / Bugwood.org CC

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PAINTED TURTLE

Painted turtle on a log

There are about 130 species of fishes found naturally in Minnesota. The most common ones to swim near shore and under docks are sunfish (photo). Seeing any fish will earn you points for this item.

photo: Joe Mabel, CC via Wikimedia

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FISH

Sunfish swimming in rocky bottom lake

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WHAT OTHER INTERESTING THINGS DID YOU FIND?

Fill in the following information to be entered in our weekly drawing for a $25 gift card to Minnesota State Parks, which will be mailed to the winner. Weekly winners are randomly selected from entries to ALL participating parks and trails—only one entry per park each summer. However, you are welcome to participate and enter the drawing at multiple parks' this summer.

Please note: For anyone age 12 and under, please enter adult companion's info.

Your score is