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

Scavenger Hunt at Sibley 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

Leaf: 7-9 rounded lobes with deep and shallow notches. Tips large and wavy.
Fruit: Acorn with fringe around cup. These feed many wildlife.
Tree Form: Relatively short trunk with heavy, sprawling branches

photos: MnDNR

1 / 20

BUR OAK

Tree - Bur Oak

Leaf: Heart-shaped with jagged teeth. Bees love to make honey from basswood flowers.
Bark: Smooth grayish red when young. Grayish brown with shallow, narrow ridges.
Fruit: Small nutlet under leafy bract.

photos: MnDNR; University of NE-Lincoln

2 / 20

BASSWOOD (LINDEN)

Basswood leaf, tree trunk and fruit

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

3 / 20

SUGAR MAPLE

Tree - Sugar Maple
Banner reads: Wildflowers

Blooms June - September
Found: In the sun, dry fields, and prairies.
Petals: Flat-topped clusters with up to 25 orange flowers.

photo: Eric Hunt / Wikimedia CC

4 / 20

BUTTERFLY WEED

Flower - Butterfly Milkweed

Blooms: July - September
Found: In sunny spots along shores.
Petals:Pink to purple flowers.

5 / 20

JOE-PYE WEED

Flower - Joe Pye Weed

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

photo: Luke Lawreszuk / Sprayedout.com

6 / 20

BLACK-EYED SUSAN

Flower - black-Eyed Susan
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

7 / 20

CRAYFISH / CRAWDAD

Crayfish on rocks

There are many types of caterpillars roaming around in Minnesota parks. They may be fuzzy, stripy, or plain, and each will transform into a moth or butterfly. The ones here are the Tussock Moth (top left), the Woolybear (bottom left), and the Monarch, which can be found on milkweed plants.

photo: Lisa Filter/P&TC; 1sock / FlickrCC; Maria L. Evans / Wikimedia CC

8 / 20

CATERPILLARS

Three caterpillars

Color: Bright orange with black veins.
Found: Flying around wildflowers.
Fun Fact:
They fly down to Mexico before winter begins.

photo: Peter Miller / Flickr CC

9 / 20

MONARCH BUTTERFLY

Monarch butterfly on a pink flower
Banner reads: Birds

Appearance:  Blue with a reddish chest and white belly.
Found: Flying fast over prairies.
Fact: Once nearly eliminated from MN, now rebounded as people built nest boxes.

photo: pixabay.com

10 / 20

EASTERN BLUEBIRD

bluebird

Appearance: These two woodpeckers are nearly identical with the Downy a little smaller at ~6" and Hairy ~9". The female doesn't have the red mark on head.

Found: In the forest.

Photo: Andrew McKinlay/FlickrCC

11 / 20

DOWNY or HAIRY WOODPECKER

Hairy woodpecker

Males: Red eye and green crest.
Females: Brown with crest and white eye ring.
Found: In quiet backwaters or ponds.

photo: Rick Leche - Photography

12 / 20

WOOD DUCK

pair of wood ducks
Banner reads: Mushrooms and Lichen

Appearance: Orange with yellow edge, shelf-like layers.
Found: On decaying stumps and logs or an injured tree in late summer or fall.
CAUTION: Never eat any mushroom unless knowledgeable.

photo: Jean-Pol GRANDMONT/WikimediaCC

13 / 20

CHICKEN OF THE WOODS

Orange, layered mushroom

Blooms: June - September
Found: In shady forests under pine needles.
Petals: Ghostly white.
Fun Fact: Technically, this is a flower, but it doesn't need the sun to grow and relies on underground fungi.

photo: Checkermallow / FlickrCC

14 / 20

GHOST PIPES

Flower - Ghost Pipe
Banner reads: Human Made

Muskrats are close cousins to beavers.
Found: In ponds, marshes, and streams.
Lodges (Muskrat homes): Mounds made from mud and vegetation such as cattails and other woody plants.

photo: Don Burkett/FlickrCC & Brianne/FlickrCC

15 / 20

MUSKRAT LODGE

Muskrat swimming in lake plus inset of its home, a mound of cattails

Deer hooves (photo) are commonly seen on or near trails. Their hooves make two side-by-side teardrop tracks. Other common prints are from raccoons, rabbits, opossums, and coyotes.

photo: QS Wiki Account, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

16 / 20

ANIMAL FOOTPRINTS

Deer hoof print in dirt
Banner reads: Human Made
photo: Courtesy of Sibley State Park Improvement Association

17 / 20

BATHHOUSE

Stone building
photo: Courtesy of Sibley State Park Improvement Association

18 / 20

WOOD DUCK HOUSE

Wooden box with hole in a frozen lake
photo: Courtesy of Sibley State Park Improvement Association

19 / 20

PARK STORE

Stone building with roof awning and sign reads Sibley Park Store

20 / 20

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.

 

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