Two Nature Walks

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Today I went on two walks today because the weather was so beautiful. First I went to Bass Ponds trail in Bloomington which is part of the Minnesota River Valley National Wildlife Refuge. Walking along the paths next to the bass ponds I came across my favorite prairie grass which is side oats gramma (see picture below). I love the name side oats gramma. And I like how descriptive it is.

After lunch I went to Wood Lake Nature Center. The nature center was closed but the trails were open. In Wood Lake I stood on a y shaped dock, looked into the water, and saw some painted turtle action going on. I saw 2 six inch sized painted turtles going around in circles. One turtle was pulling the other. It has it's mouth on the other turtles right front paw. The puller turtle had it's head under water and was swimming in circles. The pullee turtle had it's head above water probably wondering what the heck was going on and how long is this going to last? As I left they were still circling. Later I came upon this white tailed deer that must be used to people walking the paths.