Phenology
2025
It’s been a spring like week with a high temperature of 56 degrees and a low of 19. Above freezing days and below freezing nights are ideal for maple tapping. The sap is flowing at 2-4 gallons per day. The hydrometer told us that our sap was at about 2% sugar. This is pretty typical for our smaller silver maples, but big sugar maples can be close to 5%. We have seen the return on American Robins in good numbers, and have heard lots of Canada Geese, Sandhill Cranes, Trumpeter Swans overhead. Though we haven’t seen any Red-winged Blackbirds in our marsh, we have observed them in the area. Naturalist Marla Richter found a Water Boatman on a campus path. The Garter Snakes have emerged from their hibernaculum! They are sticking very close to the entrance to soak up the midday sun and heading back in at night. That’s a good sign that we’ve turned the weather corner. We’ve seen Red Squirrels and Chipmunks on campus, plus the deer have been very active. There have been reports of Black Bears coming out of hibernation in the area, but we have not seen any. Unfortunately, there have been reports of ticks, so it’s officially the beginning of “Tick Check Season.” Red-tailed and other hawk species have been observed hunting in nearby fields and there seems to be a lot of Bald Eagles migrating through the region now. One of the highlights for us was Naturalist Katie Murphy finding what we believe to be bobcat tracks in the bog. Very cool. We have open water on the edge of the lake and dark ice everywhere. Ice out is fast approaching! It’s an exciting time of transition in nature. Get out and enjoy it. If you can, bring a kid!
This report is brought to you by Isaac, Kate and the students from St. Francis of the Lakes Catholic School in Brainerd
The high temperature was 52 degrees Fahrenheit and the low was 21. At the bird feeders we saw grey squirrels and red squirrels. Also, a male goldfinch, nuthatches, chickadees, and a female downy woodpecker. The water dish at the feeder area was popular with the finches and the squirrels. Long Lake staff said that they have not seen birds at the water dish very often this winter. We are not sure if the small flock of finches were house finch or purple finch. The lichen on the trees looked like bright pops of color in the forest. Trees with buds were seen and so were spiders in the dead leaves. Crows were heard calling from the treetops. We noticed fresh pileated woodpecker holes low on the trees, they can really destroy a tree! We had a great time in nature and we want to remind everyone to unplug, get outside and LIVE CONNECTED!
This report is brought to you by the Long Lake staff. It's spring break at Long Lake. No schools this week.
This report is brought to you by Soeler, Iselle and the students from Sejong Academy in St. Paul!
The weather was all over the place with a high of 53 degrees Fahrenheit and a low of 13. We had sunshine, rain, snow and wind! On the lake we saw slush on top of the frozen lake, deer tracks frozen into the lake ice, an otter hole with aquatic vegetation on the ice around the hole and swans flying overhead. Long Lake currently has 17 to 18 inches of ice. In the forest we tapped maple trees, no sap is running yet. We saw green hepatica leaves, maple trees with buds, two blue jays and granular snow that reminded us of sugar or salt. In the night sky we saw Jupiter and the moons of Jupiter. We also saw our moon in the first quarter phase, this moon phase is halfway between a new moon and a full moon. The part we see will be getting bigger from now until the full moon on March 14th. On this date there will also be a total lunar eclipse. The earth will be directly between the sun and the moon. The moon will look red because of the earth’s atmosphere. Check it out on Friday night after midnight and remember to unplug, get outside and LIVE CONNECTED!
This report is brought to you by Indica, Steven, Haylie, Damara, Ronnie, Max and the students from Coulee Connections in LaCrosse, Wisconsin. Great job!
During our trip to Long Lake Conservation Center from February 24th through the 27th, we had a high temperature of 48 degrees Fahrenheit, the warmest it’s been since October 19th. Much of the snow has melted and some of the trails have turned into a slushy soup. Long Lake’s otters liked the warm weather and popped out of a hole in the middle of the lake to enjoy the sun. It’s the first otter sighting in many months. A trail camera was set up near its hole. The otter looked healthy and strong. While we were exploring near the otter’s hole our group saw a star-nosed mole scurrying across the lake and found a dead one close by. During a hike to an inactive beaver lodge we noticed a hole dug on the top. It looked like it might have been dug by a fox. We uncovered a small plant underneath the snow and were surprised that it had green leaves. Our group noticed two newly chopped woodpecker holes, and saw lots of deer scat, and even some old grouse scat. The squirrels ruled the day at the bird feeders. We tried to count them all, but they were too busy. A few were even chasing each other. Our guess is that there were close to 20 chunky squirrels. We saw a House Finch, Chickadee, Nuthatches and a Red-bellied woodpecker. An adult in another group said she heard a coyote calling at night. At dinner, a small herd of deer came snack on what seeds the squirrels and birds had left behind. We think the Vikings are better than the Packers. It’s a great time to explore nature and we want to remind everyone to unplug, get outside and LIVE CONNECTED!
This report is from Emma and the students from Sacred Heart School in Freeport and Daphne and the students from St. Mary Melrose. Great job, young explorers!
During our trip from February 19th through the 21st, the deep freeze finally let up and we had a high temperature of 25 degrees Fahrenheit. The midday sun felt great, but it was still plenty cold at night, dropping to 6 below zero. The warmer weather brought out the critters, especially to the bird feeders. In addition to Hairy, Downy, Pileated and Red-bellied woodpeckers, Chickadees and Nuthatches were “chilling near the bird seed”, and there was a large flock of Common Redpolls. We observed that the males had a rosy red patch on their breast, but the females did not. Long Lake told us that this is the first sighting of Redpolls this winter. In the powdery snow, we saw tracks everywhere. There were many deer tracks, and a deer bed, plus lots of mouse tracks. On our snowshoe adventure, we found birch mushrooms and enjoyed watching the acrobatic squirrels. Chickadees and other birds were singing loudly. It was nice to hear their songs. One of the highlights of the trip was seeing a herd of 11 deer come to eat seeds. One even ate a leftover pancake. It was so cute. Temperatures are on the rise and days are getting longer. Spring is on the way. It’s a great time to explore nature and we want to remind everyone to unplug, get outside and LIVE CONNECTED!
This report is brought to you by Aubrey, Brooklyn and the students from Paynesville Elementary. Nice job, young explorers!
During our trip from February 12th through the 14th the low temperature was 20 below zero and the high was 9. The critters were mostly hunkered down in the cold, but there were still signs of spring to be seen and heard. During a sunrise walk to the beach, Harmony heard a chorus of spring Chickadee songs. On that same walk, she found a dead mouse, frozen in the snow. We suspect that it either died from accidentally being stepped on, or it wandered too far from the warmth and froze to death. It was probably not the victim of an owl or a predator, because they wouldn’t have left it behind. Some lucky scavenger will find it and enjoy a mousesicle for supper. Joey found dog, wolf or coyote tracks that led up to a log and a little jump from that log were more tracks. Harmony and Haily saw mouse tracks in the woods near the thicket. We noticed that it’s easy to spot bird nests in the winter. Our group saw deers beds, Nora spotted deer tracks, there was deer scat everywhere and Selena and Clayton both saw a bunch of deer out of the window. Naturalist Julia saw three deer behind the dining hall. She said that one of them stomped on another deer while it was eating. Dylan, Macey and Rheagan found Goldenrod Galls in the woods and ate the grubs they found inside. The competition for seeds at the bird feeders was fierce. We saw a squirrel nearly run over a bird to get to the seeds. We had a great time exploring nature and we want to remind everyone to unplug, get outside and LIVE CONNECTED!
This report is brought to you by Jareth and the students from St Elizabeth Ann Seaton in St. Cloud, Audrey and the students from St. Mary Help of Christians in St. Augusta and Bo and the students from St. Andrew in Elk River. Great job!
The weather was downright cold with lows dropping to minus 27 degrees Fahrenheit with a high of 14. Thankfully, the winds were calm and the cold didn’t stop us from exploring nature. The weekend’s fresh, powdery snow made for great cross country skiing and snowshoe adventures where we saw a number of deer beds. As our group was approaching a stand of birches, we flushed a deer, and found tracks leading to and from the bed. We also found plenty of “Cocoa puffs and lemon snow.” The bird feeders were active during the “warmth” of midday with sightings of male Red-bellied, Hairy and Downy Woodpeckers, Blue Jays, Chickadees, Nuthatches, and a few squirrels. It’s notable that we only saw a few squirrels. Not even the promise of an easy meal of seeds was enough to get them to come out from their warm nests. Our group found mouse tracks that led to a hole under the snow. We saw lots of rabbit tracks and found an acorn on top of the snow. We heard one woodpecker drumming. Though we saw Chickadees and Nuthatches, we didn’t hear them singing their spring mating calls. It must be too cold for them to sing. It was a crisp, but beautiful week in nature and we want to remind everyone that, no matter the weather, it’s always a great time to unplug, get outside and LIVE CONNECTED!
This report is brought to you by Kendy, Niyah and the students from Cohasset Elementary and Josia from Bigfork Elementary. They visited LLCC from Feb. 6-7, 2025. It was sooooo cold that the critters decided to stay hunkered down for almost the entire trip. As the schools were getting ready to leave the feeders were invaded by squirrels, and ALL the birds.
The low temperature was minus 11 degrees Fahrenheit and the high was 16 degrees. It was very windy on the first day of our trip, the powdery snow in the air allowed us to see the wind swirling and rising and then quickly falling around us. The fresh snow made it look like nobody had ever walked here before. On Friday we woke up to a nice sunny winter day with low winds. Sometimes phenology is as much about what you don’t see as what you do. We did not see much wildlife; just a few birds at the feeders and in the woods. Our group saw Nuthatches, a red-bellied woodpecker and a pileated woodpecker, a chickadee searching for food in a tree and some kind of finch we could not identify. We think the cold weather is keeping the squirrels in their dens. We did see deer tracks, a deer bedding spot and heard the drumming of a woodpecker. Otherwise, most of the critters stayed in bed. Wish you were here Mr. Latimer, see you soon! We had a great time in nature and we want to remind everyone to unplug, get outside and LIVE CONNECTED!
This report is brought to you by Leah, Lola and the students from Cannon River STEM in Faribault. Great job!
During our trip from January 29th through the 31st the low temperature was 17 degrees Fahrenheit and the high was a balmy 45 degrees, the warmest temperature since November 19th. The unseasonably warm weather seemed to wake up nature, with the birds especially enjoying the sunshine. Chickadees and woodpeckers were abundant and very active. Nuthatches have begun singing their spring songs, getting ready for mating season. Naturalist Katie found a bat that was on the move. There have been a few reports of moths in the area, so maybe the bat was able to find some food. There is only about 2-3 inches of crunchy snow left, but our group was still able to cross country ski to the other side of the lake. The ice depth was measured at 17 inches. A Pileated Woodpecker flew over the lake. In the woods we saw grouse tracks, and at night we saw Jupiter while stargazing. At dinner, a group of nine deer came for a meal of bird seed. They are looking healthy. We were able to observe them for a few minutes before something spooked them, causing them to put up their white tails and run away. We had a great time exploring nature and we want to remind everyone to unplug, get outside and LIVE CONNECTED!
This report is brought to you by Pat, Damien and the students from TrekNorth High School in Bemidji.
We had a rare January thaw with a high temperature of 41 degrees Fahrenheit and a low of 21. Signs of springs were everywhere, including Chickadees singing their spring “Cheeseburger, cheeseburger” song and woodpeckers drumming. Both of these are examples of early mating calls, also known as bird rizz. Our group sat patiently by the feeders until a Chickadee ate seeds from our hands. We spent time following tracks and found lots of deer and fox scat, deer lay downs, ruffed grouse beds with scat, mouse tracks that led to a “mouse motel” and vole tracks under the snow.
One of the highlights of the trip was seeing a flying squirrel. The interesting thing about this squirrel was that it had a purple glow under a black light. This is called biofluorescence. That’s when animals absorb light and emit it as a different color. It can be seen in many animals, including fish, amphibians, and some mammals. It was a great week in nature, we want to remind everyone to unplug, get outside and LIVE CONNECTED!
This report is brought to you by Mike, Colette and the students from St. Wenceslaus School in New Prague.
The weather included sunshine, large fluffy snowflakes and a 31 degree change with a low temperature of minus 10 degrees Fahrenheit and a high of 21 degrees. While snowshoeing we noticed that the snow crunched loudly and the trees were popping and cracking in the wind. We saw lots of deer tracks and trails. At the bird feeders we saw very active squirrels and we noticed that there were more birds at the feeders at breakfast and fewer birds at the feeders at dinner time. On our first night we had a visitor during Owl class, when a bat flew around the room a couple of times and then crawled back into a tiny hole near the fireplace chimney. On our 2nd night we got to see 8 deer eating together under the bird feeders. We had a great time in nature and we want to remind everyone to unplug, get outside and LIVE CONNECTED!
This report is brought to you by Bennett, Declan and the students from Modern Montessori Charter School in Champlain.
During our trip from January 15th to 17th the low temperature was 10 degrees Fahrenheit and the high was 34. With all the new snow for our trip we got to see and experience many things. There were LOTS of deer tracks going back and forth. Many were dragging their hooves in the snow. Some of the deer tracks we identified as a buck. We also spotted little rodent tracks, it was hopping along with its tail dragging behind it, and then we saw where it dove into the snow in it’s tunnel. The squirrels have been running all over getting food and we have been hearing and seeing chickadees calling and eating at the feeder. We went out onto the lake in our snowshoes and brushed away the snow to look at the ice, where we found some frozen plants. While we were out there we saw a Snow-nado! A few big gusts of wind were lifting the powdery snow and swirling it around. There have also been beautiful sunrises and sunsets while we were here, as well as some clear night sky to see several planets. A few of us spotted some smaller things, like some snow flies. They are small insects without wings and they were walking on the snow. On a hike one of us found a stick that had these shriveled mushrooms on it. It turns out they were Amber Jelly roll mushrooms, a type of jelly fungus. We put a few of them in water to watch them expand. We had a great time exploring nature and we want to remind everyone to unplug, get outside and LIVE CONNECTED!
This report is brought to you by Dylan, Ashlyn and the students from Bertha-Hewitt Elementary.
During our trip from January 9th to January 10th the low temp was 15 degrees Fahrenheit and the high was 28 degrees. Guess what happened while we were at Long Lake? IT SNOWED!! We got to enjoy a beautiful, gentle snowfall while we were out on the lake playing games and exploring. We ended up getting about an inch on the afternoon of the 9th. The snow mostly stopped by dinner, so not quite enough snow for snowshoeing. Out on the ice we all got to hear it singing, with low deep rumbles sounding out across the lake. Sometimes it even came close enough to feel it underfoot. If we brushed away the snow the ice was clear and dark underneath. We were competing to see who could find the biggest air bubble under the ice, and were admiring the beauty of the cracks running across the lake. On our hikes around campus we noticed that the lichen really stood out on the trees, so we stopped for a closer look. We spotted a few tracks frozen into the icy patches and were trying to figure out if they were large dog tracks or wolf. There was also a small tree that was splintered by the trail in a very strange way, and we could not figure out what did it. Potential culprits are: woodpecker, deer, or people with a machine. And finally from the dining hall we watched the squirrels absolutely ATTACKING the bird feeders and digging in their winter staches trying to get more food. We had a great time exploring nature and we want to remind everyone to unplug, get outside and LIVE CONNECTED!
Happy New Year! This report is brought to you by Wakan, Shawn and the students from Migizi in Minneapolis, reporting from Long Lake for Jan. 2-4, 2025.
During our trip from January 2nd through the 4th, winter reasserted itself with a blast of sun, wind, cold and snow. The low temp was -9 degrees Fahrenheit and the high was 14. The clear skies made for good stargazing. There was a waxing crescent moon that cast very little light, meaning lots of stars were out, as well as Jupiter, Mars, and Saturn. After last week’s melt, the fresh dusting of snow made for easy tracking. We saw lots of mammal prints scurrying around logs in the forest. The lake was singing loudly last night during our night hike. Last week, a cottontail rabbit was spotted on campus, but the cold has made even the heartiest hunker down. We’ve spotted only a handful of squirrels, including an angry red squirrel, and a few of the usual assortment of winter birds, including nuthatches, chickadees, Red-bellied, Downy, Hairy and Pileated Woodpeckers. It’s notable that the Red-breasted Nuthatches are back. We flushed a Ruffed Grouse on our walk. The ice on Long Lake is now 11 inches thick. It’s deep winter, but there’s never a bad time to explore nature. We want to remind everyone to unplug, get outside and LIVE CONNECTED!
Maple leaves are turning colors, and oak trees dropping acorns. Is it a sign of an early fall or the result of stress from the drought? We've had some other interesting wildlife sightings this week, including our first baby Snapping Turtle of the season. Our otters stopped by shore to play. Fun! Garden Spiders with their spiral webs, and Woolly Aphids are abundant in the bog. Bog Rosemary is in bloom. Always a treat.