Farewell, Marvelous March

Record-breaking high temperatures - almost no snow - sightings of spring events over two weeks earlier than typical...what a March it has been. We're finishing off this month having had the warmest March ever since record-keeping began in the 1800s. No doubt that there have been warmer Marchs or that the birds have come back sooner than usual, but it hasn't happened in a long time - not in my lifetime.  I think Minnesotans love that "I was there" experience of special weather record-setting events. I know that I do.

New signs of spring this week included the violets (see the earlier post) and maple seeds. There is a maple tree on the north side of the parking lot (by the "Visitor Parking" signs) that has seeds almost 1" long. I haven't seen any seeds on other maple trees - yet. They can't be far behind.

At home, male cowbirds are at the feeders and there has been a chipmunk scurrying around.

What a March - I can't wait to see what April will be like!

Roses are red, Violets are...Blooming!

Another sign of spring - I spotted violets blooming yesterday. Most other years, the violets aren't blooming until around the 3rd week of April. But, as with everything (it seems this year), things are happening sooner than usual.

Look for dark purple violets behind the Sugar Shack on the path leading to the cauldron.  In the next week or so, look for more violets in the woods north of the apiary sheds. And in another couple of weeks, look for the magenta violets in the woods between the parking lot and the path leading to the Lab.

Grey Skies

Today felt the way March is supposed to be. It was windy, cold, drizzly - raw. But the greyness provides a wonderful backdrop to highlight the promise of spring - dark clouds behind the chartreuse greens of budding trees. Lovely, lovely, lovely. I took the picture below when we were at the Lilly Property today. The grey and the greens are there, but the picture can't capture the way the leaves seem to glow. Look for it tomorrow when you go out.

Hide and Seek

As I was leaving the parking lot the other day, I spotted an animal within the woods on the south side of the parking lot. Since I was planning on doing a lesson with the Heritage 7th Graders about camouflage, it seemed like a great opportunity to snap a picture to add to my collection of photos for a powerpoint on "Camouflaged Critters." Look carefully at the picture below. An animal is hiding in plain sight - can you spot it?

Can you spot the animal?

It's Spring!

Well, Spring officially arrived at 12:14 this morning, but the unbelievable string of record-setting temperatures have helped to move along the first date of sighting/experiencing the following events around the nature center.

 Red-winged blackbirds, bluebirds, phoebes, a woodcock, song sparrows, American tree sparrows, and great blue herons have returned. Juncos are gathering – a flock of several hundred were spotted along the western edge of the main property and seem to be getting ready to head north.

The ice is off of the ponds. A muskrat was spotted on the Farm Pond, and Canada geese and mallards are staking territories. Lots of squawking and chasing have been seen. A painted turtle was sunning itself on a log in the Prairie Pond.

The chorus frogs are singing.

The silver maples have flowered and the box elders have leafed out.

Earthworms, woodticks, gnats, bees, and darkling beetles are active.

A pair of great horned owls may be nesting near the large white pine just past the pump station for Dodge’s well.

A second saw-whet owl has been spotted in the pines near our resident saw-whet. This one is smaller so it may be a male and they may be pairing up.

Near the Photoblind trail, in a dead pine snag, a pair of pileated woodpeckers has been busy, possibly excavating a nesting cavity.

The male turkeys are strutting their stuff, but the females seem less than impressed.

Thanks to everyone for their observations.

Enjoy the season!

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Yah, yah, usually this is sung around the holidays, but for those of us living with winter and all the challenging things it gives us, spring is a truly wonderful time of year. Those first glorious warm days, spotting returning birds, watching for greening and blooming plants - what a fabulous season.

So far in the past seven days, we've broken high temperature readings six times. Naturalists at the nature center have spotted and/or heard phoebes, red-winged blackbirds, great blue herons, woodcocks, killdeers, and bluebirds. Male goldfinches are turning bright yellow. Juncoes are gathering in large flocks. (Are they getting ready to head back up north?) The ice is totally gone from the Farm Pond and about half of the Prairie Pond is free of ice. Sap is done running and the silver maples have flowered. And the chorus frogs are singing!

I wonder what will happen next week when spring officially begins...

Maple flowers

So, when does spring really begin?

Two weeks ago, we were shoveling out from under 5" of some of the wettest, heaviest snow I ever remember seeing. There was a huge puddle at the foot of my driveway and I had to build up islands from the snow to set my trash and recycling cans on so they wouldn't freeze into the water.

Last night, I wheeled the cans out to the foot of the driveway. No snow, no lake - just record warmth, greening grass and lots of birdsong. The robins are burbling away and I've spotted turkey vultures and great blue herons flying over the area. Some sources are declaring spring events are happening two weeks ahead of schedule.

At the nature center, we've spotted red-winged blackbirds and male bluebirds. I've heard killdeer calling and one naturalist watched whirligig beetles spinning in the Farm Pond. There is some sap flowing, but it is definitely odd to see naturalists doing syruping programs in their shorts!

Look - Up in the Sky!

We're keeping track of signs of spring at the nature center. While some people consider robins as the harbingers of spring, I've always preferred red-winged blackbirds. The males usually arrive at the Farm Pond the third week of March. They perch on top of the trees and sing out their "konk-a-ree" as they claim territory. The females arrive a couple of weeks later and nest-building begins.

Well, this year, the red-wings have already arrived - on Saturday! Today, during a maple syruping class, we watched two males - one in a willow tree and the other on the island in the Farm Pond. The red on their shoulders is intense, making it easy to spot as they fly to and from the spots they are trying to claim.

Ticks yesterday, red-winged blackbirds today - spring is here already.

A red-winged blackbird in a tree by the Farm Pond
(No, the trees haven't leafed out yet - this picture is from a couple of years ago.)

Tick Tock

We've had two incredibly lovely warm days - and not just somewhat warm, but record-shattering warm: upper 60's yesterday and today. After any winter, it feels so good to get outside without needing to wear 20 layers and enjoy the sun and warmth, so there was no way I was going to waste the fabulous weather. This afternoon, I was enjoying the sunshine in my backyard. I set up the rain barrel since we're supposed to get rain tonight and early tomorrow. I checked the back garden, pulled out the plastic Adirondack chairs, and watched the birds and the red squirrels for about an hour. When I went in, I headed to the bathroom and got an unpleasant surprise - there it was crawling up my leg - a tick. It's small - smaller than ordinary woodticks. It's dark near the head and reddish with stripes at the back. I'm not sure if it's a deer tick or just a young wood tick. At least it's off of me, although I still feel crawly several hours later. Too early to be plucking ticks...


About 1 mm wide and 3 mm long



Home Sweet Home

One of the maple trees in my backyard has a dead branch. But it's not a bad thing because the chickadees have taken it over for a nest. I don't know if they started the hole, but they have been expanding it every day for the past week.

Talk about perseverance - in and out of the hole, pulling tiny amounts of wood from inside to enlarge the cavity they are creating. When the chickadee comes out the hole, it flies to a nearby branch and tosses the wood pieces out of its beak to the ground. Fascinating! I'm looking forward to seeing the pair raise their family.

Good-bye, Old Friend

I started volunteering at Dodge in 1992. One of the exciting things that was part of the nature center was that it had raptors. I helped with programs using the great horned owl and learned about both the golden eagle and the bald eagle. And when I became a raptor volunteer, I got to work with the bald eagle - cleaning its mew, holding it during check-ups, feeding it. During summers, it loved to be sprayed with a gentle mist from the hose - it would hold out its one wing and flap it - obviously enjoying the shower.
 
Whenever I would do raptor programs and take groups to visit the raptors in their mews, I'd remind them that these birds weren't our pets - that they didn't particularly like us the way a pet dog or cat does, and it was important to treat the birds with respect because they were still wild. I respected the eagle and was always thrilled to be able to work so closely with such an amazing bird.
 
In the wild, eagles live to be about 15-20 years old, on average. Our eagle was at least 35 (it's been here since 1979 and was at least 5 years when it arrived.) Even with the constant care and supervision education birds received, they still get old and their bodies wear out.  And that's what happened this past week. The eagle's body systems started to wear out and shut down, and the decision was made to euthanize it since its quality of life was so diminished. I'll miss her steely stare and raucous cry and watching her watch eagles soaring above the nature center grounds.
Farewell and fly free, eagle!
 
Read more about the passing of Dodge's bald eagle in this article that appeared in today's Pioneer Press (http://www.twincities.com/localnews/ci_20105953).



Dodge Nature Center's Bald Eagle



 

Halo - and I'm not talking about the game.

Tonight's sky was full of beautiful sights - Jupiter and Venus in the western sky, Orion riding high in the southern sky, a moon that's almost full, and around it, a glowing ring - a halo.

Halos form around the moon when there are ice crystals from cirrus clouds high in the sky. The moonlight passes through the hexagon shaped crystals and is refracted and reflected. Sometimes, colors can be detected along the edges of the halo, but mostly, the ring is white - a beautiful glowing circle surrounding the moon.

Weather lore says moon halos indicate approaching bad weather. The local weather forecasters are predicting record high temperatures for Tuesday. If that's the kind of bad weather we're in for - bring it on!