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Phenology Report, February 14 2023

Two trumpeter swans fly toward the camera and are silhouetted against a blue sky. The area between the eyes and beak is black, but they are otherwise entirely white except for their dark feet. In the background is a bare deciduous forest and some ducks on the water.

It’s time for your weekly dose of phenology! John begins with a note about swans. His friend Dr. Craig Bowron sent John an email saying that a swan had flown over his head while he was waiting to board a train in Minneapolis. Craig said that “that beautiful white body against the crystal blue sky was memorable and delightful.” John responded that we all owe Carrol Henderson a great debt for bringing Trumpeter Swans back to Minnesota. Last year, the swan population in the state exceeded 30,000! The reintroduction has been a rousing success, and all of us who have appreciated a swan in the sky (or on a lake) have Carrol to thank.

Craig also mentioned that Minneapolis mornings are filled with the songs of Northern Cardinals- that means that Grand Rapids will be hearing them soon! John hasn’t heard the cardinals yet, but has been treated to a whole percussion section courtesy of his local woodpeckers. He’s counted at least three different species of woodpeckers drumming on the trees: Downies, Hairies, and Pileateds. He isn’t sure if the Red-bellied Woodpecker is joining the chorus, but he has his suspicions! For woodpeckers, drumming is a territorial behavior. They are staking out breeding territories where they can raise a family.

John’s oak trees are down to 15-20% of the total number of leaves. The fallen leaves are creating pits in the snow: the dark leaves absorb more of the sun’s energy, melting the snow beneath them. On sunny days, they can cut right down through the snowpack, leaving pits and sunken areas. The same thing will happen near tree trunks, shrubs, and anywhere where dirt has been kicked up on the snow’s surface: snow will melt quickly away from any dark surface!

John’s other trees are playing pranks on him. The heavy snow that fell in mid-December has stuck to the branches of his pine trees, and is finally beginning to fall. John found a spot where a Norway Pine had shed about 5 gallons of snow from its branches, leaving a considerable pile on the ground. John went over to take a look, and was in the middle of thinking he was glad it hadn’t fallen on his head when another bunch of snow fell three feet behind him! I can’t help but hope that tree lured him in just to make him jump. There’s a less charming option, though: sun warming the dark pine needles combined with the warm, 45-degree days have melted the ice that fastened the snow to the branches, allowing gravity to finally take its course.

John’s local Bald Eagles have been a bit more friendly than usual! While he was out for a jaunt, one of the adults decided to land in the nest despite John’s close presence. Shortly after, an immature Bald Eagle flew up. The adult was less than welcoming: John isn’t fluent in eaglease, but the words didn’t sound polite. The juvenile flew a couple circles around the nest, checking it out, then decided it wasn’t worth all the fuss. John is still waiting to see which nest the eagles choose: there are two available, and the eagles have switched between them occasionally.

John went back in his records to see what notes he made on Valentine’s Day in years past. Here they are!

  • 1986: First skunk of the season
  • 1992: Black-backed Woodpecker sighting (“A real surprise and a treat!” They are swamp-dwellers, and you’re not likely to see one unless you’ve trudged to the middle of a large spruce or Tamarack swamp.)
  • 1994: First day of above 32-degree weather for the year
  • 1995: First Horned Lark of the season (As reported by Larry Olson, one of John’s phenology mentors. Larry had been keeping records since the mid-70s, and shared his observations with John!)
  • 2011: First pussywillow bud break
  • 2012: Less than 3 inches of snow on the ground (it turned out to be the warmest spring that John’s ever recorded!)
  • 2021: Temperature of -35 degrees.

Brr! I’m glad this year’s temperatures were a bit warmer.
That does it for this week! Get in touch with me (smitchell@kaxe.org), John Latimer (jlatimer@kaxe.org), or text "phenology" to 218-326-1234.

For more phenology, subscribe to our Season Watch Newsletter or visit the Season Watch Facebook page.

Funding for this project was provided by the Minnesota Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund as recommended by the Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources (LCCMR).

As a mail carrier in rural Grand Rapids, Minn., for 35 years, John Latimer put his own stamp on a career that delivered more than letters. Indeed, while driving the hundred-mile round-trip daily route, he passed the time by observing and recording seasonal changes in nature, learning everything he could about the area’s weather, plants and animals, and becoming the go-to guy who could answer customers’ questions about what they were seeing in the environment.
Heidi Holtan is KAXE's Director of Content and Public Affairs where she manages producers and is the local host of Morning Edition from NPR. Heidi is a regional correspondent for WDSE/WRPT's Duluth Public Television’s Almanac North.
Charlie Mitchell (she/they) joined the KAXE team in February of 2022. Charlie creates the Season Watch Newsletter, writes segment summaries for the website, and coordinates our Engaging Minnesotans with Phenology project. With a background in wildlife biology, she enjoys learning a little bit about everything, whether it's plants, mushrooms, aquatic invertebrates, or the short-tailed shrew (did you know they can echolocate?).