Waterfowl murder: Students investigate suspicious death of local swan

“Hi, this is Nick, Natalie and Hatti reporting from Oak Grove Elementary in Bloomington, Minnesota.

“We are having nice weather lately. We thought we were going to have a huge storm yesterday with hail and maybe tornadoes, but it missed us completely.

“This week, we walked our school grounds and observed the 20 trees we planted 3 years ago. 17 of the 20 trees are healthy and growing. Some have buds, some have leaves, some have pods, and some have nothing. We have 16 different varieties of trees, and all are at different stages of growth.

“Three of our trees are dead or dying. We think our tamarack was eaten by deer, our maple was broken by people and our final tree looked like it had a disease.

“We will go out again in a couple weeks and observe the differences we see in all of these trees.

“That’s all for today, stay tuned for the next OGE Phenology Club nature episode.

“Plant and take care of trees! Bye!”

"Greetings from Mr. Steffen’s fourth grade class in the Linwood School Forest. This is Allison, Sadie, and Aubrey reporting on our observations from the week ending May 2, 2025.
“This week we observed that the buds on the fallen red maple have disappeared, it looks like the buds got snipped off. The black walnut tree has developed fuzzy red and green buds.
“We also observed That the box elder now has 2-3 sets of leaves. The flower looks like skinny pink noodles. The lilacs have green growth but no flowers yet.

“Our cottonwood has lost all of its flower buds and we are waiting to see what happens next. Some students saw a bird’s nest in the cottonwood.”

“We also saw a little mouse in the forest when we were setting up hammocks and someone spotted a toad by their chicken coop at home.
“That is all from the Linwood School Forest and remember, there is no place like Linwood!”

Contributed

/

Chad Kaddatz

“This is Alexis and CeCe reporting from Little Falls Middle School. This is our phenology report for the week of May 4.

“A classmate spotted a Belted Kingfisher perched above a pond, and another got a nice video of a shore bird, possibly a Greater Yellowlegs.

“We have been seeing many more green darner dragonflies around this week.

“There was a sighting of a thirteen lined ground squirrel, and pocket gopher mounds are popping up in yards and fields.

“A Vesper Sparrow was identified using the Merlin Bird App.

“Marsh marigolds, bloodroot, wood anemone, and wild ginger have started to bloom, and the hepatica are still abundant in the woods.

“We have seen Canada Geese with their goslings, and red fox kits scampering around a den.

“There were large amounts of earthworms out after the recent rains.

“Dandelion flowers are showing up in yards and around our school building.

“We have had multiple sightings of painted turtles, typically sunning themselves on a log or rock on ponds during nice days.

“This weekend we had the first sightings of a Northern Oriole and multiple Rose-breasted Grosbeaks.

“There are fiddle head ferns appearing in the woods at Lindbergh State Park.

“It seems like there are large swarms of midges everywhere you look these days.

“We did get a fun video of a large snapping turtle as it swam through an opening near a lake shore.

“That is our report for this week, until next week, keep exploring, keep discovering, and keep connecting with the great outdoors.”

“Hello from Mr. Macejkovic’s class at Baxter Elementary School. This is the phenology report for the week of May 5. Our names are Tucker, Elsie, and Gunnar, and we are your phenologists for this week.

“We had good rain last week and several days in the 70’s.

“The great weather has brought us green! Green is everywhere! Over the past week many of our plants and trees have broken bud or leafed out. Small tooth aspen have leafed out. We first noticed this on April 30, which is 10 days earlier than the past two years, but not uncommon in our records.

“Our box elder leafed out on April 29. The Pennsylvania sedge has produced beautiful yellow flowers. We found them on Friday.

“Ornamental cherry and apple trees have begun to flower. Lilac bushes leafed out on Saturday, May 3. Our red oak tree’s buds are green but haven’t quite leafed out yet. The white oak has buds that are swelling.

“Graham saw two dead beavers shot on a dam.

“Our ticks are very active. So far, we’ve found wood ticks and deer ticks, both in nymph and adult stages. The Bug Boys are having a great time finding spiders, and isopods.

“We’ve started to see turtles crossing the road. Graham saw a snapping turtle.

“We have spotted nests with robins, Blue Jays, and Black-capped Chickadees.

“This concludes the phenology report. Have a great week, and be observant!!!”

This report is brought to you by De'onni, Royce, Nora and the students from Mississippi Elementary in Coon Rapids.

“During our trip to Long Lake Conservation Center on April 28-30, we dodged thunderstorms on Monday, but rebounded with beautiful, sunny spring weather.

“One of the highlights of our trip was getting to see the beavers on the lake. This morning, we found a half-chewed birch tree near the beach and learned that beavers need to gnaw on trees or their teeth will continue to grow, potentially killing them. Our group thought of some fun names for the beaver, but our favorite is Woody the Woodchopper.

“We got about two feet away from a red squirrel eating seeds on a log near the dining hall. It didn’t seem afraid of us at all, but finally scurried up a tree. We heard lots of singing birds, including the LOUD trumpet of the swans. One of our theories is that the swans were warning each about a nearby hawk. On the lake, we saw Common Loons, Blue-winged Teals and other ducks, and a Belted Kingfisher diving for fish near the beach. Monday's rain brought out all the Robins and a large flock of White-throated Sparrows.

“In the woods we saw Hepatica blooming and multiple garter snakes. One person saw a dragonfly on the way to the bog, and a very well camouflaged spider on a tree. We saw signs of deer, including lots of scat that looked like coffee beans and enjoyed the beautiful songs of the frogs singing in the marsh. Our group saw jelly fungus growing on a branch and was surprised to learn that some are edible. No thanks.

“It was a great week in nature, and we want to remind everyone to unplug, get outside and LIVE CONNECTED!”

This report is brought to you by Hazel, Carson, Taylor and the students from Crooked Lake Elementary School in Andover.

“During our trip to Long Lake Conservation Center on April 30-May 2, we had a mix of sun and a steady rain that dropped almost one inch of rain. The warmer temperatures and rain have started to make the forest green.

“Our group saw marsh marigold flower buds in the lagg near the bog, fuzzy fiddle ferns unfurling, and raspberries leafing out. The rain made the bog extra squishy and wet.

“On Wednesday, we discovered that one of the Trumpeter Swans on the lake had died. His body is on the south shore of the lake. We don’t know how it met its fate. It could have been illness, accident, natural causes or MURDER. (Dun-dun-DUNN!) We learned that, though rare, swans do fight and that these fights can be fatal. The dead swan’s mate has been staying close to the body for the past two days. It’s kind of sad.

“In happier bird notes, one group saw a large white and grey bird fly silently in the woods near the bog. We think it might have been a Snowy Owl. We also saw Canada Geese, a pair of Common Loons, woodpeckers, a Solitary Sandpiper and heard the drumming of a Ruffed Grouse.

“Other sightings included wooly bear caterpillars, dragonflies near the bog, a field mouse near the dining hall, many spiders near our wilderness meal campfire in the woods, lots and lots of painted turtles, a centipede on a log, a beaver, muskrat, turkeys, deer, red and gray squirrels, leeches, a school of fish and, unfortunately, soooo many wood ticks.

“It was a great week in nature and we want to remind everyone to unplug, get outside, check for ticks and LIVE CONNECTED!”

“Hi, this is Destiny, Gabe, DJ Matthew, and Marley reporting from Heartland Lakes Community School in Park Rapids. Today is April 30, 2025.

“We know it is spring because kids are starting to race dirt bikes!

“We also picked up 5 pounds of trash at school.

“We saw our first dandelions, and the catkins are falling.

“A bear keeps visiting Jameson's house. It eats from their feeder and knocked over the trash can.

“Many people are hearing loons now. We are also seeing ducks, swans, geese, and blue herons.

“The first graders saw a small flock of sparrows on their bird walk.

“The grass is SO green now!

“We are hearing a lot of frogs calling.

“Someone saw a woodchuck and a porcupine.

“This is Destiny, Gabe, DJ, Matthew, and Marley reporting from Heartland Lakes. Bye! See ya!”

“Hello from North Shore Community School on the north shore of Lake Superior. This is the phenology report for the week of April 26, 2025. My name is Helen, and I am your phenologist for this week!

“April 28-29 brought us almost an inch of rain. After the rain stopped on Tuesday morning, the sun came out and by 8:30 there were light flurries of snow!

"A pair of Killdeer continue to be seen and heard nearly every day around the field by the 4-6 playground. Teddy saw his first Red-winged Blackbird of the season just before boarding the afternoon bus home. Ms. Rollo’s class saw a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker building a nest in the school forest on Wednesday, April 30. Ms. Lampela’s class saw White-throated Sparrows in the school forest, the first of the season seen at school.

"After the rain on Tuesday, April 29, Mrs. Rolfe noticed a lot of earthworms were out wiggling around on the roads and sidewalks on her way to school.

"On Saturday, April 26, Mrs. Rolfe heard the spring peepers for the first time this year.

"On Monday, April 28, Ms. Urban noticed the flowers on the willow trees that are in the back parking lot were fully open. The red maple trees are flowering this week, and the aspen trees have their catkins open and some are falling off the trees already. Mrs. Rolfe spotted some marsh marigolds on April 30 along the Old North Shore Road. They had large flower buds, but none of the flower buds had opened yet.

"Ms. Urban noticed that the red maple produced more sap than the average amount. The average sap to syrup ratio is 40 gallons of sap for one gallon of syrup. This year's average was 30 gallons of sap for 1 gallon of syrup. We got 1.2 gallons of syrup this year.

“This concludes the phenology report. Have a great week, and be observant!”

What have you seen out there? Let us know: email us at comments@kaxe.org or text us at 218-326-1234.

That does it for this week! For more phenology, <b>subscribe</b> 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).