Mesabi Kids' Camp near Hibbing
Long Lake Conservation Center near Palisade
This report is brought to you by Cal, Kanton and the campers Forkhorn I firearm safety training camp at LLCC June 8-11, 2025.
"Hello this is Cal and Kanton from Forkhorn Summer Camp at Long Lake Conservation Center the week of June 15th through the 19th. The high temperature was 81 degrees fahrenheit, the low temperature was 49. There were several sightings on campus of a doe followed closely by her fawn. We saw a painted turtle laying eggs and a large snapping turtle in the middle of campus that we thought was searching for a good place to lay hers. We noticed while we were canoeing that there were lots of minnows near the beaver lodge. One loon was swimming on the lake, we looked closely but did not see a chick. At the far end of the lake, the swans are still around but no young have been seen. We did see a turkey with so many chicks running around her we couldn’t get a good count. There are chipmunks everywhere! Woodchuck heads were seen sticking out of their den. Monarch butterflies were spotted but no eggs or caterpillars yet. The flowers in bloom were wild rose, blackberries, blue flag iris and oxeye daisy. We had a great week at summer camp and we want to remind everyone to unplug, get outside and LIVE CONNECTED!!"
Westwood Hills Nature Camp in St. Louis Park
Kids participating in audio recording: Angela, Ingrid, Manford, Edith, Ethan, Luke, Sam, Jude, Elin, Delaney
"Hello from the Westwood Hills Nature Center summer camp kids in St. Louis Park, Minnesota. This is our phenology report for the week of June 15th, 2025.
"The weather this week was warm and humid with a high of 84 degrees. We had scattered thunderstorms in the beginning of the week, and our air quality stayed good.
"The cottonwood fluff in the air made it feel like a summer snowstorm.
"During our days at camp, we explored the lake, the forest, and the prairie.
"In the forest this week we saw queen yellow jacket wasps starting new hives, a doe and one fawn, mourning cloak butterflies, daddy long legs, ladybug larvae and lots of toads.
"We also saw many mushrooms like dead man’s fingers, oyster mushrooms, and inky caps. We helped spread the inky cap spores!
"In the lake area we saw redwing blackbirds, painted turtles on logs, and a pair of swans. In the water we found snails, caddisfly larvae, dragonfly nymphs, snails, leeches and cattails covered with pollen.
"In the prairie we caught damsel flies, grasshoppers, dragonflies, spiders, a cabbage butterfly, and a chickweed geometer moth.
"We also saw many tall grasses, two big oak trees with full of leaves, and some of us found an old fox den with a young dead deer nearby.
"This has been the Westwood Hills Nature Center Phenology Camp- never stop exploring!"
Leo from Prairie Creek Community School, reporting from Taiwan
Little Falls Middle School
View their pictures and video here.
Don Leaon in Stearns County
"I've attached photos of three of Minnesota's most commonly observed Bumble Bees: Common Eastern Bumble Bee (Bombus impatiens), Brown-belted Bumble Bee (Bombus griseocollis) and Two-spotted Bumble Bee (Bombus bimaculatus). All three photos were taken in Stearns County in the last few days."
"Minnesota is home to about 25 species of Bumble Bees. Nationwide there are approximately 50 species of Bumble Bees. Bumble Bees employ a winter survival strategy entirely different from that of Western Honey Bees (Apis Millifera). Unlike Honey bees, Bumble Bees do not store honey as a winter food source for members of the colony. Only next year's Bumble Bee queens (gynes) survive the winter. They will hibernate in a protected space, often under leaf litter, or a few inches below ground, emerging in the spring. Former queens, workers, and males will not survive the fall/winter. Next year's queens mate before entering hibernation. They will forage on flowers (Bumble Bees are generalist feeders and can forage on a wide range of flowers) collecting pollen and nectar to help ensure their survival throughout the winter. In the spring, when soil temperatures begin to warm, and spring blooming flowers are available, Bumble Bee gynes leave their overwintering site to find nectar and pollen sources, and to begin searching for a site to establish a new colony (often in an abandoned rodent hole). This year's queens will provision their nests with pollen and nectar and then lay their eggs. The first workers will emerge in a few weeks and help the new queen grow the colony. In the late summer and fall the cycle will begin anew, as it has for perhaps millions of years."
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).
