Long Lake Conservation Center near Palisade
This report is from Iilo, Caleb and the campers from Forkhorn I Camp at Long Lake Conservation Center the week of July 13-17.
“Hello, this is Iilo and Caleb from Forkhorn Summer Camp at Long Lake Conservation Center the week of July 13-17.
“The high temperature was 86 degrees, the low was 45 and 0.9 inches of rain fell. The rain might mean more mosquitos soon, but not for us. Just lots of deer and horseflies. Hornet and wasp populations are also doing great.
“Either a bear or maybe raccoons got into a bag of corn. The chipmunks and squirrels had a great time with the pile of spilled corn. A mama turkey and her poults found the corn and when we walked by the poults flew away. We were a little surprised at how well they could fly, they looked so young. A spike buck also had a turn at the corn.
“A loon chick was seen riding on the back of an adult loon. It has only been seen riding, not swimming or diving on its own. We think it was a late hatch. Hopefully it has enough time to grow and learn everything it needs to know before it is time to migrate.
“The lake was also busy with muskrats, leeches, beavers and a pair of otters. Robins were seen feasting on forest tent caterpillar moths and we also saw a red-headed woodpecker.
“The basswood trees are in bloom and buzzing with bees and other insects enjoying the nectar.
“We had a great week at summer camp and want to remind everyone to unplug, get outside and… LIVE CONNECTED!”
Bell Museum summer camp at the North Central Research and Outreach Center in Grand Rapids
Diana Magner from Hill City
Charlie Mitchell from Marine on St. Croix
“Good morning John and Heidi, this is Charlie Mitchell reporting from the Saint Croix River near Marine on Saint Croix.
“This week I've been out for some very nice walks. In one of them, I found a patch of raspberries and blackberries that were ripe, so I did a little off roading to harvest some of them. In the process of off roading. I found that the stinging nettles are getting taller: That was an ‘ouch!' But, I got some good berries from it. On my walk home I gathered some jewelweed, mashed that up in my hands, and put it on the stinging nettle stings. That helped tone down some of the itchiness from the stinging nettle.
“Otherwise, there's a House Wren that's built a little home in our newspaper mailbox, which is not used except by the house wrens now. I stuck my little hand in to check, and the babies are getting bigger; they have some feathers now. It's fun watching that happen and seeing the parents fly in and out with little caterpillars and spiders for the babies.
“We have plenty of black-eyed Susans blooming. Down on the river, the blue vervain is blooming. We have some Joe Pye Weed just beginning and some swamp milkweed blooming. It's a beautiful time to be out there.
“I hope you guys are doing well. This has been Charlie Mitchell, going hither and thither on the Saint Croix River.”
Chad Kaddatz’s class at Little Falls Middle School
During the summer months, Chad’s class of middle school science students submit photos of their nature observations to the class Instagram page at little_falls_phenology. Here are some of their highlights from this week.
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).
