It’s a good year to be a bear, chipmunk, or squirrel: White oak trees are dropping acorns in huge numbers, which provide critters with vital winter stores. (These hyper-productive years are called mast years.)
Oaks have their own reasons for providing these occasional super-feasts; the sheer number of acorns produced overwhelm the appetite and ability of the critters to gather them all. In addition, some unlucky critter will forget where they stashed an acorn or two or die before they get a chance to eat it. The leftover acorns, planted in loose soil, are in a perfect spot to sprout.
Learn about this and more in this week’s phenology report!
Topics
- Introduction (0:00-0:22)
- September in Minnesota: A preview (0:22-10:21)
- A mast year for white oaks (10:21-11:47)
- Insects (11:47-12:55)
- Fruits (13:05-14:07)
- Mountain maples (14:07-14:20)
- Robins moving in flocks (14:20-15:00)
- Nighthawk migration (15:00-15:21)
- Crane flies (15:21-16:19)
- Conclusion (16:19-16:43)
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, 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).
