John Latimer, KAXE’s staff phenologist, began this week with two observations from listeners: Monarch butterflies moving through Grand Rapids, and migratory green darner dragonflies feasting on clouds of midges near Fort Ripley.
Darners are larger dragonflies, and the common green darner is a particularly distinctive species; males have a bright green and blue coloration. Darners and meadowhawks to be quite cold resistant varieties of dragonfly: John sees them out and about on warm days even after the first few frosts. The migration of the common green darner is a fascinating story — if you’re interested, there’s a great article on them here.
Also in this week’s report: Fruits, fungi and fall colors!
Topics
- Introduction (0:00-0:24)
- Dragonflies, gnats, and butterflies (0:24-5:11)
- Insect pests (5:11-6:12)
- Hummingbird migration (6:12-7:39)
- Fruiting plants (7:39-10:44)
- Mushrooms and fungi (10:44-12:00)
- Wildflowers (12:00-14:06)
- Fall colors (14:06-17:04)
- Conclusion (17:04-17:47)
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).
