This week’s phenology talkbacks segment begins with a brief chat about mosquitoes and upcoming signs of fall (hint: keep an eye on the spreading dogbane).
Please note as schools let out for the summer, we become more and more hungry for reports for our Phenology Talkbacks segment. Please don’t hesitate to reach out with your observations, nature tales and insights! Get in touch with me (smitchell@kaxe.org), John Latimer (jlatimer@kaxe.org), or text "phenology" to 218-326-1234.
Long Lake Conservation Center near Palisade
“There were a lot of interesting sightings this week, including a close encounter with a Common Loon. When our group was swimming, a loon came within a few feet of us and didn’t leave. One of the Long Lake staff paddled over on a kayak and chased him away. We were all surprised that it came so close to us.
“This was the latest in an ongoing Long Lake loon saga. During our week, there were times when we saw single loons, but other times when there were two loons feeding together, and even once when THREE loons were together. There are still no loonlets. The Long Lake naturalists are stumped. Any thoughts John?
“Other sightings were a doe and a fawn — still with spots, plenty of wild raspberries and blueberries (YUM!), birdsfoot trefoil in bloom, wild sarsaparilla berries are ripe, and we tasted pineapple weed. Tent caterpillar moths are everywhere, we saw a number of paper wasp nests, and noticed lots of galls. We found oak galls, and quite a few goldenrod galls. It’s a pretty good year for wasps.
“Our group also saw, but couldn’t identify, a small water mammal. We think it was a baby beaver. We definitely saw two otters playing and feeding near the beach. Monarchs are emerging from their chrysalis and quite a few are flitting about the wildflowers. We also observed that there are still a few monarch caterpillars on milkweed.
“Our group visited the Long Lake beehives. The hive is healthy, and their honey production has increased rapidly of late thanks in part to a bumper crop of basswood tree flowers. In the hives, there are more than 100,000 bees! Roger Sorben from Sorben Honey opened one of the hives for us, and we got to taste fresh honey. Delicious.
“With wild raspberries, blueberries and fresh honey to eat, it was a SWEET week in nature and we want to remind everyone to … Unplug, Get outside, and LIVE CONNECTED!!”
John’s excited to hear the Long Lake kids were able to chow down on raspberries, blueberries and honey. Honey made from basswood flowers is particularly delicious. To get a sense (so to speak) of the taste, stand downwind of a basswood tree in flower and you’ll be able to smell it!
Regarding the lack of loon chicks in Long Lake, John suspects something went wrong during the nesting process. Many things can cause a nest to fail, including depredation of the nest, damage from waves or large wakes, flooding, and high levels of pollutants such as lead.
Loons without chicks gather in social groups, sometimes numbering in the double digits. These unmated (or reproductively unsuccessful) adults will associate together throughout the summer. Hopefully, good company is a small consolation for the loss of their eggs or chicks!
Season Watch Facebook feature
Curt Peterson posted: “Just watched this display of good parenting. The parent woodpecker repeatedly got a piece of suet and fed it to the fledgling.”
John is thrilled to see the video of the baby Downy Woodpecker getting fed by its parents. As time goes on, the baby will learn to gather the suet independently!
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).
