This week, we hear from our friends at Long Lake Conservation Center and solve a mystery from our Season Watch Facebook group.
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
John and Ashley report from the Aitkin County Department of Health and Human Services one-day trip to Long Lake Conservation Center:
“Our day retreat to Long Lake Conservation Center was a hot one with lots to see in nature. One flora and fauna highlight is the flowering of goldenrods. The many small yellow flowers on this plant are delicate and beautiful. Besides being a great source of nectar for bees, reported medicinal uses include treatment of gout, hemorrhoids, diabetes and arthritis among other things. Native Americans used it to treat sore throats and toothaches.
“Beebalm, also known as bergamot, is also flowering, and as the name suggests is also a favorite of bees and other pollinators. The Canada thistle that we didn’t manage to remove is dispersing seeds which, like dandelions, are being carried on the wind.
“We noticed that gray squirrels and chipmunks have been more active of late and that the branches of oak trees are sagging due to the weight of the large quantity of acorns. The old wives' tale is that lots of acorns means a long, hard winter. Thankfully, scientific studies find no correlation between weather and the amount of acorns. Wild raspberries are still going strong.
“In the animal world, we spotted what was likely a brown bat. Due to white-nose syndrome, these sightings are far too rare. Leopard frogs are still out in LARGE numbers, and we’ve spotted a few baby toads.
“Naturalist Marla found a greater bee fly. These parasitic flies mimic bumble bees, but unlike bumble bees, they do not sting. They do gather nectar and are known to infiltrate bee and wasp nests, depositing their eggs. After hatching, the larvae eat the bee or wasp grubs.
“It appears that our woodchuck population is on the rise. In addition to the adults that we regularly see, we have spotted as many as two juveniles that are burrowing under buildings, possibly creating homes. Their burrowing can cause trouble and they may need to be relocated.
“It was a great week in nature and we want to remind everyone to…Unplug, Get outside, and LIVE CONNECTED!”
John agrees- it's a great week to be outside and connect with nature. If you do, please let us know what you find out there!
Season Watch Facebook feature
This week on the Season Watch Facebook group, Lauren Meyer posted a photo of a tree with many neat rows of small holes drilled into the bark by a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. (These woodpeckers drink the sap and eat the insects the sap attracts as main components of their diet.)
I asked John if sapsuckers can kill trees with this activity, and he said yes — very occasionally. For the most part, a healthy tree can tolerate a sapsucker’s drilling, and merely shuts off sap production to the drilled area. The sapsucker then drills a hole next to the first one, and the pattern continues. In some cases, the sapsucker is so enthusiastic about sap from a particular tree it may disrupt the flow of sap all the way around the trunk, which can kill the tree. In addition, the holes are “weak spots” in the tree’s protection from parasites and fungi.
More commonly, the sapsuckers choose an already weakened or sick tree to feed on. These trees are often birches or maples due to the high concentration of sugar in their sap, but sapsuckers have been observed feeding on over 1,000 species of tree and woody plants!
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).
