This week, we hear from our friends at Long Lake Conservation Center and from Randy near Cohasset!
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
This week's report is from Greta from Astronomy Camp and Reagan from Fishing Camp at Long Lake Conservation Center.
“We were lucky enough to get some pretty clear skies during our week of camp and to have the help of the Minnesota Astronomical Society. We would go out around 9:15 to watch the stars come out and see bright satellites. As it got darker, we used the 8” telescope to find bright stars and some familiar constellations.
“Once it got really dark, we saw the Milky Way and also observed: Messier 13, a large bright globular cluster, Messier 27, the Dumbbell nebula, Messier 11, the Wild Duck cluster, the double star Mizar/Alcor and the ET, or Owl cluster.
“The highlight was Saturn. It rose above the trees after about 10:30, some of us even saw some of Saturn's moons.
“On our nighttime walk to the bog we noticed several clumps of chicken of the woods and grazed on some ripe gooseberries. Once in the bog we found sundew plants and flowering pitcher plants.
“The frogs and toads were everywhere we would walk; we saw northern leopard frogs, American toads (including a small red one) and a large wood frog. Along with the jumping of the toads and frogs, the grasshoppers were plentiful. We also saw both garter snakes and red-bellied snakes.
“At the feeders we watched red squirrels, goldfinches and red-breasted grosbeaks. We learned how to spot the difference between male and female pileated woodpeckers, all the ones we saw had red mustaches.
“We saw the first of the milkweed pods and one dark monarch butterfly chrysalis on the underside of a goldenrod leaf.
“For the fishing report; we caught; sunfish, bluegills, largemouth and smallmouth bass, perch and walleye!
“It was a great week in nature and we want everyone to remember to unplug, get outside and LIVE CONNECTED!”
Randy from near Cohasset
“Hi John,
“Here are some sightings within the last two weeks by Little Bass Lake near Cohasset:
“Loons managed one offspring this year. Whatever we call new loons (I call them loonlets, chicks or juveniles, take your pick), they have struggled as I think they are a young pair after the old ones must have died or moved on. We have had a few years without young ones, so it was a pretty wonderful deal in my judgement.
“We pretty much just have the one pair on the lake always, as we are about 150 acres, though they will congregate on the lake sometimes and I’ve seen them holding ‘Sunday church service’ in my bay sometimes in late August, with up to about 10 of them.
“I found a red maple leaf on a walk not very long ago. It was on my road, I think August 1st, which is appropriate, though I couldn’t find the tree that dropped it.”
John explains that loons are very bonded to their nest sites. If one of the pair dies, the other will return to the nest site and call in a new mate. With lifespans reaching 30-35 years, they will become familiar companions to their lakeshore neighbors!
The loons that nest on John’s nearby lake, Crooked Lake, finally had a successful breeding season after several years of failed attempts. The Trumpeter Swans shared their success, producing multiple cygnets which have survived so far this season.
John credits these successes, at least partially, to the Bald Eagles’ bad luck: they did not nest this year, and John suspects that their absence has helped the loons and Trumpeter Swans to raise their young successfully.
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).
