Enjoy the reports this week featuring porcupines, nighthawks, and bottle gentians!
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.
Marian near Prairie Lake
John received a note from Marian that she had found a few groups of bottle gentians, a rare wildflower, along the shore of Prairie Lake.
John has also spotted them at the tip of Chisholm Point Island Science and Natural Area. Stop by and take a look if you are in the area! Look for clusters of rich blue bottle-shaped blooms.
Long Lake Conservation Center near Palisade
Lexi and Ruby, educators from Minnesota North College-Itasca, report from Class Act’s trip to Long Lake Conservation Center. Class Act is a specialized teacher preparation program at the college.
“In bloom we saw self-heal, aster, tawny cotton grass and the first of the cranberries are ripening in the bog. We also got to see a 4-spot orb weaver during our adventure to the bog.
“There are large patches of goldenrod in bloom, upon closer inspection we found many goldenrod ball galls. We learned that the ball galls are from the larva of the goldenrod gall fly. These galls are a food source for birds like Downy Woodpeckers and chickadees in the winter. They will peck a hole in the gall to reach the tasty larva. Yum!
“After needing to delay our sunset canoe adventure because of rain we were rewarded with a rainbow and a clearing of the skies. The Northern Nights Starfest astronomers were happy to show us the night skies.
“A porcupine was seen on campus for the first time since June 20. It was seen in a tree and on the ground eating a milkweed plant.
“It was a great time in nature, and we want to remind everyone to … Unplug, Get outside, and LIVE CONNECTED!”
John is always pleased to hear the great things happening in Long Lake and hopes you’re having equally great things happening in your yard. (I’m particularly excited that Dill Prickles, my favorite Celebrity Porcupine, has returned.)
Carol on the Mississippi
After John’s talk last week about how nonaggressive snapping turtles are in the water, Carol wrote this note:
“Four or five years ago we were kayaking on the Mississippi River and had stopped on a sandbar to stretch our legs. After a while of being there, my granddaughter let out a small yelp, and we were surprised to find a tiny snapping turtle had bitten her on the toe. Maybe he or she was just trying to not get stepped on.”
John abides by this principle: “If you’re on land, leave them be. If they’re in water, they’ll leave you be.”
Season Watch Facebook feature
Jenny Yerbich sent a photo of a mystery bird, which the community identified as a nighthawk.
John Latimer points out that this is a great time of year to be watching for them: they begin to migrate in late August, and his friend Sam has seen many flocking in his field. They are amazing flyers, and well worth the watch.
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).
