John got so excited about fall wildflowers, he forgot the definition of phenology! The statement “Phenology is the rhythmic biological nature of events as they relate to climate” has started the phenology show for nearly forty years, but the prospect of celebrating fall asters drove it right out of his head. (He also got distracted by a nearby flock of geese, so there’s that.)
Plant progression
Once he recovered his composure, John launched right into his census of nearby plants:
- Leaf loss: Norway, white, and Jack pines (orange cast to branches, dropping 3-4-year-old needles), cedar (bronzing 3-4-year-old needles/scales, not yet falling)
- Peak color: Red maple (yellow, orange and red), horse chestnut (yellow),
- Turning color: Bur oaks (flecking, 50-75%), tamaracks in low areas (yellow), trembling aspens (yellow, less than 5%)
- Beginning to turn color: Red oaks (5-25%)
- Done fruiting: Oaks
- End of flowering: Eastern lined aster, flat-topped aster, goldenrod
- Flowering: Alfalfa, black-eyed Susan, fringed gentian, hoary alyssum, New England aster, silvery cinquefoil, red clover, white campion
The details
You may wonder how John decides when a tree has reached “peak color”. John sometimes struggles to decide too- it's a subjective measurement. John looks at two different components: the percent of leaves that are colored and the percent of leaves that remain on the tree.
A fully colored, fully leaved tree is easy to categorize: it’s definitely at peak color! Trees that change color in patches or drop their leaves slowly over a longer time are harder to determine. Luckily, he has nearly 40 years of observing under his belt, so he’s honed his eye over time for many different tree species.
Big winds and heavy rains, such as the ones we had last week, can cause the leaves to fall early, impacting the ‘fullness’ of the colorful crowns. John bemoans the loss of the color in the forest but is glad to have the extra moisture- we certainly needed it.
Quack quack lake back
Duck season opened last weekend, and coincidentally (?) the Trumpeter Swans left John’s lake. (He suspects they headed to a quieter location.) When he was visiting Crooked Lake on Friday, he saw an adult and juvenile swan. They flew off and he did not see them again yesterday. He also heard Sandhill Cranes on Monday but did not see one.
John is also keeping an eye on his neighborhood flocks of robins and flickers. John suspects the flickers will depart in October, while the robins will linger into November. He is always careful to note each time he sees one at this time of year- you never know which sighting will be your last until a week or two has gone by without seeing them!
While John was hunting Sharp-tailed Grouse, he was standing along a lineof white spruces where a Merlin and Sharp-shinned Hawk were perched. Sharp-shinned Hawks are smaller and have a more pointed shape than Merlins, which helped him identify the birds by their silhouettes. Both are excellent, agile flyers and talented predators of songbirds. (It must have been rough luck to be a bird in that area, with both John and the raptors on the hunt!)
John was able to watch the two birds of prey chase the songbirds amongst the nearby sunflowers. The songbirds had to take significant evasive maneuvers to avoid the reaching talons of the hawks, but they managed to live to take flight another day: John never saw the Merlin or Sharp-shinned Hawk catch one. It was sure exciting to watch, though!
Snakes sneak off to slumber, red squirrels find mushroom morsels
John poked through his records to determine when garter snakes normally disappear to their hibernacula:
- September 23, 1993
- October 14, 1994
- October 17, 1995
- October 4, 1996
- September 24, 1997
- September 28, 1998
- September 21, 1999
- November 4, 2001
- November 3, 2011
- November 1, 2022
Quite a range! Keep an eye out for them, and let us know when you see your last one.
Red squirrels are hard at work harvesting Rusulla mushrooms. These are 3-inch capped mushrooms that are red on top and a creamy white color below. They are inedible to humans, but a favorite snack of red squirrels and deer. The squirrels dry them by hanging them on branches, then harvest the dried mushrooms and store them for winter sustenance.
Trading mosquitos for ticks
John is thrilled to see the last of the deer flies and mosquitos, but he is unhappy that it comes with the re-emergence of deer ticks. He had three of them on him after a walk last week, and he’s quite grumpy about it! The ticks tend to hide out during the heat of the summer, but the cooler weather has brought them back out. Be sure to check yourself after walks, and tuck your pant legs into your socks!
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)
