This week, Staff Phenologist John Latimer begins on a frosty note: the first frost of the season is nearly a month late!
On average, Grand Rapids gets its first frost around Sept. 16. This year, we are well past that.
“We could go into the middle of October without a frost, which would be astonishing,” John remarked.
While we bask in the unseasonably warm weather (and fret about climate change), the maples are going about their typical fall schedule. The maples at John’s house reached peak color around Sept. 24. (“Now, that doesn’t mean that they were at their peak at your house, because all phenology is local,” John reminds us.) Since reaching peak color, the maples have dropped their leaves and there are a few individuals that are entirely bare-branched.
Despite the unseasonable warm weather, the maples were quicker than usual to reach peak color and to drop their leaves: both events occurred a few days earlier than is typical. However, there is variation on timing depending on the location of an individual tree. Trees on the margins of the forest tend to change faster than ones in the shade of the forest interior.
Plant progression
- Past peak color: Maples, balsam poplar (also known as Balm of Gilead), black ash, mountain ash, bur oak (yellow, only 25% remaining), horse chestnut, beaked hazel (yellow, <50% leaves remaining), American hazel (red, <50% leaves remaining), speckled alder (green, <50% leaves remaining), pine trees (dropped bronze needles).
- Peak color: Birches (yellow), silver maple, red oak (red or bronze, 75% color).
- Beginning to color: Quaking aspen (yellow, nearing peak), big-tooth aspen (beginning to fleck), balsam poplar, tamaracks (yellow; individuals in lower lying habitats turn color earlier), willows.
Species spotlight
There are a few species of trees and shrubs that don’t bother turning color all at once, or at all. A birch tree, for instance, may have a blanket of fallen leaves at its base and some green leaves still on the tree. Individual leaves change color and fall quite quickly, so the tree tends to get barer but still appear green from far away, due to the remnant green leaves. As the season progresses, the tree looks more and more bare, until eventually just the branches are left. Silver maple trees also have this tendency.
John also calls attention to the speckled alder, which is notable for its distinctive cone-like structures (which are rare for a deciduous tree). These leaves don’t bother turning color at all but fall off the tree still green. It’s not uncommon to find one this time of year with a blanket of green and crinkly brown leaves at its base.
Meanwhile, at the base of pine trees, you will find a thick blanket of freshly discarded needles. Pines and other coniferous plants keep most of their foliage through the winter but will discard 3- to 4-year-old needles in the fall. These needles are just too old and inefficient at gathering energy to be worth the energetic cost of maintaining them. Luckily for us, however, they bring a cozy feel to the forest floor.
As the beaked and American hazels lose their leaves, sightlines in the forest understory improve: this is a boon to John and other grouse hunters, who are able to spot the birds before they flush (fly out from where they are hidden). This makes it a lot easier to successfully follow and bring one down.
Mushrooms emerge and birds bide their time
As our phenology students pointed out this week, there has been a profusion of mushrooms after the heavy rains! Inky caps, amanitas, giant puffballs, Jack-o'-lanterns ... a bounty of fungi have emerged seemingly overnight from the forest floor.
“There are as many species of mushrooms out there as I think I’ve seen all summer,” John said. “... I can see them from my car in the ditches, they’re that plentiful.”
John is keeping careful track of when he sees Northern Flickers, American Robins and White-throated Sparrows. These species are eventually going to leave the Grand Rapids area, and it’s hard to know when they left unless you note each time you see them! John has seen all three species in the past week, so they are still lingering in the area.
Insect investigations
Having completed their duties to the nest, the remaining hornets are free to live out the rest of the warm weather as they choose. John has found them dining on rotting apples and the exuded juice from Jack pine needles.
“They’re done with their responsibilities for raising young and they are just out feeding and living the high life until the first frost,” John said. “And this year, that might be quite late. I would be reluctant to gather one of those big paper wasp nests before we’ve had several hard frosts.”
John has spotted a few dragonflies over the past week, including darners and meadowhawks. Darners tend to be larger dragonflies, and the common green darner is a particularly distinctive species with a bright green thorax. They tend to be quite cold resistant: John sees them out and about on warm days even after the first few frosts. The migration of the common green darner is a fascinating story — you can learn more about them here.
Meadowhawks are smaller dragonflies that are also common in fall. They are much smaller, and there are four to five species in the Grand Rapids area. The sex of these dragonflies is quite easy to determine: males fall in the red spectrum, while females will be golden or brown.
Ticks are much less likeable fall companions than dragonflies. John has found three deer ticks taking a post-hike joyride on his clothes over the last week, and he's not pleased! So, keep your pants tucked into your socks and be sure to check carefully after you’re out romping around.
However, don’t let fear of ticks stop you! It’s a beautiful time of year, with lots to discover- get out there and find some salamanders or mushrooms or whatever else calls to you.
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)
