This week, our student phenologists sent four new reports from across the state (plus a note from a whole different continent!). Enjoy!
Please don’t hesitate to reach out with your observations, nature tales and insights! Get in touch with me (cmitchell@kaxe.org), John Latimer (jlatimer@kaxe.org), or text "phenology" to 218-326-1234.
Oak Grove Elementary in Bloomington
“Hi, this is King, Nora, Norah, and Vinny reporting from Oak Grove Elementary in Bloomington, Minnesota.
“This week’s weather has been chilly with just a dusting of snow and a high of 31 degrees today. We’ve had 2 inches of precipitation since our last report.
“With our animal observations, we noticed lots of bird chatter and saw a woodpecker.
“With our plant observations, we noticed the deer are rubbing the trees.
“We are wondering why it is so cloudy in winter.
“That’s all for today, stay tuned for the next OGE Phenology Club nature episode! Bye!”
Roots and Wings Forest School
Due to technical difficulties, we reran this report from last week:
Students: “Hi, this is Hazel, Timmy, Rose, Finley and Kip reporting from Roots and Wings Forest School in New York Mills.
“We found a paper wasp nest on the ground from a big tree and there was lots of fungus on the trees when we were climbing on the trees.
“This is the snow report today. The snow report would be that there were snowflakes falling but there was a little bit on the ground.
“We broke ice with rocks and then we measured it, and it was about 3.5 inches and we measured with our hands. This was just an estimate.
“Timmy was walking and he said he found some deer tracks on the ground. Then I found some spread out ones. It was kind of like there were little cones in the ground. It was probably muddy out and then it got cold and then they froze.
“We found some deer ribs out ...”
Teacher Leona: “... Like barbecue ribs?”
Student: “Yeah, barbecue. And I asked one of my friends, ‘Hey, you want some beef jerky?’”
Leona: “What?!?”
Student: “Yeah, and I actually took a bite out of it!”
Leona: “No, you didn’t!”
Students: <giggling> “Thanks for listening! Stay wild!”
North Shore Community School near Duluth
“Hello from North Shore Community School on the North Shore of Lake Superior. This is the Phenology Report for the week of Jan. 6, 2024. My name is Claire, and I am your phenologist for this week!
“January is known as the month of the Great Spirit Moon according to the Ojibwe. On Saturday, Jan. 6, a thin layer of ice coated roads from the evening prior and 3-4 inches of snow blanketed the ground. This was the first significant snowfall in our area.
“Also on this day, we had 8 hours and 56 minutes of daylight. Many of us look forward to this increase throughout the winter as otherwise the days seem short and the nights seem long. On Wednesday, Jan. 10 through Thursday, Jan. 11, we finally received even more snow! We got about 6 inches of light, fluffy snow. The North Shore Community School field has 8 inches of snow built up as of Thursday, Jan. 11.
“The Great Lakes are experiencing record low ice coverage. The ice coverage right now is only 3.9%, which beats the 2002 low record of 5%. Lake Superior is at less than 1%. This is a 50-year record low. This is harmful for fish and other aquatic animals because it is affecting their natural ecosystem. For humans, one negative effect of thin ice is that it is very dangerous to ice fish or be out on the ice. The DNR says that the ice should be at least 4 inches before anyone attempts ice fishing, but this year the ice has been dangerously close to that mark.
“On Saturday, Jan. 6, Ms. Urban participated in a birding competition and saw 25 species of birds, including many species of waterfowl seen on Lake Superior including Mallards, Common Goldeneye, Bufflehead, Common and Red-breasted Mergansers, Long-tailed Duck and Greater Scaup. Many ducks can still be seen in Duluth due to the record low ice levels. I saw two Bald Eagles on my way back from Girl Scouts. On Wednesday, Jan. 10, Adella spotted a female woodpecker in Chickadee Landing.
“On Monday, Jan. 8, Ms. Courtney’s class followed a set of tracks right at the edge of the school forest. They followed the tracks and found a really clear pawprint. It was a bobcat! The bobcat came through the forest, crossed the pond and walked past the pavilion. And Ms. Rollo’s class saw some snowshoe hare tracks in our school forest on Wednesday, Jan. 10.
“On Thursday, Jan. 11, Marcus measured the snow depth in the school forest. At Chickadee Landing, the snow was 6.5 inches, and on Schmidt Creek the snow measured 7 inches. The water temperature was 30 degrees.
“This concludes the phenology report. Have a great day and be observant!”
West Rapids Elementary School in Grand Rapids
“Hello, this is Paisley and Owen with the phenology report from Mr. Cody’s fourth-grade classroom at West Elementary.
“It was an overcast day, but a nice temperature for a walk. We headed towards our non-native Scotch pine rows.
“On our way, we saw a ton of vole holes in the fresh snow, though no tracks. We found a rock-hard polypore mushroom and tasted sweet ruby-red berries. These came from Canada mayflowers. We also saw the tiniest spruce poking through about 6 inches of snow.
“Once we reached the pines, Taylor found an awesome Blue Jay nest — but no birds were seen all day.
“All for now!”
Lake of the Woods School in Baudette
“This is Wyatt with the phenology report from Baudette for Jan. 6-12.
“Since the weather has turned cold, Melody is noticing more chickadees at her grandma’s bird feeder.
“On Wednesday, Molly and Makenzie found both snowshoe hare and coyote tracks on the playground.
“Finally, Mr. Birchem is reporting internationally this week from Africa. He reports the first wildebeest calf birth on the Serengeti on Sunday, Jan. 7. He’s observed over 100,000 wildebeests moving along their migration this week.”
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).
