North Star Elementary School in Virginia
“This is Lily, Autumn, Clayton, Dean, Avery, Caileigh, Willow, Presley, and Alyssa reporting from North Star Elementary in Virginia, Minnesota on Oct. 16, 2024.
“We have noticed that it is getting dark earlier every day. Some of us were able to see northern lights in the sky at around 10 p.m. last weekend.
“The big silver maples across the street from our school have really turned yellow and are losing a lot of their leaves this week.
“The three-year-old needles on the white pines in our school yard are turning yellow and falling off.
“On Oct. 12, Presley saw that the crab apples on her dad’s tree were starting to fall to the ground.
“On Oct. 13, Gavin saw two swans flying south.
“On Oct. 14, Ben noticed a grouse eating some gravel in his driveway. He also noticed that the tamarack trees in his yard are bright yellow. Ryitt noticed some near Babbitt that are also yellow.
“On Oct.15, Ryitt’s grandma called her to tell her she observed 4 coyotes in a field near her house outside of Biwabik. That same day, Faith noticed geese flying south. Sometimes they formed a v-shape, but at one point they lost their form and made more of an arrow shape.
“This has been a report from North Star Elementary in Virginia. Keep exploring the great outdoors!”
Aurora Waasakone Community of Learners in Bemidji
Science Nature Adventure Program at Bemidji Middle School
Long Lake Conservation Center near Palisade
This report is brought to you by Hailey, Isabelle and the students from Rippleside Elementary in Aitkin and Oliver and the students from McGregor Elementary.
“We had a high temperature of 59 degrees and a frosty, season-low of 21. Brrrrrrr.
“Lots of leaves are falling as autumn is at its colorful peak. Our group spotted a flock of Dark-eyed Juncos migrating south, and uncovered a VEEEEERRRRYYYY slow moving blue-spotted salamander under a log in the woods.
“On Monday, we found a lone garter snake. The recent sub-freezing temperatures have made them more scarce. They’re cold-blooded, so that makes sense.
“We are still seeing chipmunks and noticed that the squirrels are very, very actively preparing for winter. They seemed frantic.
“One of the highlights of the trip was seeing the ATLAS comet streak across the clear sky during astronomy class. The last time the comet was seen from earth was more than 80,000 years ago. We also saw the Big Dipper, various satellites and the big, bright nearly full moon.
“There are still swans on Long Lake. Four were spotted on Tuesday, floating in the morning mist. Joining them were six Canada Geese who stopped by on their journey south.
“Abby and Gwendolyn saw a doe near the compost. It was not wearing its winter coat and didn’t seem afraid of people. When she spotted them, she didn’t put up her white tail and slowly walked away.
“After being out of sight for the summer, Blue Jays and woodpeckers have returned to campus in big numbers. Most of them will spend the winter here. Male and female Hairy and Red-bellied Woodpeckers were observed. A Blue Jay and a male Red-bellied Woodpecker fought over some seeds at the feeder. The Blue Jay eventually chased the woodpecker away. Their urgency suggests that food supplies in the forest are getting harder to come by.
“It’s a colorful time to explore nature and we want to remind everyone to unplug, get outside and LIVE CONNECTED!”
Little Falls Middle School
“This is Madilyn and Rowan reporting from Mr. Kaddatz’s class in Little Falls Middle School. This is our phenology report for the week of Oct. 20.
“It has still been too dry for any mushroom growth, hopefully we can get some rainy weather to encourage them to start popping up.
“Robins are still moving around Little Falls in large groups, and crows are also rarely found in singles or pairs.
“Savanna had a great find this week, as she found a red-bellied snake. They are about the size of a night crawler, and very docile.
“There have been several reports of leopard frogs, which is not an unusual sight around here, but unique in how frequent they are spotted right now.
“There have been several small groups of Golden-crowned Kinglets in the treetops. They are hard to get a look at, but the Merlin app helped identify them.
“Our tamaracks are turning yellow, and the oaks are a burgundy color right now.
“A lot of our trees have already dropped their leaves, while others are just starting to change colors.
“This week we have seen a large number of woodpeckers. Downy, Hairy, Piliated, and Red-bellied have all been seen regularly.
“There are several different small moths active during the daytime, but we have not been able to catch or ID them.
“We are still finding hen of the woods mushrooms, but most are a little past their prime, and starting to dry out a bit.
“A lot of our fall flowers have gone to seed, and we are also seeing a variety of different gall growths on leaves.
“That is our report for this week. Until next week, keep exploring, keep discovering, and keep connecting with the great outdoors.”
Oak Grove Elementary School in Bloomington
Prairie Creek Community School in Northfield
Caroline: "Hi, this is Caroline...”
Oscar: "...and this is Oscar...”
Caroline: "...and we’re from Prairie Creek Community School, way down south in Northfield, Minnesota.”
Oscar: "First of all - it was really neat to get to go for a walk with John.”
Caroline: "We learned so much. We especially liked eating the maggots!”
Oscar: "She’s not kidding, folks!”
Caroline: "It’s been a crazy week of weather here.”
Oscar: "We had our first freeze last week...”
Caroline: "...but today it’s over 80!”
Oscar: "We are at peak color for our leaves.”
Caroline: "The ginkgo tree is turning yellow.”
Oscar: "The woody night shade still has red berries...”
Caroline: "...and all of the wild cucumber has dried up.”
Oscar: "The squirrels are everywhere.”
Caroline: "My dog got sprayed by a skunk!”
Oscar: "Leo saw a fox sleeping in his yard and several students saw foxes in their backyards.”
Caroline: "Sophia saw a few egrets along the Minnesota river but not as many as last week.”
Oscar: "Nobody saw any cranes this week.”
Caroline: "Michelle did see a murder of crows at the top of a tree.”
Oscar: "Wyatt reports there are a lot of little birds hiding in the ivy on the wall of a building near him.”
Caroline: "There was a group of juncos mobbing a Blue Jay. The juncos won!”
Oscar: "There was a possible hummingbird sighting, but it went too fast to be sure.”
Caroline: "There were also Downy and Hairy Woodpeckers.”
Oscar: "We had a few unusual insect sightings.”
Caroline: "Andrew saw a true ladybug.”
Oscar: "Sophie saw dragonflies! They were up high in the trees along the high walkway at the Minnesota Zoo.”
Caroline: "Sienna saw a monarch, too.”
Oscar: "There were some annoying insect sightings, too...”
Caroline: "...the Asian beetles are EVERYWHERE!”
Oscar: "And some of us have those big, buzzy flies in our houses. We think they are called blue bottle.”
Caroline: "WHEW. This has been Prairie Creek...”
Oscar: "...one more step along the phenology journey.”
Charlie Mitchell, KAXE phenology coordinator
What have you seen out there? Let us know: email us at comments@kaxe.org or text us at 218-326-1234.
That does it for this week! For more phenology, <b>subscribe</b> 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).
