This week, our student phenologists are finding lots of deer, a little bit of ice, and some weird-looking jelly fungus. Enjoy these 8 reports!
Great Expectations School in Grand Marais
“Hi, this is Bea, Lena, Emily and Grayson reporting from Great Expectations School in Grand Marais on Nov. 6. Students throughout the school have been reporting seeing many more deer. Deer are currently in the rutting season. This is when the males are looking for females to mate with. They become a lot more active during this time.
“There have also been reports of deer, moose, fox, crow, grouse and chickadees. Ella and I heard coyotes at their homes this week. The afternoons still have been fairly warm, Monday the high almost reached 60 degrees. But the mornings are cool.
“The red maple at school has completely lost its leaves, as have the alder and paper birch. Some trees have a small number of leaves, but most have gone away. The Beaver’s class found some witches’ butter fungus in the back woods on a log. We noticed that the Ox-eye daisies are still out, but some of them are starting to wilt.
“This past weekend Miss Emma found a group of crows, two Bald Eagles and a vulture. She went to investigate and found they were eating a moose that had died. She could see the food it had been eating. This has been Bea, Lena Emily and Grayson reporting from Great Expectations School.”
Cherry School near Iron Junction
“Hi, this is Bianka, Mac, Ayvah, and Joleen reporting from Cherry School in Iron Junction, Minnesota on Nov. 14, 2024.
“We have been noticing that it’s chilly, windy, and getting colder as the days go on. A lot of kids have been deer hunting. We’ve been noticing a lot of deer, so we started to tally them. So far, there are 134 does and 48 bucks.
“This is Joleen. On Nov. 13, I noticed a Blue Jay at my home in Cherry.
“This is Ayvah. On Nov. 13, I saw two wolves, a black and a white one. I heard them again the next morning! On Nov. 9, Arayah saw a pine marten in a tree growling at her when she was walking back from deer hunting.
“This is Mac. Over the weekend I saw like 5 or 6 turkeys eating something in the grass in Hibbing.
“This is Bianka. This morning, I saw a Black-capped Chickadee at my house in Fayal. It was eating from our bird feeder.
“Yesterday during our walk in the school forest, we noticed a patch of green ferns with brown spores. We found this interesting, so we read about it and found that it is rock fern because it stays green in the winter and has brown spores called sori.
“We also found a caterpillar in the leaves, and we heard a red squirrel.
“This concludes our phenology report. This has been Bianka, Mac, Ayvah, and Joleen reporting from Cherry School. Nature rules!”
Pike Lake Elementary near Duluth
“Good morning, my name is Andi and this is our report for the week of Nov. 10, 2024 from Pike Lake Elementary School.
“My partner Ava and I spotted some bright orange stuff on our phenology walk. Mr. Marohn told us that it was called orange jelly fungus, but he wouldn’t tell us anything else. We discovered that when we touched it just felt like jelly at first but then with the texture kicking in and it felt somewhat crinkly and kinda wrinkled on the inside. We learned that there are several types of jelly fungi in Minnesota.
“Lily here. On Tuesday, I observed that pine needles can be green and yellow or brown. I wonder why it changes that color, just like how leaves change their color. I did some research and they change colors because when the tree gets older it turns brown and the needles fall off to grow new needles. On Wednesday, I observed a bunny in my driveway. I saw that its color was a lighter color. I think that the bunnies are changing colors because of how winter is coming and it is getting colder. I am wondering why they turn white? I did some research and learned that the white color is for camouflage. They change colors by shedding old brown fur and growing back white.
“Good morning. This is Brooks. This weekend, Nov. 9-11, I went deer hunting in Brainerd Minnesota. While I was hunting, I noticed a chipmunk eating and chewing on oak bark. I was wondering why it was chewing on the bark, so I did a little research. My research said that it is normal for chipmunks to chew on bark. They chew on bark mainly to build their nest, but the bark does have some nutrients inside. I realized that maybe it was getting ready for winter because maybe the poor little chipmunk couldn't get enough food and nuts for the winter. I also realized that the first day of hunting in the morning, the deer were moving a lot. We had eleven deer encounters but in the next three days we had two. But we did end up shooting two in the four days we were there.
“I am Nicholas. We think the large buck in our school forest was harvested by a hunter in the area. I think the 11-point buck got shot because we have not seen it for a long time and smaller bucks are showing up on our trail cameras. We also know that a neighbor got a 10-pointer. I am hoping that I can still get my first deer.
“Emily here. Last Wednesday, I was flabbergasted when I saw a loon on Grand Lake paddling alongside the dock. And on Friday, right after school, I saw something spectacular! A big male Bald Eagle perched right up on my chicken’s fencing. Not only did it look hungry, but it was also much bigger than most eagles.
“This concludes our report from the outer reaches of the Proctor School District. Be aware. Things are happening out there.”
Long Lake Conservation Center near Palisade
This report is brought to you by Charlie, Courtney and the students from Underwood Elementary, reporting from Long Lake for November 11-13.
“We had frosty mornings and clear pleasant days with a high temperature of 46 degrees and a low of 21. We awoke on Tuesday morning to find the puddles in the road to be frozen, but there is no ice on the lake. Long Lake staff says that it is not uncommon for the lake to be at least partially frozen at this time of year. Last year, “Ice in” was on Nov. 19.
“The open water has allowed a bevy of Trumpeter Swans to stay on the lake. We counted 10 this morning. Oktober said she heard an owl hooting at night. We suspect it was a Barred Owl. During our school’s trip to Long Lake last year, there was a lot of beaver activity. They were very busy for most of the day and night. This year, we observed no beaver activity at all. We wonder if they have moved to a different lodge or nearby lake.
“As the winter approaches, most of the migrating animals have left, leaving only the hearty ‘tolerators’ to remain. This includes plump squirrels, deer, White-breasted Nuthatches, Black-capped Chickadees and Red-bellied Woodpeckers who were all very active around the bird feeders. The clear skies allowed us to get a good look at the half full moon.
“It’s a great time to explore nature and we want to remind everyone to unplug, wear blaze orange, get outside and LIVE CONNECTED!”
This report is brought to you by Ashten, Ruby and the students from Rum River Elementary School in Andover.
“Our trip was rainy and foggy, with a high temperature of 49 degrees and a low of 30.
“A little rain didn’t stop us from exploring. We saw swans on the lake on Thursday, but it was too foggy today to see if they are still there.
“It was interesting to see a bird walk up and down a tree. We learned that it was a White-breasted Nuthatch. It was fun to watch the squirrels gorge themselves at the feeders, chasing each other. We named the chunkiest one with bright white ears Chimichanga.
“We saw lots of deer on campus. Their coats seem to be thickening up for the coming cold. Turkeys are everywhere. Some people in our group were freaked out by the spiders that were found inside and outside.
“One of the highlights was finding a garter snake outside a building. We named it Spaghetti. At first, we thought it was dead, but it was just very cold and slow-moving. We brought it inside so many in our group could get a close look. It perked up after a few minutes. Later, a Long Lake teacher took it to the entrance of a known hibernacula and watched it slither inside. We hope Spaghetti survives the winter.
“Rain or shine, it’s always a great time to explore nature and we want to remind everyone to unplug, wear blaze orange, get outside, and LIVE CONNECTED!”
Little Falls Middle School
“This is Nash and Sam reporting from Mr. Kaddatz’s class in Little Falls Middle School. This is our phenology report for the week of Nov. 17.
“We have seen and heard several Barred Owls, including one that was closely watching a Ruffed Grouse.
“We have seen a couple Brown Creepers searching on tree trunks.
“One new fact we learned this week is that buckthorn are dioecious, either male or female, which explains why we do not see berries on every tree.
“A classmate found an earwig in their house and was a little surprised by this odd-looking insect.
“Blue Jays are busy collecting food and carrying it off to a storage cache.
“Turkeys are still moving around in large groups in the woods and fields.
“This is anecdotal, but we did notice an unusual number of huge bucks taken on Monday, Nov. 11. Whether it was the rut or the moon or the weekend hunting pressure, it seemed worth noting.
“There are still a lot of small insects that are active during the daytime, mainly different flies and midges.
“There are still Golden-crowned Kinglets flitting around the tops of trees.
“There have been a few different raven sightings in the past week.
“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
"Hi, this is Olivia, Caroline, and Tori reporting from Oak Grove Elementary in Bloomington, Minnesota.
"This week’s weather has been cold and gloomy. This morning, we noticed a frost on the ground.
“With our animal observations, we saw a deer run by our playground this morning.
“With our plant observations, we noticed our tamarack was attacked by a deer, who chewed on it, ripped it apart, and possibly rubbed its antlers against it. We are wondering if we will see this happen more, and why a deer would do this to a tree.
"We also did a big garbage pick-up of our forest and playground. We found lots of trash, like wrappers, cans and bottles.
"That’s all for today, stay tuned for the next OGE Phenology Club nature episode! Bye!”
Prairie Creek Community School in Northfield
Wyatt: "Hi, this is Wyatt...”
Amelie: "...and this is Amelie...”
Wyatt: "...and we’re from Prairie Creek Community School, way down south in Northfield, Minnesota.”
Amelie: "Oh Deer! We saw a lot of deer this week! All together, we saw at least ten, and Oscar saw a three-year-old buck.”
Wyatt: "His dad told him how old it was and we’re wondering how he knew. We think it may have to do with the antlers.”
Amelie: "Anabel saw a fox...”
Wyatt: "...and Andrew saw a coyote.”
Amelie: "There is a mouse (or two) who is living in our forest school trunk.”
Wyatt: "We also saw a squirrel on our bird feeder, but no birds yet.”
Amelie: "Silas saw another worm! Our ground is not frozen yet, but it probably will start to freeze up next week.”
Wyatt: "Sebastian noticed that it’s been flicking in and out of warm and cold. He’s also seeing a lot of conifer seed bugs at his house. We all agree this seems like a new thing.”
Amelie: "Sienna heard an owl call three times - each time with a long single hoot.”
Wyatt: "Andrew saw an egret, which we think is unusual.”
Amelie: "He also saw cardinals, which is not unusual.”
Wyatt: "Caroline saw a vee of birds headed south.”
Amelie: "Oscar saw an eagle, and Ellen and Sienna saw Blue Jays.”
Wyatt: "Theo saw 150 starlings...”
Amelie: "...APPROXIMATELY...”
Wyatt: "...And we realized we had not seen any vultures this week.”
Amelie: "We all noticed the beautiful frost on the hills this week.”
Wyatt: "This has been Prairie Creek...”
Amelie: "...One more step along the phenology journey.”
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).
