Little Falls Middle School
“This is Ella and Gabby reporting from Mr. Kaddatz’s class in Little Falls Middle School. This is our phenology report for the week of Jan. 26.
“The deep freeze last week really increased the activity at our bird feeders. Chickadees, nuthatches, juncos, Pine Siskins, cardinals, Blue Jays, and House Finches were regular visitors.
“A student was able to see a Bald Eagle grabbing a fish off the ice while he was ice fishing.
“An opossum was spotted in the late afternoon on a roadway.”
“We did see a snowshoe hare that was completely white, and we saw a red fox out exploring at night on a trail camera. They will become more active during daylight hours as mating season starts up.
“The Platte River has opened again in spots, even though the weather has been very cold.
“We did find a couple of trees completely covered in black knot fungus, and learned the black objects are actually a gall caused by the fungi.
“We have not noticed any redpolls in Little Falls this winter. We are assuming that the amount of food available up north determines if they make it down to us or not.
“We focused on lichens this past weekend. There are so many different colors and varieties to observe, when you start focusing on smaller objects.
“There was a chickadee that was completely fluffed up into a ball. It was trying to trap a layer of air for insulation when it was 29 below.
“There is a baldfaced hornet hive still up in tree, we are curious about how long it will be able to stay intact.
“The Mississippi River still has pockets of open water, but they have been empty of ducks and geese this week.
“There are deer mice raiding our bird feeders at night.
“That is our report for this week, until next week, keep exploring, keep discovering, and keep connecting with the great outdoors.”
Long Lake Conservation Center near Palisade
“Hi, this is Mike and Colette from St. Wenceslaus School in New Prague reporting from Long Lake Conservation Center for Jan. 22-24.
“The weather included sunshine, large fluffy snowflakes and a 31-degree change with a low temperature of minus 10 degrees and a high of 21 degrees.
“While snowshoeing we noticed that the snow crunched loudly, and the trees were popping and cracking in the wind. We saw lots of deer tracks and trails.
“At the bird feeders we saw very active squirrels and we noticed that there were more birds at the feeders at breakfast and fewer birds at the feeders at dinner time.
“On our first night we had a visitor during owl class, when a bat flew around the room a couple of times and then crawled back into a tiny hole near the fireplace chimney. On our second night we got to see 8 deer eating together under the bird feeders.
“We had a great time in nature, and we went to remind everyone to unplug, get outside and LIVE CONNECTED.”
Pike Lake Elementary near Duluth
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. 18, 2025. My name is Noah, and I am your phenologist for this week!
"On Sunday, Jan. 19, it was minus 20 degrees at Ms. Jackson’s house, which did not include the wind chill. Duluth recorded a minus 48-degree temperature with windchill.
“On Monday, Jan. 20, the Martin Luther King Jr. outside march scheduled in Duluth was canceled due to the frigid cold.
“Also on Monday, Ms. Urban saw sea smoke above Lake Superior. Sea smoke is caused when very cold air passes over the warm water of the lake. The dry cold air causes the water to evaporate, but the water soon condenses as it cools down, forming fog. School was canceled on Tuesday, Jan. 21. On this day, Duluth experienced the coldest air in the last four years with the lowest windchill being recorded at 54 degrees below zero.
“On Wednesday morning, we woke up to several inches of fluffy, light snow.
"On Tuesday. Jan. 21, Ari saw 4 owls on the highway. One was a Great Horned Owl and three were Great Gray Owls. On Thursday, Jan. 23, Ms. Lounsberry’s class saw a Ruffed Grouse flying around the school forest. They were able to watch it hop into a balsam fir tree to eat buds before it flew away.
"On Sunday, Jan. 19, Trygg noticed that deer had been bedding down in his yard. On Tuesday, Jan. 21, Ari saw a fox on the way home from her friend's house. On Thursday, Jan. 23, Mr. Dover’s class found a bunch of deer beds, tracks and scat. There must be a whole herd in the school forest!
“This concludes the phenology report. Have a great week and be observant!”
Cohasset Elementary School
Cherry School near Iron Junction
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, 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).
