Phenology Talkbacks: Sharp-eyed student susses out a siskin

Jaxon: “Hello, this is Jaxon...”

Henry: “and this is Henry...”

Jaxon: “and we’re from Prairie Creek Community School...”

Henry: “way down south in Northfield, Minnesota.”

Jaxon: “Well, it was freezing cold this past week. But this week is looking warmer.”

Henry: “In fact, we are going to tap a maple tree at school today.”

Jaxon: “There seem to be some other early signs of spring as well.”

Henry: “Sophie saw a huge murmuration of birds.”

Jaxon: “Maysoon and Annabelle both heard the ‘fee-bee’ chickadee song over and over (and over and over and over and over) again.”

Henry: “It just wouldn’t stop! We’ve heard a cardinal calling a few times now, too.”

Jaxon: “There has been some love wrestling among the squirrels.”

Henry: “Let’s just call it ‘playing tag.’”

Jaxon: “We’ve been hearing a lot of nuthatches and seeing a lot of chickadees.”

Henry: “We’re still seeing juncos.”

Jaxon: "Amelie saw a Hairy or Downy Woodpecker.”

Henry: “There was a flock of 27 deer in Silas’s field and Sophie saw 5 deer cross the road.”

Jaxon: “Sahil has a tree that has kept its leaves all winter and he’s wondering when they will drop.”

Henry: “Annabelle reports that the squirrels have completed the takeover of her tree house.”

Jaxon: “This has been Prairie Creek...”

Henry: “one more step along the phenology journey.”

Contributed

/

Chad Kaddatz

“This is Raegan and Madilyn reporting from Mr. Kaddatz’s class in Little Falls Middle School. This is our phenology report for the week of Feb. 23.

“We are excited for the warmup that is coming, as the cold snap for the past week has made it difficult to get outside and explore.

“We did see a flock of Snow Buntings fly away from the roadside as our car went past.

“Groups of deer are still being spotted in fields, and we are still seeing antlers on several bucks.

“We were able to identify a Pileated Woodpecker in flight by its ‘flap-flap coast’ pattern.

“There were a couple of sightings of red fox moving around during daylight hours.

“A classmate captured some photos of a bobcat on trail cam.

“We have been seeing raccoons out around dusk.

“Bald Eagles have become a regular sighting, typically feeding around roads.

“We still have juncos and Pine Siskins visiting our bird feeders.

“The gray squirrels have started chasing each other around our yards, which is an indication that mating season is about to begin.

“We have seen single robins along with one small flock of robins on fruit trees, and Friday morning we may have heard our first robin singing.

“There is mullein standing in most ditches and open fields.

“With the bitter cold weather keeping us indoors, we have noticed a few different species of spiders that are living in our homes, most notably the cellar spider and northern cobweb weaver.

“That is our report for this week, until next week, keep exploring, keep discovering, and keep connecting with the great outdoors.”

This report is from Emma and the students from Sacred Heart School in Freeport and Daphne and the students from St. Mary Melrose.

“During our trip from Feb. 19-21, the deep freeze finally let up and we had a high temperature of 25 degrees. The midday sun felt great, but it was still plenty cold at night, dropping to 6 below zero.

“The warmer weather brought out the critters, especially to the bird feeders. In addition to Hairy, Downy, Pileated and Red-bellied Woodpeckers, chickadees and nuthatches were ‘chilling near the bird seed,’ and there was a large flock of Common Redpolls. We observed that the males had a rosy red patch on their breast, but the females did not. Long Lake told us that this is the first sighting of Redpolls this winter.

“In the powdery snow, we saw tracks everywhere. There were many deer tracks, and a deer bed, plus lots of mouse tracks. On our snowshoe adventure, we found birch mushrooms and enjoyed watching the acrobatic squirrels. Chickadees and other birds were singing loudly. It was nice to hear their songs.

“One of the highlights of the trip was seeing a herd of 11 deer come to eat seeds. One even ate a leftover pancake. It was so cute.

“Temperatures are on the rise and days are getting longer. Spring is on the way. It’s a great time to explore nature and we want to remind everyone to unplug, get outside and LIVE CONNECTED!”

“Good morning, my name is Kenzie and this is our report for the week of Feb.16, 2025 from Pike Lake Elementary School.

“Things are starting to pick up in phenology class. We have been collecting milk cartons to plant tomato and pepper plants. The birds have been draining our bird feeder daily. Finally, we had a dead deer delivered to us for observational purposes. We have placed the deer on a rock deep in our forest and set a camera up to capture what may visit.”

“Good morning, I am Avery. The deer has been out there for over a week, and nothing is eating it! I was surprised that nothing had started working on it, so I attempted to do some research. From the best I can understand there must be other prime protein sources in the area. Maybe as the weather warms up things will change.”

“Sonja here. On Friday, Feb.14, I identified my first bird using the Birds of Minnesota Field Guide! I noticed a bird with a finch-like beak and a striped breast. I determined it was a Pine Siskin and Mr. Marohn then confirmed it was one. Pine Siskins are usually considered a winter finch. They can be seen in flocks of up to 20 birds. I think I saw a boy, because female pine siskins have less yellow on the wings and tail.”

“I am Miles. I was riding home last week, and I saw a white tail deer run across the road really fast. It made me start thinking about how fast they can actually run. My research told me that they can run up to 35 miles per hour. The reason they can run that fast in the winter is they have 2 vestigial toes that run farther up their leg. Like a human thumb or pinkie. These dew claws only come in contact with the ground in snow or mud.

“This concludes our report from the outer reaches of the Proctor School District. Be Aware. Things are happening out there.”

“We have made a lot of observations over the past week.

“Our branch experiment is coming to an end. We cut a new tamarack branch, and it broke [bud] quickly. The red osier dogwood produced leaves. The buckthorn is starting to leaf out. The silver maple had their buds fall off; We think that is due to using all the available energy in the branch. The basswood branch itself is turning green. The red elderberry buds are turning brown and some are breaking buds.

“On our nature walk, we noticed some furry buds on the aspen. That is the first sign we have seen of trees starting to change. We are also listening to birds singing to either find a mate or claim their territory. We had some warmer weather over the weekend which makes spring seem closer.

“Thank you for listening to our phenology report, we are looking forward to another week of observations, like Mr. Latimer always says… You can eat anything once!”

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).