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Phenology report: Hungry chipmunks emerge from underground

A chipmunk stands on a patch of bare ground surrounded by an inch of snow. It has full cheek pouches and wet fur.
A hungry chipmunk shows off its stuffed cheeks on March 11, 2011 at Crane Meadows National Wildlife Refuge.

Mid-March is here! In this week’s Phenology Report, John Latimer shares the antics of his neighboring Bald Eagles, a sighting of an Eastern Meadowlark, and a preview of early emerging spring butterflies. This is the week of March 11, 2025.

Everywhere you look (and most places you don’t), snow is melting and the calls of migratory waterfowl ring through the evening quiet. Early spring is advancing with a quickening pace as we move into mid-March and will soon turn to an all-out sprint as we approach April. Whether you love birds, budding trees, butterflies, frogs, chipmunks, or Bald Eagle chicks, it’s the perfect time of year to get out and watch the seasons shift!

Topics

  • Introduction (0:00-0:24)
  • Seeing spring (0:24-1:02)
  • Geometer and brown moths emerging (1:02-3:55)
  • Awaiting spring butterflies (3:55-6:46)
  • Pussywillows and aspens budding (6:46-9:21)
  • Chipmunks emerging (9:21-10:39)
  • Magpie sighting (10:39-11:02)
  • Trumpeter Swans returning to nesting grouds (11:02-11:47)
  • Canada Geese migrating (11:47-12:17)
  • Eastern Meadowlark sighting (12:17-13:09)
  • Bald Eagles incubating eggs (13:09-16:40)
  • Deer ticks emerging (16:40-18:11)
  • Conclusion (18:11-18:41)

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).

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Charlie Mitchell (she/they) joined KAXE in February of 2022. Charlie creates the Season Watch Newsletter, produces the Phenology Talkbacks show, coordinates the Phenology in the Classroom program, and writes nature-related stories for KAXE's website. Essentailly, Charlie is John Latimer's faithful sidekick and makes sure all of KAXE's nature/phenology programs find a second life online and in podcast form.<br/><br/><br/>With a background in ecology and evolutionary biology, Charlie enjoys learning a little bit about everything, whether it's plants, mushrooms, or the star-nosed mole. (Fun fact: Moles store fat in their tails, so they don't outgrow their tunnels every time conditions are good.)