Oak Grove Elementary School in Bloomington
“Hi, this is Dixi, Kylee and Kameela reporting from Oak Grove Elementary in Bloomington, Minnesota.
“We are having colder, windy weather. Tomorrow we might have a big snow coming.
“Today we tapped our maple tree. We drilled a hole in the tree pointing upwards, put a tapper in it, and then have a tube feeding in the container.
“Later we are going to get some sap out of it. We have to boil the sap for 7-8 hours to get syrup. Then we are going to taste test it against store syrup.
“We looked at our 3 cut tree branches to study their growth. We noticed the red maple, buckthorn and river birch are not green anymore on the inside, they are turning brown. We think that means they are starting to die.
“That’s all for today, stay tuned for the next OGE Phenology Club nature episode. Keep one eye open on nature!!”
Little Falls Middle School
“This is Easton and Brekken reporting from Mr. Kaddatz’s class in Little Falls Middle School. This is our phenology report for the week of March 23.
“We saw our first earthworm of the year on the sidewalk by our school on March 18.
“The aspen catkins are very large and look like fuzzy gray caterpillars on the branches.
“Our first Fox Sparrow arrived on March 19, and our first Turkey Vultures were spotted on March 20.
“The cold temperatures at night have provided us with the perfect conditions to form maple 'sap-sickles.’
“The male Red-winged blackbirds have returned and are competing for ideal locations in the cattails for when the females come back later this month.
“We had a black bear sighting, so they are out of their sleep and will be searching for food.
“There was a bald-faced hornet hive still standing.
“The first crocuses were blooming in our gardens.
“We have seen the return of the Sandhill Cranes, and they are spotted out in fields in pairs.
“There was a pair of Pileated Woodpeckers on the same tree, so we were thinking it may be a mated pair.
“The first dandelion leaves were spotted by our school on March 20.
“We have also seen the return of grackles and larger flocks of robins.
“There have been Wild Turkeys that are starting their displays.
“That is our report for this week, until next week, keep exploring, keep discovering, and keep connecting with the great outdoors.”
Baxter Elementary School
Long Lake Conservation Center near Palisade
“Hi, this is Isaac and Kate from St. Francis of the Lakes School in Brainerd reporting from Long Lake Conservation Center for March 17-19. The high temperature was 52 degrees and the low was 21.
“At the bird feeders we saw grey squirrels and red squirrels. Also, a male goldfinch, nuthatches, chickadees and a female Downy Woodpecker. The water dish at the feeder area was popular with the finches and the squirrels. Long Lake staff said that they have not seen birds at the water dish very often this winter. We are not sure if the small flock of finches were House Finches or Purple Finches.
“The lichen on the trees looked like bright pops of color in the forest. Trees with buds were seen and so were spiders in the dead leaves. Crows were heard calling from the treetops. We noticed fresh Pileated Woodpecker holes low on the trees, they can really destroy a tree!
“We had a great time in nature and we want to remind everyone to unplug, get outside and LIVE CONNECTED!”
East Rapids Elementary in Grand Rapids
Cherry School near Iron Junction
“Hi, this is Mathew, Nova, Gavin, and Bella reporting from Cherry School in Iron Junction, Minnesota on March 20, 2025.
“We have been noticing that it’s been getting warmer out. The snow has been melting a lot and we don’t have that much snow left. Many of us noticed some rain last weekend.
“On March 16, Hadley heard a grouse near Britt.
“On March 17, Ms. Aufderheide saw a leprechaun chasing grasshoppers through the school forest.
“On March 19, Adam saw 3 crows flying out of a ditch.
“On March 19, Mathew noticed a big bear print in the mud in his driveway near Hibbing.
“On March 19, Scarlett’s dad noticed a Canada Goose near Cherry .
“On March 20, Mathew noticed a pile of deer scat near Cherry.
“This week we spent a lot of time in the school forest. On Monday, John Latimer joined us on our walk in the school forest. We found wintergreen plants. They smell like mint!
“Today, a group of us saw two snowshoe hares chasing each other, not far from the trail. They still have their white winter coats. We also saw some of their footprints.
“We were picking up garbage at the entrance to the school forest, when a classmate turned over a plastic cup. A chunk of ice fell out and at the bottom of the ice chunk, there was a dead animal!
“First, we thought it was an eastern mole by the shape of its body. Then we looked up eastern moles and found they don’t live where we live. Then we looked up a vole, but it didn’t look like this animal. Finally, we found a picture of a short-tailed shrew. It matches the dead animal, and they live around our area.
“We think the shrew died in the cup. Try to save animal lives by not littering because you can harm animals that live in the forest!
“This concludes our phenology report. This has been Mathew, Nova, Gavin, and Bella reporting from Cherry School. Nature rules!”
North Star Elementary School in Virginia
“This is Ben, Emma, Ryitt, and Clayton reporting from North Star Elementary in Virginia, MN on March 20, 2025.
“Happy vernal equinox, everyone! Today is the first day of spring. We will have equal amounts of light and darkness today.
“Almost all of the snow has melted off our playground. We’ll probably get some more snow because spring is crazy like that.
“The male aspen trees on our school’s playground have catkins bursting out. This is a great time of year to tell which trees are male and which are female. The females have small buds that haven’t burst yet.
“We are seeing more deer along the sides of the roads. The south-facing ditches are clear and deer seem to be finding good things to eat. Jimmy and his mom sadly couldn’t avoid one of them while they were driving to Duluth yesterday.
“The migrating Canadian Geese are coming back! We have seen several flocks in the area.
“Ben noticed several muskrat holes on Silver Lake in Virginia. The muskrats push weeds up toward the surface of the lake to keep water open so they can come up for air.
“Gavin noticed that Silver Lake is darkening up. That means the ice is getting thinner and should break up soon if warm days continue.
“This has been a report from North Star Elementary in Virginia. Keep exploring the great outdoors!”
Cohasset Elementary School
“We had a celebration for John today thanking him for his many years of molding young minds in the field of Phenology and much more.
“John has been a blessing for all our students and others from the surrounding area.
“John is one of the big reasons why Cohasset is recognized for the School of Excellence award and is definitely part of the ISD 318 family, we are very thankful he chooses to share his love and knowledge of the outdoors with our students.”
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).
