This week, Staff Phenologist John Latimer learned to study spring phenology from a new perspective. Keep in mind, the ol’ dude has been studying phenology for over 40 years, so surprising him with a new phenology phenomenon is hard work!
To John's delight, his friend Sarah rose to the occasion this week. She told him, “My grandpa would say we could expect 3 snows on the robin’s toes.” Her grandpa and her dad were farmers in southern Minnesota, so she was curious to see whether the “snows on toes” measure changed up north in Balsam Township.
In the past 4 years, she’s counted the number of snowfalls occurring after the return of migrating robins. Her current average is 6.25 (range 5-8) snows after the robins return. As of Tuesday, there have been 2 snows on robin’s toes so far. We’ll see how many more we get this spring!
For more on this and many more topics, listen to the full phenology report above. Happy spring!
Topics
- Introduction (0:00-0:57)
- Emergence of black bears (0:57-3:59)
- “A remarkable night” of eagles, owls, and northern lights (3:59-8:58)
- Budding trembling aspen (8:58-9:55)
- Blue Herons return (9:55-10:46, 17:48-17:54)
- "Snows on the toes” of migratory robins (10:46-13:59)
- An early spring so far (13:59-16:15)
- Singing woodcocks (16:15-17:14)
- Chipmunks emerging (17:14-17:48)
- Speckled alder flower development (17:54-18:48)
- Silver maple flower development (18:48-20:37)
- Thunder (20:37-20:46)
- American hazel flower development (20:46-21:53)
- Conclusion (21:53-22:38)
- Edibility of basswood buds* (22:38-23:54)
*I tried this out and can confirm they do taste exactly like green beans! I learned that the basswood’s buds, young leaves and flowers all edible.
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).
