Students seek color in drab November surroundings

Aurora Waasakone Community of Learners in Bemidji

North Star Elementary School in Virginia

“This is Penellapi, Axel, Paul,and Bentley with a report from North Star Elementary on Nov. 21, 2025.
“This is Penellapi with a weekly weather report. The highest you will see this weekend is 44 degrees. The average rain these last 2 weeks was 0.21 inches. This month has had the least amount of rain. One sign that it will start to snow soon is that a halo ring will form around the sun.
“Axel here with an ice report for you. Half Moon Lake south of Eveleth has about 50% ice coverage. Also, at Silver Lake in Virginia, the ice was covering about 98% of the lake, and was about 1 cm thick. Lola reported that at Lake Vermilion the ice was frozen about 11ft from shore. Chase says that Pike Bay of Lake Vermillion is about 45% covered with ice. Ellis and Heikki said that Sand Lake was about 100% covered. Aiden said that Esquagama lake is about 25% covered.
“Yo, yo yo, this is Paul with a hunting report. I, along with many other people I have talked to this year, I have noticed a lot of does but not many bucks out in the woods. If we didn’t have deer hunting in northern Minnesota, the population would increase and because they eat so much plant matter, some other animals would have no food. Deer hunting helps to fill our freezers and keep the local food web in balance! Axel saw 10-12 grouse per day while he was in the deer stand over the last couple weekends. Too bad he didn’t have his shotgun. Fun fact! The difference between a male (cock) and a female (hen) grouse is, the male hale two white spots on it, the female has one white spot on it.
“Hiii this is Bentley with a bird report. I have noticed that a lot of birds like geese, seagulls, and ducks have migrated away from Virginia, heading to warmer areas in the south. Most of them migrated in early- to mid-Nov..
“Mr. Galloway noticed on his bird feeder a Hairy Woodpecker, Downy Woodpecker, and a ton of Black-capped Chickadees.
“As always, keep exploring the great outdoors!”

Cohasset Elementary School

East Rapids Elementary in Grand Rapids

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 Nov. 15, 2025. My name is Will, and I am your phenologist for this week!
“On Monday, Nov. 17 during morning meeting, Ms. Jackson’s class saw a slight layer of frost on the ground, and students could see their breath. On Tuesday, Nov. 18, Ms. Jackson’s class noticed that Schmidt Creek was frozen. There was about one inch of ice that covered the creek. A 90-pound sixth-grader was able to stand on the ice. However, once students stomped on the ice, the ice cracked. Also, Vivian reported that 40% of Island Lake, near where she lives, is frozen. On Wednesday, Nov. 18, Ms. Jackson’s class noticed that the broken ice in the creek started to refreeze.
“On Tuesday, Nov. 18, Ms. Jackson’s class noticed that 99.9% of the leaves on trees on the school nature trail have fallen. Only a few brown leaves remain hanging on a few trees.
"On Sunday, Nov. 16, Segovia noticed several chickadees busy feeding at her bird feeder. On Monday, Nov. 17, Ms. Felton’s class heard a Hairy Woodpecker drumming in the school forest. Usually woodpeckers drum in the spring, so this was a bit unusual. On Tuesday Nov. 18, Julia noticed an owl sitting on a branch outside her house in the dark.
"On Monday, Nov. 17, Azalea noticed a deer eating a pumpkin left over from Halloween at her house. Roz and Iljia saw a squirrel trying to defend its food from the birds so it could save the acorns for winter. On Nov. 18, Mrs. Rolfe had four deer in her backyard and on Thursday Nov. 20, she could tell that their coats of hair had changed for the season as they are now a thicker, grayish- brown coat compared to their reddish- brown coat that they have in the summer.
“Iljia and Roz saw an aquatic insect trying to get out from under the ice in the creek on Tuesday Nov. 18.
"Also on Tuesday, Nov. 18, I noticed a minnow swimming under the ice on Schmidt Creek. On Thursday, Nov. 20, Ms. Cassidy’s class found a turquoise elfcup fungus. These types of fungus are the cause of blue-stained woodchips in the forest. But it's not often that we see one with the mushroom cups visible!
“This concludes the phenology report. Have a great week and be observant!”

Long Lake Conservation Center near Palisade

This report is brought to you by Trinity, Samara, Lucy and the students from New Century Academy in Hutchinson.

“During our trip to Long Lake Conservation Center on Nov. 19-21, the high temperature was 42 degrees with a low of 22.
“When we arrived, the lake was completely frozen. Through the ice at the shore, we saw two frogs - a big one and a little one sitting motionless in about two inches of water. They appeared to be frozen, but not dead. We can’t figure this one out, John. Any theories? By the way, we named the frogs Tom and Jerry.
“During Wolf Pack class, we howled like wolves and to our surprise heard coyotes howl in response. Other observations include a Bald Eagle sitting on the ice, a muskrat swimming near the shore, a total of ten deer and, surprisingly, a few ladybugs were spotted on trees.
“During our trip to the ‘Secret Bog’, we found a nursery web spider, clumps of club moss on a game trail and noted that wild strawberry leaves are still bright green, but some are starting to change colors.
“We had a great time exploring nature and we want to remind everyone to unplug, get outside and LIVE CONNECTED!”

Update: The frogs are no longer there. They either moved on to a more suitable winter mud-nap location or moved on into the afterlife.

Little Falls Middle School

“This is Natalie and Della reporting from Little Falls Middle School. This is our phenology report for the week of Nov. 23.
“We had a report of coyotes yipping, howling, and barking very loudly in the evening.
“A classmate picked apart a rotten log and found a sowbug and hibernating beetle hidden inside.
“We were surprised to discover small flies and midges were still around, even with the colder weather, but they are few and far between.
“We had visits from opossums and flying squirrels this past week, and these unique nocturnal creatures are always a fun sight.
“Numerous people have seen Barred Owls this week, and a possible sighting of a Great Horned Owl around dusk.
“We have been seeing milkweed seed pods that are opened up and releasing their airborne seeds.
“We had our first sighting of a Brown Creeper as it probed for insects in the bark of a tree.
“We had a surprising discovery of a giant water bug. We assumed that they were done with their migration, but a classmate found one by her house.
“Rose bushes are covered in their red fruits, rose hips, and we learned they are a source of vitamin C.
“We are seeing a small layer of ice on ponds before school, but most days it has melted away by the afternoon.
“Mr. Kaddatz’s feeder was busy throughout the day with groups of 7-8 Red-breasted Nuthatches and chickadees, and had White-breasted Nuthatches and juncos mixed in. Right around sundown a pair of Cardinals showed up.
“A small pile of corn kernels was dumped out for the squirrels, but Blue Jays made off with most of it.
“That is our report for this week, until next week, keep exploring, keep discovering, and keep connecting with the great outdoors.”

Linwood Elementary School

"Greetings from the fourth-grade phenology team in the Linwood School Forest. This is Evelyn, James, and Lydia reporting on our observations from the week ending in Nov. 21.
“This week, we observed that the power company came and trimmed our walnut tree. Mr. Steffen saved a few branches to observe the buds in the classroom. We are staying tuned to see what might happen.
“We also observed that there are not many green plants left in the forest. Our Norway pine and white spruce remain mostly green but seem to be losing some needles, especially if you shake the branches.
“We also saw a plant in the forest that looked like a long green straw. We learned that it is called horsetail or equisetum and it is a prehistoric plant that uses spores instead of seeds to reproduce.
“That is all from the Linwood School Forest, and remember, there is no place like Linwood!”

Rockford Middle School

“Hello, this is Hazel, Charlotte, and Amelia from Mrs. K's sixth-grade class at Rockford Middle School.
“We are reporting on the week of Nov. 13-20. Our temperatures have been pretty mild in the 40's and 50's during the day and in the 30's at night. On Friday, Nov. 14, we had a high of 67 degrees. It felt like a spring day, but most of us are really looking forward to some snow. We've had a mix of sunny and cloudy days.
“The tamarack trees are golden and have started to drop their needles; about 65% loss of needles. There’s way more roadkill this month than previous months. Last Tuesday the northern lights were here - beautiful shades of green and pink. Hazel saw snow flurries at 10:05 PM on Nov. 19, the previous Wednesday.
“We’ve seen some opossums this week. And we’ve noticed more bugs inside near lights. Ms. K went on a walk and saw tamarack trees. Underneath she saw mini pinecones that looked like tiny roses. One of our classmates saw a fox in his yard.
“The sun has been setting earlier and in the morning we saw the sun bright but later. A few aster flowers are still in bloom in our school prairie, sprinkles of purple amongst the brown. There have been more coyote sounds and sightings. The lilacs are still in bloom, but not as many as last week.
“We’ll see you next time. Bye!"

Prairie Creek Community School in Northfield

Anna: “Hi, this is Anna-”
Sam: “And this is Sam-”
Anna: “And we’re from Prairie Creek Community School-”
Sam: “Way down south in Northfield, Minnesota.”
Anna: “Well, Sam, it was a pretty quiet week down here.”
Sam: “Several people saw deer - and Oscar saw a ten-point buck.”
Anna: “Some of those deer were close to the roads.”
Sam: “Be careful out there!”
Anna: “There were eagles reported by Amelie and Caroline.”
Sam: “Letty saw a white squirrel.”
Anna: “Hugo noticed there aren’t as many birds by his cherry tree-”
Sam: “And our Merlin hasn’t caught as many either.”
Anna: “All of the leaves have fallen except for a couple of the oak trees.”
Sam: “There are still box elder bugs but not as many.”
Anna: “Didn’t you find some wooly bears?”
Sam: “Yes! Two weeks ago, Ellen, Hank and I saw three wooly bears together under a log.”
Anna: “We learned that gathering together in leaf litter is one way they try to survive the winter.”
Sam: “This has been Prairie Creek-”
Anna: “One more step along the phenology journey.”

Caledonia High School in Houston County

What have you seen out there? Let us know: email us at comments@kaxe.org or text us at 218-326-1234.

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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).