Long Lake Conservation Center near Palisade
This report is brought to you by Cambria and Justice and the students from Underwood Elementary School.
Little Falls Middle School
"This is Brianna and Peyton reporting from Little Falls Middle School."
"This is our phenology report for the week of November 30th."
"Prior to the snow we had sightings of a Woolly Bear caterpillar and Sowbugs, and a classmate still found violets blooming in her yard. We did see small groups of Robins hanging around Little Falls. Mr Kaddatz had a Opossum snooping around his yard and under his bird feeder after sundown, and had a hard time getting it to leave, as he didn’t want his dog messing with it. "
"Winter arrived as we received 7+ inches of snow on the 25th, and the snow and colder weather have completely changed our environment. One fun change with the new snow is the ability to see all the different animal tracks around our homes. The most common are Cottontail rabbits, Squirrels, Mice, and Voles. Those same Deer Mice and Meadow Voles have been appearing in our house more frequently this past week. The bird feeders have had a constant activity with groups of Chickadees, Nuthatches, Downy Woodpeckers, and Juncos being the largest visitors."
"There was a large group of Cedar Waxwings that arrived on Thanksgiving day There was a sighting of a Short Tailed Shrew. It was originally thought to be a Vole, but a closer look at pictures helped identify it."
"An easy sighting this time of year are the fruits of the Sumac. We learned that you can make a drink similar to lemonade from it."
"One observation that raised some questions was this…. All fall there have been pairs or family groups of Cardinals coming to Mr Kaddatz’s feeder. This past week, there has only been a single female. Do they split up in winter? Is this a young bird? Did something happen to the male it was with? "
"That is our report for this week, until next week, keep exploring, keep discovering, and keep connecting with the great outdoors."
New ways to communicate with us
Julie was listening to our new Season Watch pod and sent us a voice memo via Speak Pipe.
What have you seen out there? Let us know: email us at comments@kaxe.org or text us at 218-326-1234.
For more phenology, subscribe to our Season Watch Newsletter and podcast 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).
-
Warm water temperatures across the state go along with an increasing number of fish mortality events, where a large number of fish die at once. -
Lorie Shaull/KAXEPeriods of reduced air quality due to wildfire smoke are expected for the rest of the warm season as fires continue to burn in Northern Minnesota and Canada. -
Contributed/Bridget Bennett / MinnPost / CatchLight Local / Report for AmericaAs wildfires burn, they release a mixture of toxic compounds like heavy metals, mercury and carcinogenic chemicals that form from burning organic matter. -
Epidemiologist Elizabeth Schiffman joined the KAXE Morning Show to talk ticks after a death from a rare tick disease in the Brainerd lakes area. There are many rare diseases and types of ticks in Minnesota. -
Forty-six lakes, rivers, streams and wetlands were added, including Big Stony Lake near Park Rapids, Emily Lake in Crow Wing County and Birch Lake in Hackensack. -
Lorie Shaull/KAXEMinnesota Pollution Control Agency meteorologist Ryan Lueck explains how the PCA measures air quality and puts the record-breaking smoke event into context.
