'The sun was winning the war against the snow,' reports student

Long Lake Conservation Center near Palisade

This report is brought to you by Riley, Penny, Isabel and the students from Modern Montessori Charter School in Champlin.

“Spring weather arrived during our trip with sunny high temperatures of 54 and a low of 27 - perfect conditions for maple tapping. The sap is flowing and we got to taste it. Pretty sweet.
“Nature is waking up, including a variety of insects. We spotted a fly, an unidentified moth-like insect, and the first mosquitos of the year. A few spiders were seen as well.
“Declan found a ball of garter snakes. These are sometimes called mating balls. Lana saw three garter snakes on the way back from Wilderness Meal. One snake was more than 10 inches long. The snakes are definitely out and about again.
“The group spotted a Sandhill Crane on the bus ride to Long Lake as well as Trumpeter Swans and Canada Geese. We saw almost every Minnesota species of woodpecker, including getting a close up look at a male Red-bellied Woodpecker. Our group found an old “poofy” mushroom, turkey tail mushrooms, and an orange lichen. Rabbits were enjoying the sun and Mason was able to get pretty close to one before it hid behind a tree.
“The sunrise on Friday was very pretty. The sun was big and bright red.
“We had a great time exploring nature and we want to remind everyone to unplug, get outside and LIVE CONNECTED!”

Little Falls Middle School

“This is Joslyn and Norah reporting from Little Falls Middle School. This is our phenology report for the week of March 22.
“The arrival of spring was put on hold as we received snow and some below zero weather. We did bounce back nicely as the warmer weather arrived mid-week.
“We have had multiple reports of people seeing Red-tailed Hawks perched on trees and poles as they drove on the highway.
“A classmate spotted some goldeneye ducks on the river, along with numerous sightings of swans and geese.
“We had two interesting trail camera pictures submitted this week. One showed a whitetail buck that was still holding its antlers. When John Latimer visited this week, he explained it was most likely due the the buck failing to mate last fall.
“There was another picture that showed a group of 3 coyotes closely following a deer.
“The warmer weather brought out some raccoons and chipmunks, and we smelled several skunks before school on March 19.
“There was a sighting of a Bald Eagle sitting on what was believed to be a nest.
“The constant fluctuations of warm and cold weather has caused the formation of sap-cicles on our maple trees.
“We are starting to see silver maple flowers appearing on our trees.
“We have had regular robins feeding on the crabapples outside our classroom window, but have still not seen any large flocks of birds.
“Even with the snow and cold start to the week, Mrs. Schoeck still reported the sighting of the first crocus flowers starting to bloom.
“A student was able to identify a Sharp-shinned Hawk as it was hunting near their house.
“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 Aliyah, Paxtyn, and Lilly reporting on our observations from the week ending March 20.
“This week we observed that we had another wild weather week, with 6-7 inches of snow last Sunday and 60-degree temperatures today on Friday.
“We also observed the little leaves that a few of our lilac buds had sent out have withered and died. We think the warm temps a few weeks ago tricked the tree into testing the spring air.
“We also saw a few of the branches we have brought into the classroom have started flowering, with the box elder being the most impressive with long green stems holding pollen sacks.
“In the forest, we heard our first Sandhill Crane of the year. This makes us think they must migrate south for the winter.
“That is all from the Linwood School Forest, and remember: There’s no place like Linwood!”

Rockford Middle School

“Hello, this is Jay, Mario, Owen and Callum from Ms. K’s sixth grade class at Rockford Middle School. We are reporting on Friday, March 13 through Friday, March 20.
“Our temperatures started out mild in the 30s, then cooled off after our snowstorm with just above zero, and have been warming up throughout the week with highs in the 40s, 50s, and 60s. This past weekend we averaged 8 inches of snow with drifts up to 3 feet.
“Griffin shared that the sun was winning the war against the snow. We are loving this spring warm up.
“There have been lots of animals coming out in this warmup which also has included lots of roadkill. On Lake Sarah, there was a convocation of eagles feeding.
“Mrs. K's strawberry plants survived the winter and are pushing up with new growth.
“Keira reported seeing a wooly bear caterpillar sunning itself on the sidewalk.
“As we go into spring, we are getting more and more sunlight each day.
“In the morning, Jay reported hearing the birds singing their morning songs while Taelynn heard the Black-capped Chickadees singing their ‘fee-bee’ song.
“Keira saw robins and Blue Jays in her yard.
“This is Jay, Mario, Owen, and Callum reporting from Rockford, Minnesota. We will be back with more phenology findings in April. Bye!”

Prairie Creek Community School in Northfield

Oscar: “Hi, this is Oscar-”
Wyatt: “And this is Wyatt-”
Oscar: “And we’re from Prairie Creek Community School, way down south in Northfield, Minnesota.”
Wyatt: “It has been a BUSY week.”
Oscar: “It started with a foot of snow-”
Wyatt: “And it’s supposed to end with 74 degrees!”
Oscar: “We saw the first Turkey Vultures on March 16.”
Wyatt: “Anna saw the first heron in Northfield on March 19.”
Oscar: “The maple trees are flowering now, too.”
Wyatt: “Many of us have seen pheasants - both male and female.”
Oscar: “I have seen cranes, a jake, juncos and cardinals.”
Wyatt: “We’ve noticed a lot more ducks-”
Oscar: “And the redwing blackbirds are LOUD!”
Wyatt: “There have been a lot of raptors, especially Red-tailed Hawks, kestrels and possibly a harrier.”
Oscar: “Hugo noticed male turkeys in his flock this week-”
Wyatt: “And Grace saw an eagle swoop down and catch something.”
Oscar: “This has been Prairie Creek-”
Wyatt: “One more step along the phenology journey.”

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).