Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Monday Phenology: February 27, 2012

Posted by Kirk
The sun rose this morning at 6:55 AM and set at 5:57 PM. That means for the first time since October 15th we finally got 11 hours of sun.  Bring on the spring.

Nature's Week in Review



Monday was beautiful in the morning with sun, it was actually warmer in the afternoon as temps hit 36 or so but by then the sun was gone and snow was on the way. Light flakes started to fall in the twin cities by dinner and by the time I went to bed the snowplows were rumbling down the street. I heard from Jim Fitzpatrick, the director of Carpenter Nature Center that he first saw Horned Larks down in the Hastings area last week. This increases my hopes that they will show up soon north of the cities.

Tuesday morning I measured snowfall both in St. Paul and out at the nature center in Marine on St. Croix. In both locations we had 3.75 inches of snow. We lost half an inch of snow by the end of the day due to melting and consolidation. I thought I caught a glimpse of a horned lark on the way home.

Wednesday the snow in rain gauge melted. Turns out the snow that fell on Monday night contained 0.4 inches of water. On the way home I got a very nice view of a horned lark.

Thursday the springtails a.k.a. snowfleas were out in great numbers.

Friday I had the day off from work so I figured, what the heck, and drove up to Duluth to look for gulls with Erik Bruhnke. Erik is great at gull ID which is an area I am woefully uneducated. I picked up my first Herring Gull and Ring-billed gulls of the year. There were also two lifers on the trip. I saw a number of Thayer's Gulls and both races of Iceland Gull. When we first arrived, Erik spotted a migrating Northern Goshawk heading north. Erik is a professional birding guide who leads personalized and affordable birding trips. He knows his stuff any anyone looking for a guide in northern Minnesota should check him out. He's especially knowledgeable about Sax-Zim Bog and is the guy to call if you are looking for boreal species. You can get more information at his website.

Saturday I headed down to the National Eagle Center in Wabasha with the volunteers from work. At the southern end of Lake Pepin I spotted my first Common Mergansers of the year. As we quickly drive by I counted around 20 but I'm sure there were many more just our of sight. Eagles were not as easy to see as in other years due to the lack of snow and ice. An official count this winter put the population numbers around Wabasha in the thousands but we counted fewer than 20 the entire trip. There is a lot of open water which means the eagles are not as concentrated together this year.

What to watch for in the week ahead. 

I've seen just a couple reports of Kestrels so far this year and more should come out this next week. Keep your eyes open for the early birds. Within the next two weeks we should see more of them. An end of the winter storm might bring snow to parts of Minnesota but it looks like rain for the Twin Cities.
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Thursday, February 23, 2012

Bird #43 for the year: Horned Lark

Posted by Kirk
I recently received a new Canon 60D and I've been itching to try it out. I had my chance on the way home yesterday when I spotted my first Horned Lark of the year. I thought I saw one for a second on Tuesday but couldn't stop. Wednesday I had the road all to myself so I pulled over and shot these quick photos.

This first one is just the uncropped photo from my car window. I'm shooting across the road with a 135mm lens.

When cropped in you can see the Horned Lark on the roadside. He doesn't have his "horns" up.


This final photo was my best of them. I was really impressed with this camera and lens. This is a severely cropped in photo with that same 135mm lens. I'm going to be ordering an image stabilized 100-400mm lens so I can't wait to see what that can do!


~Kirk
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Monday, February 20, 2012

Monday Phenology: February 20, 1920

Posted by Kirk 3 Comments
Monday will be a big day for the sun. The sun will rise at 7:06 and set giving us 5:47 PM giving us 10 hours 40 minutes and 35 seconds of sunlight. We're not quite at 11 hours yet but as of Monday we'll be gaining three minutes of sunlight per day.




Nature's Week in Review:

Monday a light snow began to fall in the afternoon. It was so light I joked that it was hardly there. I was surprised when snowplows began to run down my street by the evening. They were likely mostly out to put down sand and salt though we did get a little accumulation. At my house it appeared to be about half an inch.

Tuesday was a cold valentine's day. On the way home I spotted a flock of birds crossing the road. As I approached I could see they were all landing in a very large bare tree a few hundred feet off the road. I pulled over to watch as more and more birds flew into the tree. I pulled out my binoculars and could see they were American Robins. It was hard to get an exact count but I would put the numbers at slightly more than 100 birds. It was an impressive sight.

Wednesday sunny till noon then overcast and then snow. First a light few flakes then it really came down. In the morning I had to go outside to manually reposition our web cam we have on a bird feeder. During the night, raccoons had used it as a launching off point to raid the feeder. The camera was tipped away from the feeder and there were muddy footprints all over the lens and housing.

Thursday the first American Robins appeared on site in the morning. I would not be surprised of overwintering birds had been on site earlier in the year and we just missed them. Based on the 100+ I saw just a few miles away on Tuesday it would be very possible. Overall, Thursday was a Beautiful day with a high of 36°. The sun made it feel warmer and a quick look out the window at the wet sidewalks made it clear that we lost snow pack. There were reports online of a hermit thrush. There have been many interesting reports of lone birds this winter but it is unclear of these are migrants or birds that have stuck around during a mild winter. Birds that are sticking around are likely heading further afield than their usual winter haunts as the temps rise and there are other feeding opportunities. This movement probably causes an increase in sightings. For the second day in a row I had to reposition the web cam in the morning because of raccoons. They are out on these warm evenings as they look for food. Hopefully I've raccoon proofed the camera this time.

Friday I wasn't sure what to make when my co-worker Julie told me about her morning sighting of a Scarlet Tanager while driving to work. She got a nice look and watched it fly right in front of her car as she drove down the road. She watched it the entire time it moved from one side of the road until it disappeared on the other side. It was bright red with black wings. She went though all possibilities of what else it could be but couldn't think of anything. The only other red bird around would be the Northern Cardinal but they don't have black wings. Julie has seen Scarlet Tanagers on site many times and swears by her identification even though she finds it incredible herself. According to e-bird the state record earliest Scarlet Tanager was reported by Michael Huber on May 2, 1998 at Hyland Lake Park Reserve. This would be over two months earlier than the state record.There is, of course, the possibility that this is a bird that overwintered. The latest reported Scarlet Tanager in the state was November 10th back in 1996 but in 1987 there was a Summer Tanager reported at Carlos Avery WMA as late as December 5. If a tanager can survive well into December in Minnesota it is conceivable with the warm winter we've had that a bird could just stick it out. Do I think that's really what happened? I'm not so sure. I think there's a good chance she saw a white-winged crossbill. I checked on snow at the end of the day and there was virtually no snow anywhere but on north facing slopes in the woods. 


Saturday I headed out of town for a valentine's day getaway and other than the fact that it was hot this weekend, I have nothing else to report.


What to watch for:

We'll come close to an 11 hour day but won't quite get there until next Monday. According to my records I saw Horned Larks, those bringers of spring, on February 22 last year. The 22nd is next Wednesday. Keep your eyes open along rural roadsides. There have already been reports of Horned Larks just south of the Twin Cities.
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Thursday, February 16, 2012

Today's bird photos from the feeder cam

Posted by Kirk
Here's some fun shots from the feeder cam we have set up at work. All of these shots are from today. Be sure to click on them for better large versions.

First up is a white-breasted nuthatch coming in for a landing just moments after I filled the feeder. 
 

Next is this Red-bellied Woodpecker stopping for a snack. If you look closely, the red arrow is pointing at a bird band on her leg.


You can clearly tell the woodpecker is a female based on the next shot. The red on the head does not extend all the way to the front. On a male there would not be a gray patch of feathers up front. I also like this shot as you can compare the size of the large woodpecker to the tiny chickadee on the next perch. the camera actually captured the chickadee just as it landed. If you click on the photo to view the full size image you can make out the ghostly shape of the birds wings flapping in the air.


Up next we have this shot of a male downy woodpecker and an American Goldfinch.


A little while later the female downy woodpecker also showed up at the feeders. You can see in the photo below she lacks the red on the back of the head.


This next shot of a black-capped chickadee is my favorite from the day. You can probably guess why.

This shot is a little hard to see because the bird is in the shadow but you can clearly see this male American Goldfinch is getting his yellow breeding feathers (especially in the throat), a sure sign of spring.

This last photo shows an empty feeder but it is important. This was taken  at a little before 3:00 in the afternoon. Note the almost total lack of snow on the ground. Compare that to the first few shots above. The snow really melted quickly after lunch.

~Kirk
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Monday, February 13, 2012

Monday Phenology: February 13, 2012

Posted by Kirk
The sun came up this morning at 7:17 AM. That's still an hour after I wake up so not a lot of joy there. We've pushed sunset back to 5:37 PM though. That gives us 10 hours, 19 minutes and 54 seconds of sunlight but who's counting right?





Here's Nature's week in Review:

Monday The cardinals singing and it was pretty nice out. It was the last warm day of the week.

Tuesday was much colder but sunny. A lone European Starling was singing a cheerful song from the top of the trees at my son's daycare in the morning. He was there every pretty much every morning for the rest of the week as well. They may be exotic species but it was nice to hear him sing.

Wednesday morning I was about to leave work when my co-worker Paul saw a bird fly past the windows behind me. We grabbed binoculars off our desks and were delighted to watch a Barred Owl perch up about one hundred feet away across a clearing. We had a beautiful view as it searched for food. The owl was my 42nd bird species for the year in Minnesota. I haven't gone chasing after gulls and such this winter so that number could be higher if I was really trying. Wednesday didn't seem nearly as cold as they were predicting but another factor is that the sun's intensity feels warmer this far from the solstice so even when the temperature is low a bright sun can feel warm.

Thursday we dipped down into colder temperatures but the bright sun made it feel not so bad. This has just been a really mild winter. We've only had three sub-zero nighttime temperatures for the entire winter which is kind of a joke. Julie in Mahtomedi tells me she has a saw-whet owl calling at night near her house. I was actually going to tell people to listen for them next week as this is when they start to call.

Friday was the coldest day of the week and it was overcast as well which meant we didn't have direct sun warming us up. In the morning there was delicate tiny snowflakes occasionally falling but they were easy to miss. It was easiest to notice when they accumulated on rooftops and then blew off in the wind.

Saturday I helped celebrate Darwin Day at the Science Museum of Minnesota. I wasn't able to get outside but it was fun to talk with folks about what a professional naturalist does and answer their natural history questions. A migraine headache and weekend long visit from the in-laws meant I didn't get out to observe any phenology on the weekend.


The week ahead:
The national weather service is predicting a dusting of snow for the twin cities today but that's it for the week. Those further south in Minnesota may get a couple of inches at the most over the next few days. Weather wise it will be partly cloudy all week. Tuesday though Thursday it should be just above freezing with 5-10 mile per hour winds so I expect that we'll see at least a little more melting of what little snow we have. Male American Goldfinches should have some yellow feathers by now. Take a look with binoculars when they visit your feeders. This Thursday one year ago we hit a high of 52°, even with our mild winter we won't get there this year. One year ago Friday I got reports of people hearing Northern Saw-whet owls calling consistently from the woods. It was fun to hear that Julie in Mahtomedi started hearing them this year at the same time.  They are setting up territory now. Head out to listen for them at night. They sound a bit like the beeping of a truck backing up, only with hoots. 



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Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Demonstration of Raven's Intelligence

Posted by Kirk 2 Comments
Here's a clip from National Geographic that demonstrates Raven's ability to learn. The public tends to dismiss crows and ravens simply because they are not colorful like parrots. Don't mistake their dull colors for dull brains. Corvids, a group that includes ravens, crows, magpies, jays and others are some of the most intelligent animals on earth. Many of them can recognize themselves in mirrors, imitate speech, solve problems, and learn.

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Monday, February 6, 2012

Monday Phenology: February 6, 2012

Posted by Kirk 2 Comments
Good evening! Jupiter is gorgeous in the sky tonight as is the moon. The sun set at 5:27 pm today which was almost exactly 10 hours after it rose at 7:27 am. Today was 2 minutes 42 seconds longer than yesterday.




Here's Nature's Week in Review:

Monday was a gorgeous day. We topped out at 44° F in the Twin Cities and the snow composition sure changed. I had tried to make a few snowballs on the weekend and the snow was so dry it wouldn't stick. The warmer weather put and end to that and it was a snowball wonderland out there.

Tuesday I heard Northern Cardinals singing in the morning. This is the second time this year. I last heard them back on January 5th. I expect their call will become more and more common in the coming weeks. Two cardinals flew across the road in front of my car as I drove to work. They really are spectacular birds. Tuesday turned out to be even warmer than Monday as our faux-winter continued. I noticed the buds on maple trees were very swollen. They looked like they do in March when we tap maple trees. I was thinking the sap might be running and sure enough out in the sugar bush the sap was running out of some of the trees. Incredible. A neighbor of the nature center called to tell me about a flock of bluebirds at her house. There were about fifteen of them drinking and bathing in melting snow from a pole barn roof. I'm thinking this may be a winter flock that has just stuck around the St. Croix River. They were seen a couple more times during the week.

Wednesday a report came across the listservs of a lone Red-winged Blackbird on the shore of Lake Harriet in Minneapolis. It was apparently just outside of the Roberts Bird Sanctuary. Is this a lone errant bird or a phenological sign of spring. Hard to say.


Thursday was groundhog's day and we started off foggy. That groundhog who shall not be named out east saw his shadow and was scared back inside meaning six more weeks of winter for those poor easterners. We midwesterners don't believe such nonsense. The stuffed groundhog I took outside on in the morning did not see his shadow and thus winter will soon be over.

Friday was an oddly quiet morning. I felt like the whole world was moving just a little slower and a little quieter. Maybe it was just the fact that we were on day two of thick fog. I kept expecting the fog to burn off Thursday but it never did. When I woke up on Friday it was still there. Chickadees were singing in the morning and it seemed to have a new vigor. Whereas it seemed tentative in the past month or so, Friday morning they were getting serious about territory and mating. There were several calling back and forth. The warm weather also stirred up a queen paper wasp and she showed up in our kitchen at work. All wasps but the queen die in the fall so any wasp you see this time of year is a queen. MSP airport reported 54 hours straight of fog on Friday.

Saturday morning was host to one of the most wonderful sights of the winter. Hoar frost had formed on nearly every exposed surface over night and it was striking in the sun. I went to an event with a friend in the morning and so I was inside for a few hours. When I came back out I expected the frost to all be gone but instead it had grown even more impressive! It was a truly spectacular sight and I'm kicking myself for not getting out with a camera. At least one eagle was present at the Keller Lake nest site as I drove home.

The Week Ahead:
Things are starting out nice on Monday but then we head back into the cold as temps dip down into the teens and 20s. There's only a crust of snow on the ground and southern exposed hillsides are even showing some brown. I don't think the mass of cold air that pushes in this week is going to be able to take hold for long. We could be coming back up to at least the mid 30s by next week. Take a look at the trees this week, while we think of leaves falling in the autumn, you'll notice the white oaks still have their leaves. They keep them all winter long and drop them in the spring. Watch bald eagle nests this week as well. Many eagles are already back at their nests sprucing them up for the spring. This week we should hear a large increase in territorial woodpecker drumming as they get serious about territories. My notes even show I found wood shavings on the snow this same week last year which could have been a sign of some very early woodpecker nest building.


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Thursday, February 2, 2012

Official 2012 Twin Cities Groundhog Report

Posted by Kirk 4 Comments
The 2012 Report:

Today, Thursday February 2nd is Groundhog's Day, here's your official Twin Cities Groundhog Report.

At 8:00 this morning, it was 30 °F and a thick fog blanketed the land. In some spots there was less than a quarter mile visibility. As all the real groundhogs are still hibernating in Minnesota, our stand-in groundhog Stuffed Stanley is the official groundhog of record.

We took Stanley outside and not surprisingly on this foggy morning, he did not cast a shadow.


According to legend, the sudden appearance of the shadow scares the groundhog back into hiding and we will have six more weeks of winter. If he does not see his shadow then spring will soon be here.

The official Twin Cities Groundhog Prediction:
The groundhog did not see his shadow in the Twin Cities so winter will soon be over.

Background:

What's the connection between Groundhogs, shadows and the seasons?

The connection is tenuous at best. Further south than Minnesota, male groundhogs do come out of hibernation early to scope out and check on their breeding territory. In Minnesota, February 2nd is usually too early for this to happen. Seeing the first groundhogs checking out their territory is surely a sign of spring though. The connection to shadows has to do with prevailing weather patterns. We often associate sunny days with warmth and the coming spring but sunny days in the winter aren't always warm. Clear winter days are often the result of cold Canadian air that has settled over the state. A shadow in the winter often means we're in a pattern of cold air flowing south. It can take many weeks to break that pattern and warm the land.

This year is of course very different. Cold Canadian air has had trouble pushing into Minnesota at all. It should be clear this afternoon and so in theory a groundhog would see his shadow but I don't think anyone is seriously concerned we might get six more weeks of winter. We're hard pressed to say we've had winter at all this year.

Celestially, February 2nd is an important day. According to the solar calendar, it should mark the end of winter and the beginning of spring.

Forty-two days ago was the winter solstice, the day of the year when we have the least sunlight. From that day on, the amount of daylight increases until the day when there are equal amounts of night and day. We call this day the equinox and it falls around March 21st. February 2nd falls half way between the solstice and the equinox so in theory it should mark the end of winter and the beginning of spring.

Has anyone seen any crocus flowers blooming?

Obviously the winter solstice is not really mid-winter. Why do we call the solstice mid-winter if it is really more like the day winter begins? This has long been a puzzle and even caused a few arguments between astronomers and meteorologists. The answer is something we call the lag of the seasons and it affects Groundhog’s day as well. Yes, it is true that Groundhog’s day technically marks the beginning of spring from a celestial point of view but our experience tells us otherwise. Our seasons lag behind what the sun tells us in the sky.

Saying spring starts on Groundhog’s day is a little like saying a frozen dinner is ready to eat as soon as it is pulled out of the freezer. The northern hemisphere has been cooling down for months by the time the solstice arrives. Forty-two days with just less than a minute more sunlight each day is not enough to thaw out the frozen landscape into a lush vernal garden.

The established pattern of cold weather continues for many weeks after the beginning of the increase in daylight. This lag makes it seem like mid-winter actually falls on Groundhog’s day rather than the solstice. Rest assured though that on Groundhog’s day, even if it feels like the middle of winter, we are getting an hour and seven minutes more daylight today than we did just forty-two days earlier.

Groundhog’s Day may marks the beginning of spring according to the sun but it will be about forty-two more days until we feel the change enough to call it spring. It may seem like winter has a grip on the land but the sun has been working hard to reverse the trend for over a month and we’ll soon start to see those effects.

Incidentally, the legend tells us that if the groundhog sees its shadow it will be scared back into the den and we’ll have six more weeks of winter. Why six weeks? How many days are there in six weeks? Forty-two. Six weeks takes us exactly to the spring equinox.


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