Twin Cities Naturalist

Bald Eagle Vs. Ring-necked Pheasant (video)

kirkmona@yahoo.com — Tue, 22 May 2012 22:30:00 +0000

What do you do when someone brings you a dead pheasant that hit their window? Put it in the prairie with a motion activated camera on it so you can see what shows up for a snack. None of us expected a Bald Eagle to come and take the entire thing at once!

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Monday Phenology: May 21, 2012

kirkmona@yahoo.com — Tue, 22 May 2012 02:44:00 +0000

This is a transcript of the Monday Phenology podcast. If you are reading via email you can click here to listen.

The sun rose at an amazing 5:37 am. It is almost hard to imagine that back in the dead of winter the sun didn't rise until 7:51 am. Tonight the sun set at 8:42 PM giving us 15 hours 5 minutes and 17 seconds of sunlight.

Nature's Week in Review:

Monday reached 85 degrees which was the hottest day yet for 2012. Why on earth did I wear jeans? I saw my first Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Indigo Bunting and a great looking first spring male Orchard Oriole.

Tuesday, dragonflies were still emerging in great numbers. Mosquitoes too. While hiking in the woods I found I was swatting them away for the first time this year. It was another beautiful sunny day.

Wednesday the trillium were blooming in the forest which meant they were eaten moments later by giant forest rats a.k.a. White-tailed Deer.

Thursday was a good day for bird banding at the nature center with all kinds of warblers. There were Nashville Warblers, Tennessee Warblers, Yellow Warblers, Common Yellowthroats and even Northern Parula.

Friday morning my co-worker Paul and I took the morning off and went up to Falls Creek SNA for some birding with Paul's wife Leslie. The three of us birded like mad for a few hours, got some good species but not the one I was really hoping for. I wanted to see a Cerulean Warbler which I've never seen but alas we didn't even hear one. They have been spotted there this spring and many other springs as well. The two species that are close to a sure thing there, Acadian Flycatcher and Louisiana Waterthrush, did not disappoint. We spent 45 minutes trying to get a view of a calling male Northern Parula. We could tell exactly what tree it was but the little guy was a master at hiding. I finally saw the bird briefly but it moved before the others could get on it. We had to leave. It wasn't a lifer for anyone but would have been nice if we'd had time for everyone to get a look. On a side note, there was poison ivy in spades and it was at times challenging to watch the tree tops and the ground at the same time. Exercise all due caution at this site.

Saturday I got a lifer Bay-breasted Warbler. It involved a bit of sprinting. My co-worker Paul spotted it in a tree above our bird banding station and I was a tenth of a mile away on the other side of a bog. He told me about it over the walkie talkie and I set of running. I got there just in time to see it before it flew off. I had to cancel an afternoon canoe program due to high winds. A thunderstorm whipped up by dinner time and we got a downpour of rain. It wasn't long lasting but we got .7 inches of rain. The bulk of that seemed to come in just a few minutes.

Sunday morning things got colder and my Bonsai in the garden were very happy for it. The sweltering heat of the last few days had been taking their toll.

The week ahead:

Dragonflies emerge in waves over the course of the summer. Watch for Chalk-fronted Corporal dragonflies emerging early this week. They have a distinct white shoulders and white upper tail. Their faces or "fronts" are also white but this is often harder to see.

Monday Phenology: May 14, 2012

kirkmona@yahoo.com — Tue, 15 May 2012 01:59:00 +0000

This is a transcript of the Monday Phenology podcast. If you are reading via email you can click here to listen.

The sun came up this morning at 5:44 AM and set at 8:35 PM. It was an incredibly beautiful day, all 14 hours, 50 minutes and 20 seconds of it. We're still gaining sunlight but slowing down to only about 2 minutes a day.

Here's Nature's Week in Review:

Monday I saw black cherry blooming and noted that Black-and-white Warblers were still around. I saw the a Black-and-white Warbler while on a walking brainstorming meeting at work. I didn't see than many other birds but there was a fantastic White-crowned Sparrow that teed up right in front of me. I've seen them multiple times in Arizona but this was my first time seeing one in MN so that goes on the state list as well as the year list. I haven't seen them yet but Orchard Orioles and Canada Warblers have both been reported in the area.

Tuesday I had the day off from work and I took full advantage of the birding opportunity. I started my day at Gray Cloud Dunes SNA in Cottage Grove. I had been there once before and wasn't that impressed. The previous visit I had entered from the north entrance but this time I came in from he southern entrance and had a better sense of the lay of the land before I came in. I was very pleasantly surprised by this site and will go back for sure. It was wonderful. I was there for two and a half hours before the rain came in. By that time I had tallied fourth-one species of birds. Not a bad morning. There were Grasshopper Sparrows everywhere, a Lark Sparrow, many Brown Thrashers, a Yellow-throated Vireo and a Blue-headed Vireo, and dozens of other species. I saw my first of the year Eastern Kingbird, Northern Rough-winged Swallows, Gray Catbirds, Magnolia Warbler, and Vesper Sparrows as well. I'm sure if I had stuck around longer I would have seen more. I spent the afternoon dodging more rain storms and explored Pine Point Regional Park in northern Washington county. It isn't listed as a hot spot on e-bird but it perhaps should be. There is a good variety of habitat and I saw good birds. I saw 36 species of birds in a little over and hour in less than ideal weather. I was pleased to find a number of new birds for the year. There was a beautiful Chestnut-sided Warbler, a Northern Waterthrush, and and many Common Yellowthroats. I picked up a Red-breasted Nuthatch to boot. That was nice as we just don't have the pines to bring them in at work.

Wednesday Beth in the Highland Park neighborhood of St. Paul wrote in to tell me that she's seeing lots of red admiral and sulfur butterflies at her house. I've noticed an uptick in butterflies this week as well. She also reported seeing the first June Bug last week. I'll have to check out by my back porch light! Kids taking the Reptiles and Amphibians class found a blue spotted salamander in the woods.

Thursday reports were coming in of nighthawks and hummingbirds. Time to watch for both.

Friday I spent the day teaching kids about raptors at O. H. Anderson Elementary in Mahtomedi, MN. I got to bring along our resident Red-tailed Hawk and the kids were excited to see him. I've been bringing the hawk and attending the school's trail day for a decade now. I can easily say this was the nicest, warmest trail day in the history of the event.

Saturday I taught canoeing all day. I know, rough life. There were quite a few Turkey Vultures around. I could hear blue-winged warblers and yellow warblers calling around the lake as we paddled. It was a nearly ideal day. An Eastern Phoebe was nesting inside of one of the canoes on the rack and the nest had eggs. I'm thinking this might be a second nesting of the season for them. Sandhill Cranes were present on the lake and I believe they are nesting as I have seen a pair in the same secluded site multiple times. A Trumpeter Swan pair was present too and I'm really hoping this is the year they successfully nest. I think they tried last summer but we never saw any cygnets. It is possible they were eaten by bald eagles. There is an active eagle nest about 300 feet from where the swans are nesting. I saw two eaglets in the nest on Saturday. They have outgrown their gray fluff and have nice dark brown feathers. They appear to be about the size of the adults now. Saturday was a big day for dragonfly and damselfly emergence too. While pointing out a large cloud of newly emerged Spiny Baskettail dragonflies along a trail, a Green Darner dragonfly flew into the middle of the group, snatched one of the smaller dragonflies and then rather conveniently perched on a shrub branch and started to eat the other dragonfly while we watched. It was a great teachable moment.

Sunday I spent most of the day working in the garden and making multiple trips to the compost site and garden center. My best sighting of the day was while filling up on gas on Snelling Ave. I could hear chimney swifts circling overhead and soon saw them in the sky. I looked around for a suitable chimney and spotted one across the street. While I watched, two of the swifts flew over then chimney, tucked in their wings and dove in. It was very cool to see. I'm going to be sure to report the site of the chimney to Audubon Minnesota as they conduct surveys of existing roosting sites and even talk to owners to make sure we maintain nesting habitat. It is strange to think of brick chimneys as habitat but that's the case and sadly the habitat of chimney swifts is disappearing.

The week ahead:
Look for Eastern Wood Pewees, Cerulean Warblers, Red-eyed Vireo and Indigo Buntings to return this week. Next Saturday we will cross over into 15 hours of daylight.

Monday Phenology: May 7, 2012

kirkmona@yahoo.com — Tue, 08 May 2012 03:26:00 +0000

This is a transcript of the Monday Phenology podcast. If you are reading via email you can click here to listen.

The sun came up this morning at 5:53 AM and set again at 8:26 PM. The sun is now coming up in the 5:00 hour and we'll stay here until the solstice. The earliest sunrise in the twin cities is 5:25 am so not much further to go. Today was 14 hours, 33 minutes and 25 seconds long and we're still gaining 2 and a half minutes per day.

Nature's Week in Review:

Monday morning there was 0.1 inches of rain in the rain gauge. Blue-grey gnatcatchers and Clay-colored Sparrows showed up at work in the morning but I managed to miss both. On the way home I heard a Sora but didn't manage to see it in the little time I had. A Black Bear showed up at work and tore into our seed storage area, ripping open a locked garbage can. There are photos on the website.

Tuesday I saw the Blue-grey Gnatcatchers when I arrived at work and it only took a quick walk to the prairie to spot the Clay-colored Sparrows as well. Winds steadily picked up throughout the day.

By Wednesday morning we had .83 inches of rain. It got into the 80s by the afternoon. We had many new first of the year birds at work. Brown Thrasher, Blue-winged warbler, Northern Waterthrush, Western Palm Warbler. Of those, I only personally saw the Palm Warbler. Our cameras revealed the bear came back Tuesday night. We captured it on video this time. Sunrise was at 6:00 am on Wednesday which was the last sunrise in the 6:00 hour. The sun won't rise this late again until August 2.

Thursday was a great day for birds. I stepped out for a short lunchtime hike and was rewarded by Nashville Warbers, a Baltimore Oriole, Black-and-white Warber, Blue-winged Warbler, Ruby-crowned Kinglet. Add to that a Rose-breasted Grosbeak I saw out the window from my desk. At the end of the day I also saw a Yellow Warbler, Least Flycatcher and an Eastern Towhee. That was eight new species for the year in one day! American Toads were hitting their full stride today and singing like mad. It sounded great.

Friday morning there was .77 inches of rain in the rain gauge from all the rain we had on Thursday. I went out on a hike to help the bird banders Friday morning and I picked up a number of new birds for the year. Warbling Vireo, Tennessee Warbler, Brown Thrasher, American Redstart. I also heard Wood Thrush and Great Crested Flycatcher. The black and white warblers and ruby-crowned kinglets were making themselves seen too.

Saturday morning we had .3 inches of rain in the gauge. When the rain came down Friday night it was heavy but didn't last long. During the day Saturday, I was at Lake Calhoun in Minneapolis for the annual Great Strides walk to benefit the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. My focus was on family so I didn't notice many birds aside from a loon, some coots and a mallard. The mallard had ducklings which reminds me I saw the first goslings of the year earlier this week.

Sunday morning we had 1.14 inches of rain in the gauge. Everything else was a wet blur.

The week ahead:
This next week will be all about warblers. Watch for Canada Warblers, Wilson's Warblers, Northern Parula, etc. I think we'll have all of the warblers by the end of the week. This will also be a good week to look for mushrooms what with all the rain. If you're into fungus get out there and explore.

A bear raid at the seed stash

kirkmona@yahoo.com — Fri, 04 May 2012 22:00:00 +0000

We had an interesting visitor to the nature center this week. On Monday night a Black Bear decided to swing by. Tuesday morning we found the feeder pole outside the preschool room completely flattened.

Preschool feeder pole flattened

About 10 feet down the sidewalk is our back staircase. We store the bird seed under the stairs in custom designed garbage cans with locking tops. Something had chewed on the large stair beam.

Chewing on the stairs post.

More than that though, something had simply walked though the decorative lattice work. We were clearly dealing with a bear.

New bear entrance.

The most impressive thing was still under the stairs. The bear had opened the top of the trash can like it was made of paper.

Nothing here to stop a bear.

Tuesday night we set out a motion activated camera and sure enough the bear came back. This adult bear likely weighs 300 pounds.

The bear came back for more Tuesday night.

You can see the bear behind the lattice work.

We completely removed all seed from the area as we didn't want to habituate the bear to coming to the nature center for food. We set up the motion activated camera again on Wednesday night and set it to video. Here's what we captured. Be sure to make the video full screen as it is nighttime and a little dark.

Hopefully with no more food around he will stop coming. They sure are impressive animals.

~Kirk

Monday Phenology: April 30, 2012

kirkmona@yahoo.com — Tue, 01 May 2012 03:16:00 +0000

The sun rose this morning at 6:56 AM and set again at 7:39 PM. That should give us a lot of nice warm sun but cold winds seemed to dominate the week at least from where I was standing. Today we got 12 hours, 42 minutes and 28 seconds of sunlight. We're still gaining three minutes of daylight each day.

Here's Nature's Week in Review

Monday I went down to Lebanon Hills Regional Park for the Birds and Beers annual Woodcock Tailgate. We got nice views of the sky dance. The park is a pretty easy place to see them. They call and fly from the high hill to the north-east of the visitor center parking lots.

Tuesday it got real nice and warm. Up to the low 70s. I moved the lawn in the evening and it was overdue. Rabbits looked to be setting up shop in the grass. We had to open our windows at night to let in some cool air. Forecast called for a storm later but it was unsleepably hot in the house.

Wednesday morning at 3:30 am my wife and I were both awoken when the storm hit. The winds were very strong as the front rolled though and we had to get up and close all the windows. Rain gauge didn't show a lot of rain, about .16 inches. It got up to 73° and that was the last 70° day for the week. Incidentally, we finally crossed into 14 hours of daylight on Wednesday. We'll cross into 15 hours on May 19th. We don't make it to 16 hours. The most we get in the Twin Cities is a little more than 15 and a half hours at the solstice.

Thursday morning we installed bees in our new observation hive at work. The fact that it was so cold out kept them nice and calm. I'm curious to watch them and learn more as they are fascinating. The hive is inside the building and the bees have to go though a twisting tunnel to get outside. It took them a little time but they finally figured it out.

Friday morning I took the day off and tried to find some birds. I was woefully unsuccessful. I started at the Old Cedar Ave Bridge. Now to be fair, I did see a good number of birds. I saw Wilson's Snipe, both yellowlegs, myrtle warblers, wood ducks, teal, etc. What I didn't see or even hear was a Sora which was what I had gone to look for. I didn't see a Virginia Rail either. I see on ebird other people saw them, my timing must just be rotten. It was damn cold that morning too. I had my winter had on but I was wishing I had gloves. Maybe the birds were semi-frozen. I headed to another site after that where I had a line on some Merlins. I heard one calling briefly but it flew off before I could locate the bird. I didn't see it fly off, I just heard the call fading into the distance. So, from a target species perspective the day was a bust.

Saturday it rained and I ended up with .23 inches of rain in the gauge. I rested up for my big morning on Sunday. The sun rose at 7:00 am Saturday which was the last day of the sun rising in the 7 o'clock hour this spring.

Sunday I woke up at 4:45 in the morning and headed down to the Tiffany State Wildlife Area in Wisconsin. I was there for the Birding by Mini-Train event. There were around 60 other birders. It ended up being a nice day. I added three birds to my year list but overall I was a little disappointed in the total number of birds. I saw 38 birds, I think the group total was more like 41. Apparently last year they say 76 species. That's no small difference. We didn't see a single warbler nor a single shore bird. I think the trip was scheduled too early in the spring for maximum species.

What to look for next week:
Did I say Chimney Swifts would show up last week? Hmm, let's try that again. Chimney Swifts will show up this week. Also keep your eyes open for the first Blue-grey Gnatcatchers and Clay-colored Sparrows. On the insect front I expect to see a few swallowtail butterflies this week. If you see any of these things or something else interesting I'd love to hear about it so be sure to leave a comment.

White-faced Ibis at Old Cedar Bridge

kirkmona@yahoo.com — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 22:00:00 +0000

I headed down to the Old Cedar Bridge last week to see if the White-faced Ibis was still around. It was quite far out (probably 350 feet) but I did manage to snap this photo. You'll have to click on it and enlarge the photo to see the white on the face but all in all I was pretty happy with the view. There were greater and lesser yellowlegs, a Wilson's Snipe, Blue-winged and Green-winged teal, Northern Shoveler, Red-winged Blackbirds, Bald Eagles, Belted Kingfisher and more. It is a great spot to check out.

~Kirk

Monday Phenology: April 23, 2012

kirkmona@yahoo.com — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 02:12:00 +0000

Special note: If you subscribe via email and are only reading Monday Phenology you are missing out on the audio podcast. These are the show notes for the podcast which sometimes includes extra information you may be missing out on. You can listen right from the webpage or subscribe via iTunes. The is also a link a the bottom of each email that contains the mp3 audio file for the show.

The sun rose this Monday morning at 5:35 AM and set at 8:44 PM which gave us a whopping 15 hours 9 minutes and 8 seconds of daylight. I'm loving it. While we're still gaining daylight the pace is slowing. Starting this week we are now gaining less than 2 minutes per day. What was going on in all that daylight?

Here's Nature's Week in Review:

Monday morning the predictions were correct and there were snow flurries. It was incredible to look outside in the morning and see it coming down. It looked like a fast dense snow fall but it was so warm out the flakes melted instantly upon touching the ground. In northern Minnesota they got up to a foot of snow!

Tuesday I was back at work and got to go on a long overdue hike. I noticed the pusseytoes were in full bloom, especially along the mowed trails through the old meadows. Painted lady butterflies were out in good numbers. The really impressive thing to see were the large numbers of myrtle (yellow-rumped) warblers. The trees seemed to be full of them. From what I could see they were feeding primarily on small clouds of midges. Dark-eyed Juncos were still around. We approached a small pond and I saw my first Blue-winged Teal of the year as a pair flew off. While looking at the pond I spotted a pair of Green Darner Dragonflies mating and laying eggs. Yellow-bellied sapsuckers were actively doing territorial drumming in the woods. I'd seen the first of the year sapsucker last Saturday and had heard them in the woods a few days before that. Their drumming is distinct in that it starts out rapid and decreases in frequency. Da-da-da--daa---daaa----daaaa-----daah. Late Tuesday evening a thunderstorm kicked though. My co-worker Paul spotted the first of the year Belted Kingfisher on the property.

Wednesday morning the rain gauge showed .36 inches of rain. That was one of the highest readings in all of the metro. We had the first sighting of Red-bellied Snakes out at work.

Thursday I headed down to the Old Cedar Bridge to check out a sighting of a White-faced Ibis people have been reporting. I was with my mother as we had just come from her brother's funeral. It was nice to get out and celebrate life by looking for some beautiful birds. I saw a number of first of the year birds such as Belted Kingfisher, Wilson's Snipe, Green-winged Teal and Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs. There were also Canada Geese, Northern Shoveler, Blue-winged Teal, American Coots, Swamp Sparrows, White-throated Sparrows, and Bald Eagles. We were able to see the Ibis. It was beautiful and a lifer for both of us.

Friday I headed out for a hike at work to set up some trail cameras and maintain some bird houses. Both Tree Swallows and Eastern Bluebirds were quite busy at the bird houses. Some of the bluebird houses had eggs. I got a good look at a Krider's Red-tailed Hawk as it was harassed by a pair of Common Ravens. A flock of 55 American White Pelicans gracefully migrated overhead as well.

Saturday morning there was just a tiny amount of rain in the rain gauge. We had 0.2 inches. The Eastern Phoebe at work laid the first egg of the spring. It started to rain late in the evening and got fairly heavy. I also received reports of a Sedge Wren and Palm Warbler in Northern Washington County.

Sunday morning there was an additional .38 inches of rain in the gauge.

The week ahead:

Predicting what comes next has been a challenge during this crazy mixed up spring. My money is on Chimney Swifts arriving in the Twin Cities at some point during the week. We might also see Black-and-white Warblers, Northern Waterthrush and Orange-crowned Warbler. Most of the other warblers are still too far south to show up soon in any real numbers.

Monday Phenology: April 16, 2012

kirkmona@yahoo.com — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 13:00:00 +0000

This one's going to be short. I didn't have much time to note phenology this week. I skipped out of recording the podcast last week and hinted at a family emergency. I'm sad to say my uncle went into the hospital on Monday morning and passed away on Tuesday evening. The week has been a bit of a blur.

The (abridged) week in review:

Wednesday morning I was delighted to step out my back door and smell lilacs. While they aren't in full bloom yet, there are enough open to smell them from across the yard and they smell marvelous. People have begin to report seeing Osprey return to the Twin Cities.

Thursday I noticed blood root blooming at work. I looked for evidence of orchids coming up but so far nothing. Not surprising, I wasn't really expecting them to have poked up yet but this year anything seems possible.

Friday I checked the list serves and noted that people around the metro have already seen Northern Waterthrush, Brown Thrashers and Eastern Towhee. I'm hoping to see those all soon. I did spot my first Common Loon of the year on the way to a school for an outreach program. That was my 91st bird species of the year.

Saturday I lead back-to-back girl scout programs at work that were basically guided hikes. We found lots of wood ticks, saw blooming rue anemone and wood violets. The ferns in the forest were well on their way, some were six to eight inches high. The highlight of the day was setting up a spotting scope at our final hiking destination and seeing an active bald eagle nest. One of the parent eagles caught a fish and then flew up to the nest to feed the two young eaglets. We could see right into the nest and watch the fuzzy young being fed. It started to rain late Saturday night. I woke up at 2:40 at night to a pretty heavy down pour.

Sunday morning I checked the rain gauge and we'd gotten .92 inches of rain over night. That's a pretty respectable amount. Some light thunderstorms headed though on Sunday evening as well and while I thought the totals would be higher we only got an additional .52 inches of rain. The storm moved though pretty fast.

The week ahead:

I'm afraid we my stressful week I don't have a lot to tell people to watch for next week. My previous year's data is pretty useless this year! Watch for new birds arriving, we're getting a couple new species every week now. Keep an eye out for shorebirds such as marbled godwits, black-necked stilts and Hudsonian godwits. There should be the very first Magnolia Warblers and Orange-crowned Warblers showing up soon too. Will today really bring April snow like they are predicting. We'll have to wait to see.

Current Wind Map shows all birds heading to Minnesota.

kirkmona@yahoo.com — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 14:26:00 +0000

The current wind map shows all winds leading to Minnesota. I'm liking what this could mean for bird migration. This could be a good weekend to see birds. Then again, there's that pesky forecast of snow on Monday.

To really appreciate the map you need to view it in motion.

~Kirk

Timberdoodle Twirl: The dance of the woodcock

kirkmona@yahoo.com — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 15:08:00 +0000

American Woodcock: photo credit USFWS

I remember being nervous in high school as I waited to be asked to the Valentine's day "sweetheart" dance. Not being asked was my girlfriends subtle way of setting me free. I spent the evening with a friend driving to Darwin, Minnesota to see the biggest ball of twine in the world. I've perhaps been skeptical of dances ever since.

Now, later in life and as a professional naturalist, I think about one dance in particular as I prematurely take off layers of wool and don shorts on fifty degree days. The signs of spring tell me it is time for the Timberdoodle Twirl.

The Twirl, a.k.a. the Sky Dance, is a secretive event that only occurs in the spring. Naturalists have attended the twirl for centuries and yet it remains a little known event to most outsiders.

You will not be invited to the Twirl. There are no invitations and no awkward propositions. You don't need to trek to the giant twine ball when you're not invited to the dance.

If you want to attend the Timberdoodle Twirl you need to first figure out where it is held. If you are lucky enough to know someone who has been to one in the past then you have an easy in. The only other option is to hunt down the location on your own.

Although locations do change, the Twirl often takes place in the same spot for generations. Timberdoodle Twirls are usually situated on the edge of meadows. There must be enough room to twirl. There must also be a woods nearby with young trees such as aspen and alders. A stand of sumac may work in a pinch. It all depends how picky the dancers are.

The Timberdoodle Twirl is an elaborate dance that can only be performed by the highly experienced and rules dictate that it can only be performed in the dying rays of twilight. A full moon rising in the east makes it all the better. Dim lighting sets the mood. The Twirl is about one thing; bonding with hopes of mating.

If you think you're up to participation in the Twirl keep in mind that none of the naturalists are. There are two requirements. To perform in the Timberdoodle Twirl you must first off be a male. This precludes half the population but you must also be able to flap your arms hard enough to fly. This tends to rule out the rest of us.

To actually take part in the Timberdoodle Twirl, you must be a timberdoodle. The males of this strange slightly spherical species perform an elaborate mating dance we naturalists call the Timberdoodle Twirl or the Sky Dance. The timberdoodle, also known as the American woodcock, is a secretive bird that spends most of its time in the woods probing the ground with a ridiculously long beak. Technically, the woodcock is a shorebird but with the beaches being such historically crowded places who can blame it for preferring the solitude of the woods?

In the woods, the sensitive beak searches the earth for worms and insects. With eyes on the sides of its head it can see both in front of and behind itself at the same time. It can also see above itself, which is useful for keeping an eye on both predators and dancers.

Any evening, April through May, you may have luck discovering the secret dance of the timberdoodle. As the sun sets, listen for the buzzy "peent" call of the male bird. It shouts to the females, "Look at me, I am about to dance." This is personally a declaration I have never shouted on a dance floor so I admire the bird's self esteem.

After a few minutes of peenting, the male soars two hundred feet or more into the sky. The spiraling skyward travel is accompanied by a twittering sound produced not from the throat of the bird but by air rushing over the wings. If you approach from the east you can see the bird silhouetted against the dying rays of the day.

The bird then sings a dreamlike courtship song in a liquidly warble while beginning a leaf-like fluttering descent to the earth. It goes silent a few feet from the ground and alights gently on the dance floor.

Upon landing, he immediately starts up with the peents again, trying to call in a female to watch his elaborate dance.

The springtime ritual of the Timberdoodle Twirl probably occurs near your home. Visitors to Lake Elmo park have seen it and Warner Nature Center offers a guided Timberdoodle Twirl program each spring.

When you discover the secret location of the Timberdoodle Twirl, hold that information dear. You are witness to a marvel seen by few. Remember though, unless you can fly, you'll be asked to sit this dance out.

Monday Phenology: April 9, 2012

kirkmona@yahoo.com — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 02:26:00 +0000

I was sure this week I would return to the audio recording of Monday Phenology. Alas, a family emergency has prevented me from sitting down to record the podcast. So, here's my written phenology notes for the week. Thanks for reading. I hope everyone is well and enjoy.

Nature's Week in Review:

Monday our site manager came into work and said he'd seen a Blanding's Turtle in the prairie. I headed out and it was still there. The turtle was one of the turtles we've been tracking since the 1970s. I could tell by distinctive marks on the shell that this was a female we call Hera. She still had a radio transmitter on her shell from two summers ago. I removed the transmitter but did not have the epoxy with me to attach a new one. Hopefully she'll stick around where we can find her so we can attach a new transmitter. While in the prairie I also say my first of the year Northern (yellow-shafted) Flicker. My rain gauge showed .34 inches in St. Paul. It sounds like some parts of the metro actually saw hail and thunder. I missed that! Then again I was sick and went to bed early.

Tuesday night the planet Venus in the sky was brighter than any time I can ever remember seeing it. I've heard people say that the planet is sometimes confused for a UFO. That always seemed like such nonsense. I get it now though. It was so bright I had to really watch it for a while to make sure it wasn't an airplane. I looked online and Venus was at magnitude –4.5 which is quite bright. When I came home from work I took a close look at my lilac bushes. They are covered with a profusion of purple flower buds. A couple of them had opened into blooming flowers so we officially have blooming lilacs in the Twin Cities on April 3. I heard from Beth in Highland Park that she spotted the first of the year Syrphid fly hanging out in her garden. Syrphids are very cool flies that mimic wasps and bees. Beth also reports that she saw a Red Admiral butterfly last week, March 27th.

Wednesday it got cold over night and especially when I got north of the cities up near Marine on St. Croix there was some frost on the ground in low-lying areas and northern facing slopes of hills. We put the docks in the lakes at work. That was about two weeks earlier than last year. While we put them in, large migratory Green Darner dragonflies were patrolling the edges of the lakes. It was the first I'd seen them this year though I hear they first arrived earlier in the week.

Thursday was a volunteer training day at work. While teaching about birds there were both Fox Sparrows and White-throated Sparrows hopping around on the ground under the bird feeders. It was the first time I'd seen a white-throat this year so that makes 91 bird species so far. Down at the lake we did some dip netting. All of the usual species were in the lake such as dragonfly larva, water boatmen, crawling water beetles, water scorpions and scuds. It was nice to see the sun again after a string of gray days.

Friday the tulips were blooming at work. We have some planted along a wall that has a nice southern exposure. The side of the building there is dark brown cinder block that really heats up and creates a microclimate.

Saturday morning I awoke to the sound of the first House Wren of the year singing outside my window. We got .19 inches of rain in the Como Park neighborhood of St. Paul.

Sunday I visited my aunt and uncle in Eagan and their Rhododendron was in full bloom. There were two very large bumblebees working over the blossoms. Those are the first bumblebees I've seen this year.

Sorry, I don't have any phenolgy to watch for this week due to the aforementioned emergency but I hope to have some things to watch for next week.

~Kirk

Monday Phenology: April 2, 2012

kirkmona@yahoo.com — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 02:04:00 +0000

No podcast again tonight. I'm coming down with something and I sound like Berry White. It might make for a sexy sounding podcast but I'm going to go pass out in bed instead. Here's some rough observations for the week.

Stay Healthy.

Monday- I saw first of the year Red-breasted Merganser and Turkey Vulture. It was a cold dreary day. People talked about the other shoe dropping. No, the other shoe dropping would be a snow storm. This is just normal March weather. There were a few little pellets of frozen rain on my door mat when I let the dog out in the morning. The rest had clearly melted away but the mat must have insulated them and kept them around long enough for me to see them.

Tuesday - Brought two more new birds for the year. I saw an Eastern Meadowlark while doing a roadside clean-up and then Tree Swallows were out in the prairie in the afternoon. Painted lady butterflies are also out now. Tuesday was warmer but very windy. Branches were blowing down off trees. Very small fiddle head ferns are poking up in the woods.

Wednesday I got reports of White pelicans migrating, northern flickers, myrtle warblers and ruby-crowned kinglets in the Hugo area.

Thursday I sawsome kind of thrush on the edge of the driveway at work but didn't have time to stop. I hoped it would be around of Friday.

Friday I went for a short hike in the morning to see what was happening in the woods. I was itching to see that first myrtle warbler and they should be around. What I found instead was a woods full of American Robins. I counted 200 as they zoomed around and I figure there were easily twice as many that I could not see. Walking into the middle of the forest while this flock flew around me was surreal and very exciting. The birds were feeding mostly on buckthorn. Mixed into or drawn to the flock were blue jays, cedar waxwings and even a rusty blackbird! The blackbird teed up right in front of me and I was pretty surprised. I headed back toward the building and a thrush flew across my path. A little more snooping and I was able to get a good look. There were a couple of hermit thrushes. I even heard one do a tentative song. I headed back on the same trail in the afternoon taking some volunteers on a hike and there were still lots of robins around. A flock of blackbirds flew into a tree and while they were too far away to tell that they were more than males and females their call gave them away as Brewer's Blackbirds.

Saturday and Sunday there were reports of loons on area lakes, flower buds on my lilacs are about to open. I also found buds on clematis that were about to open.

What to watch for this week:
Watch for blooming lilacs. Early returning myrtle warbler, loons, northern flickers will become more common. That's all I can muster right now. I'm going to bed but hope to be right as rain next week and the podcast can return.

Monday Phenology: March 26, 2012

kirkmona@yahoo.com — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 02:05:00 +0000

Sorry this is a day late getting out. No podcast this week. Just the bare bones transcript. You can read along and imagine my voice in your head.

Nature's Week in Review

Monday I spotted my first American Kestrel of the year and the spring peepers were calling for the first time of the year as well. It started to rain in the evening. By morning I measured .33 inches in St. Paul by the fair grounds. I saw they got .9 inches downtown so there were widely variable rainfall totals.

Tuesday I discovered the Groundhogs are out. Unfortunately I only know this because I saw a freshly hit one twitching in death throes on the road. Not pretty. Wild Turkey's are displaying in fields.

Wednesday I saw first of the year Great Blue Heron, Brown-headed Cowbirds, and a Field Sparrow. I also spotted my first Brown Creeper. Elderberry were leafing out and I found one plant that was even starting to flower. There was a tiny trace of rain in the morning (0.02 inches.)

Thursday morning there was an additional .04 inches of rain in the gauge and by the end of the day it was 0.27 inches. We just had a steady drizzle on and off all day. On the way home I saw my first Pied-billed Grebe of the year.

Friday at lunch I took a stroll down to the pond to listen to the Chorus, Wood Frogs and Spring Peepers and was astounded to hear the first of the year Northern Leopard Frog joining in. On a hike in the afternoon saw Red-tailed Hawk and Bald Eagles on nests. A pair of Sandhill Cranes seem to be staking out a spot to nest. First of the year Garter Snake on in the woods.

Saturday and Sunday continued our trend of beautiful weather. I spent the day prepping the garden (bizarre for March) and playing with my son at local parks. While working in the yard a bald eagle twice flew overhead and circled the neighborhood. I'm wondering if this bird is considering nesting at Lake Como. That would be very exciting. Minnesota Birdnerd saw a number of new bird arrivals on Sunday including Peregrine Falcon, Belted Kingfisher, Turkey Vulture, and Yellow-rumped (myrtle) Warbler.

What to watch for this week:
Early tree species are leafing out such as buckthorn and boxelder. Be careful if you are pulling buckthorn this time of year as young black cherry trees look similar and are also early to leaf out. Watch for painted lady butterflies and the return of tree swallows as well.

Muskrat Lunch

kirkmona@yahoo.com — Sat, 24 Mar 2012 02:23:00 +0000

One of the first Muskrats out in the early spring of 2012 in Minnesota. I went out to record frogs at lunch and this little guy demanded to be photographed instead. Western Chorus frogs are singing in the background and the camera also recorded the call of the first Northern Leopard Frog of the season as well. If you know your calls you might be able to pick it out of the background noise. This is early for Muskrats to be out and early for Chorus Frogs as well. It is freakishly early for Leopard Frogs. This is a very strange spring. Though it almost looks like it has been sped up, this is normal speed. Muskrats use a very fast gnawing motion to eat.

Hummingbirds are on their way

kirkmona@yahoo.com — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 11:58:00 +0000

With our warm weather you may be wondering when ruby-throated hummingbirds will arrive in the twin cities. They aren't quite here yet but we can see via this fantastic map from hummingbirds.net that they are as far north as Missouri as of yesterday. They appear to be three to four weeks ahead of schedule. At this rate I'm guessing we could see them by April 1st, maybe sooner.

~Kirk

Monday Phenology: March 19, 2012

kirkmona@yahoo.com — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 02:21:00 +0000

The sun rose this morning at 7:17 AM and set at 7:25 PM which means we've passed the equilux and there is now more daylight than darkness. Today we got 12 hours, 7 minutes and 48 seconds of sunlight and we're getting a little over three minutes more each day.What can I say, I love spring and this year it seems to be about two to as much as three weeks ahead of schedule. There's only one word for that. Fantastic.

Here's nature's week in review:

Monday I took a hike and was treated to phenological delights. Spring was coming on and there were signs everywhere. The snow was melting like mad and gopher mounds in the prairie were a muddy mess. Birds were singing and calling like I haven't heard in a long time. Blue Jays were doing near constant territorial calls. I saw American Robins, Eastern Bluebirds, Northern Cardinals, and Red-winged Blackbirds. I saw and heard geese migrating overhead as well as sandhill cranes and Killdeer. There was a barred owl calling in the woods. The crows were very vocal and I even heard a Common Raven. It was a lot of fun just to be outside. We fired up the Maple Syrup evaporator for the first time of the year and started to boil down the little sap we've collected from the trees.

Tuesday was beautiful. I had my window wide open all day. I could hear Common Ravens all day long and at one point got to watch four of them flying in pairs in a thermal while they called. A red-shouldred hawk flew up to join them in flight. Raptors were migrating all day long. I saw multiple bald eagles as well as red-tailed hawks. I watched a red-bellied woodpecker working on a next cavity and we boiled up more maple syrup. At the end of the day I was able to savor my first sip of 2012 syrup and it was fantastic. I saw on one of the listserves that someone saw an eastern meadowlark in Minneapolis. That's the first report I've seen. Started to hear multiple reports of both wood and deer ticks!

Wednesday I took a day off from work to go birding with my mom. I've made a deal with myself to go birding more this year at places other then my work and I'm planning to take some PTO to make that happen. Our first stop was the Bass ponds in Bloomington. There was virtually nothing in the ponds themselves but waterfowl was present out on long meadow lake. Unfortunately when we were there in the morning the sun was back lighting all of the birds which made ID more difficult. Still we raked in a good number of birds. We saw:

Canada Goose
Trumpeter Swan
Wood Duck
Mallard
Canvasback
Redhead
Ring-necked Duck
Lesser Scaup
Bufflehead
Bald Eagle
American Coot
Killdeer
gull sp.
Downy Woodpecker
American Crow
Black-capped Chickadee
American Robin
Fox Sparrow (Red)
Song Sparrow
Northern Cardinal
Red-winged Blackbird

After an hour we packed up the scope and headed down to Cannon Falls to Lake Byllesby. I had never been there before and it was tricky to find a spot to actually view the birds. We did see a pretty good list though.

Greater White-fronted Goose
Snow Goose
Canada Goose
Gadwall
American Wigeon
Mallard
Northern Shoveler
Northern Pintail
Canvasback
Ring-necked Duck
Lesser Scaup
Common Merganser
Bald Eagle
Red-tailed Hawk
Killdeer
Horned Lark
Eastern Bluebird

Combined with a few odd birds I saw here and there that was 30 different species of birds for the day and 15 of them were new for the year. I was hoping to see Cackling Geese and Ross's Geese as well but the views were not good enough to tell for sure.

Thursday was colder which seemed to put a damper on migration. There was virtually no sap running in the sugar bush and any prospects for a sap run were disappearing. We emptied maybe 5 gallons of sap out of 50 trees. Not very impressive. All told this season we've collected only 6% of our usual harvest. Stock up on Maple Syrup while you can. The price is about to jump. We're essentially looking at a total crop failure at this point.

Friday was gorgeous again and I saw first of the year Fox Sparrow hanging out under the feeders at work. He was accompanied by the first eastern chipmunk I've seen as well.

Saturday I taught Maple Syruping classes and for the first time in my decade long career teaching about the process I did so in shorts and a t-shirt. Some of the Maple Trees had already started to bloom. Needless to say the trees were not running. I was, however, delighted to hear the first of the year Eastern Phoebe immediately upon opening my car door in the morning. I was decidedly less enthusiastic about the first deer tick I found on my leg at the end of the day. Western Chorus Frogs were calling enthusiastically.

Sunday I drove around my neighborhood a bit to check out what was happening with the onslaught of spring. I headed down to Lake Como to look for waterfowl and enjoy a Belgian waffle. There's really no finer way to start the day. I was surprised to find there was absolutely no trace of ice on Como. When I left the nature center on Saturday the ice on area lakes all looked black and rotten but it still covered something like 98% of the surface. The ice seemed to disappear overnight. I also stopped in at Lake Josephine and McCarrons and they were completely ice free as well.

The Week Ahead:
Stop by your local pond to listen for western chorus frogs. They sound like someone running their fingernail down a comb. They should also be joined this week by Wood Frogs, which sound like a bunch of funny ducks quacking and spring peepers that simply let out a deafening peep quite disproportionate to their size. Watch for all kinds of plant activity this week as well. Lawns will green up substantially, magnolias will bloom and many garden plants will be peeking up from the soil.

Time lapse of raven stripping fur off a coyote for nesting material

kirkmona@yahoo.com — Sat, 17 Mar 2012 00:46:00 +0000

A time lapse video I generated from hundreds of images taken over several days by a motion activated trail camera. The video shows a Common Raven stripping fur off of a dead coyote so it can use the material to line a nest. Images were captured in Northern Washington County, in Minnesota. The video is especially interesting as Common Raven are generally not thought to nest this far south. Special thanks to Paul who set the camera up at the end of last week.

~Kirk

Look who's out and about for spring!

kirkmona@yahoo.com — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 16:34:00 +0000

This wonderful warm weather has all kinds of animals out and about looking for food, setting up territories and getting frisky.

This Eastern Chipmunk came out of hiding from his underground den and spent most of the day gathering food under the bird feeders at work.

~Kirk

Monday Phenology: March 12, 2012

kirkmona@yahoo.com — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 01:58:00 +0000

Time for my rant about Daylight Saving Time. It doesn't save anything. All it does is shift everything earlier so it feels like the sun stays up later. If you have little kids it is awful as you have to convince them to go to bed at 8:00 at night even though their body tells them it is only 7:00. You then have to wake them up at what their body tells them is 5:00 am. This is a no win situation. Now the little extra light at the end of the day is kinda nice but come summer it is ridiculous when the sun is still up at 10:00 pm. Maybe down south it isn't such a big deal but I tell you up here in Minnesota we're half way to the North pole at the 45th parallel. It feels like the sun never sets in the summer. That's great f you love the sun, and you know I do, but getting the aforementioned preschooler to go to bed at 8:00 when the sun won't set for another two hours requires some form of demonic magic.

Speaking of the sun! Here's your stats. The sun rose this morning at 7:30 AM (6:30 in reality) and set again at 7:15 PM (6:15 in reality) That gave us 11 hours 45 minutes and 42 seconds of sunlight. We're gaining over three minutes a day now. Astute readers/listeners will no doubt remember that it was exactly 14 days ago that we crossed into an 11 hour day. We're now very close to 12 hours of daylight which is of course the equilux. Wait, wha? The Equilux? For those of you that learned that the Equinox is the day of equal light and darkness I'm afraid you were mislead. The day of equal day and night is the equilux. The equinox is actually the day the earth's axis is tinted neither toward nor away from the sun. The equilux will be March 17th this year while the equinox will not be until March 20th.

Here's your week in review:

Monday it was cold out but chickadees were singing with more enthusiasm. It may be my imagination but they seemed to be more ardent about actually setting up territory. I counted at least 20 trumpeter swans in a farm field near work. I'd seen as many as a dozen all winter but this was a larger number. I had to wonder if some migratory birds might have joined them? Jim Fitzpatrick, the director down at Carpenter Nature Center at the southern end of Washington County sent me a note to say that the Blue Jays were doing their territorial "pump handle" call. Someone at Birds and Beers in the evening told me he'd seen canvasback.

Tuesday Birdchick reported robins, cardinals, house finches & red-winged blackbirds singing territory songs at Bruce Vento Nature Sanctuary in St. Paul. I heard woodpeckers doing territorial drumming in the woods at work and when we went out to tap all of our maple trees we heard the first Red-shouldered Hawk of the year calling as it soared overhead. We tend to hear them every year when we go out to tap. In the morning my son spotted Canada Geese flying overhead as we got into the car. They started to honk as they flew north. I was surprised to realize they were the first ones of the year I'd seen. White-breasted nuthatches were doing their nasal whe, whe, whe territory call as well.

Wednesday on the way to work I pulled off the road to take in the beauty of the first Eastern Bluebird of the year sitting on a telephone wire. I had gotten reports earlier in the year of a flock of bluebirds hanging out in the forest near work but this was a male that seemed to be on territory. Was it a bird that stayed or a migrant? No way to know. There were also a couple of migrating groups of Canada Geese flying overhead. When I arrived at work the American Robins in the woods were tentatively singing their spring song. It wasn't loud and full force yet but it was a start. A barred owl showed up outside the classroom window at work and was still hanging around when I left at the end of the day. I was able to get some nice shots with my new camera. There was a report on one of the list serves that an American Woodcock was singing on the St. Paul campus of the University of Minnesota just after the sun set. Go woodcock! Jim Fitzpatrick, the director down at Carpenter Nature Center reported that a flock of Red-winged Blackbirds had shown up down there.

Thursday I was surprised when I let the dog out and opened the door to a beautiful light snow. It coated the ice covered ground and made for a delightfully slippery morning. I taught a weather class which seemed appropriate.

Saturday the day began with a new year bird. A male and female pair of House Finches were at my bird feeders. The house finch was bird number 52 for me this year. It is funny it took this long to see one. They aren't exactly rare. I think it is because I decided to stop using cheap bird food in my feeders. I pretty much only use black oil sunflower seeds now because so much millet was just being wasted on the ground. I recently put out some hulled sunflower seeds and the finches were able to eat those so they finally came around. Elizabeth in Hugo sent me an email about a Northern Harrier and Blackbirds near her home.

Sunday morning was so beautiful I fired up the moped and cruised around Lake Como. There were some small spots of open water near the shore but I only saw Canada Geese. Elizabeth in Hugo heard Sandhill Cranes and Killdeer as well. Migration is really picking up. I haven't heard either of these yet but expect to soon.

What to expect this week:

Migration and warm weather. This is going to be an incredible week. The forecasted LOW temperature for the week is 43°. Large numbers of early migrants will be coming though. There have already been reports of large migrating flocks of snow geese, greater white fronted geese and Canada geese moving into the area and they will greatly increase in numbers during the week. Winds look to be coming generally out of the south all week which should help speed up migration even more. Watch for killdeer in open fields and listen for early woodcocks peenting in the evenings. Enjoy the Equilux on Saturday.

Migration is ON in Minnesota!

kirkmona@yahoo.com — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 22:13:00 +0000

Since it is only mid-week and the next Monday Phonology is still almost a week away I need to share all of the great observations coming in from around the state. The warm weather early in the week combined with winds out of the south are bringing migrating birds into the state. While at Birds and Beers on Monday night people shared reports of Canvasback and Killdeer migrating into the state. There are multiple reports of Red-winged Blackbirds in the state as well now. Birdchick even reported them singing at Bruce Vento Nature Sanctuary in St. Paul on Tuesday. That same day while tapping maple trees I heard the first Red-shouldered Hawk of the year. I saw Eastern Bluebirds on territory this morning on my commute to work and saw several flocks of migrating Canada Geese as well.

Checking the list-serves I see in the last two days people have also reported Cackling Geese, Ross's Geese, Greater White-fronted Geese, Snow Geese, American Wigeon, Northern Pintail, Bufflhead, Common Goldeneye, Hooded Merganser, Common Merganser, Ring-necked Duck, Lesser Scaup, American Coot, American Kestrels, Belted Kingfisher, Rusty Blackbirds, Brown Headed Cowbirds, Eastern Meadowlarks, Western Meadowlarks and Song Sparrows all moving into the state!

Get ready for birds!

~Kirk

This Barred Owl just landed out the window at work

kirkmona@yahoo.com — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 21:08:00 +0000

I would be great if owls could land 15 feet outside the classroom window every time we teach!

Monday Phenology, March 5th 2012

kirkmona@yahoo.com — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 14:00:00 +0000

We're gaining sunlight fast and furious now. The sun came up this Monday morning at 6:43 AM and set at 6:06 PM. We've gained almost a half hour of sunlight since last Monday! Every day this week will have three minutes more sunlight than the day before. Go ahead and snow, I don't care. There's NO way it can last with this much sunlight. On Wednesday the sun will for the first time reach 40° high in the sky and creep a little higher each day. That will be more than 10° higher than on the same date last month.

Nature's week in review

Last Monday we got 11 hours of sunlight for the first time since October 15th.

Tuesday we started out with a few flakes and they quickly died off. The giant snowstorm predicted didn't materialize in the twin cities but they had white-out conditions up on the north shore of Superior. At 3am Wednesday morning I awoke to the sound of frozen rain drops hitting the roof.

Wednesday I still made it to work. Why is that any surprise? Some people didn't. There was some very light freezing rain and about 4 inches of heavy snow in some spots but the plows did a wonderful job of clearing it all away. That is what the plows are for. When did Minnesotans become so wimpy? We used to get snow measured in feet and shrug it off. Now we get a couple of inches of snow and they cancel school. It boggles the mind. We've become Seattle only that isn't fair to Seattle. They don't have plows there to handle the snow so it is understandable when they close down the city for snow. We have plows, we're prepared for this. On a cheerful note, my new lens arrived for my camera and there was a large flock of Horned Larks on the way home so I got a little practice with it. I still need more practice.

Thursday the warm-up began and snow melted like mad. Snow fleas were once again out on top of the snow. I wasn't sure in last weeks podcast how to classify snow fleas (springtails). I was fairly sure they were not technically insects. It turns out they are hexapods, so they have six legs but they are not insects. They are a type of arthropod as I had suspected. The warmer weather also melted the last of the snow on top of my rain gauge and I was able to get an official reading on the amount of precipitation for the Tuesday/Wednesday storm. The Twin Cities Naturalist official gauge recorded 1.65 inches of precipitation. Generally snow is 10x rainfall so if all that precip had fallen as snow we would have been looking at little less than a foot and a half of snow. I'm happy we were south of the snow line on this one. The four inches or so we got was plenty. We tapped the first maple tree at work and it was indeed dripping sap. I'm getting excited for maple syrup season.

Friday, Saturday and Sunday I had were just a blur of non-phenologically related errands so nothing to report.

The week ahead:

I mentioned this last week as well but be on the lookout for the first of the season American Kestrels. We usually start seeing reports as early as this week and with our milder winter it would not surprise me to see them soon. While not widespread, we'll probably see a few reports of red-winged blackbirds singing on territory this week. Don't expect them in large numbers yet but early arrivals will start to show up soon.

Monday Phenology: February 27, 2012

kirkmona@yahoo.com — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 03:25:00 +0000

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.

Bird #43 for the year: Horned Lark

kirkmona@yahoo.com — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 15:34:00 +0000

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