Season Watch Newsletter: 8/11/2023

Alrighty, nature friends, get ready to nerd out about specialist pollinators, the first yellow leaf of fall (!), and a whole gamut of beautiful flowers!

FEATURE: These bees are so special(ized)

Stop the virtual presses because I just learned that spring beauty wildflowers have their own specialist bees and they pack their cute little pockets with pink pollen. How did I not know this? I have to wait three whole seasons to see it in person? I'm not patient enough for this.

I learned this fascinating information from Jessica Petersen, an invertebrate ecologist who works at the DNR and specializes in specialist pollinators! It turns out we have a bunch of these super-cool bees in Minnesota, and some of them are hyper-specific, feeding only on one species of plant. (The plant, in turn, relies heavily on the bee for pollination: if you don't have one, you don't have the other.)

Listen in!

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STUDENT AND LISTENER CONTRIBUTIONS

This week, Long Lake is filled with late-season wildflowers and John helps solve a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker mystery.

Hear their voices!

JOHN LATIMER'S WEEKLY REPORT

Alert alert! Hazelnuts are ripe, and they're going fast. John also teaches us about asters, bellflowers, and the first yellow leaves of fall.

Listen to John's report!

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SARAH'S RECOMMENDATION

I was today years old when I realized those 'ant hills' I've been seeing in patches of bare dirt are actually nests of mining bees. (Yes, I've gone on a bit of an internet deep-dive after learning about those uber-adorable specialized bees.) This video shows you what to look for in your yard (or the crack in the cement outside your apartment). I hope you'll join me on a fun quest to find our fuzzy little pollen-covered friends! Post sightings to iNaturalist or our Season Watch Facebook page so I can coo over them with you.

Enjoy!

Season Watch Photo Feature: Steve Patterson

Great or Common Mullein (Verbascum thapsus). Anishinaabemowin: Nookaadiziiganzh

Bonus fact: The North American beaver is the second-largest rodent in the world (after the capybara, of course). They weigh 40-70 pounds, and big old ones can weigh up to 110 lbs! (Also, there's a rogue population of capybaras in Florida that escaped containment.)

I can't believe(r) that I saw a beaver!

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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). The Trust Fund is a permanent fund constitutionally established by the citizens of Minnesota to assist in the protection, conservation, preservation, and enhancement of the state’s air, water, land, fish, wildlife, and other natural resources.