Season Watch Newsletter: 2/3/2023

Happy Phenology Phebruary! This week's newsletter features Minnesota's Best Porcupine, a look at eagle/loon interactions, and a ridiculous video about slime molds.

FEATURE: Loon Lore with Jim Paruk

Yodel-ayheehoo! Are wishing you had a loon chorus to lull you to sleep in the evenings? Me too. In the meantime, we get to enjoy some FASCINATING FACTS, courtesy of this month's Practical Water Wisdom presenter Jim Paruk! He's the author of Loon Lessons: Uncommon Encounters with the Great Northern Diver. You'll learn why Maine's loons are larger than ours, which calls can help you identify individual loons (!), and why not to reach for a baited lure at night in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico!

Listen in!

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STUDENT AND LISTENER REPORTS

This week's phenology reports tugged on my heartstrings- there's a student who is excited to help chickadees, a note about how animal tracks tell stories, and a feature on my all-time favorite rodent: the porcupine! Plus, some photos from inside students' quinzees and a report about a very active Pileated Woodpecker.

Hear their voices!

JOHN LATIMER'S WEEKLY REPORT

This week's phenology report includes a focus on the rivalry between owls and crows, a preview of February phenology, and a note on Blue Jays! John also shares the best time to listen for Great Horned Owls, how to notice the effects of increased sunlight intensity even before the temperatures rise, and he uses the phrase "grist for their gizzards."

Listen to John's report!

I'd like to give an extra-special thank you to Happy Dancing Turtle, our first-ever newsletter sponsor!

Reminder: We (John and I) will be presenting at the Back to Basics conference! Please join us: John will be discussing how to start (or continue) your phenology observation practice, and I'll be running the technology and occasionally making myself useful. (If that fails, I'll try to be decorative.) Hope to see you there!

Support Season Watch here!

Can't make the workshops? Send me an email, and we'll set up a zoom meeting!

2/11/23: Phenology in the Classroom and on the Radio. Back to Basics Conference, Pine River. Register here.
3/10/23: Phenology in the Classroom. TrekNorth High School, Bemidji. Register here.
3/11/23: Phenology in the Classroom. UMN Crookston. Register here.
3/18/23: Phenology in the Classroom. Dodge Nature Center, West St. Paul. Register here.

SARAH'S RECOMMENDATION

Things to find in the winter: Slime molds! While cold makes them less active, they're still visible on rotten logs. They're often quite colorful, which helps them stick out if you find a nice sheltered log! This video about slime molds (which is absolutely not suitable for children or my mother) made me laugh so hard I had to pause it multiple times. Sidenote: I love that a "juvenile sense of humor" means the jokes aren't suitable for kids. How does that work?

Enjoy!

P.S. Hi, Mom and similarly-polite humans! I haven't forgotten you. You can enjoy the PG version of his videos here. (The slime mold one hasn't been released yet, sadly- you'll have to wait!)

P.S.S. I love a descriptive name, and slime mold names are particularly evocative. Here are some of the slime mold species we have in Minnesota: Dog Vomit Slime Mold, Wolf's Milk, Chocolate Tube Slime, Carnival Candy Slime Mold, and Tapioca Slime Mold.

Chocolate Tube Slime (Stemonitis splendens).

I was unable to find any name for slime molds in Anishinaabemowin: Instead, here's a cool article on the cultural roles of fungi in First Nations peoples!

Get out in the cold, go find a slime mold!

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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.