Season Watch Newsletter: 2/10/2023

This week's newsletter features death (what nature newsletter doesn't?), the seasonal behaviors of Pileated Woodpeckers, and some lovely moments of mindful appreciation by our students.

FEATURE: Green Burials with Tanya Hanson

Let's start your weekend off with a lighthearted subject: Death! Heidi spoke this week with Tanya Hanson, a local death doula and educator. Their conversation was wide-ranging, covering topics like cultural taboos, how to have conversations around death, and also green burials. Tanya and other death educators are working to change laws and perspectives around death in order to create more personal (and eco-friendly) death practices. It's fascinating- I hope you enjoy the conversation!!

Listen in!

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STUDENT AND LISTENER REPORTS

This week, our beloved student phenologists have been admiring sunsets, watching sea smoke drift across Lake Superior, and learning about lichens! They also noted Groundhog Day, squirrel drays, and wondered what makes snow squeaky on cold days. The vocabulary word of the week is petiole!

Hear their voices!

JOHN LATIMER'S WEEKLY REPORT

The weather's warmed up a bit, which brings new events to Minnesota's woods and fields! John's spent his week watching Barred Owls, Ruffed Grouse, and (of course) Quaking Aspens. He points out some early-spring behaviors of skunks and Pileated Woodpeckers, and tells the story of how the food from your bird feeder might end up in a local owl!

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!

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

While working on the Season Watch Podcast (more news on that soon!), I was running through all my favorite organisms and trying to figure out what they were up to at the moment. The Long-nose Gar, which is a ferocious scaled needle of a fish that often ended up in my turtle nets in grad school, came to mind, and realized I have no idea what they do in the winter! A very enjoyable research session ensued, and I found this fun article. I hope you enjoy it!

Enjoy!

P.S. That article talks about trout- if you're enthusiastic about the gar, the best information I could find was this peer-reviewed article published in 2012!

Long-nose Gar (Lepisosteus osseus).

Ojibwe: Odaajigo'on

Other Ojibwe names for fish can be found here!

If you can't find a loon, go hop in a cocoon!

Northern Community Radio

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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.