Season Watch Newsletter: 6/16/2023

This week, we have bees on the brain! Plus, we hear from our buddies at the Roots and Wings Forest School, celebrate the hard work of our beloved dragonflies, and I make fun of John on the internet.

FEATURE: Bee Detectives

Ever since I learned about leaf-cutting bees last year, I haven't been the same. Perhaps I just feel a kinship with creatures whose survival relies heavily on sleeping bags and sugar, but I just have to smile every time I see evidence of one! (Leaf-cutting bee moms carefully wrap each of their eggs up in its own little leafy sleeping bag provisioned with pollen and nectar.)

Luckily for me, June's installment of the Native Pollinators series was all about tunnel-nesting bees. It turns out little is known about which plants these bees harvest to construct their nests, nor is there a great baseline to know how environmental changes are affecting them. Enter the Minnesota Bee Atlas's Bee Blocks project! It's a fascinating interview, I hope you enjoy it.

Listen in!

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STUDENT AND LISTENER CONTRIBUTIONS

New life is seemingly everywhere this week, with baby fawns, birds, and newly metamorphosed dragonflies. Thanks to our friends at Roots and Wings Forest School, I learned about giant water beetles this week (though I've met them before, in retrospect- ouch). We also hear about nesting loons, pitcher plants on the verge of blooming, and a Sandhill Crane with a vendetta against its own reflection. (Send thoughts and prayers to Chuck's windows, my friends!)

Hear their voices!

JOHN LATIMER'S WEEKLY REPORT

This week, while John's dog Mila was earning the "Very Good Dog" award, our beloved staff phenologist was off investigating roadkill. His tabboo-ignoring inquiry supported his observed trend: young crows and ravens have a rough time in June! We also learn about the composition of our insect airforce (watch out, mosquitoes), how a particularly feisty warbler returned to fight a fruitless fight, and got the updated status of our flowering trees, shrubs, and forbs.

Listen to John's report!

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SARAH'S RECOMMENDATION

Thanks to our friends at Roots and Wings Forest School, I took a deep dive into giant water bugs this week. (Luckily, the deep dive was metaphorical: a literal one would be quite painful.) These big ol' aquatic insects earned the name 'toe-biter' for the painful defensive bite they bestow when we unwitting humans jostle them too much while stumbling through their habitats.

While researching these critters, I found the wonderfully named article "Don't go chasing water bugs" and its accompanying video. There's so much great information there, including surprisingly good insect parenting (followed by a wee bit of offspring cannibalism), butt snorkels, and a fun little ripple dance.

Enjoy!

Wood thrush (Hylocichla mustelina). Anishinaabemowin: Aanak.

Wood thrushes' beautiful, ethereal songs are a welcome sound of the June woodlands. Using the two sides of their Y-shaped voice box, they are able to produce two notes at once!.

Bonus fact: Mother birds redistribute calcium from their bones to create eggshells for their young. This leaves them weakened: you can help them out by providing crushed 'waste' eggshells from your kitchen!

It's always a rush to hear a wood thrush!

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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.