April 1999

     Happenings in and around Linnaeus Arboretum

Listed below are a few observations from a year ago in the Linnaeus Arboretum area, and out of the area when indicated. These events can be used to anticipate upcoming spring happenings and will help to compare this year with last.

1 - Canada geese graze on new green grasses. First earthworms out on roads and walks. First American coots on Lake Waconia. Gardener planted leaf lettuce and seed potatoes. Sandhill cranes return to Elm Creek Park Reserve. First farmer doing field work in Melrose area.

2 - First great egrets, blue-winged teal, eastern phoebes and northern flickers. Official ice-out date for Lake Minnetonka (April 15 is average). Many more American robins on lawns. First belted kingfishers. First female common grackle carrying nesting material.

3 - Juncos numerous. Wood frogs "barking" this evening. Ice covers left Big Round Lake near Luck, Wisconsin, Henderson Lake near Spicer and Lake Minnie Belle near Litchfield.

4 - First tree swallows return. First painted turtle out sunning, 13-lined ground squirrels out. Adult bald eagle on nest in Carlos Avery Wildlife Area. First purple martins at Hawick in Kandiyohi County.

5 - First ant hills above sidewalk cracks. Crocuses, snowdrops and early daffodils are showy blooming garden plants. Rhubarb is up 2-4 inches. Ice-out for Lake Sylvia near Annandale.

6 - In forests  at St. Peter, thousands of sharp-lobed hepaticas bloom, and  wild ginger begins flowering. Ice-out date for Green Lake at Spicer and Bass Lake near Finlayson. First great blue heron in Grygla area. In northern Minnesota, black bears are coming out of their dens, maple syrup production continues, and snowshoe hares are changing from white to brown.

7 - First American robins observed nest building. Painted turtles up on log above water, sunning. Canada goose incubating eggs. Scarlet cup fungus up, and false rue anemone first blooming in Faribault woodlands. Ice-out for Clark Lake near Nisswa, and both Big and Little Birch Lakes north of Melrose.

8 - At St. Peter, first leaves out on crabapple trees and common purple lilac shrubs, and flock of about 40 white pelicans seen gliding and soaring. First purple martins in Park Rapids area.

9 - First green tinge in urban forest canopy - tiny leaves out on weeping willows and boxelders. American crow pair finish building nest. Round Lake, near Palisade, lost its ice cover.

10 - First yellow-bellied sapsucker and female red-winged blackbirds. Several Waconia and Belle Plaine area farmers out in fields, working soil and planting. Ice-out date for Grindstone Lake near Sandstone. First common loons heard and seen in Park Rapids area.

11 - Forsythia shrubs blooming nicely. 1,000 plus American coots in two big rafts near northwest shore of Lake Waconia. Statewide, an estimated 5 percent of the acreage for oats and 3 percent of the spring wheat acreage have been seeded.

12 - Common snipe heard "winnowing." Leopard frogs have joined in the chorus with wood and swamp cricket frogs. Migrating fox sparrows singing. First golden-crowned kinglets. Many American robins are nest building.

13 - Tamarack tree leaf groups out 1/10 inch or a bit more, and bright green. Eastern bluebirds starting to build nests. Lawn mowing begins in Fairmont and St. Peter.

14 - First rhubarb pulled for sauce. Barn swallows return. Boxelder trees begin blooming. Ice cover left Portage Lake near Park Rapids. Snowshoeing still good along Gunflint Trail.

15 - Wood ducks incubating eggs. First chipping sparrow. Flock of about 100 white pelicans near northwest side of Lake Waconia. Ice-out date for Mille Lacs Lake.

16 - Merrill magnolia blooming nicely; large fragrant white flowers. Weeping willows have an elegant yellow-green glow with their new leaves.

17 - Forsythia 'Northern Sun' shrubs loaded with golden-yellow flowers. Yellow-rumped warblers moving through. Common loons are returning to many northern Minnesota lakes and are filling the spring air with their enchanting calls and yodel-like songs.

18 - The beautiful white flowers of the bloodroot dot many forest floors. About a dozen different woodland wildflowers are now in bloom. Male eastern cottonwood trees have long red and yellow catkins. White trout lily blooms, grouse drum and wild turkeys call at Beaver Creek Valley State Park, southeast Minnesota. First purple martins return to Sugar Point, Leech Lake.

19 - Honey bees foraging on dandelion flowers. Highbush cranberry shrubs started leafing out. Farmers doing much field work in Le Sueur and Belle Plaine areas.

20 - First green heron. The rare Minnesota dwarf trout lily, plus spring beauty and cut-leaved toothwort now blooming at Minnesota Landscape Arboretum and in Faribault area, in woodlands.

21 - American robins continue nest building. Dwarf purple irises are blooming in gardens. Ice covers left Kabekona Lake in Hubbard County and Deer Lake near Effie.

22 - Black-capped chickadees are nest building. Osprey catching fish at Lake Waconia. Sod being cut for new lawns. Ice-out date for Leech Lake in Cass County.

23 - Many people mowing their lawns. Swamp sparrows arrive in wetlands and begin singing. Prairie-smoke blooms on the Uhler Prairie, Linnaeus Arboretum at Gustavus.

24 - First yellow-headed blackbirds return. In the Madison and Marietta area of western Minnesota, 80 birders gathered and observed 120 species including ruddy ducks, white pelicans, orange-crowned warblers, and a nesting bald eagle. Very late season cross-country skier on Caribou Lake ice cover in Cook County.

25 - Tree swallows are nest building. Wood ducks continue egg laying. Native sugar maples and ironwood trees first leafing out. Moongold apricot trees begin blooming. Magnolias blooming nicely in Minn. Landscape Arboretum. Statewide, the planting of oats is at 20 percent, sugarbeets at 18 percent and green peas for processing at 13 percent.

26 - Nanking cherry shrubs at bloom peak; honey bees and bumble bees busy on the flowers. First brood of newly hatched mallard ducklings observed. At Renville and Olivia, tulips, daffodils and hyacinths bloom, and lawns are nice and green. Southern Minnesota farmers continue working fields and planting.

27 - First Canada goose goslings. Alfalfa hay up 5-10 inches. House finches and chipping sparrows vocal.

28 - American toads begin trilling. First new shade in deciduous forests as trees leaf out. First garden asparagus is cut. Driving from Minneapolis to Duluth and back, an observer watched spring disappear and then come back again.

29 - Migrating white-throated sparrows moving through. Farmers across southern half of Minnesota continue to plant field corn now that oak leaves are emerging and about the size of squirrel's ears. Aspen trees begin to leaf out in Grygla area.

30 - First Baltimore oriole and chimney swifts arrive. First leaves out on native basswood trees along Lake Waconia. At Macalester College in St. Paul, ginkgo trees are starting to leaf out, both sugar and Norway maples in bloom and leaves out about 1/3 full-size. Ice-out date for Caribou Lake just north of Lutsen.