March 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 March 2000 happenings and will help to compare this year with last.

1 - About 90 percent of Twin Cities and Mankato area landscape is snow free. The fuzzy gray aspen catkins out about 1/2 inch. Opossum has 10 young in its pocket. Maple syrup producers tapping trees. Maple sap is dripping at about 120 drops per minute this sunny, warm afternoon.

2 - The Minnesota River at St. Peter and Belle Plaine is now mostly open. The harbor at Duluth is ice covered but Lake Superior is wide open. Bohemian waxwings and white-winged crossbills seen in Aitkin area.

3 - Sap icicles hanging from silver maple trees. Canada geese honking on this moonlit night. Migrating common mergansers seen at Coon Rapids Dam.

4 - Weeping willow twigs now have an amber look. Barred owls are checking out possible nesting sites. Two bald eagles seen soaring over Gustavus in St. Peter.

5 - It's the mating season for red foxes. Canada geese move northward at the edge of the 32 degree isotherm; their travels often come to standstills by snowfalls and blizzards.

6 - Ring-necked pheasant heard crowing. House finches and northern cardinals singing quite a bit. Many white-tailed deer and a few bald eagles seen while driving Highway 61 along the North Shore of Lake Superior.

7 - Dark-eyed juncos singing full songs. American goldfinches continue to show more bright yellow coloration as spring approaches. Horned larks seen in NW Minnesota.

8 - Birds active and numerous at feeding stations on this snowy day. Flock of about 200 American robins feeding on hackberry fruit in valley near Le Sueur. First tug and barges arrived in Winona, opening the shipping season on the Upper Mississippi River. Still a foot of ice on Lake Pepin.

9 - The snow covered landscape is beautiful! House finches, black-capped chickadees and northern cardinals sang their spring songs.

10 - Animal tracking is great in the foot of new snow. As skunks are moving about the landscape searching for companionship and trying to fill stomachs clamoring for food, they sometimes relax their caution and pay little heed to traffic.

11 - Icicles on ends of snow-covered evergreen boughs. After the warmest winter on record, the ice was out of Lake Minnetonka on this day in 1878, according to Dr. T. S. Roberts' journal.

12 - Red-bellied woodpeckers very vocal now. Small flows of maple sap. The Minnesota River, from Belle Plaine to Mankato, continues to be nearly ice free.

13 - Red-tailed hawk on old nest doing repair work. American crows collecting nesting materials. Woodchuck out sunning. Wild turkey flock of about 50, near Le Sueur, breaking into brood flocks of about 10 to 12 birds. Ice on Gladstone Lake, near Nisswa, is
18 inches thick. Migrating American robins near Fairmont.

14 - Mourning doves are cooing. Canada geese flying around and honking (probably still wintering locals). First hooded mergansers arrive at Coon Rapids Dam. Male wild turkeys fanning out tailfeathers and calling "gobble, gobble."

15 - First migrating killdeers, American robins and male red-winged blackbirds return.

16 - Male red-winged blackbirds singing from marshland territories. First crocus blooming, in protected outdoor garden spot, at Gustavus in St. Peter.

17 - First wood duck returns. Many temporary ponds on landscape. Icebreaker Mackinaw broke up ice in Duluth Harbor.

18 - Excellent maple sap run. Cedar waxwing flock looks for any leftover crabapple or other fruit. It's great to hear the red-wings trilling, Canada geese honking, and cardinals whistling.

19 - First common grackles arrive. First American robin in full song. First raking and cleaning up yards. First ants on sidewalk. Golf course opened at Shakopee. First tug and barges of season heads north on Mississippi River through Lock and Dam no. 2 at Hastings.

20 - American robins hunting on lawns. Fifteen bird species vocal this morning at Waconia. Frost leaving ground in southern Minnesota. Animal tracking is interesting in the Gunflint Trail area where 2.5 feet of snow covers the landscape.

21 - First ring-billed gulls. Mallards checking nesting sites. Skunkcabbage blooming in seepage area along Nine Mile Creek in Bloomington. Twenty species of waterfowl observed in Mountain Lake area of Cottonwood County. In northern Minnesota, snowshoe hares are still white.

22 - American wigeons and green-wing teal first arrive. American robins sing and call until nearly 7 p.m. First eastern bluebirds returned to St. Peter.

23 - First great blue herons return. Mallard laid first egg. Rings of open water forming on Twin Cities lakes and ponds. Ice covers left North Silver Lake and Iowa Lake, south of Fairmont on Iowa border. First western meadowlarks return to Mountain Lake area.

24 - Another excellent maple sap flow. Pussy willow twigs, with their fuzzy silver-gray catkins, are ready to cut and bring indoors for a touch of spring. First ring-necked ducks and buffleheads arrive.

25 - First leopard frog out sunning. Ice-out for Lake Imogene, located 4 miles east of Fairmont, and Berliner Lake near Mayer. Bald eagle, in Bemidji area, carrying nesting material.

26 - House finches are nest building. Crocuses now blooming in gardens out in open. Ice-out date for Lake Washington in Le Sueur County. Flocks of snow geese seen over Grygla area.

27 - First Canada geese incubating eggs. First spring rain. First moth coming to outside light. Ice-out date for Burandt Lake in Waconia and Mountain Lake in Cottonwood County.

28 - Tundra swan flock over Waconia area. Northern shovelers and red-breasted mergansers first arrive. Ice covers left Cannon and Wells Lakes at Faribault, and Winsted Lake in McLeod County. Red-wings and common grackles back in Walker area.

29 - Juncos numerous at feeding stations. Ice-out for Fountain Lake in Albert Lea and Stone Lake near Excelsior. First juncos and red-winged blackbirds of year in Grygla area. In Rice County, American woodcock nest has 4 eggs, and both pasqueflower and sharp-lobed hepatica have begun blooming.

30 - Ice-out date for Lake Waconia, Lake Calhoun and Lake Harriet in Minneapolis, and Forest Lake in Washington County. Both wood frogs and chorus frogs first calling. Maple syrup producers pull taps. Silver maple trees begin to bloom. Grasses now green on south-facing slopes. First migrating American robin spotted in Bemidji.

31 - First fishing boat on Lake Waconia. First mosquito bite. First flowers open on Forsythia 'Northern Sun.' At Prescott, Wisconsin, quaking aspen catkins are fuzzy and elongating. The ice covers left Lake Johanna in Arden Hills, Lake Independence near Maple Plain, and Lake Ripley at Litchfield, Flock of 42 tundra swans near Aitkin.