Phenology

4/5/2021:  Temps today were around 79 degrees!  Only a few piles of snow left in the woods and on shaded trails- some vernal pools still have ice on them, but for the most part the snow is gone!  Tonight we had a really great thunderstorm- lots of lighting and some much needed rain - lots of small fires around the state this week due to really dry conditions.

4/4/21: Wood frogs are out singing- river otters are mating and song sparrows are singing!

4/3/21: Statehouse Lake is open!!  Painted turtles coming out, spring peepers peeping on the Raven trails, golden crowned kinglet singing, and the first mosquito

4/2/21: No joke, male loons are returning to the lakes!

3/31/21: Song Sparrows and skunk cabbage coming up!

3/25/21: First robins at the Center, a nice flock of them!  Also, dark-eyed junco and red wing blackbirds are reported in the area.

3/23/21: More woodcock reports and chipmunks are out and about!

3/22/21: First ruffed grouse drumming of the season, someone also mentioned hearing a woodcock peenting this past weekend!

3/19/21: Second boil of sap in progress!  90+ gallons collected this past week!  Also mourning cloak butterflies and ticks are out.  At Powell marsh sandhill cranes and a harrier were seen!

3/18/21: Canada geese, mallards, common mergansers and trumpeter swans have been seen around in open water!

3/17/21: Still piles of snow around the parking area, and in the woods- paths and snowmobile trails are clear of snow.

3/13/21: First maple sap boil of the season!  75 gallons boiled down to just under 2 gallons of syrup!

3/10/21: Rain all day today, and thunder!!  Snow is still around, but has been greatly reduced.

2/28/21:  We haven't had a wonderful snow year like we did last year, but today we received 10 inches of fresh snow! Warmer temps coming up will quickly melt the snow we have- so enjoying it while we can!

1/2&3/21: We started the new year with a really neat meteorological event known as "rime ice." This is different from hoar-frost in that for rime ice forms as fog settles over the landscape when the temps are below freezing- super cooled water droplets (water that is below freezing but still liquid) in the fog attach to any object it hits and forms a beautiful furry or spikey ice on the object. Hoar frost is formed when water vapor in the air goes straight from vapor to a solid on objects, skipping the liquid phase- this occurs on clean nights with a light wind. We had fog warnings both nights, creating rime ice vs hoar-frost.