Phenology

11/7/2019: Statehouse Lake frozen over!

10/20/2019: Tamarack trees are in full golden color!

10/15/2019: Grackles are migrating through.

10/12-13/2019: First snowfall to stay on the ground overnight into the next day (an inch or two)

10/10/2019: Peak colors (around this date)

10/9/2019: Dark eyed juncos have returned.

9/15/2019: Last monarch butterfly released.  In 2019 we raised 59 females and 68 males!

9/12/2019:  Brewers blackbirds are migrating through (with a few grackles)

9/10/2019: Male hummingbirds gone, only juveniles and females remain.  Asters are in bloom.

6/12/2019: monarchs have laid eggs on the milkweed plants!

6/6/2019: Monarchs are back!

5/30/2019: Yellow swallowtail butterflies out!

4/25/2019: White-throated Sparrows singing and Yellow Warblers

4/24/2019: ICE OUT on Statehouse Lake!!

4/23/2019: Golden-crowned Kinglets, and Chipping Sparrows back - Spring peepers peeping!

4/20/2019: Loons back

4/15/2019: Hooded and Common Mergansers on open water

4/13/2019: Fox Sparrow returned

4/12/2019: Merlin spotted on NLDC driveway

4/11/2019: Spring "bomb cyclone" storm brought ~6 inches of snow

4/10/2019: Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers, and Eastern Phoebes returned

4/9/2019: Mallards and Song Sparrows returned

4/8/2019: Turkey Vultures and Woodcock returned

4/7/2019: Purple Finches and Northern Flickers returned

4/5/2019: Common Grackles calling and Wild Turkey courtship display

4/3/2019: Dark eyed Juncos and Robins are everywhere! (still tapping maples)

4/2/2019: Brown Creeper creeping out on the pines in back of the office! (also we got a dusting of snow 🙁 )

4/1/2019: Red-winged Blackbirds and Sandhill Cranes

3/31/2019: Great Blue Herons on open water west of Minocqua

3/29/2019: Bald Eagle courtship displays

3/22/2019: Eastern Chipmunk actively foraging

3/19/2019: Tapped Sugar Maple trees on campus

3/18/2019: Canada Geese flying overhead

3/14/2019: Tamarack trees are budding

2/27/2019: Great Horned Owl calling, 7 pm

2/5 & 7/2019:  about 12 inches of snow, after not having a lot this winter, we finally have ski trails that can be groomed up to perfection!

2/3/2019: Terrible ice storm across the area, ice on trees lasts several weeks.

1/22-23/2109: Polar Vortex- temp (without windchill) in the -30 to -40's