October 31st Overcast, calm, 29 degrees F The winds that played music for the dancing aspens proved too much for others in the forest. Last week, winds rocked the ridge like I have never seen. Trails that provided safe and clear passage through the storm one minute […]
Read Full PostOctober 6th, morning Windy, sunny, 45 degrees F It’s a windy day here at the mandala. The largest aspen, just a few feet in front of me, is swaying in a pendular motion. Side to side, front to back, and round in circles. There are four aspens in this stand, […]
Read Full PostOctober 1st, early afternoon ~50 degrees F, partly sunny Recent heavy rains The forest is familiar today, comforting. Although it is not how it was. Like coming home for the holidays only to realize that your parents have repainted the outside of the house; what was once an odd grey-green […]
Read Full PostSo there I was, hanging out with our raven, Korppi. We were working on her new training exercises where I ask her to pick up a pencil and jab it down onto a piece of paper, with the intention of building up to free drawing over time. Enrichment like this is critical to keeping her raven […]
Read Full PostA forest can seem very constant, immovable, and unchanging. It is easy to get lulled into a sense that a specific forested area has always been here and will always be here. However, this is actually far from the truth. A forest is a living system, and like any living thing, there is constant movement, […]
Read Full PostAs I meander down to Wolf Lake from the Lakeview House with fishing pole in hand, it becomes hard not to notice all the changes going on in the forest this time of year. Under the surface of the lakes there are almost just as many, going unnoticed by most. My earliest memories are of […]
Read Full PostSpring is finally ~actually~ here on the ridge! New little ephemerals such as marsh marigold, bloodroot, and ramps (wild leeks) are sprouting all about the ridge! Beavers were seen in the pond in the wetlands, as well as many new waterfowl. Recorded so far are trumpeter swans, hooded mergansers, common mergansers, red-breasted mergansers, buffleheads, pied-billed […]
Read Full PostSpring is finally ~actually~ here on the ridge! New little ephemerals such as marsh marigold, bloodroot, and wild leeks are sprouting all about the ridge! Beavers were seen in the pond in the wetlands, as well as many new waterfowl. Recorded so far are trumpeter swans, Hooded Mergansers, Common Mergansers, Red-Breasted Mergansers, Buffleheads, Pied-billed grebes, […]
Read Full PostRamps, also known as wild leeks, are a wild onion species and one of the first spring ephemerals in the Wolf Ridge woods. Spring ephemerals are ground plants that sprout after the snow melts but before the trees leaf out, taking advantage of the increased sunlight hitting the forest floor. Ramps are more commonly associated […]
Read Full PostIf you go on a walk through the woods in the spring, you might hear a distinct drumming sound. Looking around, you can see a woodpecker. But alas, which one???? Here at Wolf Ridge, the most common woodpeckers are the downy, hairy and pileated. The downy woodpecker is the smallest of the three at 6-7” […]
Read Full PostIt’s been a chaotic week in the North Woods. It reminded us of riding the Wild Thing at Valley Fair. We monitored the weather for a week, from 2-13-18 to 2-19-18. The start of the week was fairly cold with a low of -13 and a high of 11. By Wednesday, Finland experienced a high […]
Read Full PostWhat animal can withstand -65 degree F temperatures, has a pouch in their esophagus to store food and digs tunnels in the snow? The answer is the common redpoll, a small passerine bird about half the size of your fist. These little, hardy birds spend their winters in the arctic tundra and boreal forest. While […]
Read Full PostThis week in the world of phenology we explored everyone’s favorite winter precipitation, snow! In our exploration we visited several locations along the North Shore. We delved deep, observing multiple strata from the fluffy upper layer to the subnivean zone. At each site, we counted the number of layers, measured the temperature of each layer, […]
Read Full PostThis week the Forest Ecology building had an exciting visitor- a barred owl! Perched in an aspen facing the Northeast side of the building, the bird remained perfectly still observing chickadees flying to and from our bird feeders. Barred owls can be identified by their rounded head (no ‘ears’), black eyes, yellow beak, and by […]
Read Full PostEarly in the week we were able to see a phenomenon normally isolated to spring. When soil freezes, the water inside it expands, pushing up and out in all directions. When the ice hits a large rock, it pushes it upward thus deforming the soil around it. This phenomenon is known as frost wedging. But […]
Read Full PostSnowshoe Hare, Lepus americanus, is the most common “rabbit” of Minnesota’s North Woods. Living in the dense thickets of northern coniferous forests, the snowshoe hare feasts on a bounty of needles and buds during the winter months. In the summer, the snowshoe hare is overall a dark brown color with black-tipped hair and a white […]
Read Full PostAs the saying goes, beavers were and are busy as usual this year preparing for and living through winter. They spent the spring and summer working on their dams and lodges, making sure they remained in tip top shape. As the weather cools down, beavers need to look ahead to the even colder winter months […]
Read Full PostIt’s that time of year again where the temperature starts to dip below freezing, especially at night. Because of this many of the puddles, streams, and ponds have begun to form ice. The ice may come quickly but generally is still thin as the days stay above freezing. Remember, ice is not safe to walk […]
Read Full PostWe have a few new animal friends here at Wolf Ridge, let’s learn a little bit about them! Our first new resident is a Big Brown Bat (Eptesicus fuscus) named Betelgeuse, who is very social and outgoing. His hibernation was disrupted and didn’t have much fur on his back when found. So he was […]
Read Full PostKeep an eye out for changes in chickadee behavior in the coming weeks. To prepare for winter, chickadees form flocks in the late fall. The flocks are formed around a dominant mating pair and contain other adults and juveniles. These flocks of 6-10 individuals provide protection and food security for the birds. Try at […]
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