Phenology - September 2013

By Kelly Amoth, Interpretive Naturalist

As I write this, we're in the midst of record-breaking heat and humidity at the end of August. So it's time to remind myself that fall with its crisp, cool days and crunchy leaves underfoot is just around the corner. Here are some events we're looking forward to this month:

• September is the beginning of bird migration. All those warblers that headed north over the spring are now going to make their way south again toward warmer climates and locales with plenty of food to feed them over the winter. Just as in the spring, the myrtle warbler is often one of the first migrants we'll see this fall. We're always apprehensively on the lookout for the first dark eyed junco to make its appearance too, for they often end up being good predictors of colder weather (and snow to come). Our bird banders like to call them the "snow birds" because sometimes within two weeks of their arrival, we see our first snowflakes.
• Last year wasn't the best for tagging monarch butterflies, so we're hoping to see more in the prairie this fall. When caught, a small tag is placed on the wing of the insect. It's released with the hope that someone will catch it and report its new location. Monarch butterfly numbers have been in decline since the 1990s due to loss of habitat. Female monarchs lay their eggs only on the leaves of milkweed plants, which puts the first generation migrants returning from Mexico after the winter at a disadvantage if they are unable to find those plants along their journey. Last year we were only able to catch and tag 4 monarchs as they came through our prairie. We're hoping to see many more this fall.
• When I was going through the phenology records for this month, I came across a lot of moving reptiles and amphibians. Some of the records detail animals we haven't seen on site in quite a while. A wood turtle was spotted on the trail back in 2004. There was a tiger salamander by the building in 2003. The roads were covered with migrating leopard frogs in 1995. The woods were filled with frogs and toads this summer, and we even uncovered a blue spotted salamander, which is quite rare, but with this recent stretch of dry weather, I wonder how many of those animals we'll be able to see this fall. As the weather cools down, remember to keep an eye out on the roadsides for reptiles soaking up as much heat from the road as they can.

Want to help us catch and tag monarch butterflies? Come out to our public program on September 21 from 1-3 pm. The cost is $5/person and children under 2 are free. Call us at 651-433-2427, ext 10 to register. Don't forget that our annual Fall Color Blast is Sunday, October 6!

What is phenology?

Phenology is the study and science of appearances and how they change over the seasons. The word itself is related to the word phenomenon. Think of phenology as recording and studying the natural phenomenon that occur around us every day.

Phenology can be as easy as recording what day you see birds returning to your feeders each year or when you see flowers blooming but make no mistake, phenology is serious science. By studying phenology we can better understand how the earth changes. Phenology records going back hundreds of years for the same location have even supported global warming research by showing that spring is arriving earlier than it used to historically.

At Warner Nature Center, groups help us fill out our phenology calendar each year and naturalists enter the data into a computer database.