Long Lake Phenology 1999



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News From Nature at Long Lake

1999 Phenology

1/4/99

Ice thickness 9-10" on Long Lake.
Cross-Country ski class of the '98-'99 Winter season. Lack of snow required us to use the lake.
1/11/99: Light snow falling, forecast to accumulate 2-4". Heavy clud cover with temps just above 0°.
Scared up a mighty fine looking grouse while playing "thicket".
1/12/99: Red fox on Hwy 169 by Soo Line trail at 5:30am. Snowshoe hare on LLCC road at 5:45am. Three deer on Hwy 5 at 5:55am.
Grouse erupts from under snow during another "thicket" class.
1/13/99: First snowshoe class of the season.
1/14/99: The afternoon showshoe class saw the porcupine in its den by the big bog (west).
Great-horned owl, "catching the rays," was at the top of a large tree y Jacobson's Concrete at Noon.
1/17/99: Seven skiers attend publid ski class.
Second straight day of 40+ temperatures. Sunday, it was 42° (yuck!)
1/18/99: Snowed last night, 3" total.1/20/99 Tara & Schwampy (and a few other adults) watched 2 ruffed grouse feed on brick catkins near the energy center.
1/21/99: Big - really BIG! - winter storm develops over Oklahoma. Killer twisters in Oklahoma, Arkansas, Tennessee, and Mississippi. Severe storms as far north as Indiana. Snow predicted for Minnesota and Wisconsin. We will see...
1/22/99: More killer tornadoes in the South and Southeast; freezing rain and drizzle in Southern Minnesota. Looks like a snow storm will slide to the South and East of LLCC/grrrrrr....
1/25/99: Yesterday, Pat Francis found an active badger den on LLCC property.; 1/26/99; Red fox near Hwy 210 and Cty Rd 5 junctions around 10:30pm.
1/27/99: Six deer on Hwy 169, had to stop and blow the horn before they would move. Must have been too early for them at 7:00am!
Two shrikes were seen between Pat Francis' house and LLCC.
1/28/99: John Francis saw a snowy owl on the flats.
Mike Pearson saw 3 deer on the cross-country ski trail.
1/29/99: Oak Point Wave had 75 soloists (new world record?) and 18 pairs.
1/30/99: Today we experienced a very heavy fog in the morning.
1/31/99: Downy or Hairy Woodpecker kicking-up-a-din ver at the Marcum House.
How warm was it? 46° - major yuck! Heavy-duty melting going on!
1/31/99: Yeah but, how warm was it really? Warm enough for a fly to be flying around the pump house.
Blue moon arisin'. First of two for 1999. Hazy horizon makes it dramatic.
2/1/99: Well, this is a revolting development! Rain, snow, sleet, "frizzle" - we had it all. The only thing missing was more disgusting sun and astronomical temperatures.
Craig's snowshoeing class flushed a ruffed grouse near the spruce bog north of the dining hall.
Ermine spotted out and about north of Aitkin; also a red fox.
2/3/99: Bob S sees 2 wolves on flats (Hwy 210 & 169)
Craig's class saw 3 deer in the woods between red pine grove and the bog.
2/7/99: First skunk of the season in north Aitkin County.
2/8/99: A shrike flew into Deer Browse area during Tara's deer browse class.
2/9/99: Red fox spotted at end of the road.
2/14/99: A bald eagle was seen flying over White Elk lake.
2/16/99: A bald eagle was flying near Hassman's corner.
Saw a red fox on Cty Rd 5 north toward Palisade, Minnesota.
2/17/99: Temperature was 18°, lots of heavy frost on trees
2/18/99: -8° in Aitkin at 7:00am
The Northern sky put on a great light show from 7:00-8:45pm
2/21/99: A grossbeak was singing in the trees this evening by the dining hall.
Purple finch at Schwaderer's feeders
Four planets in the evening sky; Mercury, Venus, Jupter, and Saturn.
2/22/99: Grouse flies into Dining Hall window - toast!
Huge flock of Bohemian Waxwings in the tree in Aitkin (Hwy 47 area)
2/23/99: Bald eagles seen by the lake this afternoon.
2/24/99: Schwampy sees 4 rough-legged hawks on Hwy 210 between McGregor and Dad's corner.
Bald eagle flying over Marcum House toward the lake.
Specatular sunset in Minneapolis/St Paul - huge, red ball
2/25/99: "Snow Fleas" hopping all over the place. Some students vow they will never eat snow again!
2/27/99: A mature bald eagle is on the lake munching something in the late afternoon.
2/28/99: The overnight snow delivered about an inch of wet slop.
2/28/99: Sun out - slop gone with a high of 37°.
3/1/99: This is a lion? Clear, calm and mild; high 45°
Four flying squirrels visit Bob E's bird feeders
3/2/99: Cloudy and really windy as yet another major snow slides south - Iowa expects 6" or more!
3/2/00: Sad news - Janice Wilson (former LLCC Head Cook) passed away.
Major high pressure system plows in with stong Northwest winds.; 3/4/99; Purple Finch gets amorous - sings its heart out north of Schwampy's house.
3/5/99: Say...What's this cold feeling? Temperatures dip near 0° overnight.
3/6/99: Janice's funeral today, she was laid to rest on a bright, clear, cold March day.
3/7/99: Another coolish (low 10°) late winter morning. Late afternoon clouds parted advancing snow storm.
3/8/99: Dassel, Minnesota braves snow - arrives on time. Meanwhile, it's snowing like crazy in Southern Minnesota.
3/9/99: Holy Whiteout, Batman! The Twin Cities gets broad-sided with 14+" of fresh powder. Snow emergency? You bet! metro schools closed? Yah, sure! Traffic snarled? Uh huh! Meanwhile, LLCC gets 7" overnight. Where was this stuff in November, December, January and February? Grrrrrrr...
A dozen horned larks were on the roadside near my house north of Aitkin.
3/10/99: A bald eagle was spotted flying over the boardwalks in the bog.
3/14/99: A Canada goose was heard just north of Aitkin
A crow as seen carrying nesting materials.
3/15/99: Two raccoons in Chris' feeder
Three deer on orienteering practice field in the morning.
Pussy Willows out near Marcum House parking lot exit.
First CCC (Challenge Cooperation Course) of 1999. Done on Marcum House parking lot and volleyball area.
3/16/99: Tara's thicket class sees a mosquito : (
3/18/99: An inchworm was found during the wilderness meal by someone from St Martin's school.
Maple trees on south-facing hillsides have sap flowing (slowly)
3/20/99: Large flock of "honkers" flies over "Chez Schwampwater"
American Kestrel seen near Deerwood.
3/22/99: Warm day - 57°; first serious grass fire north of Aitkin.
Grouse drumming behind Marcum House.
3/23/99: A male Harrier was cruising a field north of Aitkin.
3/24/99: Two robins (north bound) fly over Administration Building. Seen by Keith and Swampy.
Great-horned owl at 5:45am seen on a fencepost on Hwy 169.
3/25/99: Pat and Tara report red-wing blackbirds Northeast of Aitkin in the prairie.
Saw red-winged blackbirds and wild turkeys
Mourning cloak butterfly flew past wilderness meal participants.
Three mature bald eagles feeding on roadkill on White Elk Rd and Hwy 169.
3/25/99: Red-tailed hawk flying with mate this morning. Mourning dove on wire on Cty Rd 5.
Tara's hikers see lots of "wild" things. The porcupine was in the large whit pine near the red pine plantation and a grouse was in the bog. Lots of tiny moths were flying over the bog.
3/26/99: Two pairs of ducks (Nondescriptis quackii) were flying over Aitkin this morning.
3/27/99: Grackles were in Pat Francis' tree this morning.
3/28/99: A pair of Herons (species uncertain?) was flying near Brainerd.
Snow showers at Noon. Juncas arrived. Jim heard a woodcock at his place. Bob S saw a Cooper's Hawk at his feeder.
3/29/99: The Popples have catkins.
3/30/99: A Sandhill crane flew over Pat Francis' house. Killdeer could be heard in the field in the afternoon.
A pair of mallards was swimming in a ditch outside Aitkin.
Little brown bat flying around in Aitkin around 8:30pm.
Lots of gulls along Hwy 169.
3/31/99: Pam & Ruth saw three (no less, but no more) otters on Long Lake, in the ealy morning. An Osprey was witnessed flying over the lake around 11:00am.
On a walk toward the bog, Bob E saw 2 grouse drumming, 1 woodcock flying, 3 wood ducks, 2 mallards, 3 otters and a beaver.
At 9:00pm, from his front deck, Bob E hears the woodcock peenting.
Marsh marigolds popping up.
Wood ducks and Killdeer back in Aitkin. Maple trees flowering in Aitkin.
4/1/99: A pair of hooded mergansers was swimmin in the open area near the old dock.
4/3/99: Phoebes and Goldfinch in Aitkin.
4/4/99: Eight Alder Harefull Catkins
4/5/99: Way gray day! Freezing drizzle gives way to rain and then to wet sloppy snows.
A Meadowlark was on a powerline near Hassman's corner.
4/6/99: Wow! 5" snow draped on eveything - and Keith thought he was done removing snow - NOT!
Deer ticks are back! Frogs are callin in Aitkin.
4/7/99: Hooded Merganser pair on Long Lake
Bob-o-link flocks along Hwy 169 near flats
Mallard on Long Lake
Phoebe arrives with its usual ph-renetic ph-lourish!
Ice out on Long Lake (yes, it's official!)
Fist spring Peeper peeping
Woodcock peenting around 8:05pm
One otter cut across Bob E's yard from Townline Rd to Long Lake.
Frogs calling at Long Lake
4/8/99: Loons calling towards Jenkin's Lake
Two students from St Joseph's and St Raphael caught tow garter snakes during wilderness meal.
Saw a Kingfisher in tree on shoreline on Hill Lake.
4/10/99: Another blustery day with strong NE winds whipping Lake Superior (and Long Lake) into a froth.
4/11/99: What's this...more snow?! Two more inches of white slop - mostly gone by early afternoon.
4/12/99: Wilson's snipe calling overhead
Song sparrow calling
Craig heard loon calls by edge of lake about 8:00 between Marcum House and Bigfoot Den
4/13/99: 20:30 up on Archery range, Becky & Craig heard Owl hoots
Getting dangerously close to too darned warm (according to Schwampy). High for the day is 70°.
4/14/99: Killdeer flying and calling overhead.
Pussy toes popping up
Popple catkins fully extended and starting to drop.
Yellow-rumped warblers were in the trees by the lab.
4/15/99: Sandhill cranes fly over lake, making their lout "clattering" sound.
Wilderness meal participants unearth a "pile" of redbelly snakes (at least 7!)
4/16/99: Turkey Vulture spotted flying over new dorm.
4/17/99: Pat Francis saw a bluebird outside Brainerd.
Millie Holm saw pelicans on Big Sandy lake!
4/20/99: Two red tail hawks, 36 deer, 1 eagle, 2 raccoons, and a porcupine seen between 6:00-7:00am in a 35 mile drive
Cairo, the boa constrictor, is a Mama! She had 30 babies, 1 born dead.
4/21/99: On Craig's hike they saw a small lizard, a robin, and a groundhog.
4/22/99: Hepatica blooming along the red trail.
4/23/99: Oak Point adults saw porcupine and baby in front of new dorm.
4/25/99: Woodcock flies to staging ground at 8:42pm.
Deer in field snorting at evening class.
Barred owls talking to eachother at 8:45pm.
White-throated sparrows are back. Dandelions are blooming. Snapping turtles and painted turtles came out on Lake Emily.
4/27/99: Hepaticas in Alpha Wolf woods.
4/28/99: Marsh marigolds and leatherleaf blooming.
4/29/99: Aspen leaves by orienteering filed the size of a squirrel's ear (so it must be time to plant corn!).
Meadowlark on fence post on Hwy 169 by mile marker 278. First day for Trilliums, Billworts and Bloodroot in bloom in northern Aitkin county.
Brown headed cowbird near office.
White-throated sparrow.
5/2/99: Saw on Sunday's bog hike - marsh marigolds, leatherleaf, hepaticas, wood anemones, and shadbush blooming.
Black-throated green warblers and winter wrens singing like crazy in the Emily area.
Norway Pines candling between dining hall and office
Spotted a brown thrush (not sure which?) in bog on a Tamarack limb.
Chipping sparrows hopping around campus.
5/3/99: Newborn painted turtle on driveway between energy center and dining hall.
Saw purple violets, bellwort, pussytoes (well almost!) blooming.
Large hatches of fairy shrimp and water fleas in wood's pons
Student finds a grey treefrog in the thicket.
5/5/99: Kids find a small snapping turtle crossing the walkway by the energy center.
A very surprised merganser sticks its head out of the wood duck house and sees a bunch of hikers gawking at it.
5/9/99: Oven birds calling in Emily area.
5/10/99: American Redstart near Lakeside Lab.
5/11/99: Northern Orioles in Palisade.
5/14/99: Field sparrows around LLCC.
Bat takes up residency in room 17.
5/15/99: A cardinal (yes, really!) was singing in Aitkin. Also, a rose-breasted grossbeak was out and about.
5/24/99: Dragonflies hatching
Baby killdeers seen on Cty Rd 5
Bluejays fledging
Two robins on nest.
6/1/99: Bicknell's Cranesbill Corydal identified as blooming today
A Mallard hen and 6-8 ducklings seen swimming along the beach area.
6/10/99: Baby snapping turtle making its way to the lake on the walkway between the office and the dining hall.
6/23/99: Pat Francis and Tara Fletcher saw the following flowers on or near the floating bog: rose pogonia, calopogon, bladderwort sp; fragrant water lily, bullhead lily, marsh cinquefoil, cranberry, and blue frog. Blooming in the woods was black snakeroot.
A chipmunk in the School House ate Tara's first two monarch chrysalises (sp?)! it's hunger was it's downfall - she caught it in a trap right away.
6/23/99: Pat Francis saw a buck with growing antlers.
6/26/99: Pat Francis had a red fox standing in her driveway late in the afternoon.
6/27/99: Tara Fletcher trapped 2 more chipmunks in the School House - revenge for eating her monarch crysalises earlier in the week.
6/29/99: Insect class watched 2 Monarch caterpillars pupate.
6/30/99: Rain gauge measures 0.12" overnight - that's 3.26" for June...pretty moist!
7/5/99 Pat Francis and Tara Fletcher saw marsh cinquefoil, hatpins, sundeer, bladderwort, snotweed, swamp pond, "pond weed", cranberry, white water -water lily, fragrant water lily, Engelmann's arrowhead, and bullhead (water) lily blooming.
7/8/99: Saw wolf on Hwy 169 by Haypoint around 6:30am.
7/9/99: Saw red fox on Cty Rd 5 by LLCC Road.
7/29/99: A doe with triplet fawns was seen on Cty Rd 5 near LLCC.
7/31/99: A wolf was spotted on Hubert Jacobson's propery on Gun Lake Rd at a pond. Very dark in color, and took a few pictures at Long Lake.
8/3/99: Millie Holm saw 2 grey foxes on Cty Rd 88.
8/11/99: Two eagles on Hwy 169 feeding on road kill.
8/13/99: Two baby raccoons up a tree in Chris' front yard all morning. No mother to be seen?
8/15/99: On way to work around 11:15am on Cty Rd 5, saw 11 deer, 4 bucks. Lots of them during the day. Plus, a storm was moving in.
8/16/99: Trees starting to show bright colors
8/19/99: At 6:30am a "BIG" eagle was seen on Hwy 232 feeding on a raccoon. Lots of dead raccoons on the highways this week.
8/25/99: Wooly bear caterpillars out and about
9/16/99: First frost.
9/20/99: A pair of bald eagles flew over the lake.
9/21/99: Turkey vulture spotted during CCC
"Dead-man's fingers" (a type of fungus) and a salamander were spotted by students.
9/22/99: Last day of Summer - an eagle drifts south over Long Lake.
9/29/99: Steam rising from the lake in the morning.
10/5/99: A bald eagle flew over the lake
grey Jay "talks" to the bog class.
10/10/99: Juncos are back
10/11/99: Fisher had a cat up a tree on Cty Rd 5. I stopped, yelled, he dropped the cat, ran down the tree and into the woods.
10/17/99: About 50 swans (whistling?) flew overhead
a shrike was sitting in a tree just north of Aitkin.
10/18/99: Two foxes seen on Hwy 169 by the Soo Line trail.
Spitting snow @ 8:30am.
A bald eagle and crow "duke it out" over a dead skunk on Cty Rd 5 between LLCC and Palisade.
10/19/99: An eagle and a crow were seen on the road, each trying to claim a road kill
10/22/99: Three otters in the lake near our beach.
10/24/99: A bald eagle spotted on the flats and a Woodduck seen by our lift house.
10/25/99: Snow buntings are back.
10/26/99: Found a white and jack pine growing in the bog.
Saw wet deer tracks on a bog boardwak during a morning bog trek class.
Seen a porcupine using a dent
A bald eagle soars across overhead during the afternoon bog trek
10/29/99: Thunderstoms cross southern Aitkin county; LLCC receives.26" of rain.
10/30/99: A large snowshoe rabbit seen in northern Aitkin county
11/1/99: Huge bald eagle on peat mound on Hwy 169 - old peat plant.
Major cold winds blow through North Dakota, Montana, Minnesota and Wisconsin. Low windchill factor. Snow flurries and hail during the day.
11/8/99: Trumpeter swans (~ 30) flying south for the winter, seen south of Aitkin.
Say - what month is this anyway? Early fog and frost give way to summer-like temperatures. Records fall in International Falls, Duluth, St Cloud, Minneapolis, and Rochester. Sioux Falls, South Dakota (80°) warmer than Miami, for cryin' out loud! LLCC's high was 71°.
A gray jay was foraging in the woods near the north bog (below Sumac Hill).
11/9/99: Wolves howling north of the center in the bog around 9:30pm.
Bob Ebsen hears wolves howling.
Holy heatwave, Hannah! 71° Twin Cities set high temperature records, including 71° in Duluth.
Bob Ebsen hears wolves howling.
11/13/99: Milbert's Tortoise Shell butterfly spotted by Energy Center.
It is 71° today!
Saw a Red-belly snake on the trail to the bog.
Redpolls - lost of them pigging out on thistle seed at Schwampy's feeder.
11/13/99: "Heat Wave" continues, record temps at Duluth, Minneapolis, Rochester, and St Cloud. LLCC tops out today at 68°.
11/15/99: Cool Canadian air pushes heat out of town. Where's the snow?
11/18/99: 5:00am a lone wolf heard howling 4 miles north of Aitkin.
Winds of change blow in with a strong Northeastern accent. Duluth records gusts of 40m.p.h.
11/19/99: Overnight rain freezes lightly to trees; meanwhile, worms seen on walkways.
11/23/99: Five ducks (Mergansers and Bufflehead) hanging out on Long Lake's thin sheet of ice covering two-thirds of the lake.
11/27/99: A young fox was sitting on Cty Rd 88 just outside LLCC's gate.
11/28/99: Long Lake is 90% frozen.
Three eagles seen flying north over Cty Rd 5 by Fleming Lake; a harrier was hovering over a field by Hwy 210.
11/29/99: A grouse was standing by Cty Rd 5 at 8:30am
11/30/99: Eagle seen during morning archery class, North of range.
Mink walks along edge of the lake.
12/2/99: Rough legged hawk sits on wire on flats (Hwy 169 & Hwy 210).
12/3/99: Rose sees a wolf crossing Cty Rd 3 West of Palisade at 9:00am
Two eagles in pinetree on Cty Rd 5 South of Palisade
12/5/99: A frog was seen skimmin under 1" of ice near edge of Long Lake
12/9/99: White group saw a ruffed grouse in Alder near the white pine porky's snoozin' in.
Saw a procupine in a white pine on the walk to Archery.
12/13/99: Two bald eagles feeding on road kill on Cty Rd 5 at 9:45am.
12/15/99: Magpie joins roadkill banquet group
Fox squirrel at Pat Francis' bird feeder.
12/16/99: Beethoven's birthday; first sub-zero morning this fall at -5°.
Ice thickness on Long Lake is 4.5" now.