Backyard Almanac
Summary: Phenology with Northern Minnesota naturalist Larry Weber every Friday morning at 8:20 on Northland Morning on KUMD in Duluth, MN. Have a question for Larry Weber? Email us and you might hear his answer on the show!
Podcasts:
Awesome August arrives to the sound of ... crickets. It's not that there's nothing going on, it's just the birdsong has stopped for the most part, leaving frogs, toads, and yes, crickets, to fill the silence. Plus how much rain we need over the weekend to get back to "normal," and a wildlife experience that is absolutely worth being on the road at 4:15am for.
July snatched defeat from the jaws of victory last week, getting some rain and thereby losing the chance to set a record as the dryest July ever. But with August on the horizon things in the natural world are picking up, from wildflowers to stirrings of migration to web-strewn walks.
Will we break the record for the driest July ever? Between the heat and smoke from Canadian wildflowers, we haven't seen the sky in a while. What's the moon up to these days? Are wildflowers really changing again? And where do we sign to have the goldenrod named as the National Flower? Is that even a thing? Larry Weber has the answers this week on Backyard Almanac.
As we slip into those lazy, hazy, crazy days of mid-summer, there's plenty to see whether we take a sidewalk stroll or hike in a wilderness area. Watch for photographers: they've either got a bead on a beautiful plant, bird, animal or insect, or they're like naturalist (and our special guest host) Judy Gibbs and they're doing their part as citizen scientists and documenting the spread of invasive species in our area. And while we know Duluth is a great place to live, why does valerian think so,
This week, we had two days of temperatures above 90° -- and then Brimson almost broke the record with a low of 30°. But nothing tops the week of July 7-13 in 1936, when the entire country sweltered under a series of heat waves. 17 of the 48 contiguous states and two Canadian provinces tied or broke their all-time heat records and many of those records are still unbroken. In Duluth, six of those records still stand: doubly impressive when you learn temperatures were only recorded by the lake in
Last month blew through the previous record (set in 1910) for the hottest June on record - and that's 150 years of records. We got only 40% of the rain we get in an average June, too. But last year, July was our wettest month. And there are all kinds of things to see and enjoy (think wildflowers, berries and aphelion) in the great outdoors.
Hotter than normal and drier than normal, but still not as bad as last June at this time. Halfway through 2021, that's the June wrap-up. Meanwhile, birds from fledgling hummingbirds (at about the weight of a penny) to young Great blue herons (who can weigh about as much as a big bottle of ketchup) are leaving their nests for the big wild world.
Summer solstice is two days away. Whereas nine years ago during the summer solstice the region was literally flooding with record rainfall, this June rainfall totals are at less than one-half inch so far -- two inches below normal. Many bird fledglings are emerging, and some lake frogs are calling and beginning to mate. Some butterfly species are making their first appearance for the year. Among other wildflowers that you can see, the Minnesota state flower, the pink lady's slipper, is in bloom.
Last week at this time, we had some record-breaking heat. The National Weather Service in Duluth recorded highs on Friday and Saturday of 94. But on June 7, the records remained standing, and only a true weather nerd would get why Larry was so excited about it. Also new butterflies. moths, dragonflies, turtle eggs, frogs calling, and wildflowers, this week on Backyard Almanac.
Was it really only a week ago we broke records with temps of 30º and 29º? And today we're challenging the record high temp of 95º?
The wind has had everything to do with our weather this week; when the winds turn off the big lake, everybody notices. But at least it's not snowing like it did in 2019. Tent caterpillars are out - and before you reach for the chemicals, read or listen to today's episode of Laura Erickson's For the Birds - the season of toad romance has come and gone, but everything else from wildflowers to warblers is getting a move on. "May is greening," says Larry. "June is growing."
Larry Weber says it's almost as though the plants were coiled and waiting for a little rain. And once they got it - they're busting out all over.
The first half of May (remember, lately the first and second halves of the month are dramatically different from one another) wraps up with cooler than normal temps and no rain. And while May continues with warblers and wildflowers, birds and blossoms, spiders and sparrows - the continuing lack of rain is bad news for the vernal pools and the plants, animals and insects that depend on them.
Early spring leaves are beginning to emerge, but the forest floor wildflowers are soaking up as much sun as they can before being shaded by the leaf canopy. Warblers are beginning to return north in search of caterpillars, their spring food source, but the early leaf growth may cause caterpillars to cocoon before the warblers arrive. And a notable lack of rain yet in May has put the Northland back into a fire hazard condition.
If Larry has one piece of advice as April warms into May, it's: take a walk. Every. Single. Day.