velvetleaf

Many plants, which bloom and fruit in the warm growing season, stand bravely throughout the winter to ensure its seeds are fully distributed.  This fruit capsule opened as it dried out in Autumn, and seeds have been coaxed out by the breeze.  Now, it stands despite snow and hoarfrost.

Velvetleaf Abutilon theophrasti blooms in late summer with orange-yellow flowers on stems and leaves that really look and feel like they are cloaked in velvet. There were a few growing in the riparian buffer around the pond, but we pulled them because this plant is not native.  It can form dense monocultures in place of native plants, suck large quantities of water and nutrients from the soil, and can inhibit germination of other plants.

This in one of the plants that probably spreads from nearby crop fields, and that we try to keep out of the pond area.

mourning doves

The seed feeders hang outside the deck railing. Sometimes the Mourning Doves line up on the rail, watching for their turn at the feeder. On some days they just sit here to crack and savor the seeds.  We've seen ten at a time here, waiting or enjoying the food.

crow

This American Crow Corvus brachyrhynchos is hunting near the frozen pond for something to eat. 

It may be preparing to migrate . . .  or not. 

Individual crows are consistent in whether they migrate or stay in the winter. Partial migration (where only some of a species migrate) might give crows enough flexibility to adapt to changing environmental conditions. Some we see in Minnesota now may have come south for the winter from Canada. Others, who breed and nest here, may have gone to Nebraska for the winter. Crows return faithfully to the same breeding territory each year.

tracks, cracks, marks, mysteries

Snow overnight.  A thin sheet of ice on the pond beneath the slush.  Wonderous tracks and marks this morning.  Maybe the muskrats, or the mallards, or other birds, or the mice or voles?  Maybe all of them, cavorting at dawn!  Tracks in a row, wandering.  Slide marks in the slush like a runway with bunched snow at the end.  Cracks expanding in the ice, icy fingers spreading both black and white!

 

surviving below freezing - turtles

Since we had several cold days and nights already, Painted Turtles Chrysemys picta who live in the pond are getting ready for winter.  Lacking summer heat, this one was wandering very very slowly for a food item or a place to settle. Turtles will spend the next several months in frigid pond water below the frozen ice, with their metabolism and their heart rate slowed way down. They can absorb oxygen from the water through vascularized areas in their mouth, throat, and anus (cloacal respiration).  But using oxygen produces lactic acid in their body, which the turtle counteracts with minerals released from its shell and bones.  Painted Turtles do not eat during this time, but they do remain alert, especially to light from above.  In Spring, when the hours of daylight increase, they will respond.

junco on snowy suet

Juncos arrived last week from nesting grounds north of here.  Several made their way to our feeders.  Usually, they stay in this area all winter, so it is important to locate some food sources before the snow flies.  They will live on seeds from the native plants . . .  and of course, suet.

slush trail

Snow!  Several inches.  Before we were ready for it.  Before the Mallards were ready for it. As they paddled around on the pond to find breakfast, they made a trail in the accumulating slush on the water.

yellow loosestrife

Autumn chores for me include wandering the riparian buffer around the pond and assisting dissemination of wildflower seeds.  Some native plants exist here in clumps.  Our goal is to spread desirable wildflowers throughout the buffer, while suppressing the 'weeds'.  The many tiny seeds on Yellow Loosestrife Lysimachia ciliata form in small round capsules after the flower matures.

 

The capsule is formed from the five sepals, 

those green triangular-shaped structures behind or below the petals of the flowers.  As they dry out, the capsules harden.  When the seeds are ripe the spheres burst, the five parts open, and the seeds are released.  This is a perennial plant in the Primrose family, and important to native bees in Minnesota.  Next season they will bloom again, bright yellow.

Chickadees at feeder over the pond

Black-capped Chickadees stay in Minnesota all winter.  They eat seeds and insects or larvae when they can find any.  They come to feeders where I offer sunflower seeds, safflower seeds, and peanut chips.  This feeder hangs over the pond with an extra branch for the birds to perch on.

From November to April I watch, count, and report the birds I see as a citizen scientist.  Cornell Lab of Ornithology is replete with data and information about birds.  https://www.birds.cornell.edu/home

This pond is covered with snow, and a layer of ice under that.  The turtles are hibernating below in the mud.  The muskrats are snug in their burrows.  It looks quiet and peaceful on the pond, but there is a lot going on in all seasons.

snowy pond February

How different the same view looks in winter! Still, we see evidence of critters who live at the pond by their tracks in the snow.

feeding birds on the pond

Chickadees, house finches, juncos, and even downy woodpeckers venture out of the trees nearby to take seed at the feeder next to the pond.

winter birds . . . as winter continues

Snow again.  I've been away since January. This is mid-April.  Almost 80 inches of snow this winter. I've resorted to putting out a plate of seeds for the birds rather than wade through deep drifts between the house and the hanging feeders.  It warmed up a bit last week; many migrating birds are now stuck here.

winter birds

Snow today, and the birds are more visible than over the last few weeks with no snow.  The Bluejays and Northern Cardinals are willing to sit together for a meal as the temperature drops and the wind increases.

photo credit gwp

Redpolls in winter

 Common Redpolls Acanthis flammea spend most of the year in the arctic tundra and boreal forests. Although they breed in the far north, flocks of Redpolls wander south in winter months to find food in woodlands, open fields, and backyard feeders.  Their striped breast and bright red forehead patch differentiate them from House Finches with a thicker bill and more rosey red around the face.  Left: a flock of Redpolls on the seed tray.  Below: a Redpoll looking down on a House Finch on a branch in winter.

gooseberry winter

Walking through the woods in snow.

Some plants display interesting winter personalities, very different from their growing season garb.

The Eastern Prickly Gooseberry Ribes cynosbati reaches out its long curving canes to call my attention to their defense of juicy berries this coming summer.

sparkly snow on seedhead

photo by Julie Pritschet

red bellies

 























A pair of Red-bellied Woodpeckers live in the wild wild woods.  This winter, they come to the feeder tray one at a time, so observers might think there is only one.  But they give themselves away when they call to one another from different trees.  The male has more red feathers on his head, extending from his lores all the way to the nape of his neck.  And yes, they do have a patch of red or orange feathers on their bellies.

snow birds

Robins returned to the wild wild woods; they heard it is now "astronomical spring".  

winter starlings

These two European Starlings have been coming to the suet feeders for a week or so.  Their Latin name Sturnus vulgaris is fitting, since these non-natives are considered a vulgar nuisance when they mob lawns in big, noisy flocks.  They appear black, but up close their feathers are dazzling iridescent blue, purple, gold, and green. Fortunately, just these two so far near the wild wild woods . . .

Studies of Starlings' mob movements have found that starling flocks model a complex physical phenomenon, seldom observed in physical and biological systems, known as scale-free correlation. Read more at starling murmurations

redpolls

Today, just as the heavy snow started falling, two Redpolls showed up at the feeder garden.  They darted often back into the woodland edge for cover, but snatched many seeds from the tray alongside the Chickadees, Cardinals, and Juncos.

Redpolls breed worldwide in the far northern latitudes.  But they come "south" when food is unpredictable in late January.  Their winter range is extremely variable (as far south as Iowa or Missouri) when these little birds seek food from open woodlands, scrubby and weedy fields, or backyard feeders.

They can survive temperatures of 65F below zero degrees: they will add about 31 percent more plumage by weight, and tunnel into snow for shelter.