Heron on Lost Lake

Phenology is a science focused on observing and recording biological events from year to year and their relationships to the change of seasons and climate.

These are the “normal” phenology events we expect to see here and in the Madison area this month. We would love to hear about what you are seeing on the grounds of Holy Wisdom Monastery. Please comment on this post with what you are observing, where at Holy Wisdom and the date you observed the event.

October phenology

“Now is the time of the illuminated woods. They have a sense of sunshine even on
a cloudy day. Given by the yellow foliage, every leaf glows like a tiny lamp; one
walks through their lighted halls with curious enjoyment.” –John Burroughs

“Beauty before me, beauty above me, beauty below me, beauty all around me.” –Navajo Prayer Song

October, a month to spend time outdoors enjoying the lovely colors of autumn and other natural events. It is a month of clear, sunny, warm days and a bright blue sky.

Mornings are misty or hazy. Days become shorter and cooler. Birds continue to arrive from their breeding grounds in the north. Some will spend the winter here. Others will journey south for the winter. Asters and a few goldenrods, gentians, sunflowers and “Susans” (the Rudbeckia species) provide nectar and pollen for bees and other insects. Seeds and colorful fruits are abundant. Mammals prepare for winter. Frost creates a glittering landscape. The “Hunter’s” moon is big and bright.

I encourage you to visit the well-cared-for prairies, savannas and woodlands here at Holy Wisdom Monastery. I hope you will enjoy this oasis of quiet beauty. Visit often, observe, listen and breathe in the scents of autumn. Remember what you experienced when the first snowflakes fall.

My years of favorite observations follow. Please note, October biological events can vary from year to year in relationship to changes in climate and other factors.

Birds

• Resident birds are more vocal now. Listen for fragments of song, calls and chip notes from the following: chickadee, cardinal, nuthatch, goldfinch, titmouse, house finch, blue jay, crow, woodpecker and owl. Migrants can also be heard making chip notes, contact calls and “whisper” songs.
• Neotropical and short distance migrants spend time here before continuing their journey to Central and South America and the southern U.S.
• Most warbler species passed through in late August and throughout September.
  A few can be seen in early October. My list includes Nashville, Tennessee, magnolia, chestnut-sided, bay-breasted, redstart, black-throated green, black-and-white, golden-winged, orange-crowned and others. I have observed the uncommon and beautiful black-throated blue as late as October 12.
• Look for flocks of yellow-rumped and palm warblers. These late migrants will spend the winter in the southern U.S.
• Other southbound migrants to look for include eastern towhee, eastern phoebe, house wren, catbird, flicker, yellow-bellied sapsucker and thrush, vireo and flycatcher species.
• I have observed a few chimney swifts, tree swallows and nighthawks in early October.
• A few ruby-throated hummingbirds can be seen throughout October. Keep your feeders up.
• October is sparrow month! Look for the following native sparrow species: chipping, field, clay-colored, vesper, savannah, song, fox, swamp, Lincoln’s and flocks of white-throated and white-crowned. Most of the sparrows will migrate to the southern states for winter. A few uncommon sparrows include Harris’s, Le Conte’s and Nelson’s sharp-tailed.
• Flocks of tree sparrows and dark-eyed juncos arrive. These seed eaters will spend the winter here.
• Brown creeper, red-breasted nuthatch, winter wren, pine siskin, purple finch, and ruby-crowned and golden-crowned kinglets arrive from the north and pass through. Some will stay.
• Look up for the resident red-tailed hawk and migrating eagles, broad-winged and rough-legged hawks, kestrels, turkey vultures, geese, and sandhill cranes. Cranes start staging and can be found feeding in fields during the day.
• Waterfowl migrate. Look for coot, loon, canvasback, common merganser, pied-billed grebe, bufflehead, redhead, shoveler, scaup and others.
• There is no shortage of turkeys!
• Especially at dusk, listen for the deep muffled hooting of the great horned owl.
• Barred owls call back and forth and can often be heard during the day.
• Screech owls are very nocturnal and usually call late at night.
• Saw-whet owls migrate during the night and might roost here during the day. A few spend the winter in the Madison area and possibly at Holy Wisdom.
• Please do not play recordings to attract owls!

Plants

• The parade of prairie, savanna and woodland flowers is almost over and will end with a hard frost. Many species of asters, goldenrods, gentians, sunflowers and “Susan’s” bloomed in September. Asters and a few of the others continue to bloom in early October and provide pollen and nectar for insects.
• Look for the following asters: New England, frost, calico, Short’s, arrow-leaved and a few silky, sky blue and smooth.
• Most goldenrod species bloom in August and September. A few continue to bloom in early October. They include showy, elm-leaved, zig-zag and a few last blooms on Canada, old field and stiff.
• Stiff gentians have showy clusters of lavender, tubular flowers. Fringed, bottle and downy gentians are blue. Creamy gentians bloomed earlier and now display little brown “bottles” of seeds.
• Brown-eyed (Rudbeckia triloba) and black-eyed (R. hirta) Susans continue to brighten up the landscape. Woodland, tall and sawtooth sunflowers have a few last blossoms.
• Other flowers in bloom include fleabane and a few last flowers of gaura, yarrow, white snakeroot, heal-all, chicory and Queen-Anne’s lace. It is not unusual to find a violet or dandelion in bloom.
• Look for the fleshy green and purple inflorescences (teepees) of skunk cabbage in wetlands. The plants will bloom in late winter or early spring.
• Witch-hazel is the latest native shrub to bloom in Wisconsin. Yellow star-like flowers decorate the branches. Each flower has four delicate twisted petals.

Insects

• Some insects spend the winter as adults. Others prepare for future generations in the form of eggs, larvae, or cocoons.
• A few monarch butterflies continue on their journey to Mexico.
• In early October and during warm days, look for these last few active butterflies: eastern tailed blue, painted lady, red admiral, mourning cloak, buckeye, clouded sulphur, alfalfa and cabbage white.
• Woolly bear caterpillars reach peak numbers and seem to be in a hurry to find a place to spend the winter.
• Green darner and yellow-legged meadowhawk dragonflies are active during mild days.
• Black field and tree crickets are active when the temperature is above 50 degrees. Snowy tree crickets call during the day now. Count the number of chirps in 15 seconds and add 40 to find out the temperature. I love listening to the loud continuous trill of the black-horned tree cricket calling from tall prairie grasses.
• Red-legged grasshoppers and Carolina locusts are the most common short-horned grasshoppers. They are active on warm days. There are about 95 species in Wisconsin. Six overwinter as last instars.
• Bumble bees, flower bees and honeybees visit asters and other flowers for nectar and pollen.
• Bald-face hornets and German yellow jackets reach peak numbers and are aggressive.
• Box-elder, leaf-footed and stink bugs are active. Look for the orange and black and red and black milkweed bugs on milkweed plants.
• There are many kinds of lady bird beetles (or bugs). They prey on aphids, and a few eat pollen. Most are orange with different numbers of black spots or dots on their wings. The number of spots can help you identify the species.
• Asian lady bird beetles (Harmonia axyridis) congregate in masses for the winter. These non-natives arrived in Wisconsin around 1992. They have a black M against white on the upper back. They bite!
• Mosquito season is over.
• Woolly alder aphid egg masses are found on the stems of alders. They look like cotton and are white and sticky. The adults look like fluffy white puffs of cotton when in flight. (I call them pom-pom fairies).
• Look for the small, brown, thorn-like, two-marked treehopper (Enchenopa binotata) and their sticky-white egg masses dotting twigs of nannyberry and other shrubs.

Arachnids

• Deer or blacklegged ticks continue to seek blood meals and often carry diseases.
• Daddy longlegs or harvestmen are numerous. They have only one body part and are not considered spiders.

Spiders

• Silky webs of orb weavers shimmer with sparkling frost and/or dew.
• ‘Ballooning’ spiders are often newly hatched. They climb to the tops of vegetation and release a silver thread of silk that is caught by the wind. Then the spiderlings float through the air to a new location.

Mammals

• Male white-tailed deer (bucks) continue to make scrapes on the ground and polish the velvet from their antlers on small trunks. Mating season begins soon, and males can be dangerous. Do not approach them.
• White-footed mice use abandoned bird nests and bluebird boxes during the winter.
• Field mice, voles and chipmunks gather thistle down and milkweed floss for their nests.
• Squirrels and chipmunks scurry about gathering and storing nuts and seeds.
• Flying squirrels are very nocturnal. Look for them at your bird feeders at night.
• Woodchucks fatten up in preparation for winter.
• Muskrats build lodges in wetlands.
• Little brown bats and several other species congregate and hibernate in Wisconsin during the winter. A few other species migrate to the southern states.

Fall color

• According to my notes, peak color can occur as early as October 5 or as late as October 25. It usually peaks in mid-October. Most years the colors are brilliant with shades of red, crimson, orange, yellow, gold, apricot, pink, purple and more. Dry, sunny days followed by cool, crisp nights seem to produce the best colors. Some years leaves turn dull colors. They fade quickly, turn brown, and fall. Perhaps fall color has something to do with weather and other factors.
• Watch leaves fall and listen to the sound they make letting go. Listen to the wind rustle the leaves. Listen to your footsteps on the carpet of leaves.

Leaf color

• Red and orange when in the sun: sugar and red maple, sumac, dogwood, blackhaw, viburnum, poison ivy, blackberry, chokeberry and Virginia creeper.
• Yellow and gold: sugar maple, aspen, basswood, birch, hickory, elm, hackberry, walnut, ash, hazelnut, witch hazel, silver maple and willow.
• Maroon, burgundy, copper and brown: white and black oaks, older needles of white pine and Arborvitae.

Seeds and fruit color

• Many flowers, grasses, vines, trees and shrubs have finished blooming and have produced a rainbow of colorful fruits and seeds. Those that have not been consumed by birds or mammals remain.
• White fruit: gray dogwood, red-osier dogwood and poison ivy.
• Blue cones: red cedar.
• Bluish-purple to black fruit: nannyberry, arrowwood, grape, chokeberry, Virginia creeper, hackberry, pokeweed and buckthorn (on female trees).
• Red and orange fruit: rose hips and clusters of dry, fuzzy fruit on female sumac shrubs. American bittersweet has red-centered fruit in clusters at the end of the vine. Oriental bittersweet has yellow-orange fruit scattered along the vine. Jack-in-the-pulpit fruit or berry is bright red.
• Brown: acorns, hazelnuts, bladdernut pods, hickory nuts, basswood nutlets and box elder samaras (winged seeds).
• Seeds are all sizes and shapes. Most are brown, black, gray or white.
• Seeds are dispersed in many ways. They drift or float, hitch-hike or propel. Birds and mammals deposit seeds of berries.
• Prairie grasses turn yellow, gold, bronze, copper, orange and bluish-purple. Their seeds are usually brown. Little blue turns reddish-pink to bronze-orange and their seeds are attached to silvery-white fluff.

Other color and happenings

• Gaura and flowering spurge plants turn a brilliant orange-red.
• Stems of pokeweed are brilliant scarlet or reddish-purple.
• Mushrooms of all sizes, shapes, and colors often appear in October especially after wet weather. Look for hen-of-the-woods, russula, bolete, honey, meadow, shaggy mane, Dryad’s saddle, destroying angel, puffball, fairy ring, oyster and the delicate marasmius often found on fallen leaves. Jack-o-lantern mushrooms are bright orange and usually grow on stumps. They glow with a greenish light when it is very dark.
• Indian pipe is not a fungus but a flowering plant. It often parasitizes honey mushrooms.
• Chorus, spring peeper and tree frogs call occasionally. I have heard them as late as the 27th. They start to look for overwintering sites usually in wooded areas under leaf litter. Leopard frogs leave meadows and head for ponds, streams or lakes for winter.
• Toads hop to woodlands and dig in for winter.
• I have recorded a few migrating salamanders October 1 (most migrate to woodlands earlier).
• Galls can be found on most plants. Three different kinds occur on Canada goldenrod: ball, elliptical and bunch.
• Northern lights are possible.
• Frost can be expected. My notes indicate we had frost as early as October 5 and as late as October 30.
• Snow fell on October 12, 2006!
• Usually, most leaves carpet the ground by the end of October.

“In that little leaf was all the poetry of fall, the first soft prelude of the symphony just finished. They cycle was complete once more. Now the snows could come.”  –Sigurd Olson

Have a beautiful October.

Sylvia Marek

Sylvia Marek is a highly trained and experienced naturalist. She works for the University of Wisconsin Arboretum and is a first-rate birder.

Please share the biological events you notice while at Holy Wisdom Monastery below (remember to include what you see, where and when).

The post October phenology appeared first on Holy Wisdom Monastery.

New England aster with rigid leaf goldenrod

Phenology is a science focused on observing and recording biological events from year to year and their relationships to the change of seasons and climate.

These are the “normal” phenology events we expect to see here and in the Madison area this month. We would love to hear about what you are seeing on the grounds of Holy Wisdom Monastery. Please comment on this post with what you are observing, where at Holy Wisdom and the date you observed the event.

September Phenology

“The tint of autumn – mighty flower garden blossoming under the spell of an enchanter – frost.”
–John Greenleaf Whittier

September is a month of migrating birds, monarchs, dragonflies, bats, and
tiger salamanders. It is a month of bright yellow goldenrods and sunflowers; blue, purple, and white asters and gentians; and white lady’s-tresses orchids. Fall colors
parade across the landscape. Prairie grasses turn beautiful earthy colors and
display interesting and abundant seeds. Fruits and berries are colorful and provide
sustenance for birds and mammals. September, a month of misty mornings, sunny
days, sparkling frosty nights, and the big bright Harvest Moon.

The following are observations I have made over the years. Some events can occur
earlier or later, depending on a number of conditions and location of observation.

Birds

• September is an exciting month to observe the annual fall migration of birds.
• Breeding season is over and birds seem to be everywhere. Goldfinches, robins,
  bluebirds, waxwings, doves, woodpeckers, and mixed flocks of warblers, vireos,
  flycatchers, and thrushes gather to feast on insects, seeds, and fruits.
• Most birds that nest in the far north or temperate zones and winter in the tropics
  migrate at night when there is a north wind or it is calm. Listen for their sweet “seep,
  cheep, chirp” call notes as they fly overhead.
• I encourage you to go out early in the morning especially the day after a cold front
  passes through and the wind is from the north.
• Identification of birds in their winter plumage can be confusing especially
  dull first-winter female warblers. It can be challenging but fun.
• As many as 25-30 warbler species can be observed beginning in mid-August. They
  peak in mid-September and continue into early October. Flocks of yellow-rumped,
  palm, and a few orange-crowned warblers are often the last to leave. They will spend
  the winter in the southern states.
• Dark-eyed juncos, American tree sparrows, and brown creepers arrive in mid-late
  They will remain here during the winter.
• White-throated and white-crowned sparrows, pine siskins, golden-crowned and
  ruby-crowned kinglets, purple finch, and red-breasted nuthatches arrive. Some
  will stay throughout the winter.
• Soaring birds migrate by day. Look for hawks, swallows, pelicans, and cranes.
• Broad-winged hawks are one of the first hawk species to migrate.
• Swallows and chimney swifts leave for the tropics during the day and are usually
  gone by late September.
• Nighthawks continue their journey to the tropics. Look for flocks passing over in
  the early hours of evening.
• Ruby-throated hummingbirds “fuel up” on flower nectar and insects before
  heading south. I have seen them as late as October 9. Please keep your feeders up.
• Shorebirds started passing through our area in July and usually reach their peak
  in September.
• Some ducks can be observed now. Lesser scaup, blue-wing teal, ring-necked duck,
  red-breasted merganser, and northern pintail.
• Barred, great horned, and screech owls are very vocal and give territorial calls.
• Young owls leave their parents and look for new territories. This natal dispersal
  is caused by a change in hormones.

Plants in Bloom

Periods of dry, hot, sunny weather or cool, cloudy, rainy days seem to affect when and
how long different plants bloom. Many of the following bloom in August and/or
September. Some bloom until there is a killing frost.

Woodlands, Savannas, and Edges

• Goldenrods: elm-leaved and zig-zag.
• Asters: calico, frost, Short’s, arrow-leaved, heart-leaved, New England, panicled,
  flat-topped, large-leaved, and crooked stem.
• Rudbeckias: brown-eyed Susan (R. triloba), black-eyed Susan (R. hirta), sweet
  black-eyed Susan (R. subtomentosa), and cut-leaved coneflower (R. laciniata).
• Woodland sunflower, white snakeroot, tall boneset, tall woodland thistle, evening
  primrose, pale Indian-plantain, orange and yellow jewelweed, fleabane, burnweed,
  white and hoary vervain, gaura, lady’s-tresses orchids, smartweeds, and the last
  flowers of Joe-pye-weed, tall bellflower, jumpseed, figwort, and the hyssops.

Prairies

The prairie is bright with goldenrods, asters, sunflowers, Silphiums, gentians, thistles, lady’s-tresses orchids, and blazing stars (Liatris).

Yellow Flowers:

• Goldenrods: There are about 22 different kinds of native goldenrods in Wisconsin.
  The following are in bloom now on the prairie: Canada, stiff, showy, old field or
  Dyer’s weed, Riddell’s, and grass-leaved. Goldenrods do not cause hayfever.
  Goldenrod pollen is heavy and is a food source for insects. Ragweed pollen is
  light and carried by the wind. It blooms at the same time as goldenrod and does
  cause allergies.
• Sunflowers have bright yellow rays (petals). Their disks (centers) are yellow, brown,
  or brownish-purple. Look for saw-tooth, giant, woodland, naked stem, stiff,
  and false sunflower (ox-eye).
• The “Susans” or Rudbeckia’s include the very showy and aggressive native brown-
  eyed Susan, sweet black-eyed Susan, black-eyed Susan, and cut-leaved coneflower.
• Silphiums include prairie dock, compass plant, cup-plant, and the last flowers of
• Tall Coreopsis (C .tripteris) and sneezeweed.

Purple, Lavender, and Blue Flowers:

• Asters: There are about 23 kinds of native asters in Wisconsin and about 40 hybrids.
  Asters have purple, lavender, blue, and sometimes pink rays. Their disks are usually
  bright yellow until pollinated and then turn dark. Look for New England, smooth, sky-
  blue, arrow-leaved, flax-leaved, silky, shining, heart-leaved, and aromatic.
• Gentians: bottle, downy, and fringed are blue and stiff is purple.
• Prairie or field thistle is in bloom and attracts goldfinches and myriad insects.
• Rough blazing star (Liatris aspera) lights up the prairie with glowing purplish-
  magenta flower spikes.
• Look for spikes of great blue lobelia, purple hoary vervain and obedient plant.
• Bright purple ironweed and pale purple monarda continue to bloom.

White and Pinkish-White Flowers:

• The following asters have white rays and yellow disks: frost, panicled, crooked,
  calico, and heath.
• Large patches of pale Indian-plantain tower over the prairie. I love the “raindrops
  on dusty soil” smell of the flowers.
• Creamy gentians continue to bloom.
• Biennial gaura or bee-blossom has dainty white flowers and pink buds.
• Look for tall boneset, flowering spurge, whorled milkweed, lady’s- tresses orchids,
  pearly everlasting, and cudweed.

Insects

• Monarch migration continues to increase during the first part of the month. Look
  for monarchs nectaring on flowers during the day. In the evening they gather in large
  clusters and roost on trees during the night. They continue to head south to
  Mexico where they will spend the winter.
• Second broods of several butterfly species emerge. Look for black and the yellow
  swallowtails, red admiral, painted lady, mourning cloak, cabbage white, silver-
  spotted skipper, clouded and alfalfa sulphurs, and Eastern tailed blue.
• Hummingbird and snowberry clearwing moths are beautiful. Often these small
  sphinx moths feed on flowers at dusk.
• Many butterfly and moth species spend the winter either as a caterpillar, egg, or
  Several butterflies overwinter as adults.
• Almost every year I have found the large caterpilllar of the Pandorus sphinx moth
  on grape and woodbine. It is brown but can be green or orange with a row of
  usually six white spots.
• Woolly-bear caterpillars can be seen on the ground searching for a place to spend
  the winter.
• Green darner dragonflies (Anax junius) gather in large numbers before migrating
  south for the winter.
• Look for small red-bodied dragonflies or meadowhawks (Sympetrium sp.). The
  autumn meadowhawk is probably the last dragonfly to be seen in fall.
• Crickets, long-horned, and short-horned grasshoppers continue to call day and
  night when temperatures are above 55 degrees.
• Snowy tree crickets call day and night now. Count the number of chirps in 15
  seconds and add 40 to find out the temperature.
• Cicadas buzz during warm days and nights.
• Increase in some species of hornets, wasps, and bees. Bald-faced hornets and
  German yellow-jackets reach peak numbers.
• Winged ants disperse. Queens set up new colonies.
• Box elder bugs and Asian ladybugs (beetles) are very numerous now.
• Goldenrods and asters provide pollen and nectar for many different kinds of
  Look for butterflies, bees, wasps, flies, soldier beetles (leatherwings),
  locust borer beetles, ambush and assassin bugs, aphids, ladybugs, lacewings,
  leafhoppers and many more. To learn about pollinators and native plants read
  “Pollinators of Native Plants” by Heather Holm.
• Two-spotted treehoppers (Enchenopa binotata) can be found on nannyberry and
  other shrubs. They are small, brown, and look like thorns. The female lays eggs
  on a branch or twig and covers the eggs with a sticky white substance. The eggs
  overwinter and hatch in spring.
• Japanese beetle numbers start to decline.
• Mosquitoes and biting flies continue to be annoying.

Arachnids

• Deer or blacklegged ticks continue to seek blood meals.
• Daddy longlegs or harvestmen are numerous now. They are not spiders. They
  have only one body part.

Spiders

Web Makers:

• The silky webs of orb weavers are beautiful especially when covered with
  sparkling dew. Take time to watch a female weave her web and what she does
  when she captures her prey.
• Bowl-and-doily weavers create a two-parted sheet web near the ground.
• Filmy dome spiders make an inverted bowl-shaped web on the ground.
• Newly hatched spiders climb to the tops of vegetation and release a silver thread
  of silk that is caught by the wind. Then the little spiderlings float through the
  air to a new area. Look for these “ballooning” spiders.

Non-web Makers:

• Jumping spiders are small, They have big eyes, short legs, and hunt during the day.
• Tiny crab spiders can change their body color to blend in with the flower they are
  sitting on. Crab spiders on goldenrods are usually yellow. Those on thistles are

Mammals

• Male white-tailed deer begin to rub the velvet from their antlers and polish them
  on tree trunks. Do not approach them now. They can be dangerous.
• Deer molt their summer red coats and grow new thick gray or brown fur for winter.
• Fawns lose their spots.
• Chipmunks, squirrels, and mice gather and store nuts and seeds.
• Muskrats prepare their dwellings for winter.
• Woodchucks fatten up for their long winter sleep.
• Rabbits seem to be everywhere.
• Bats usually migrate by the end of September. There are eight native bat species in
  Four migrate and four hibernate in caves or buildings.

Seeds and Colorful Fruits

• Many flowers, grasses, and shrubs have finished blooming and produced an
  abundance of seeds or fruits that are consumed by birds and mammals. White,
  blue, purple, orange, and red fruits disappear quickly.
• Seeds disperse in different ways.
• Drifters and floaters—milkweed pods open and release brown seeds attached
  to fluffy white “silk”. Thistle seeds are attached to fluffy “down” and float in the
• Hitch-hikers—stick-tights, burs, hooks, barbs, and pods with tiny hooked hairs
  catch rides on animals and humans. The seeds are found on tick-trefoil, beggar-
  ticks, burdock, enchanter’s nightshade, agrimony, white avens, stickseed, and
  sweet cicely.
• Shooters—jumpseed and jewelweed.
• Birds—deposit the seeds of berries and fruits.

Fall Color

• Prairie grasses turn tan, golden-yellow, orange, reddish-pink, and bluish-purple.
• Little bluestem turns reddish-pink to bronze-orange. Seeds are fluffy and
  silvery-white.
• Gaura and flowering spurge plants turn a beautiful orange-red color.
• Although some leaves started to turn color in August, more turn during the month.
• Red and orange: woodbine, poison-ivy, blackberry, sumac, viburnums,
  and maples.
• Yellow: walnut, basswood, ash, box elder, honey and black locust, aspen, and
  sugar maple, and willow.
• Brown: inner needles of white pine and Arborvitae.

Mushrooms

• Most mushrooms (fruiting body of a fungus) can be found in August and September
  until there is a killing frost. Look for them when there are alternating periods of
  rain and dry weather. Few mushrooms are found during dry, hot weather. I have
  found the following: Dryad’s saddle, russula, shaggy mane, meadow, bolete, oyster,
  honey, puffball, bird’s-nest, fairy-ring, marasmius, sulphur polypore, chanterelle,
  and more. Bright orange Jack-O-Lantern and bitter panellus glow in the dark.
• Incidentally, white Indian Pipe is not considered a mushroom but rather a flowering
  plant that parasitizes honey mushrooms.

Other

• Spring peepers, chorus, and tree frogs occasionally call. They begin looking for
  places to hibernate usually in wooded areas under leaf litter.
• Galls can be found on most plants. The easiest to find are on Canada goldenrods.
• Ball gall: a singe maggot spends the winter in it. In spring a small fruit fly emerges.
• Elliptical or spindle-shaped gall: the egg of a gall moth overwinters.
• Bunch gall: found at the tip. Small midge-like flies emerge before winter.
• First day of autumn occurs on either September 22 or 23.

Storing September
“You ask me what I did today
I could pretend and say
“I don’t remember”
But no., I’ll tell you what I did today
I stored September.
Sat in the sun and let it sink in
Let all the warmth of it caress my skin.
When winter comes, my skin will still remember
The day I stored September.
And then, my eyes—
I filled them with the deepest, bluest skies
And all the traceries of wasps and butterflies.
When winter comes, my eyes will still remember
The day I stored September.
And there was cricket song to fill my ears!
And asters, like small clumps of sky…
You know how much I love them.
That’s what I did today
And I know why
Just simply for the love of it, I stored September.”
–Elizabeth Rooney. 9/25/90

September, a month to remember the scents, sounds, beauty, and peace you enjoyed and experienced as you walked the trails through the restored prairie, savanna, and woodlands of Holy Wisdom. A special place to remember in September.

Sylvia Marek is a highly trained and experienced naturalist. She works for the University of Wisconsin Arboretum and is a first rate birder.

Please share the biological events you notice while at Holy Wisdom Monastery below (remember to include what you see, where and when).

The post September phenology appeared first on Holy Wisdom Monastery.

Yellow garden spider (Argiope aurantia), an orb weaver

Phenology is a science focused on observing and recording biological events from year to year and their relationships to the change of seasons and climate.

These are the “normal” phenology events we expect to see here and in the Madison area this month. We would love to hear about what you are seeing on the grounds of Holy Wisdom Monastery. Please comment on this post with what you are observing, where at Holy Wisdom and the date you observed the event.

August Phenology

“…the time of flowers from now until autumn…there would be every few days and then every day, a new kind of blossom on the prairie…all there in masses, in waves a living canvas.”
–Paul Gruchow, Journal of a Prairie Year

August, a month of misty mornings, hot sunny days, warm nights, and migrating birds, monarchs, dragonflies and salamanders. Insect ‘musicians’ fill the air with rhythmic chants, chirps, lisps, ticks and tinkling trills. Pretty flowers and grasses perfume the air with scents of mint, vanilla, chocolate, anise, buttered popcorn, raindrops on dusty soil and more. If you enjoy the fragrance of flowers and like the color yellow, I encourage you to visit the prairie often especially in August. There are plenty of yellow, as well as purple and white flowers in bloom. The following observations are from records I have kept over the years.

Birds

• American Goldfinch and Cedar Waxwing nest in July and August. They often have two broods. Listen for the ‘sweeet, perchicoree or potato chip’ calls of the goldfinch.
• Most birds have finished nesting and their young have fledged. After breeding, birds go through a complete feather molt. A few such as Goldfinch and Indigo Bunting undergo a complete molt after breeding and a partial molt in spring.
• Singing decreases and only a few species continue to sing ‘the songs of summer.’ During my early morning walks in late July and August, I have heard the following sing: Cardinal, Robin, House Wren, Bluebird, Indigo Bunting, Wood Peewee, Red-eyed Vireo, Great Crested Flycatcher, Flicker, House Finch and Goldfinch.
• Listen carefully for ‘whisper singing,’ chips, chirps and seeps.
• Fall bird migration begins in late July and August and continues through October and November.
• August is a good month to look for ‘confusing’ fall Warblers that nested here and for those that nested in the north. Most are insect-dependent and will migrate to Central and South America for the winter. Common Yellow-throat and Yellow Warblers usually leave for the tropics in August. Pine, Palm, Yellow-rumped and Orange-crowned Warblers leave much later. They spend the winter in the southern U.S.
• Neotropical migrants such as Flycatchers, Vireos, Orioles and some Swallow species begin to migrate in August. Look for the Olive-sided Flycatcher perched on a tall dead tree.
• Chimney Swifts gather before migrating to South America in late August. Look for them at sunset. Large flocks enter their roosting sites usually in chimneys.
• Bobolink flocks migrate to South America.
• Sedge Wrens show up in August some years and then leave.
• Red-winged Blackbirds and other Blackbird species gather in flocks.
• Increase of Ruby-throated Hummingbird activity at flowers.
• Red-breasted Nuthatches often show up in August. Some spend the winter, others move on.
• Shorebirds continue to pass through.
• Flocks of migrating Nighthawks can be observed by looking overhead in the early evening.
• Red-tailed Hawks soar over the prairie. Juveniles leave their parents.
• Great Horned and Barred Owls call more frequently in late August. Juveniles hunt on their own now. They begin to leave their parents and look for a new territory.

Plants

• Among the myriad shades and shapes of green vegetation, yellow flowers dominate followed by purple, blue and white blooms. The leaders of the floral parade are the goldenrods and asters. Flowering times can vary from late July to early or mid-September due to changing environmental and other conditions.

Woodlands, Savannas, and Edges

• Asters: calico, frost, arrow-leaved, short’s and flat-topped.
• Goldenrods: elm-leaved, zigzag and Canada.
• Woodland sunflower, black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta), sweet black-eyed Susan (R. subtomentosa), brown-eyed Susan (R. triloba), cut-leaved coneflower (R. laciniata), purple Joe-pye-weed, American bellflower, pale Indian-plantain, yellow giant hyssop, figwort giant hyssop, woodland tick-trefoil, figwort, downy woodmint, white snakeroot, jumpseed, lopseed, agrimony, tall wood thistle, thimbleweed, Indian hemp, starry campion, tickseed, hog-peanut, white vervain, burnweed, upland boneset and orange and yellow jewelweed. Bottlebrush grass has lovely seeds now. They remind me of bristle-like bottles.

Prairies

Yellow:

• Goldenrods: Canada, grass-leaved, showy, stiff and Dyer’s weed or old field.
• Sunflowers: ox eye, saw-tooth, giant, naked stem and showy.
• Yellow coneflower, tall coreopsis (C. tripteris), black-eyed Susan, sweet black-eyed Susan, brown-eyed Susan, rosinweed, prairie-dock, cup-plant, compass plant, evening primrose, cinquefoil species, Great St. John’s-wort and sneezeweed. How many different yellow species can you find?

Purple:

• Asters: New England and silky.
• Gayfeather, blazing star, purple coneflower, ironweed, Canada tick-trefoil, germander, hoary vervain, wild petunia, anise hyssop, purple prairie-clover and stiff gentian.

Blue:

• Asters: Sky-blue and smooth.
• Bottle, fringed, and downy gentians, great lobelia, blue vervain (Verbena hastata) and a few last spiderworts in bloom.

White:

• Asters: Heath, frost, panicled and crooked-stem.
• Rattlesnake master, white sage, wild quinine, mountain mint, Culver’s-root, white prairie-clover, whorled milkweed, flowering spurge, pale Indian-plantain, Indian hemp, yarrow, fleabane, bush-clover, turtlehead, false-boneset, boneset, cowbane, white vervain and water hemlock.

Pink to Pinkish White:

• Swamp milkweed, swamp and prairie thistle, nodding onion, Illinois tick-trefoil, smartweeds, biennial gaura and the pink bracts of dotted mint.

Red:

• Cardinal flower.

Introduced, Naturalized, or Ecologically Invasive Plants

• Queen Anne’s-lace, chicory, white campion, common St. John’s -wort, common mullein, catnip, sulphur cinquefoil, sow-thistle, field bindweed, crown-vetch, bouncing bet, spotted knapweed, leafy spurge, bird’s-foot trefoil, bittersweet or deadly nightshade, yellow and sweet clover (Melilotus sp.) Canada and bull thistle, burdock, creeping bellflower, pokeweed (Phytolacca acinosa), wild parsnip and many more. Japanese hedge parsley seems to be increasing. The white flowers resemble Queen Anne’s-lace but the compound umbel is smaller and not as flat.

Grasses

• Tiny wind-pollinated flowers are showy on the following grasses: big bluestem or turkey-foot, little bluestem, switch, Indian, cord, dropseed, side-oats grama and panic grasses (witch and love).

Insects

• Insect activity and their sounds are at their peak. Cicadas drone, bees buzz, short-horned grasshoppers produce mechanical sounds, katydids rasp and crickets chirp and trill.
• The beautiful green snowy tree cricket can be heard on warm August nights. If you are curious and want to know the temperature, count his soft, pleasing, repeated ‘chirp-pause, chirp-pause’ call for 15 seconds and add 40.
• Look for ladybugs, lacewings, aphids, ambush bugs, large and small milkweed bugs, leaf beetles and many more.
• Golden tortoise beetles are found on plants in the morning glory family.
• Japanese beetles devour over 300 kinds of plants. Perhaps the large number of turkeys are helping to reduce the population.
• Peak season for leafhoppers. Look for the red and blue candy-striped leafhopper on plants.
• Treehoppers have interesting shapes that resemble plant structures. Look for the two-spotted treehopper (Enchenopa binotata) on nannyberry and other shrubs. They are tiny, brown and resemble a thorn or small bud.
• Dragonflies dart and hover while hunting for mosquitoes and other insects. Green darner and meadowhawk begin migrating to southern states.
• Butterflies to look for include Eastern and black swallowtails, Eastern-tailed blue, spring azure, fritillary, red-spotted purple, viceroy, common wood nymph, silver-spotted skipper, cabbage, white, clouded and alfalfa sulphurs and of course, monarchs.
• The last generation of monarchs emerge and nectar on flowers. In the evening, they gather and roost on trees during the night. They start their 2,500-mile fall migration to Mexico in late August through September.
• Look for moths of all kinds at night near lights.
• Last sightings of twinkling fireflies and beautiful dogbane beetles.
• Mosquitoes and biting flies are active and annoying.

Spiders

Web Makers:

• Yellow garden and banded spiders make beautiful, intricate, vertical webs. Look for their sparkling dew-covered orb-webs in early morning or after rain.
• Look for the two-parted sheet web of the bowl and doily weaver.
• Filmy dome spiders create an inverted bowl-shaped web.

Non-web Makers:

• Jumping spiders are very small and very cute.
• Crab spiders can change their body color to blend in with the flower they are sitting on. They are another adorable spider.
• Daddy longlegs or harvestmen are abundant now. They are not spiders. They only have one body part.

Mammals

• Antlers of male deer are in full velvet.
• Fawns lose their spots.
• Squirrel and chipmunks gather acorns and walnuts.
• Raccoons feast on fruits.
• Woodchucks are fattening up.
• Meadow voles, moles and 13-lined ground squirrels are active.
• Rabbits have several litters a year. Rabbits of all sizes can be seen on trails.

Other Natural Happenings

• Abundance of ripe fruits, seeds and nuts.
• Look for galls (odd growths) on goldenrods, oaks and other plants.
• Ragweed and goldenrods bloom at the same time. Ragweed pollen is spread by the wind and can cause allergies, goldenrod does not. Goldenrods are pollinated by insects.
• Fruiting bodies of mushrooms appear especially after rainy weather. Look for inky cap, shaggy mane, puffball, honey, oyster, meadow, bolete, bright orange jack-o-lantern and many more.
• Salamanders migrate from ponds to woodlands during moist warm nights.
• Frogs, toads, and turtles are active.
• First fall colors appear. Leaves of sumac, Virginia creeper, poison ivy and red maple start to turn red. Basswood, walnut, birch and locust leaves turn yellow.
• The rich smell of autumn is in the air.

“As we sow the seeds of the prairie, we also sow the seeds of hope that ecological restoration gives us. People, wherever they are, can learn to live with the land and heal the wounds caused by past misunderstandings. Restoring the land demonstrates the love and respect that enriches it, and us, through the diversity and beauty of the native landscape.”
–Richard Nelson, Island Within

I encourage you to visit the beautiful Holy Wisdom restored prairies, savannas, and woodlands often. My hope is that you will have a peaceful and memorable walk.

Sylvia Marek

Sylvia Marek is a highly trained and experienced naturalist. She works for the University of Wisconsin Arboretum and is a first-rate birder.

Please share the biological events you notice while at Holy Wisdom Monastery below (remember to include what you see, where and when).

The post August phenology appeared first on Holy Wisdom Monastery.

Recently, the sojourners and I were sharing how family had impacted who we are. I thought of my maternal grandparents who, with my mother, taught me an appreciation for the natural environment. Each summer my family visited my grandparents in Belleville, IL, for vacation. One of my favorite memories is walking around their yard in the late afternoon with one of my grandparents to survey the plants and shrubs which they nurtured. When I toured the yard with my grandmother we would stop by the roses to check for aphids or mildew. If the roses were blooming, she would cut a few for the house. On the walk with my grandfather we sized up how the trees had grown since the previous visit. He would show us his latest contraption to keep the squirrels off the bird feeders. As a special treat we got to feed the fish in the pond. The surface of the water churned in frenzy as they snapped up their food.

On our walks I felt the Bermuda grass thick and spongy beneath my feet. As we walked together, I remember my grandmother helping me identify the worried call of “Jenny wren” who nested in the bird house on the back porch. The air was full of smells and sounds that even now remind me of our walks: magnolia blossoms, the sweet gum trees and humid summer evenings filled with the sounds of cicadas. At night the frogs in the pond sang me to sleep.

I recently visited my mother who lives in Florida. We too walked around her yard to check on each of her garden plots. She showed me the plants she had put in since my last visit and noted what needed fertilizing or moving to help it flourish. She told me about new birds that have visited her yard. This year a pair of whistling ducks came to her pond with their duckling. At first she was intrigued by these new ducks. But when they scared the others away with their loud whistling, she felt less than welcoming toward them.

Back home, I participated with many friends of the monastery in the recent prairie seeding day. It is a mystery to me that seeds so small can become such large prairie plants. I look forward to walking around this new section of prairie to watch the plants grow and listen to the birds nesting there.

The wonders of creation are never far from us in our community’s Liturgy of the Hours as well—in the psalms, in many of our hymns and in our prayers, like these words from a recent morning prayer:

“God of the universe, you speak to us in all of creation. Wherever there is truth, beauty, and goodness, may we hear your voice today and recognize the sign of your presence.”

My call to community at Holy Wisdom certainly goes deeper than an appreciation for creation, but our environmental work was an important seed in my call.

Do you recognize seeds God has planted in your life? Are the seeds in some way a call to new life?

__________________________

Follow this link to read additional blog posts from Lynne in the series titled Building Community.

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