But it is certainly looking greener, and many of our trees now have small leaves on their branches. There is a patch of residual daffodils that are currently blooming near the Jim Gilbert Teaching Pond, and magnolias and forsythias are blooming across campus.

Behind the Interpretive Center, we’re seeing quite a bit of color at our bird feeders; check out this stunning male Rose-breasted Grosbeak that spent the afternoon here two days ago.

A bluebird pair has decided to nest in one of the arboretum’s new bluebird houses, built for us and mounted by Gustavus Men’s Leadership. Last I checked, there were five teal-colored eggs being incubated; it has been over five years since a bluebird last nested in the Linnaeus Arboretum.

Blue darner dragonflies have been sighted flying around the gardens; their cousins, the migratory green darners (one of only two migratory insects in North America…can you guess the other one?), should be arriving in another week or so. Western chorus frogs can be heard across campus; their clicking calls are reminiscent of the sound produced by running your fingers across the teeth of a comb.

Tomorrow, and the next ten days for that matter, look sunny and warm. As always, I greatly encourage you to take a walk through the Arb.

Here’s to May flowers!

As an adult, it’s always a joy to see the first snowfall of the season. The charm is somewhat lost, however, after the second snowfall. And the third. And the fourth. And the fifth. And the….

St. Peter has already seen several heavy snowfalls since early December, and it appears that we will continue to get hit by these snowstorms, which means even more snow. And more plowing. And more scraping off our cars before we can drive to work in the morning.

If we do continue to accumulate large amounts of snowfall, then this spring could be interesting in terms of flooding from the MN River. It’s been several years since we had major flooding in these parts, and we are a little overdue for such an event. And the river actually needs it, considering how relatively dry the past few years have been.

There’s not a whole lot going on outside the Interpretive Center these cold days. There are still lots of cones on the spruces which occasionally attract a wandering flock of Pine Siskins. The crabapple trees and cranberry bushes produced a bounty of fruit this past year, and many overwintering American Robins have been taking advantage of this available food source. Yesterday a small group of Ring-necked Pheasants was even feeding in the crabapple trees, which perhaps is a testament to the difficulties faced by wildlife when the ground is covered in deep snow and ice.

But even though the days aren’t getting any warmer, they are indeed getting longer, which means the tides of spring are slowly turning our way. Until then, stay warm and enjoy the snow!

But winter doesn’t officially begin until December 21, which means we still have nearly two months left of autumn!  While the landscape is beginning to subside into its winter sleep, there are still plenty of fall happenings to enjoy.

Goose and waterfowl numbers have begun to rise over the past couple weeks; as these birds migrate south, watch for large V’s flying over St. Peter.  While most of the geese are Canada Geese, occasionally one might spot a flock of the Canada’s smaller, higher-pitched cousin, the Cackling Goose, a former subspecies of the Canada Goose that was designated as a separate species in 2004.  Flocks of Double-crested Cormorants have also been recently sighted heading south; watch for their looser flocks that more often form a straight line than a V.

Tamaracks in the Arb are just now transitioning into their classic “smoky gold” color; these beautiful trees are deciduous conifers (cone-bearing trees that actually lose their needles in the fall instead of remaining evergreen).   Look for them near the Jim Gilbert Teaching Pond on the south side of Ring Road.

Gray squirrels are busy searching for acorns, seeds, and black walnuts to store in “caches” for the winter months when such food will be more difficult and dangerous to find.  A cache (pronounced cash) is essentially a place where an animal stores food that will be consumed at a later time; a single squirrel may have many caches, but won’t always remember where each cache is.

American Robins and Cedar Waxwings have begun to show up in flocks; on Wednesday evening, I counted around two thousand robins migrating over St. Peter.  Watch for Cedar Waxwings feeding on your berry trees (they love mountain-ash); a flock of these birds can strip a tree clean of its berries in a single day.

Leaf piles are beginning to appear in people’s yards around town; surely this is one of the favorite things about fall for kids (it’s been too long since I jumped into my last pile of leaves), and just in time for Halloween too.

So, I urge you to put on your jacket, maybe grab a rake, and go enjoy the progressing season!

Monarch butterflies can be seen migrating south already; last week I counted over 200 flying through a quarter-mile stretch of the arboretum. The gardens surrounding the Interpretive Center are currently ablaze with orange. Hummingbirds have become a little easier to find as they begin to fatten up for their journey south (come check out the new hummingbird feeder outside the Interpretive Center office). Cicadas have been buzzing for about a month now; these seemingly invisible insects are a sure signal of the waning summer. And warblers, those tiny gems that pass through briefly in spring and fall, can now be found migrating through the arboretum (I found a Black-and-white Warbler here last week).

And yet, for some species, autumn began long ago. Some shorebird species, such as Least Sandpipers and Lesser Yellowlegs, arrive to their arctic breeding grounds in mid-June, nest for a couple weeks, and then begin their southward migration in early July; it is not uncommon to see these fall migrants as early as July 4.

But let’s enjoy the last couple weeks of summer while they’re here, shall we? The arboretum is nothing short of stunning right now, with daylilies, liatris, coneflower, and goldenrod in full bloom. Other interesting sightings over the past week include sphinx moths (hummingbird look-alikes) and giant swallowtail butterflies.

During November 2007 construction began on the future site of this beautiful restored prairie. Land excavation helped to contour the land in order to create unique microhabitats that can accommodate prairie plants that prefer moist soils, dry soils, and everything in between. Note the arial photo that show both current Linnaeus Arboretum acreage and the future site of the prairie to the west.

The land shown in the following photos was planted in soybeans during the previous growing season. After harvest and tillage of the soils, hill construction began on November 8, 2007. Note the small hill surrounded by plastic sheet fencing around the construction site in the first photo. The construction process took numerous days and work by heavy machinery. We are very pleased with the outcome – the second photo shows the completed hill. Note the change in the horizon shape as viewed from the far southeastern corner of the new site. Continue to check the website for further updates on the fundraising and construction process.

Roses are red, and violets are blue,
I knew that already, but here’s something new.
Roses are white, yellow, and pink,
There are over 100 species, I think.
The flowers of the Arb are a beautiful sight to see,
Smelling those roses is an amazing thing to me.
The bees pollinate them, and they grow everywhere,
With any luck, they won’t get eaten by a hare.

The birds of Minnesota, they fly all around,
Occasionally, they come visit us on the ground.
The chickadee greets us with its unique song,
While the cry of the crow is ugly and long.
Robins, sparrows, finches, and hummingbirds,
Cardinals, turkeys, the number of them absurd!
These gorgeous creatures come around every day,
And I hope they never stop coming, I must say.

Rustling in the wind are the groves of endless trees
Nothing can be heard but their leaves against the breeze.
Their leaves are usually green, the color of spring,
But as fall approaches, they become red as a cardinal’s wing.
The cool weather brings change to the landscape, how beautiful it is,
The leaves fall off, but they’ll be back, and so the cycle continues.
Whether brown or white, green, or red, the bark protects the plant,
If the bark is stripped, the tree could die, shall we allow that? I say we can’t!
These trees bring life and beauty to the planet we live on,
Continue to appreciate them, or they could end up gone.

The Linnaeus Arboretum, is there a place any better?
You can enjoy something in that place, no matter what the weather.
Of course it helps to have a nice day,
Why would you want it any other way?
From the soybean fields and the mountain ash,
To the coniferous forest and the poison ivy patch.
This arboretum has it all, I never want to leave,
Is class already over? Hold on, I need to collect one more leaf.
I could spend an entire month here, all I need is a tent.
Heck, why not stay a full year, I won’t have to pay any rent.
I’ll stare at the clouds, and enjoy the sounds, this place is a wonder,
I’ll lay out here all day, unless I get hit with lightning and thunder.
The Arb of Gustavus, the best place on campus to go to.
Come check it out and stay a while, you’ll never want to go back to your dorm room.

- Brett Stanek ‘11