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| Image from the Season Watch website |
In my last blog post, I talked about how things change so rapidly in spring. But, of course, change is part of every season. What we observe in each month makes up the subtle rhythm of life around us in nature.
Our observations of day-to-day and week-to-week changes in the natural world is called phenology - the study of seasonal changes in plants and animals. While it's a big word, we all do observe what's around us on hikes and walks. A warbler! Are those gnats that are circling in front of me as I walk in the wetlands? There's the first garter snake! Pussywillows! Ramps! Morels! Canvasbacks! The herons are back!
There is a new educational website resource, built in part by a couple of MN Master Naturalist volunteers, called Season Watch. It focuses on these very changes. You can browse species of plants and animals, see graphs made with historical data, and satisfy your curiosity about the future of Minnesota environments and climate change.
I also want to recommend a wonderful book that is written for MN but useful for WI Driftless folks as well. 365 Days of Northern Nature has a day-to-day informational reflection with photos of some aspect of the season (bird, plant, insect, nature pattern) that you can see at that time of year on your walks and hikes. I spend a little time each day referring to the book and learning as I read. It keeps me alert on the hike. It is the same kind of learning I get when I hike with friends on the trail or in the hiking club. Alot of the pleasure I get from the hike is finding out what is out there and discovering a little bit more of the world around me. All these resources and our own observations make up the school of the natural world. And it's knowledge worth knowing.
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