Eagle Nesting
Despite the fact that the Minnesota DNR had a camera featuring an active bald eagle nest in the metro as early as January, most resident eagles in our area start nesting around the end of February.
With the assistance of a pair of binoculars, Kathy and I checked out the eagle nest featured in an earlier post and observed an eagle incubating eggs on March 4th. Given eagles have a 35 day incubation period, one could expect the first eaglet to hatch the first week of April.
In addition to resident eagles nesting, hundreds have been migrating through this area nearly two weeks early this year. Eagle migration in Wacouta usually coincides with ice break-up on Lake Pepin. On February 25th, Ron Laack a friend from Plainview drove from Wabasha to Lake City via Pepin, Maiden Rock, Bay City and Red Wing. Along the way, he and his friend counted 548 eagles. Many were observed sitting on the edge of the ice waiting for dead gizzard shad to float by.
7 Year Old Grandson Harry emptying buckets
In my last post, I mentioned the first run of maple sap was on the weekend of February 12th. Following two good runs, things shut off for nearly two weeks. With the 12 inches of wet heavy snow on February 24th, the sap flow has been tremendous for ten days.
Flower Buds on Soft Maples
The sap in my soft maples is good until the flower buds open up. This occurred on Monday March 6th with temperatures reaching the low 60's. At this point, the sap becomes tainted and not worth collecting.
Elderberry Buds
With the record setting temperatures for the month of February, I have received reports of tulips and rhubarb coming up in Wacouta. Another result of the unusual weather is the expanding buds on elderberry bushes. We have two species of native elderberry in our area, the American and Red. Both produce berries that attract birds. Only the American with it's dark purple berries are edible and make wonderful jelly and pie filling.
Elderberry Spile
In my days of conducting maple syrup programs for the ELC, I would teach the participants how to make spiles from short sections of elderberry shoots. Elderberry and sumac shoots have very soft centers (piths) which are easily pushed out. Prior to using plastic or metal spiles, these were very useful and far less expensive in collecting maple sap.
Elderberry Spile and Sap Bucket
Pussy Willows
Because of the record setting warm temperatures, the pussy willows are already out along the edges of Wacouta wetland areas. These large flower buds burst and expose their soft silky hair. Some twigs will produce beautiful golden male stamens, while others will bear greenish female pistils.
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