Natural North Dakota

If the morel mushrooms are not popping up in your area, they should be soon. As many of you know, morel mushrooms are eminently edible and the mushroom of choice for mushroom hunters.

Are you anxious to see the return of ruby-throated hummingbirds? If so, now might be a good time to start cleaning up the feeders and setting them out, because they usually start showing up around early May.

We seldom give plant sex much consideration, but some species of flowering plants produce flowers with both male and female reproductive structures in the same flower (perfect flowers). Most of the plants you are familiar with are in that category. Other species produce separate male and female flowers on the same plant.

Spring is often punctuated by a series of new sights and sounds as winter gives way to summer. It seems like each new sighting of a bird, for example, is duly noted and announced to others. Sighting the first robin of the season is probably the best example, but don't forget to pay attention to the many other varied sounds of spring.

If you grew up in or before the 1950s or 1960s, butterflies were likely a common sight during the summer months, including monarchs, painted ladies, red admirals, swallowtails, blues, whites, sulphurs, and mourning cloaks. Many kids even had butterfly collections. That is not the case these days. Things have changed, and not in a good way.

It is officially spring. The spring equinox, you may recall, occurred back on March 20. And if your senses seem to have been dulled a little over the winter months, getting out in nature can help give them a boost. Consider going for a walk through the woods, grassland, or other places to soak up what nature has to offer in the spring. And while you are out there, keep an eye out for deer sheds, or perhaps elk and moose for that matter.

Most everyone has heard the news of the tragic passing of two-time Academy Award winning actor Gene Hackman and his wife (Betsy Arakawa). His wife, you may recall, died from hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS). Hantavirus exists in North Dakota, and a reminder of the virus and disease might be helpful and timely.

I happened to notice that Dances with Wolves was running on one of the cable stations recently. That 1990 film starring Kevin Costner had some great scenes of bison herds and a bison hunt. I could not help but imagine what those immense herds of bison looked like before European settlement.

If you have not seen any Canada geese yet this year, you should soon. The migration is on, and some stay in the state year-round — for example, along the Missouri River.

Kelly's Slough National Wildlife Refuge, near Grand Forks, is well-known to area bird enthusiasts as being a great place to do some bird watching, particularly during the spring and fall migrations. Depending upon weather, bird watching should be quite good from around the late March through May.

Are you up for checking out the night sky? Whether you are familiar with the winter constellations, interested in learning a few, or just want to gaze up at the cosmos, the next few nights might be a great time to do so if the sky is clear. That is because there is a new moon coming up on February 28. And of course, it could also be good for several nights after the new moon as well.

Occasionally we need to be reminded that before pharmacies, cultures had to rely on native plants and animals as sources of medicine. I was reminded recently when I was going through some papers and came across a copy of a manuscript titled “Lakota Medicinal and Culturally Important Plants,” authored by Wilbur Flying By, Sr. and Linda Different Cloud Jones, copyrighted by Sitting Bull College in 2003. The manuscript contains the scientific name, common name, Lakota name, and use of the plants.

Most North Dakotans are familiar with some adaptations birds and mammals have to get through the winter. But what about the invertebrates — insects, for example — and the plants? They have adaptations as well.

February is here! With January in the rearview mirror, the cycle of the seasons continues its inexorable change. Although the excitement of spring seems a long way away, there is probably more going on than most people realize.

Have you been feeding the birds this winter? Setting out a few bird feeders with a variety of food items can provide for some good bird watching during those cold winter days. And it helps the birds, of course.

What is the most abundant mammal in North America? I saw that question used in trivia recently. The answer was deer mouse. I am not so sure about that, in part because deer mouse is used to refer to a genus of mice as well one of the species of the genus. Either way, deer mice are certainly one of the contenders.

Santa Claus is not the only thing that comes down a chimney. Some of you may have seen the recent story about the barred owl that came down the chimney of a home in Virginia and proceeded to perch atop the Christmas tree.

I recently heard a sermon in which the preacher reflected on his observing a pileated woodpecker and the beauty of the natural world. For him, it was a spiritual experience. It led me to muse about the importance of experiencing nature in our spirituality and overall wellbeing.

If you were to ask most older adults what was the most common butterfly when they were kids they would, almost to the person, say monarchs. But those days are gone. You may have missed it, but the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is proposing federal protection for the monarch.

Are you wishing the days were longer? If so, your wish will be answered. For people that live in the northern hemisphere, the shortest day of the year — the winter solstice — falls on Saturday, December 21, this year. The days will then begin to lengthen until the summer solstice in June.

There are not very many plant families that have milky sap. Milkweeds certainly come to mind, as well as some members of the aster family such as the dandelion and western salsify. The spurge family also produces milky sap and includes a few species native to North Dakota and some other noteworthy species.

Have you been seeing more deer and road kills as you travel about over the last month or so? Most people probably attribute the visibility and accidents to the rut or deer's breeding season. But there are several other factors that are also involved with the increase in deer visibility and accidents this time of year.

The Geminids Meteor Shower is coming up soon, as is the Ursids Meteor Shower. Although we are coming up on a full moon on December 15, which will interfere with visibility of some of the weaker meteors, these meteor showers are still worth checking out.

“Gobble, Gobble!” Thanksgiving is coming up next Thursday. The turkey, of course, will be center stage as Americans dive into this annual gustatory feast.

I was perusing through Theodore Roosevelt's book “Ranch Life and the Hunting Trail” (1888) recently, and ran across his description of burning coal veins. He wrote that the burning coal veins were one of the more interesting features of the badlands.

CBS Sunday Morning aired a story a couple weeks ago on people searching out larch trees in the western mountains during the fall to observe their golden colored needles. Although there are no larch native to North Dakota, an introduced species is grown as an ornamental in the state.

I recently noticed some rose bushes loaded with rose hips. Most people think of rose flowers as adding beauty to the summer months. But the rose hips add interesting color to the fall and winter landscape. Seeing all those rose hips made me think that it is time to brew up a batch of rose hip tea.

I recently saw an advertisement for spider web decorations for Halloween. Although real spider webs are common and easily observed, we largely ignore them unless one is located in a prominent position in or near our homes, in which case they are often promptly removed.

When it comes to the sounds of plants, wind through the conifers and the quaking of aspen leaves are often mentioned. But I suspect that for many North Dakotans, the rustling of cottonwood leaves are even more iconic and may evoke some vivid memories.

No doubt many North Dakotans hear a loud, gurgling call emanating from overhead during spring or fall, and look skyward in search of the source. After a bit of searching, you finally identify the source as a flock of large birds, way up there! If the flock is lower, long legs might be visible sticking out behind them. Ahh, the call of sandhill cranes!

Many newspapers and other media will run stories about the leaves turning color on the trees before falling. Many of these news items will explain how chlorophyll breaks down, and the other colors (pigments) that were there all along become visible. They may compare the color change to “removing the chlorophyll mask” from the leaves.

If you are up for a little stargazing, now might be a good time to do so. There is a new moon coming up on October 2, so with the relatively warm temperatures and clear skies, conditions could be quite good. Plus, the Orionids meteor shower is about to begin.

It's that time of year! The fall equinox occurs this year on Sunday, September 22. At precisely 7:43am CT, the sun will be directly over the equator.

For many, be they native North Dakotans, transplants, or those just passing through, it often takes some time to warm to the wide-open spaces of the North Dakota landscape. Although there is a lot of cropland, I suspect that for many people, the wide-open expanses of prairie are a large part of what calls people to love and appreciation of the landscape.

Sharp-tailed grouse season opens up on September 14. To quote Morris Johnson and Joseph Knue from their Feathers from the Prairie (1989), “no other upland bird has been in the state so long or in such numbers.”

September is upon us! As you have probably noticed, the days are getting shorter and cooler. The birds have started migrating, and the fall foliage will soon start to come out.

Are you seeing yellow? As you look out on the North Dakota landscape this time of year, it seems that there are yellow flowers everywhere. It is the color of the season!

Much of central and eastern North Dakota is pothole country. As you look out at all those sloughs, it appears that the vast majority of them are dominated by cattails. Those sloughs have been changing more than most people realize.

When traveling across North Dakota and looking out at the rangeland, some people see just a bunch of grass. However, it is much more than that! An important step in understanding the ecology of our rangelands is to have a working knowledge of what range ecologists call ecological sites and their associated ecological site descriptions.

Driving down the roads in North Dakota this time of year, particularly gravel roads, one is likely to occasionally see a sunflower in bloom with broad leaves, producing a flower head, and growing to around 3 to 6 feet tall. That is probably the common sunflower (Helianthus annuus), the same species that is grown in the sunflower fields.

Traveling across North Dakota, particularly areas northeast of the Missouri River, you'll occasionally see signs near wetlands that identify the area as a Waterfowl Production Area, or WPA.

This time of year, the prairie landscape is awash in color. Two of the more commonly known wildflowers, prairie coneflower and purple coneflower, will soon be flowering across the state.