December may go down in the record books -- well, actually, it probably won't. It's been an utterly record-less month so far, not the driest or the warmest or the least snow. But Larry has finally seen some redpolls, and, of course, there's "Christmas in the Trenches."

The details of a different, disappointing December so far, but a lot more to see. From Comet 46P/Wirtanen to the Geminid meteor showers to flying squirrels to Christmas bird counts , there are a million reasons to get out and enjoy the natural world, snow or not.

Your overnight temps probably depended a lot on your cloud cover, Larry's disgruntled by the lack of snowfall on the ground and in the forecast, but there are plenty of new things to enjoy in the natural world, whether it's an unexpected goldfinch or a green comet.

Venus is beautiful first thing in the morning these days; and the combination of light snow and warm temperatures mean lots of critters are out and about and leaving great tracks. Larry's seen a couple of unusual animals out and about - a gray fox, and a chipmunk who was supposed to be sleeping - but he's still waiting patiently for redpolls to come to his feeder.

Larry Weber is just chock-ful of good advice this week, from how to keep squirrels away from your feeders to how to tell if the bears are awake or asleep right now. There's just a tiny downside: both of these solutions are EXPENSIVE. Oh, and Larry is looking for redpolls, too - have you seen any?

Who knew? Woolly bear caterpillars actually DO grow up into something: the Isabella tiger moth! Below-average temps and above-average rainfall for the month, but last year at this time, we were about to get socked with over ten inches of snow!

Larry Weber says it's tamarack time!

The "gales of November came early" Wednesday. Duluth's lakewalk became a casualty for the third time this year and the National Weather Service reports we've already had more precipitation by October 10 than we usually get in a whole month. Still, Larry Weber says he wouldn't miss it for the world.

If it doesn't rain tomorrow, the forecasted northwesterly winds could mean good bird-watching at Hawk Ridge. The trick, says Count Director John Richardson, is to get there during the "golden hour/s," usually between 8:00 and 10:00am.

In this encore edition of Backyard Almanac from September 23, 2016, the question emerges: it's not why the snapping turtle crossed the road, it's how .