Natural North Dakota

I recently heard someone openly wonder what was with all those hills along highway 83 near the turnoff to Garrison. No doubt many North Dakotans have passed that way and may have had the same question. Those hills are old mine spoils. A coal mine was in operation there from the 1940’s to the 1960. Keep in mind that this was before reclamation laws. Now of course, the overburden must be replaced and landscaped.

If you haven’t already noticed some small sparrow-sized birds flitting through the brush in your area, you should soon. And if you take a closer look, you are likely to see these birds are quite colorful. That is because the warblers are or will be passing through our area during their spring migration. Some, for example the American redstart, will even stay and nest in our state.

I happened to see a picture of a scale of a fish recently, illustrating the age of the fish. Being able to age a fish could help fisheries managers with a variety of aspects of fisheries management, such as estimating growth rates, survival, and longevity. It could also help better understand aspects of habitat, food abundance and availability, and a myriad of other factors. But how could you age a fish?

Have you ever heard of chaga? I recently saw a television spot about harvesting this fungus in northern Minnesota and selling it as a medicinal. Chaga is the common name for a bracket fungus ( Inonotus obliquus ) that parasitizes birch trees. A sterile conk grows just under the bark of the tree trunk, and as it grows it pushes outward, turns black, and looks as if the tree has been charred or burned. Some describe it as looking like burned charcoal. Eventually a fruiting structure will be

Picture this. It is early October, 1803. You are in what we now know as northeast North Dakota, near where the Park River flows into the Red River. You are keeping a journal, and part of the day’s entry is that “fire is raging at every point of the compass, thick clouds of smoke nearly deprive us of the sight of the sun, and at night the view from the top of my house is awful indeed.” Those are the observations of Alexander Henry.

The Red River Valley, glacial Lake Agassiz. For many among us, that probably brings to mind rich farmland and perhaps a finger shaped lake from the end of the last ice age that covered the area along North Dakota/Minnesota border. It would have been fifty miles wide or so, with the southern end in bit south of where North and South Dakota meet Minnesota. The northern end would have been, well, not sure. At the margin of the glacier, somewhere up by Winnipeg, maybe.

“Manitoba has official bird, tree and flower so why not lichen?” that title of a recent article on the website of the CBC caught my attention. A group of lichenologists in Canada are orchestrating an effort to establish a National Lichen, as well as Provincial Lichens. They do admit, however, that the effort is really to draw attention to these interesting but often overlooked and unappreciated organisms.

We have had a red-breasted nuthatch coming to our bird feeders regularly this winter. I have not seen more than one at a time, so I am guessing it is a loner. At any rate, this bird always provides some good entertainment while is seemingly goes about its mission.

Today, February 2, is Groundhog Day. Good luck finding a groundhog that is confused enough to come out of hibernation and stick its head out of its hole. And of course, whether it sees its shadow or not has no bearing on when spring arrives. It might surprise you, but the origins of Groundhog Day can be traced back to before Christ when February 2 was the “Feast of Lights,” because it was considered the midpoint of winter. That morphed into a Christian celebration called Candlemas (“Candle Mass”

I recently had the good fortune of getting a good look at four bull elk in the Turtle Mountains while cross country skiing. When one thinks of elk in North Dakota the badlands and Theodore Roosevelt National Park may come to mind. I suspect that few among us are unaware that the Turtle Mountains supports a sizeable elk population.