Natural North Dakota

I recently traveled west from Bottineau on Highway 5 around mid-morning. By the time I got to the Highway 14 turnoff to Kramer, I had seen four snowy owls. Most of them in the first half of the 11-mile stretch. I have not kept records of my snowy owl observations per mile, but that has to be some kind of record. I did a quick internet search to learn if an irruption is occurring this winter, but that came up empty. As many of you know, snowy owls are a species of the tundra. But like many other

It has been rather quiet around Lake Metigoshe recently. But I have been able to enjoy ice music occasionally. As some of you know, once a body of water has frozen over and temperatures drop, the big ice making machine can produce some interesting music. These concerts occur mostly during the evening hours when temperatures drop considerably. They can also occur during the morning hours when the sun comes up and temperatures quickly rise. Ice, like other solids, contracts when it gets colder. As

It looks like winter has settled in for the long haul. No doubt many among us have been enjoying nature and the outdoors through hunting or fishing. With the big white blanket spread across the landscape, it is also a good time to enjoy a bit of nature. Maybe this will be a good winter for enjoying the natural world along with the winter snow.

We have a couple boxelder trees near our house. With the leaves all off the tree this time of year, its shape is quite distinctive. Plus the trees are either male or female, and the female trees tend to hold on to their fruits well into the winter, making them rather conspicuous.

I often drive past marshes with muskrat lodges during my winter routine. I cannot help but wonder how they are faring. Those lodges provide good cover and insulation from the winter cold. The lodge has a small living chamber above the waterline with one or two opening to the water below. Muskrats feed on the roots of cattails, bulrushes, and other aquatic vegetation. And they remain active and feed regularly under the cover of ice during the winter months.

We could be in for a lot of birds at our bird feeders this winter. If you maintain a few, you might want to make a point to keep them well stocked this winter. If you don’t have a few feeders, now might be a good time to buy some. And of course, Christmas is not that far away. Consider giving bird feeders as gifts.

Each year from November 6-30 the earth passes through the debris field of comet Tempel-Tuttle, or what we call the Leonids Meteor Shower. This year the peak viewing period is the evening of Saturday, November 17, and early morning hours of November 18. The number of meteor showers during the peak viewing period is expected to be around 15 meteors per hour.

I have been thinking about elms lately. I recently ran across an article about elm trees in the Washington Post by Phil McCombs from 2001: “Once upon a time in America, great leafy high-arching cathedrals of elms lined the streets of villages and cities from the Atlantic to the Rockies, casting a deep cool shade upon life’s turmoil.”

In case you haven’t noticed, the coots are on the move! They are congregating on wetlands across the state. And of course, one of these days we will look out on those wetlands, and there they will be… Gone!

Each spring and fall I am anxious to hear any news of whooping cranes in the state. This year is no exception. It seems like each year a few of them are spotted in the state during their migrations. At around five feet tall the whooping crane is the tallest bird in North America. They also sport a white body, red or crimson cap, and impressive 7-foot wingspan. They are quite a sight in flight, with their neck and legs stretched out, and huge wingspan with black tipped wings. The black wing tips