Astronomy

On Monday the 14th look for the planet Saturn near the Moon after sunset. Thursday the
17th brings the Full Hunter’s Moon, also called Falling Leaves Moon. This month’s full moon is what’s
called a Super Moon. But what IS a Super Moon? The Moon has an elliptical orbit around the earth,
taking about 28 days to make one lap around our planet. The point at which the moon is the farthest
away from the earth is called “apogee,” which means “far from earth”. The point where the moon is
the closest to earth is called “perigee,” which means “close to earth”. When the moon is at perigee, as
you might guess, it looks to bigger than when it’s at apogee, because it’s closer – about 25,000 miles
closer! As you might have guessed, a Super Moon is a full moon when the moon is at perigee.

Birds

Migration continues. Late-flying warblers trickle through heading south, including Yellow- rumped Warblers. White-throated sparrows who summered farther north pass through, too, singing their “O Canada” song. Ducks and Geese follow the St. Croix flyway, and many will linger in this area as long as there is open water. Robins have formed flocks – some will travel farther south, while others will stay in this area through the winter. Watch for them moving through the trees like ghosts when you hike. The Robins who stay all winter will shift from eating insects to eating fruit, like crabapples and mountain ash berries.

Mammals

Rabbits are plentiful at Afton, and they remain active all winter long. They are most active at dawn and dusk, when the temperatures tend to be milder and when they can move about without attracting too much attention from predators. For much of the day and night they shelter in brush piles, under evergreen trees or in hollow stumps. In the winter their diet switches from grasses, which are often buried by snow, to tree bark, twigs, and . . . their own poop! Rabbits have inefficient digestive tracts so they can extract more calories from their droppings by eating them. The practice of eating poop is called “coprophagy”.

Insects

Mourning Cloak and Eastern Comma butterflies both overwinter as adults, hiding under leaves or tree bark and becoming active on mild days. What about Red Admirals? Red Admirals to the north of our area migrate south for the winter. Red Admirals to our south overwinter locally as adults. It’s likely that some of the Red Admirals at Afton overwinter here, while others go south. Have you seen any Red Admirals at Afton on mild fall or winter days?

Plants

In the woods look for the fruits of early-blooming wildflowers. Jack-in-the-Pulpit and False Solomon’s Seal both have bright red berries, Upright Carrion Flower has deep blue berries, and Early Horse Gentian has tiny orange fruits next to its stem that look like tiny pumpkins or persimmons.

Trees

This week’s featured oak is the Northern Pin Oak. It is in the red oak group, with pointed lobes on its leaves. The spaces between the lobes, which are called “sinuses”, are very deep. The Pin Oak’s acorns take two years to mature, with nubby caps that cover the top third of the nut. Another deciduous tree to look for is the American Basswood, also called the Linden. It grows to be 50 to 70 feet tall, and has large heart-shaped leaves that turn yellow or sometimes orange in the fall. The small white flowers of the Basswood mature into small round nut-like fruit about the size of a BB. Native Americans use the inner bark to make rope and baskets, and Basswoods are sometimes called “rope trees.” Gray Squirrels often strip the outer bark off of small branches and use the ropy inner bark to line their leafy nests.

Weather Observations

Here are some weather observations for this week from past years.

Friday, October 11	2023: sunny and in the 50s; 2015: Record high of 85°
Saturday, October 12	2023: rain in later afternoon; 2020: 2” of rain overnight with thunder and lightning ; 2009: record snowfall of 2.5”
Sunday, October 13	2019: alternating sunshine and flurries, with high in the 40s.
Monday, October 14	2022: dusting of snow in the morning adds up to a record of 0.4 inches; 2011: Overcast and breezy, high in the 50s
Tuesday, October 15	2021: dark clouds and sprinkles, temperature in the 50s; 2010: sunny and high in the 60s
Wednesday, October 16	2020: snow flurries in the morning, with a high in the 40s; 2014: sunny with a high of 72°
Thursday, October 17	2004 and 2002: trace of snow

Photo/Image credits

All photos copyright Nina Manzi, except:

• Keith Henjum: middle Rabbit
• Tracy Robillard Kruse: False Solomon’s Seal Berries
• Jamie Olson Kinne: Eastern Comma Butterfly
• Gary Sater: Wood Ducks, Yellow-rumped Warbler