Astronomy

On Sunday the 10th if there are clear skies go outside about 7:45 and look for the bright planet Saturn near the Moon. On Saturday the 16th it’s Jupiter’s turn: you’ll see it just below the Moon in the early evening. And early risers may spot some shooting stars in the southern sky on Thursday the 17th and Friday the 18th; that’s the Leonid Meteor Shower.

Birds

Many birds that are at Afton for the summer have gone farther south for the winter. But other birds who go farther north for the summer have come south to Afton for the winter! When you hike at the park look for flocks of dark-eyed juncos, golden-crowned kinglets, red-breasted nuthatches, and tree sparrows. The red-breasted nuthatches don’t come south every year, only in years when their preferred winter food, the seeds of conifers, are in short supply farther north. Many conifers produce large numbers of cones one year and very few the next, which leads to a two-year cycle in which the red-breasted nuthatches come south to Afton (and other places) in one year but not so much in the next.

Mammals

Gray squirrels are gray, right? Well . . . . yes and no! While most gray squirrels are gray, some have a genetic mutation that results in what’s called “color polymorphism” and are closer to black in color. And like all animals some may have a mutation that results in what’s called “albinism”, in which they don’t have the melanin pigments that trigger eye and hair color. If you’ve seen a black squirrel at Afton, it’s probably a color polymorph of the gray squirrel. And if you’ve seen a white squirrel, it’s probably an albino.

Reptiles and amphibians

Every wonder what snakes do in the winter? They gather in sheltered areas, taking over burrows below the frost-line that were dug by woodchucks, chipmunks, or other animals with the ability to dig. They also like rocky crevices on south-facing slopes that get lots of winter sunshine. Often many snakes will congregate in one den, called a hibernaculum, which may be a winter home to snakes of several different species. Once “in” for the winter their body temperature drops to between 35 and 45 degrees. And once they’ve found a good hibernaculum, snakes will return to it year after year, and generation after generation.

Plants

Many plants rely on the wind to blow their seeds to new places. Among them are cattails, milkweed, and thistles. Have you seen any of these seeds floating by in recent weeks? They all have bits of fluff that help them stay airborne and drift away from their mother plant.

Trees

The final oak in this series is the Bur Oak. The leaves have rounded lobes and are 5 to 12 inches long. The bark is dark gray, and often deeply furrowed. And the cap of the acorn is very hairy and covers more than half of the nut!

You may see two different species of Aspens at Afton: the Quaking Aspen and the Bigtooth Aspen. The Quaking Aspen is the most widely distributed tree in Minnesota and also in North America! Quaking aspens have nearly round leaves one to three inches long. Bigtooth Aspens have bigger leaves, up to six inches long, and as the name suggests the leaves have big teeth. The stems of Bigtooth Aspens leaves are often nearly as long as the leaves themselves. The bark of both trees is dark gray and furrowed on the lower part of the tree, and cream-colored and smooth on the upper part of the tree. Aspens reproduce both by seeds and by suckering off their roots, so that a large stand of aspens may all be the same organism connected by their roots.

The leaves of most aspens turn yellow in the fall, but some turn red. The yellow color is from carotenoids in the leaves that become visible once the chlorophyll dies in the fall, while the red is from anthocyanins. Only some aspens have the genetic trait that allows them to produce anthocyanins. Those trees only produce anthocyanins and have red leaves when the weather conditions are just right: warm sunny days followed by cool nights.

Weather observations

Here are some weather observations from past years.

Friday, November 8	2020: windy and in the 70s; 1991: record low of 1°
Saturday, November 9	2023: gusty winds, temperature in the 40s; 2021: beautiful day in the 50s with the last leaves falling from trees; 2020: rain off and on through day; 2017: record low of 12°
Sunday, November 10	2020: record snowfall of 5.5 inches; 2012: record high of 69°
Monday, November 11	2023: gray and cool with flurries in the evening; 2021: first flurries of the season in the evening; 2020: 2 inches of snow overnight; 2005: record high of 64°
Tuesday, November 12	2023: sunny and pleasant, high 50s; 2001: record high of 65°
Wednesday, November 13	2010: record snowfall of 7.7”
Thursday, November 14	2022: heavy wet snow in morning, mostly melting in afternoon but still at record at 2.5”; 2020: light rain and mist through day
Friday, November 15	2015: high of 62°; 2020: blustery winds, with temperatures in the 30s
Saturday, November 16	2015: 50s and rainy
Sunday, November 17	2015: record rainfall of 1.21”
Monday, November 18	2011: sunny with high in the 40s; 2020: sunny and in the low 50s
Tuesday, November 19	2014: ½” of fluffy snow, morning temperature in the 20s
Wednesday, November 20	2012: cloudy, with high in the 40s
Thursday, November 21	2016: sunshine and in the high 30s

Photo/Image credits

All photos copyright Nina Manzi, except:

• Dean Lokken: Albino squirrel