Astronomy

On Thursday the 22nd look for the planet Saturn near the Moon. And on Tuesday the 27th the Moon visits the Pleiades star cluster, also called the “Seven Sisters,” which will be just to the right of the Moon. The Pleiades are part of the constellation Taurus the Bull. A group of stars in a constellation that have their own name, like the Pleiades, are called an “asterism”.

Have you ever seen a rainbow-like streak off to the side of the sun? That’s a sundog! Sundogs happen when light rays from the sun refract off of ice crystals in high-altitude clouds, like the cirrus clouds in the images above.

Birds

Late January is time to start hearing signs of spring from the world of birds. Several species of woodpeckers live at Afton year round, and at this time of year they drum on trees and fenceposts to announce their territories to other woodpeckers.

Black-capped Chickadees, Cardinals, and White-breasted Nuthatches are singing their spring songs. The Chickadee sings a two-toned song that sounds like “Fee-Bee”. Some people think this sounds like the Chickadee is saying “Spring Soon”. And Cardinals sing a whistling song that sounds like “what cheer cheer cheer”, and another that sounds like “birdy birdy birdy”.

You may also hear the White-breasted Nuthatch’s spring song, which sounds like “whi-whi- whi”.

Mammals

If temperatures are moderate, the first skunks will venture out from their winter quarters in late January. You might not see them, but you might smell them! Consider it a smell of spring to come.

Trees

Eastern Red cedar is a conifer that looks quite a bit different from pines and spruces. The Red cedar has scaly needles, and its cones look like dusty blue berries! The bark is reddish-gray and often peels off the tree in long strips. There are plenty of Red cedars at Afton. Birds eat the cones and distribute the seeds in their droppings, and the trees often sprout in open areas like the prairies at Afton. You may see orange jelly-like blobs on Red cedar trees. That is cedar apple rust, a fungus that alternates between cedar trees and apple or quince trees. The cedars and apples have to grow relatively close to each other for the spores of the different stages of the fungus to move between the host trees.

Weather observations

Here are some weather observations from the Afton State Park area from past years.

Photo/Image credits

All photos copyright Nina Manzi, except:

• Alan G. Nelson, Dembinksy Photo Associates, MN Conservation Volunteer: third Striped Skunk
• Michael Furtman, MN Conservation Volunteer: Black-Capped Chickadee
• Keith Henjum: Hairy Woodpecker
• Dean Lokken: Northern Cardinals, White-breasted Nuthatch
• Bill Marchel, MN Conservation Volunteer: first Striped Skunk
• Gary Sater: Juvenile great-horned owl
• Sparky Stensaas, MN Conservation Volunteer, second Striped Skunk
• Stan Tekiela, MN Conservation Volunteer: Downy Woodpecker