Astronomy

Bright Venus is high in the west after sunset. Tuesday the 3rd is the Full Worm Moon, and there will be a total eclipse of the Moon that night. It will start at 3:50 a.m. on the 3rd, and reach totality at about 5:04 a.m. Totality ends at 6:03 a.m. The eclipse will end at 7:17 in the morning, but the Moon sets here at 6:50 a.m. so we will miss the very end. And believe it or not, by the first week of March we’ve gained about two and a half hours of daylight in the Twin Cities and at Afton since the solstice last December.

Birds

Flocks of Cedar Waxwings have been moving through the forests all winter, searching for berries and conifer seeds. You can recognize them by their black masks and the yellow band at the end of their tails.

Cardinals and Chickadees continue to sing their spring songs, but they are not the only birds with spring songs! Listen for the whi-whi-whi song of the White-breasted Nuthatch, the “pump handle” song of the Bluejay . . .which gets is name because it sounds like a creaky pump handle, and the whistling “what cheer cheer cheer” song of the Northern Cardinal.

Red-breasted Nuthatches make a low almost quacking sound, almost like a quiet duck with a stuffy nose. They sometimes come as far south as Afton in the winter, in years when the trees of the northern forest where the Nuthatches spend their summers do not produce a lot of seeds. These are called low-mast years. Dark-eyed Juncos spend the summers in those same northern forests, but they come south every year in the winter. For Juncos “south” includes Afton! Soon flocks of Juncos will begin flying farther north. Last winter there were sightings of Long-eared Owls at Afton. Walk quietly through the woods and look for them perched on branches. They communicate with each other by raising and lowering their ear tufts, and roost in groups during the winter. And even if you don’t see an owl, you might see an owl pellet. Owls can’t digest the fur and bones of their prey, so they cough it up. Owl pellets look kind of like lint.

Horned Larks may still be moving through our area on their way north. Look for them along roadsides. Overhead look for the first Sandhill Cranes flying north. You may hear them before you see them; they make a distinctive rattling call. The first flocks of Canada Geese arrive about now. And look and listen for the first male Red-winged Blackbirds to return. They arrive a week or two before the females and get right to work claiming territories, singing “Ko-Ka- Ree”.

Mammals

As the sun climbs higher in the sky and the days begin to warm up, mid-sized mammals become more active. On mild days in early March you may encounter Skunks, Raccoons, and Opossums. None of these animals are true hibernators. Since all three of these animals are mostly nocturnal, or active at night, look for them around dawn or dusk.

In winter Raccoons and Skunks retreat into a burrow or den. Raccoons often den alone, although a mother Raccoon may share a den with that year’s kits. Skunks are more likely to share burrows and thus also get to share body warmth. During the coldest times Skunks and Raccoons go into a state called “torpor” in which their body temperature drops and their metabolism slows, allowing them to use less of the energy they stored as fat in the summer and fall. On mild days Skunks and Raccoons wake up for a few hours in their dens or burrows, and sometimes even venture out to look for food. Skunks and Raccoons pay a price for staying warm in their dens and burrows, however, often losing half of their body weight before spring arrives. Skunks leave their burrows to mate in late February and early March, often when there is still snow on the ground.

Opossums may spend most of the day in a den lined with leaves, but they must continue to eat throughout the winter, and you may see them foraging under bird feeders. The opossum in the photo below was under the bird feeder at the Visitor Center at Afton in February 2008.

Fungi

Fungi are not animals, and are not plants, either. In the classification of life on earth, the Fungi have their very own kingdom! Late winter is a good time of year to look for old shelf fungi in the woods. Look for them growing on dead and downed trees, which the fungi break down and digest. Shelf fungi come in many colors and are easy to spot before trees leaf out and the understory plants sprout.

You might also see Black Knot Fungus, which lives on wild and domestic plum and cherry trees. It has a two-year life cycle; in the summer the black fungus that encircles a branch or twig of the tree will split open and shed spores, which carry on the wind. Some land on other host trees. Some trees tolerate the fungus, while in others the affected branches die.

Weather observations

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

Friday, February 27	2025: temperature in the 40s but with a cool breeze from the north; 2024: rain and a dusting of snow with falling temperatures; 2021: sunny early in the day, temperature in the 40s; 2016: record high of 58°
Saturday, February 28	2025: wind from the northwest up to 50 miles per hour! Temperature in the 40s early, falling through the day; 2024: cold and clear, high in the 20s; 2022: sunny and in the 40s; 2021: rain in the morning changing over to snow, and melted by afternoon; 2016: blustery, with rain and snow through morning
Sunday, March 1	2025: teens in the morning, air calm, rising to 30°; 2024: sunny and breezy, 59° high ties record set in 1990; 2007: record snowfall of 9”; An old saying for March weather is “In like a lion, out like a lamb; in like a lamb, out like a lion”. Will March of 2025 come in like a lamb or a lion? March of 2024 came in gentle like a lamb, sunny and breezy with a high close to 60°
Monday, March 2	2025: teens in the morning, rising to above freezing; 2024: sunny with wind from the east, record high 63°; 2022: a dusting of snow in the morning that melts by afternoon; 2021: breezy and in the 40s; 2016: high in the teens;
Tuesday, March 3	2025: in the 30s early, rising to near 50°; 2024: sunny with strong east wind, record high 74° and big wildfire near Waseca; 2021: sunny and in the 40s; 2019: tied record low of minus 13°, set in 1873
Wednesday, March 4	2025: light rain in the morning, changing to snow in the evening; 2021: sunny and in the 40s; 2000: tied record high of 61°
Thursday, March 5	2025: around 8 inches of snow overnight, ending mid- morning; 2022: ice storm overnight changing to rain by afternoon with thunder, record rainfall of 0.8 inches; 2013: 4” of snow overnight; 2000: record high of 72°, open water on St. Croix River

Photo/image credits

All photos and images used by permission.

Copyright Nina Manzi, except:

• Travis Bonovsky, MN Conservation Volunteer: Bluejay
• Dianne and Rick Dropik: Long-eared Owl
• Michael Furtman, MN Conservation Volunteer: Dark-eyed junco
• Keith Henjum: Raccoon
• Dean Lokken: Horned Lark, White-breasted Nuthatch
• Bill Marchel, MN Conservation Volunteer: Red-winged Blackbird, Striped Skunk
• Gary Sater: Cardinal, Cedar Waxwing, Eclipsed Moon, Full Moon, Sandhill Cranes