Backyard Almanac

Today, July 12, Larry Weber recounts how July in full swing with hot weather with less then desirable rainfall. However, big summertime storms can bring rainfall measurements back in line in just a few hours. This time of year is good for wildflowers, berries, birds, insects which means lots of spiders, and beautiful spider webs. In July we also are in butterfly, moth and dragonfly season. Other highlights include and of course great Jupiter viewing and plentiful fireflies.

Forget May; July is bustin' out all over! From summer frogs and turtles to flies (dragon-, butter-, and deer-) to berries and wildflowers, July is just begging for you to get out into the middle of it. And here's some phenology phenology (phenology about phenology?): what we were talking about last year at this time.

The universe's answer to broadcasting's "seven second delay" is aphelion and perihelion . The sun is closest to Earth about two weeks after the winter solstice in December (perihelion) and furthest from the earth about two weeks after the summer solstice.

As we prepare to head into summer this morning (!), Larry reports that while the average temperature is colder than normal, so is the rainfall amount. Roadside flowers, ladyslipper orchids in abundance, berries and trees in bloom, and why you should be glad children aren't whippoorwills, all in this week's installment of Backyard Almanac . --------------- And here's some Phenology phenology: what we were talking about last year at this time:

The so-called ancient Chinese blessing/curse, "May you live in interesting times," is probably neither ancient or Chinese.

Maybe you can't leave right away to look for wildflowers with Larry Weber (or Bryan French , for that matter!), but here is a slideshow of many of the flowers Larry mentioned on his show today to tide you over. Bryan French is a phenologist, photographer and the founder of the Duluth Phenology group on Facebook .

Naturalist Larry Weber reports the astonishing statistic that we've had more snow in May 2019 than either January 2019 or March 2019.

Larry Weber is hanging out in southern Minnesota, where spring is in full swing. Actually, it was 85 yesterday; maybe summer has already started down there.

The birds returned to the feeders this week, the green to the aspens and willows, and the spring ephemerals to the forest floor. Oh yeah, and it snowed, too.

April is in the rear view mirror and Larry Weber says was "as normal as possible"; that is, except for a couple of strange sightings at his feeder this week. More about Ruby-crowned Kinglets here and Redpolls here. And for some phenology about phenology, here's what we were talking about last year at this time.

Now that the snow is "officially" gone (according to the Weather Service), spring is heading into high gear. Naturalist and author Larry Weber observes that early flowers are waking, catkins are appearing in trees, and many interesting birds and frogs are active in our midst.

There's that time at the end of November where everything freezes up rock-hard and you know the deep freeze of winter has begun. Then there is that time in the spring where all the ice lets go and everthing opens up. This is then. Read more about Larry Weber's book, Web Watching: A Guide to Webs and the Spiders That Make Them, and the award it won for Sparky Stensaas' Stone Ridge Press here. And check out what we were dealing with last year at this time in this Backyard Almanac phenology-on

The return of win-sprin (or "sprinter," if you like), snow, wind, thundersnow with hail ... it's April in the Northland. Interested in phenology about phenology? Here's what Larry was talking about last year at this time:

Larry Weber and the National Weather Service agree: it's a "nice healthy melt" in the Northland for the most part. But April, he reminds us, is not just a month of floods; since nothing is really greened-up yet, it can also be a month of fire danger. (Speaking of phenology, here's what we were talking about on Backyard Almanac last year at this time !)