Phenology

Observations by Gary Fewless for Green Bay WI (Lat.N 44.51° Long. W 88.02° ), except as noted. For flowers lacking conspicuous petals or sepals I define "anthesis" as release of pollen by mature anthers.

November 2002

Observations by Gary Fewless, except as noted

Date

Observation (Click on links for photos)

Nov 30

Here is a graph of temperatures for November, 2002.

Nov 26

A Snowy Owl was reported for the Stevens Point area today (wisbirdnet).

The ice on Prairie Pond at UWG had melted again and has now refrozen. In recent years the pond has frozen (and stayed frozen for the rest of the winter) on November 10, 12, 14, 16 , and last year on Dec 18 (Gary Fewless).

The East River at Beaupre Street in Allouez also froze today. Here is the data for previous years at that same location. This is the date that it is completely frozen and stays frozen until spring (sometimes it melts and refreezes several times before this state is reached). It may freeze slightly later farther downstream. Notice that the date has ranged over 42 days (from Nov 12 to Dec 24) in these 12 years. The average is about Dec 3.

Year	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001
Date	12/03	11/27	11/21	12/07	11/14	11/12	12/24	12/21	11/30	12/01	12/24

Nov 25

Wisconsin DNR reports that about 20% fewer whitetail deer were registered during the opening weekend of the gun deer season, compared to last years season. Over 22,000 deer heads were collected by the WIDNR to be tested for CWD (chronic wasting disease), bringing the total deer to be tested to about 32,000 (Gary Fewless).

Very little snowfall is reported on the ground throughout Wisconsin, except in the far north.

Nov 23

Opening day of Wisconsin's (gun) deer hunting season. There is conscern that the deer herd is too large and that the number of hunters will be reduced because of fear of chronic wasting disease (CWD) (Gary Fewless).

Nov 17

Prairie pond on UWGB completely frozen again (it first froze Nov 1, but the ice melted a couple of days later). [it melted again subsequently--see 11/26]

Nov 16

Stiff goldenrod (Solidago rigida) still in bloom in parking lot islands; tamaracks (Larix laricina) still holding on to needles, Barkhausen Waterfowl Preserve, Brown County (Matt Welter).

Strong, but brief snow flurries during the day, and enough snow in the night and into the next morning to leave lawns white on the morning of the 17th, City of Green Bay (Gary Fewless).

Nov 13

Several hundred ducks (mostly Mallards) are feeding along the Green Bay shoreline of the Cofrin Arboretum.

Many people have been seeing a Brant near the Fox River in the Depere area. The Brant is a small goose mostly associated with the ocean. Most of the life cycle is spent in the arctic, but they fly to southern Canada, the U.S.A. and even Mexico in November and leave for the arctic again in February. They are sufficiently uncommon here to attract numerous birders when they appear.

Nov 12

Most deciduous trees have lost their leaves (see view from the observation tower on UWGB's Cofrin Arboretum). The oak leaves (red oak on left, white oak on right) have turned brown for the most part, but many trees still retain them late into the winter.

Nov 11

Hermit thrush near railroad tracks, hanging out under a
flowering crab, between Broadway and the Neville Public Museum, Green Bay (Matt Welter).

Nov 10

Here's another late season viewing of an animal that is less commonly seen in the cold weather: red-bellied snake, Brown County.

Nov 09

Warmer, sunny days still bring out some "cold blooded" animals such as the painted turtles and mourning cloak butterfly noted Saturday at Door County's Peninsula State Park.

Monarch Butterfly heading south, east side of Green Bay (Steve Price)

Nov 08

The white fruits and bright red stalks of gray dogwood (Cornus racemosa) are very conspicuous now in the Green Bay area.

Nov 07

Warmer weather returns to the Green Bay area. Today's high was 54 F (the average high is 47).

Nov 04

First returning Tree Sparrows of the season , Waushara County (Andy Paulios). Tree sparrows spend the summer in the far north and for some of them, we are the "south" that they retreat to in winter.

Nov 03

There is still some good leaf color in the oak forests, as seen here in the northern unit of the Kettle Moraine State Forest.

Every year in the Green Bay area there is a period in which the numerous common milkweed plant fruits ("pods") split open and disperse large numbers of the familiar air born seeds. That period is now underway (Gary Fewless).

Nov 02

A little warmer today, but shallow ponds and still water remained lightly frozen over most of the area (Gary Fewless).

Nov 01

We reached a new low temperature for the season, with the Green Bay reaching 23F and Rhinelander down to 17F at 7 this morning. There were still a few New England asters (Aster novae-angliae)and panicled asters (Aster lanceolatus) in flower in sheltered spots on UWGB (Gary Fewless)..

The Prairie Pond froze overnight on UWGB's Cofrin Arboretum. Usually it freezes about mid November, although last year it did not freeze (and stay frozen) until 12/18! It remains to be seen if it will stay frozen now (Gary Fewless).

The biggest dropping of tree leaves of the season in the Green Bay area occurred in the last 48 hours, resulting from the recent cold temperatures and gusty winds.