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.

May 2015
Leaves of trout lily and flower of Hepatica

Date

Observation (Click on links for photos)

May 13

First sighting of Eastern Tiger Swallowtail Papilio glaucus on the UWGB campus.

May 13

Red Admiral butterfly in UWGB’s Cofrin Arboretum. The wings are very worn, so this individual has probably been alive for a considerable time, but may have only recently arrived here.

Lilacs (Syringa vuklgaris) are at about peak flower in our area now.

May 12

The low temperature this morning in Green Bay was a chilly 39° F, and Rhinelander about 100 miles NNW reached 32° F.

May 11

Green Bay received 0.62 inches of much-needed rain today and much of northeastern Wisconsin had something in that general range.

May 10

It is still very dry in the Green Bay area, with only 0.22 inches of rain in the last 20 days. Rain is forecast for tomorrow.

May 9

Adult and young Canada Geese near a golf course pond, UW-Green Bay.

May 8

Local forest canopies are starting to "green up" and the understory is quite green now.

May 7

"Escaped" individuals of common apple (Malus pumila) are now flowering in the City of Green Bay area.

I had my first "wood ticks" (dog ticks) of the season today, in southern Marinette County. No mosquito bites yet.

May 5

We saw the first new Canada Goose goslings on our pond this morning, in Allouez. That is 6 days earlier than last year, which was very late by local standards. There is a photo of last years goslings for May 11, in the May 2014 page.

May 4

	The canopy of local forests is still quite bare as in the photo at left in UW-Green Bay's Cofrin Arboretum. However, there is considerable greening in young stands of box elder (Acer negundo) and quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides), and many horticultutral maples are also leafing out rapidly along city streets and yards.
	Baird Creek is reduced to a mere trickle by recent lack of rain--only about 0.65 inches in the last 24 days, and none of the rains were large enough to actually soak into the ground where the plants need it. The greatest single day amount was 0.27 inches, over 2 weeks ago.
	The first generation of new Robins are now emerging.
	Today was the first day I heard singing American Toads on UWGB's Prairie Pond.

May 2

Springtails are common in local ponds and many other sites in this season though they are often overlooked because they are so very small. They are small enough to literally walk on water, held up by surface tension.

May 1

The month of May begins with very dry conditions and very little leaf development in the forest canopy, although there is now rapid greening of the shrubs in the understory.