Winter phenology

Go to phenology of:   Spring    Summer   Fall   Special Events

Here's a very basic sampling of the kinds of natural events you can observe as you visit the Lakeshore Nature Preserve in the winter. Please use these suggestions as a starting place for investigations of your own. Once you've started experiencing the world through the eyes of a phenologist, you'll be amazed at the things you suddenly see that you've somehow never noticed before!

Although many animals are hard to see during the winter months, it is actually much easier to trace their comings and goings when there is snow on the ground than at other times of the year. Watch for tracks!
A few birds don't ever migrate but are here to observe all through the cold months of the year. Look closely and you'll find them. Chickadees and cardinals are here all winter long.
We can't easily show a photograph of it, but it's among the most striking phenological events of the winter months. Watch the night sky to see the return of Orion, among the most easily recognized constellations of the northern hemisphere. The great hunter is visible in the nighttime sky of the Preserve from December through March.
Watch closely to see if you can figure out the date when Lake Mendota finally freezes over. The historic mean date is December 20, but this event has been happening later every year, probably because of changes in the climate.
Some of the most dramatic ice formations that occur each year in the Preserve can be found on the cliffs by Raymer's Cove. Be sure to look for them!
We can't show a photograph of this, of course, but one of the eeriest sounds of the winter months is the sound of the ice on Lake Mendota shifting its position from time to time. If you hear odd sounds while out on Picnic Point or walking the Lakeshore Path, ask yourself if you might be hearing Lake Mendota talking.
One of the more intriguing phenological events that happens every year during the winter months is the appearance of a pressure ridge in the ice of Lake Mendota that typically runs from somewhere in University Bay across the lake toward the east. Something about the shape of the lake basin and the fact that water expands in volume when it freezes forces the appearance of a ridge at this location every year. But if you walk out to examine the ridge, please be careful…there's often open water beneath it.
It's not exactly a natural event…but maybe in fact it is. Certainly it's one of Wisconsin's most distinctive cultural traditions, and if you describe it to friends in other parts of the country, there's a good chance they'll think you're pulling their legs. When you see little groups of people huddled over holes in Lake Mendota's ice during the coldest months of the winter, ask yourself whether you care enough about fishing to do it by dropping your line through a hole in the ice.
Cardinals spend the winter in the Preserve, so you can look for their stunning red color against the snow even when few other birds are visible. Listen for their songs in February when they begin establishing their spring breeding territories.

Photo credits:

All photos: Glenda Denniston except
Orion, NASA photo collection