The Nature of Phenology

Producers: Hazel Stark & Joe Horn
Host: Hazel Stark

Adult monarch butterflies seek out milkweed in particular to lay their eggs. Milkweed is a native species so named for the slightly toxic milky sap that oozes from the broken leaves or stems. This diet of milkweed, which the monarch caterpillars evolved to not be harmed by, is actually essential to their survival.

Photos, a full transcript, references, contact information, and more available at thenatureofphenology.wordpress.com.

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Producers: Hazel Stark & Joe Horn
Host: Hazel Stark

The chicken mushroom grows on hardwood trees, typically oak, all across North America. The brilliant sulphur yellow and orange of this shelf mushroom makes it easy to identify and it’s a delicious edible mushroom.

Photos, a full transcript, references, contact information, and more available at thenatureofphenology.wordpress.com.

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Producers: Hazel Stark & Joe Horn
Host: Hazel Stark

There truly are no words to capture the beauty and purity of this bird’s song. The notes are crisp yet wavering, sad and reflective yet untroubled. This song captures and conveys human feeling and human emotion across a barrier of fur and feather, beak and lips.

Photos, a full transcript, references, contact information, and more available at thenatureofphenology.wordpress.com.

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Producers: Hazel Stark & Joe Horn
Host: Hazel Stark

At high tide, this flowering plant is often submerged in saltwater, light purple blossoms swaying beneath the green sea. Sea lavender’s juicy, thick leaves have an important role in this task: they are specialized to be able to pump salt out of their tissues.

Photos, a full transcript, references, contact information, and more available at thenatureofphenology.wordpress.com.

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Producers: Hazel Stark & Joe Horn
Host: Hazel Stark

I’ve often heard it said that the wildness of lowbush blueberries make them far superior to highbush blueberries. But in truth, our lowbush blueberries are actually a diverse collection of species, and our highbush blueberries are as wildly Maine as pine trees and lobster.

Photos, a full transcript, references, contact information, and more available at thenatureofphenology.wordpress.com.

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Producers: Hazel Stark & Joe Horn
Host: Hazel Stark

Deer flies lay their eggs in or around water where they will hatch and the young larvae will grow up eating decomposing organic matter. When they emerge as adults the males tend to feast exclusively on fruit and nectar, but the females—compelled by the increased metabolic demands of motherhood—look for energy dense food in the form of blood, and fresh blood at that.

Photos, a full transcript, references, contact information, and more available at thenatureofphenology.wordpress.com

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Producers: Hazel Stark & Joe Horn
Host: Hazel Stark

Because evening primrose grows in places we usually associate with non-native weeds, it is a plant that is often overlooked. But this native biennial is one of our many local treasures that should be appreciated wherever you find it.

Photos, a full transcript, references, contact information, and more available at thenatureofphenology.wordpress.com

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Producers: Hazel Stark & Joe Horn
Host: Hazel Stark

Loon chicks are hatching now, so your lake explorations might be rewarded with the sight of a fluffy, charcoal gray loon chick riding its swimming parent’s back. While loons have had millions of years to adapt to life on and in the water, they have not had as long to adapt to the loud noises of fireworks.

Photos, a full transcript, references, contact information, and more available at thenatureofphenology.wordpress.com.

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