Last October's Journal Gives A Hint Of What's Ahead The black wing veins of the female monarch butterfly are wide. Everyone must have various so-called disciplines that they religiously practice each day of their lives. The one that I look forward to is recording observances in my nature journal, and it’s so easy to do. We buy 8 ½ by 11-inch white card stock that comes in 250-count packages. These I cut in half thereby making my recording cards 5 ½ by 8 ½ inches. One pack of these cards lasts a long time. I use black waterproof ink and record my daily sightings in nature including wildflowers and weeds in bloom, trees and shrubs and their fruiting, seed production and leaf color change, birds seen, their nesting success, arrival and departure times, mammal observations, butterflies and other insects, mushrooms, progress in our garden, weather information, etc. A lot of information can be included on three of these cards for a month, my usual number. The cards are then filed by month, enabling me to easily check back to learn what nature was like in previous years. Male monarch butterfly wing veins are thin and have a black scent scale spot on each hind wing. Here are some of the more interesting observations on my "Nature Phenology – October 2002" cards. The first dark-eyed juncos arrived at our graveled driveway on the 2nd. Double-crested cormorants are still in the county and chicory and butter and eggs are still blooming along some roadsides. Several robins and eastern bluebirds entertained us on the 3rd as we worked in the garden. Two white-throated sparrows showed up at our feeders on the 4th during what amounted to a 1.7" rain – very welcome. Three turkey vultures flew over the front yard at 6:20 p.m. Very little leaf-color change was evident by the 5th as observed on our way to a home in the woods near Sister Bay to photograph an enormous cluster of sulphur shelf mushrooms on a northern red oak tree. The colony was at least four feet from top to bottom, a spectacular specimen. Several monarch butterflies were on the wing today and a yellow-rumped warbler was at the bird-bath at supper-time. The lichens and fungi at the Point were spectacular, as so often is the case during this month. A very blustery rain on the 6th had the leaves of the basswoods and the sugar maple seeds flying. Feeders today were quiet with only a few white-throated sparrows, doves, chickadees and white-breasted nuthatches. It was 37 degrees F. at dawn on the 7th and one jay, a skunk, cottontail, 12 juncos, one fox sparrow, several yellow-rumped warblers, a redstart and a Nashville warbler entertained us during breakfast. One of the largest flocks of sandhill cranes we’ve seen here, 52 of them, fed, called and displayed toward the west of our land on Lautenbach’s big field. This has become a very dependable staging and feeding area during this month for these magnificent birds. We went with friends on the 10th to Wausau to see the famous "Birds In Art" show, unquestionably the finest bird art show in the world that is featured there every fall. This is one annual event we don’t miss. On the way we stopped at the wonderful Navarino Wildlife Area where we saw many sandhill cranes and one bald eagle. We saw our last monarch butterfly of the month today. (Note: So many of the monarchs we have been seeing this fall are females as told by their wide black win g veins. The males’ wing veins are much narrower. ) A hazy pleasant morning greeted us on the 11th, a good day for working in the garden where we saw a sulphur butterfly. That night we went to Kaukauna to hear David Mech, the famous timber wolf expert, talk about his life’s work with these great creatures. I had met him on Isle Royale during the summer of 1958 so we had pleasant memories to talk about. Spotted knapweed, harebells, chicory, Queen Anne’s lace and several kinds of asters were still in good bloom on the 12th. A 31-degree brisk windy dawn and very quiet feeders greeted us on the 14th. It was down to 30 degrees F. on the 16th (15 degrees in Rhinelander today!) as we cleaned flower beds, worked in the garden, saw a sulphur butterfly, many juncos, white-throats and one immature white-crowned sparrow. The first fox sparrow of the fall showed up on the 17th, one of our favorites. We dug some of our garden carrots on the 20th and saw an increasing number of juncos. The temperature was falling steadily on the morning of the 21st and some light snow fell before the end of the day. All trails were checked at the Point. Birds we saw included the blue jay, hairy woodpecker, mourning doves, juncos, fox sparrow and goldfinch. The last of the carrots were dug on the 23rd, and several juncos and yellow-rumped warblers bathed at noon with the temperature barely above freezing. A chipmunk spent much time at the cracked corn on the driveway, filling his cheeks to capacity and scampering off to his burrow with his "cache" crop. There was still very poor tree color by the 25th and, strangely, many leaves still were clinging to the trees. A ruffed grouse was drumming to the southeast of the house this morning and the white ash trees had lost around 90% of their leaves. The basswoods were just about naked on the 26th and the tamaracks were just beginning to turn gold. There was a very steady leaf drop all day. Some cold-weather moths were at the kitchen windows tonight, the 27th. Earlier I photographed over 500 giant Canada geese and three sandhill cranes on our neighbor’s field. At least 50 common grackles joined other birds in our front yard on the 28th, a few sulphur butterflies were at the garden and some snow geese were seen in with come Canada geese. An immature red-headed woodpecker was at the feeders on the 29th, and the first tree sparrows of the fall arrived today, a full work- day at the Point. Our Friends of Toft Point did a great job with lots of important work accomplished. It was 36 degrees, overcast and calm on the 30th, a good bird feeder day with many juncos, a few fox sparrows, white-throats, jays, at least 20 doves, chickadees, white-breasted nuthatches, red-headed, red-bellied, hairy and downy woodpeckers, and one chipmunk. The morning of the 31st was damp, overcast and quiet at the feeders. I worked at the computer all day on my Wisconsin Breeding Bird Atlas assignment. We especially enjoyed close looks at the fox sparrows at noon and how their strong beaks easily crush, chew and extract the meat from sunflower seeds. There still are a few front yard annual flowers in bloom such as snapdragons (the best), nasturtiums and ageratums – a beautiful day to end an interesting month. This column appeared in the Door County Advocate on 10/02/2003. © Copyright 2003 Roy Lukes. All rights reserved.