The scurs had the Weather Eye a little too warm last week to the point where it boiled over. A heat index of 115 is overrated. Are we set to begin our descent into fall or are we in for more sultry conditions first? Starting Wednesday, sunny with highs in the upper 70’s and lows in the low 60’s. Thursday, mostly sunny with a modest chance of an evening thunderstorm. Highs in the low 80’s with lows in the mid-60’s. Partly sunny on Friday with a modest chance of showers and thunderstorms. Highs in the low 80’s with lows in the mid-60’s. Saturday, mostly sunny with a slight chance of evening showers and thunderstorms. Highs in the low 80’s with lows in the low 60’s. Mostly cloudy on Sunday with a modest chance of a shower or thunderstorm. Highs in the low 80’s with lows in the mid 60’s. Monday, partly sunny with highs in the low 80’s and lows in the mid-60’s. Partly sunny for Tuesday with a slight possibility of showers and thunderstorms. Highs in the low 80’s with lows in the mid-60’s. On July 30th the sun will rise at 6 a.m. CDT., roughly the same time it did back on May 5th. The normal high for July 30th is 82 and the normal low is 61.
Corn was busy this last week, taking advantage of the heat, and many tassels were noticed as predicted in area fields. Unfortunately, Mother Nature decided to toss in more rainfall and damaging winds in places, so one more wart on what has been another challenging growing season thus far. Corn plants that have tasseled have more limited capacity to right themselves as root development is considered mostly complete once the plant reaches the reproductive stages. Soybeans too were benefitted by the heat with pod set starting in earnest in many fields. More flies in the ointment here however. Recent rainfall followed by cooler temperatures could mean conditions favorable for the development of white mold, particularly if cool wet conditions persist.
I watched recent local weather developments from elsewhere, namely Canada once again. When I left the ranch early Thursday morning, the feeling was that the potentially stormy weather was largely through the area. Aside from the Friday heat, heavy rains and high winds weren’t part of the equation, yet. Coming out of International Falls Thursday night, we were greeted by showers as we approached our destination. It was raining steady when we started to unload, which was a good omen. Mosquitoes really don’t like hanging out in a heavy downpour. If I have to choose between being a little wet or getting chewed by hordes of mosquitoes, I’ll take the former.
Friday was a nice day at the camp and Friday night we were treated to an overnight low of 55. As is frequently the case, it means somewhere else is bound to get popped when that cooler air collides with a hot steamy air mass such as that in Southern Minnesota. Saturday morning the radar to the south lit up like a Christmas tree and about all we could do was watch, hoping that the damage would be minimal. For the most part it was, although picking up the aftermath, sometimes it’s hard to remind yourself it always could’ve been worse.
This Canadian trip allowed me to get a little closer look at some of the birds that spend their summers in the forest. The white-throated sparrows that visit every spring at the ranch, then suddenly disappear about the time the orioles arrive, were the first to greet us when we unloaded. They, along with the chipping sparrows, are gregarious little birds, picking at the soil surface for seeds and perhaps small insects. While the white-throated sparrows may not be the same individual birds we see, they were still enjoyed nonetheless.
The hummingbirds were very busy at the two feeders under the eaves at the camp. One might think with two feeders there would be plenty of room for two hummingbirds. Not the case generally. When two show up it’s usually a lot of maneuvering to first chase off the other hummingbird, then spend some quality time on the feeder. This behavior repeats itself most of the day until well after sunset. No wonder they consume high energy food such as nectar and sugar water. It won’t be long either and we’ll begin to see some of them start to migrate through our area. They’ll need to refill their tiny fuel tanks as they move southward.
Before I left home last week I thought we had the corner on the mosquito market in South Central Minnesota. Once sundown came it was definitely time to get inside as they’d show up out of nowhere and begin attacking. Lately they’d been smaller mosquitoes, adept at getting up under the bill of your cap or anyplace else that wasn’t covered up — small in size but large on annoyance. I just thought they were annoying until grilling some lamb chops after sundown at camp Saturday night. When I started the grill there were individual mosquitoes searching for me. When the fire was ready and I came out of the grill to put the chops on the grill, I couldn’t believe it.
The earlier breeze had died down, so, as I approached the grill, I heard the loud hum of flying insects. I opened the cover with one hand and immediately the swarm of mosquitoes attacked from all points. I had all I could do to keep them out of my eyes and nose while putting the chops on the grate. Once done with that I quickly slammed the lid on the grill and ran back into the cabin. I needed to make a couple more trips: one to turn the chops and one to retrieve them. Both trips were done at a high rate of speed as the mosquitoes only got worse. Of course I brought some hitchhikers in with me, so we spent most of the evening and next day contending with them.
One always heard stories told of the Soviet era gulags in Siberia where they’d take nonconformists, strip them naked and allow the mosquitoes to perform their own brand of torture. While it may not have killed the prisoners outright, I’m pretty certain it probably wasn’t a positive. I’m guessing at the time it was probably an effective means of getting someone’s attention. I know they certainly got mine, comrade.
See you next week…real good then.