Notes from Ney: The Ney Nature Center Blog

Our Maple Syrup season is finally in full swing! After a rainy weekend and temperatures creating the perfect conditions for the sap to flow, we collected over 60 gallons of sap at the beginning of this week. Our very first sap boil of 2025 is just around the corner, and soon, we will have syrup to share with you all. Before then, we have another way that you are invited to participate in our Maple Syruping process. 

Many people can agree that drizzling pure maple syrup over a tower of warm pancakes is one of the best ways to start any morning. Although syrup is a commodity that we may take for granted, after learning all about how syrup is made, it is much easier to fully appreciate nature’s incredible gift. Our staff and volunteers who have helped make this syruping season possible, know exactly what it takes to put a finished bottle on the table. Here’s an overview: 

1. Back in August of 2024, when the trees still had their leaves, one staff and two volunteers walked our syruping trail to identify new Sugar Maple Trees to tap this season.
   
2. In January of 2025, four volunteers and Ney staff climbed our gravity lines to replace chewed on and old lines.
   
3. Across two different afternoons in February, two volunteers helped Ney staff officially start our syruping season by tapping the Maple trees in our gravity line system.
   
4. Shortly after tapping, staff and one volunteer pressure washed our collection tanks and bulk storage tanks.
   
5. For the next week, staff tapped trees along the syruping trail in the park, collecting any running sap as they went along.
   
6. After all the trees were tapped, staff and a few volunteers collected, measured, and stored sap. We have also had a couple opportunities to complete these steps with young learners visiting the park.
   
7. Another volunteer has helped staff prepare our cooking arch for another season of boiling sap.
   
8. Now, in the coming weeks, staff and additional volunteers will boil the sap, finish it in a smaller pan, filter it one last time, and finally, bottle it. 

Of course, Maple Syruping takes quite a great deal of effort. As always, we are very thankful for the hours and excitement our volunteers put into projects like this. Each step along the way brings us closer to nature, inspiring a deeper respect for what it provides.

While we certainly have a lot on our hands from all of the steps listed above, our staff has been thinking of ways to start our syruping process from the very beginning. After removing dead Ash trees from the pond loop at the beginning of this year, we identified that area as a great place to establish brand new Sugar Maple trees. Now, we are happy to invite you to help us make this very first step of the syruping process possible! 

At this year’s Tree Jamboree event held on Saturday, April 26th from 12:30 to 3:30pm, our staff will work together with the community to plant six new Sugar Maple Trees.

Since planting these trees, watching them grow, and enjoying their syrup is a process that we will all share across many generations, our staff is excited to invite you to further support the process by gifting a donation to cover the cost of these trees. Every donation, from $1 to $100, the full cost of one tree, adds to our ability to share syrup for generations to come. By gifting a donation of any amount and helping us plant the Maples at the Tree Jamboree, you can proudly say that you’ve played an active role in supporting the longevity of our syruping efforts. 

It is heartwarming to know that these trees will hold a special meaning to us and the members of our community. Thank you for your support and love of maple syrup!

As the weather gets warmer, we love seeing all of the visitors at the park, including our 4-legged friends! We know that it can be tempting to let your furry friend roam free of their leash to get some exercise, but we ask that you resist the temptation for the sake of the park. This simple action protects wildlife, maintains the natural beauty of the park, and ensures a safe and enjoyable experience for all visitors (including yourself!)

Protect Wildlife
Ney Nature Center is first and foremost a 446-acre nature preserve. Meaning that we prioritize the preservation of the park before our visitors or even our education programs. The park is home to all kinds of animals, from birds to deer, amphibians to reptiles. When dogs roam off-leash, they can unintentionally disturb or harm these animals by chasing them, disturbing nests, and trampling delicate habitats. By keeping your dog on a leash, you are helping us preserve the chance for wildlife to thrive in the park free of stress or disturbance.

Maintaining the Plants and Trails
Unleashed dogs are more likely to stray off designated trails than those on leash, damaging native plants and contributing to soil erosion (actually, you can do the same by going off-trail). Many parts of our park are carefully maintained by staff and volunteers to preserve specific species or the landscape. When we introduce a furry friend that is stepping on species, digging up dirt, or creating new trails themselves, that preservation work can be set back in its progress or destroyed entirely.

Courtesy for Other Park Guests
“No one else is here!” Well maybe not in the parking lot you are parked in or at the time you arrive, but people come and go frequently. Not all visitors are comfortable around dogs, event friendly ones. Some people have allergies, phobias, or simply prefer to enjoy the trails without being approached unexpectedly. That does not even include when other guests have their own dogs that may not be as friendly as yours. 

As someone who has had many reactive (non-friendly) dogs in my life, while your dog may be friendly, please keep in mind that other people’s dogs may not be. It only takes a split second of either dog feeling threatened or on edge for there to be an attack, and if even one dog isn’t leashed, it can be hard to separate them without getting hurt yourself. Protect yourself and your dog by putting them on a leash. 

Leash rules aren’t for fun, they are regulations for a reason. If you didn’t know why before, now you know! Just like you, we love seeing happy, panting dogs on hikes in the park, so help us continue to allow 4-legged guests by leashing up every time you are at Ney Nature Center. Protect wildlife, preserve plants and trails, and be courteous to other guests, all just by using a leash! A simple act with a big impact.

Where can you take your dog instead to run around? Check out the following nearby:
– Le Sueur Dog Park
– Belle Plaine Dog Park
– New Prague Dog Park
– Lonsdale Dog Park
– Saint Peter Dog Park
– Thompson Dog Park (Saint Peter)
– Sniffspot (Private Dog Park Rentals)

Emerald ash borer (EAB) is an invasive insect that has made its way through much of southeastern Minnesota, including the park here at Ney, and continues to spread across the state, killing as many ash trees as it can along the way. These invasive insects lay their eggs directly into the bark grooves of ash trees, so when the eggs hatch, the larvae immediately make their way under the bark to begin feeding. Emerald ash borers feed on the inner layer of the bark that allows the tree to transport water and nutrients, so when this cycle is disrupted, the tree begins to die. In their larval stage, EAB look like flat, white worms, growing to around 1 inch long. As an adult, these beetles can be identified by their iridescent green body and purple abdomen under the wings, growing to only about ½ inch long. 

One of the easiest ways to identify if an ash tree has been infested with the borer is by blonding on the bark. As the insect makes its way through the tree, the tree will begin to lose the outer layer of its bark, making it look like the bark is “blonding” or becoming lighter in color. If you look up close to the tree, however, you will be able to see that the bark of the tree is actually falling off. In some cases, when the tree has been infested with EAB for a long time or has died already, there will be no bark left along the trunk and branches. In this case, it can be easy to see another common sign of EAB infestation. Under the bark of an infested ash tree, you can often see the tunnels that the larvae feed their way through. These tunnels look like S-shaped galleries winding through the wood. When the bark is still intact, EAB infestation can also be identified by D-shaped exit holes in the bark, where the adult beetles emerge from. 

As the emerald ash borer makes its way through Ney’s park, more and more of our ash trees are dying and showing signs of infestation. To manage the spread of this invasive species, we have come up with a plan to identify all the infested ash trees along the trails and mark them for removal. Our removal process of these trees began last weekend, as a group of volunteers came out with their saws and began felling some of the dead ashes along the trails that could be in danger of falling across the path or could potentially become a safety threat to visitors. Though it’s never fun to see sick or dying trees get removed, the ash trees that are getting cut down in our park are still serving a beneficial purpose! Some trees will be chopped into firewood for our future use, and many others will be left along the trails and in the forests to serve as habitat space for other wildlife within the park.

There is still a lot of work to be done to manage the ash tree population at Ney, but we are always grateful for the work that volunteers help us with as we continue to implement management strategies to best serve the environment in our park!

With the cold temps this week, and the forecast showing warmer temps in the coming days, We are seeing all sorts of things in our winter birds.  We know that some people participated in the Great Backyard Bird Count this past weekend, and we of course hosted a Winter Bird Count here at the nature center back in December.  We are also experiencing the greatest influx of northern owls in almost 20 years this winter, drawing visitors from all over the world to MN to see these amazing birds.

Our Winter Bird COunt went well this year, despite the crummy weather.  For the second year in a row, we had drizzles and poor visibility for our count day.  Despite that, we had 47 people submit data on birds that they counted throughout the day.  A grand total of 4,153 birds from 51 species were seen (or heard, in the case of the owls) that day.  Thank you again to everyone who participated!!

If you are feeling adventurous and looking to see some interesting birds yet this winter, I suggest a drive north!  A record number of owls have come to MN from Canada in search of food this winter, making for some amazing opportunities.  This phenomenon, known as an irruption, happens during years when a lot of owlets survived fledging but the rodent population isn’t large enough to feed all of them.  This drives the owls south until they can find enough food to feed them.  While it is an amazing opportunity for us to see these elusive birds, it means that they are often stressed and hungry when they do arrive.  Their favorite food are small rodents called voles, though they will happily eat any available prey.

One of these wintery visitors is the Great Grey Owl.  The world’s largest owl by length, Great Greys are sometimes called Phantoms of the North.  They stand 24-33 inches tall, weigh 1.28-4.19 lbs, and have a wingspan of 4.5-5 feet wide.  They are, unfortunately, frequently hit by cars due to their tendency to fly low to the ground when hunting.  They are crepuscular hunters, most active at dusk and dawn.  This makes them particularly hard to see as they cross the roads in pursuit of a meal.  It is a major problem, unfortunately.  Luckily, with the amount of news coverage that this irruption has garnered, the general public is more aware of the risk to these birds than in the average year.

Another frequent visitor during irruptions is the Northern Hawk owl.  These owls tend to perch at the very top of trees and are active only during the day.  They are small, measuring 14.2-17.6 inches tall, weigh about 11 oz, and have wingspans of about 18 inches.  These owls are often said to fly and behave more like hawks than owls, possibly due to their diurnal nature.  The flat head with black borders of the face makes them a very distinct looking owl. I enjoy seeing Northern Hawk Owls just as much as I enjoy seeing Great Grey Owls.  They have made for an exciting winter birding experience!

I hope that you have had a chance to enjoy some of the amazing birds that overwinter in our beautiful state.  Stay warm, and hang on for the warmer temps that are coming our way!

None of the photos used were altered from their original format.

You may have seen mysterious vein-like tendrils in the snow before, do you know what they are? Roots covered by snow? Perhaps a symbol left by aliens? 

While some lumps are just snow-covered objects on the ground, these pathways are left by small mammals like mice and voles as they hunt for food in the winter! When conditions allow, they will move throughout the subnivean zone, the space between the ground and the snowpack above. As the snow must be thicker to allow for a roomy subnivean zone to form, we usually don’t see the world they create under the snow until it melts. As the ground holds heat, when it gets covered by a layer of snow, the snow closest to the earth begins to melt, evaporating and condensing to create a space with an icy ceiling and bare ground.

So how are these tiny mammals surviving in the Subnivean zone through very chilly winters? Let’s begin with the conditions they are living in. If you have ever been inside a snow fort or quinzee, you may have noticed that snow can serve as insulation from the cold and wind. The Subnivean zone is very similar, insulated by the layer of snow above it, and the ground below. So while it may be -30 degrees Fahrenheit above the snow, below the snow (once it reaches about 6″) it sits very near 32 degrees consistently. Don’t get me wrong… this is still chilly, but wouldn’t we all choose 32 degrees over anything negative?

How all living things survive the winter can generally be sorted into two categories of adaptation, behavioral and physical. Migration is a behavioral adaptation that allows those animals to avoid the cold altogether, and hibernation is a blend of physical and behavioral. The behavioral adaptations are preparations like eating more and finding a safe space to hibernate, and the physical adaptation is their body’s ability to slow down their heartbeat and metabolism to a rate that allows them to exist in that state for months. So, again, we ask “How do these tiny mammals do it?”

Behavioral AND physical adaptations! There is plenty of food still available beneath the snow in the winter for mice and voles, like seeds, leaves, roots, and bark. Behavioral adaptations include using the subnivean layer to search for food and being, in general, much less active than in warmer months. Physical adaptations allow mice and voles to slow their metabolism and heart rate for shorter periods than hibernation in the case of extreme cold or lack of food. This adaptation is called torpor, and many animals use it as a way to survive adverse conditions, including hummingbirds, skunks, and squirrels. If you’ve ever heard of non-native green iguanas falling from trees when it gets cold in Florida, torpor is why! It is just too chilly for them and their bodies are trying to cope.

With all of that cover, they must be safer too! Right? Well just as they have adapted, their predators have too. Red and grey foxes, as well as coyotes, are excellent predators in the snow with their skilled hearing and smell. In addition, Minnesota has seen an irruption of owls in 2025 and these predators have keen hearing that allows them to hear under thick snow! Their ears are asymmetrical, allowing them to pinpoint the direction sound is coming from with incredible accuracy. 

Now when you see the evidence of life in the subnivean zone, share with a friend what you know! And if you want to learn more, there is a great article by Ellen Horowitz for Montana Outdoors that has some fabulous photos and in-depth information. For kids, we recommend the Wild Kratts episode called “Journey to the Subnivean Zone” (26th episode of season 2).