Get Outside

Ways to connect with nature

• Mallard Migration Mallard ducks are gathering at nearby lakes and ponds. You can’t miss the male’s distinctive bright green head.
• Make a Pie If you have a hankering for pecan pie, now is your time! Pecans are ripening and falling from trees.
• Southeast Region Fireside Tales Friday, Nov. 17 • 6–7:30 p.m. Cape Girardeau Conservation Nature Center, 2289 County Park Drive, Cape Girardeau, MO 63701 Registration required, call 573-290-5218 by Nov. 17 All ages Enjoy a hot beverage and sit around the fire as we spin stories about Missouri’s wildlife. Bring your own camp chair and a blanket for your lap.
• Comfort Food Time to put up your bird-feeding stations. Birds begin gathering at feeders this time of year.
• Scavenger Hunt Take a walk through the woods and scan the leafless trees for old bird nests and gray nests of bald-faced hornets.
• St. Louis Region Thankful for Trees Saturday, Nov. 4 • 10–11:30 a.m. Rockwoods Reservation 2751 Glencoe Road, Wildwood, MO 63038 Registration required, call 636-458-2236 by Nov. 3 Ages 5–12 Come learn why tree leaves change color in the fall as well as how animals use trees and fallen leaves to prepare for winter. We will also collect leaves and make leaf placemats. Please only register the children participating.
• Frost Flowers With the first hard frost of the season, look for flowerlike ribbons of ice on stems of dittany, stinkweed, and white crownbeard.
• Last Call Listen closely for the cricket’s final chirp of the season. Find more events in your area at mdc.mo.gov/events

Natural Events to See This Month

Here’s what’s going on in the natural world.

• Milkweed pods open Female black bears are in their winter dens
• Scaup and ring-necked duck populations peak
• Woodchucks are asleep in underground nests
• Hellbender eggs begin hatching