A Northwoods Almanac for December 23, 2011 – January 5, 2012
Common Loon Migration on the Web
Where do loons go in the winter, when do they leave, and what routes do they take? We are now receiving some very specific data to shed light on these questions, all because of periodic outbreaks of type-E botulism that have resulted in die-offs of fish and fish-eating birds in the Great Lakes. The physical and ecological factors that lead to the botulism outbreaks are poorly understood, but central to the question are the feeding patterns and the migratory routes of waterbird species such as common loons.
The Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center (UMESC) in La Crosse is conducting a study of these outbreaks through aerial surveys and by tracking migration movements of loons which are equipped with archival geo-locator tags and satellite transmitters.
As part of UMESC’s public education efforts, they’ve put up a marvelous website that shows the daily migratory movements of dozens of loons through the Midwest. Go to http://www.umesc.usgs.gov/terrestrial/migratory_birds/loons/migrations.html to see the rather stunning differences in the timing, distance, and locations of each loon’s migration.
Sightings - Ermine
Kay Rhyner observed from her kitchen window on Yawkey Lake in Hazelhurst a beautiful white ermine up in a tree. At first she thought "what a skinny-long white squirrel," but it was indeed an ermine. Kay noted that they have very few squirrels this winter, and she wondered if the ermine(s) might be the cause.
Indeed they could be. A 1999 study of least weasels showed that small rodents (mostly voles) constitute 41% of their diet in summer, and their winter diet is also predominantly small rodents. Weasels, however, are considered by some to be the fiercest predator pound-for-pound on earth, and are known to attack prey bigger than themselves. So, they eat squirrels, but it’s impossible to say if they’re the culprit at the Rhyner’s home.
More Sightings – Robins, Eagles, and “Wrong-way Charlie”
On 12/14, Wil Conway in Lac du Flambeau sent me a photo he had just taken of a robin, and wrote, “Think this fellow’s seasonal clock is off . . . at least he found a few berries to tide him over.”
On occasion, a robin will stay the winter up here, but why one would choose to remain says he’s not only off his seasonal clock – he’s off his rocker.
On 12/15, a birder reported seeing 274 bald eagles along the Mississippi River near Wabasha and Read's Landing. “Most of these were visible from the town of
Read's Landing . . . one small sandbar had over 60 eagles sitting on it,” he wrote.
The juvenile summer tanager I reported a month ago is still being seen in the Arbor Vitae area. One observer who has had the bird come to his feeders over the last few weeks wrote, “It's strange with Wrong-way Charlie (that's what we've nicknamed him, for obvious reasons.). He has shown up here every day since December 5th. However, some days he spends more time away than around our feeders and other days he seems to hang around most of the day. Some days he seems more skittish than others . . . some days he seems to tolerate us moving around inside our house more so than on others . . . Also, waking up from his nocturnal torpor seems more difficult some days than others. He was again somewhat unsteady and weak on our feeders. When it was somewhat warmer he took a full bath in our bird bath. However, he did this a day or two later when it was both colder and cloudy. Lately he's gotten in the habit of spending less time on our feeders and taking a nut, some suet, or small pieces of banana off to the branch of a nearby tree. So we're seeing changing, evolving patterns of behavior.”
If you’re unfamiliar with the winter range of summer tanagers, it’s from Central America to South America. So, “Wrong-way Charlie” is clearly not adapted to a northern winter, and it will be quite remarkable if he makes it to spring.
Christmas Bird Count
We conducted the 19th annual Audubon Christmas Bird Count in Manitowish Waters on 12/17, and if there was one word I could use to sum up our collective experience, I would say it was “quiet.” I don’t have the full numbers crunched yet, but I’d be surprised if we weren’t close to our all-time low number of individuals. Black-capped chickadees and both white-breasted and red-breasted nuthatches were plentiful, but after those three species, well, it was QUIET. I should add though that we don’t only measure the success of the count by the numbers we observe. We’re also out there for the array of other experiences we invariably have by simply spending the day outside.
But numbers are what most folks look at, so perhaps the most remarkable number for any species that day was the 22 trumpeter swans we saw on the Manitowish River just above Benson Lake. Numerous family groups with their respective young were obviously socializing together, and it will be interesting to see if they remain together this winter.
Van Vliet Hemlocks Land Acquisition
The Board of Commissioners of Public Lands (BCPL) recently approved the sale of 432.5 acres of Trust Lands in Vilas County – the Van Vliet Hemlocks – along with 984.27 acres of mostly wetland in Iron County to the WDNR. The Van Vliet Hemlocks parcel contains an old-growth, northern hardwood-hemlock forest, a significant rarity today. The parcel also comprises 9,435 feet of frontage on Van Vliet and Averill Lakes, and 6,135 feet on four other small lakes and ponds, all natural shoreline that will now be protected for fish spawning, loon nesting, and an array of other wildlife and floral benefits. The 220-acre Van Vliet Lake and 71-acree-Averill Lake support a fishery including muskie, northern pike, walleye, largemouth bass, and pan fish.
It’s certainly an irony that a state agency has to purchase land from another state agency. However, the BCPL is authorized to manage timberlands for income, whereas the DNR has the authority to set aside specific ecologically rare sites for scientific and educational purposes. Thus, when a higher management purpose than logging is perceived for a parcel, the BCPL needs to divest the land to the DNR. The money received by the BCPL is then used to purchase timber-producing lands that fit within their constitutional authorization.
It’s a win-win deal. The proceeds of these sales will be used by BCPL to acquire better timber and income-producing lands for the benefit of public schools. Since being granted “land bank” authority by the legislature in April 2006, the Board has sold 9,780 acres of land poorly suited for timber production or located within the boundaries of another government agency, and, in turn, the Board has purchased 8,611 acres of working forests. The benefits of these transactions include increased timber management efficiency, increased public access, reduced forest fragmentation, increased tax receipts for local municipalities, and the permanent protection of high-quality natural areas.
With these transactions, the BCPL has increased public access to Trust Lands by 16%, decreased non-income producing wetlands by 17%, and increased timber-producing lands by 10%. All Trust Lands are open for hunting, fishing, trapping, and recreation.
In the last 12 months, the BCPL has approved 148 loan applications totaling slightly more than $94.4 million. The loans can be made to municipalities and school districts for any public purpose. Earnings from this fund are distributed to K- 12 public school libraries annually – a total of $33.6 million in 2011.
Examples of the most recent BCPL approved loans include $375,000 to Crawford County to finance courthouse remodeling, $290,000 to the town of Vinland in Winnebago County to purchase a fire truck, $100,00 to Germantown School in Washington County to finance the razing of an old school building, and $240,000 to the Town of Dunn in Dane County to finance road reconstruction. These are nearly always job-making loans. A list of loans approved in the last twelve months can be found at: http://bcpl.wisconsin.gov/docview.asp?docid=22373&locid=145
Celestial Events
New moon occurs on 12/24.
Our days finally begin to grow longer on Christmas Day. However, for reasons beyond my astronomical understanding, for the next two weeks the days only grow longer because the sun sets later every day – sunrises are a completely different story. On 12/27, the sun rises at 7:40, and for the next 11 days, it will continue to rise at 7:40, finally breaking through its inertia and rising one minute earlier at 7:39 on January 8.
January 8, 2012, then, marks the first time since June 10, 2011, that the sun will rise earlier than the day before.
The peak Quadrantid meteor shower occurs in the predawn skies on Wednesday, Jan. 4. Typically, 60 or so bright and fast meteors per hour will radiate from the constellation Bootes, some blazing more than halfway across the sky. A small percentage of them leave persistent dust trains. This shower usually has a very sharp peak, lasting only about an hour. Look to the north-northeast an hour or so before dawn.
Past Columns
All my past columns are now posted on my blog, so if you miss one, just go to: http://manitowishriver.blogspot.com
A Christmas Thought
“When you see the earth from the moon, you don’t see any division there of nations or state. That is the country that we are going to be celebrating. And those are the people that we are one with.” – Joseph Campbell
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