A Northwoods Almanac for 12/9/16

A Northwoods Almanac for 12/9 – 22, 2016  

Swimming Eagle

            I recently saw a video of a bald eagle swimming to shore, rowing with its wings quite effortlessly while carrying a large fish in its talons. This is an uncommon but not rare sight in the Northwoods. And I’ve believed for years that the reason eagles occasionally swim is that they’re unable to release prey from their talons unless they can push against something solid. An eagle thus is resigned to swimming to shore if it latches onto too large a fish and it get can’t airborne.

Turns out I’ve been wrong.

I contacted Marge Gibson at the Raptor Education Group in Antigo, because if anyone would know the truth on this, it would be Marge. Marge has worked in the rehabilitation of injured eagles for over 30 years. She was the lead biologist called into the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska to rehab bald eagles impacted by the spill. Since then (and well before), she has rehabbed and released many hundreds of eagles brought to her in varying states of illness and/or injury.

This is what she said:

“The talons hold tightly, but they can let go. Often the eagle just does not want to and that can be a problem. Problems also occur when the talons get caught up in the fish spine or other bony parts of the fish, and the eagle’s foot is basically trapped/caught up in the fish, not just hanging onto it. 

“In both instances the eagle can drown and go down with the fish, but it does not happen often. In fact, I would say rarely. Usually the eagle swims to shore before it drowns.  

“There is a great deal of confusion about this.  Even rehabilitators and veterinarians sometimes think that if a raptor grabs onto something, including a human, it has to be killed in order for it to let go. That is wrong. 

“One thing that is poorly understood by the public is bald eagles can swim and swim well – very well. It would be kind of odd for a bird that fishes to be unable to swim, but people do believe that they cannot. Lots of poorly understood myth and legend.”

Raptor Education Group

            The Raptor Education Group does exceptional rehabilitation work on all birds. In checking their website recently, I noted that Marge had treated a critically ill female bald eagle suffering from severe lead poisoning on 10/19, and treated another adult bald eagle a week earlier that was also suffering from lead poisoning, as well as being hit by a car. Relative to the car injury, she noted, “Often birds suffering from a toxin that affects the brain and nervous system are exposed to other dangers before they come into our care.”

I contacted Marge for further information on lead poisoning. She wrote, “We have admitted seven bald eagles since the beginning of October with lead poisoning and some also had another type of poisoning, likely organophosphate, carbofuran pesticide type things. Many of the newer pesticides do not have biomarkers so we are unable to identify them. EPA stopped requiring a biomarker to be inserted so tests could be developed and we would be able to ‘find it’ in the environment or in an animal or in a human for that matter.” She added, “Another situation where big business won.” 

I recommend checking Marge’s blog at http://www.raptoreducationgroup.org/blog/ to understand the exceptional work that her group does, as well as to see what impacts we humans have via lead poisoning and rodent poisoning. I still find it unconscionable to not outlaw lead shot – how many more animals need to die before we do what is ethical?

Bald eagle with lead poisoning, photo by Mary Madsen

Don and Marge Gibson with rehabbed snowy owl

Sightings

We were graced on Thanksgiving Day with a flock of 30 bohemian waxwings eating crabapples just outside our window, all of which were easily visible as we ate our dinner. We’re also inundated with American goldfinches, and we continue to have one female cardinal.

As for other northern finches like pine and evening grosbeaks or pine siskins and common redpolls, they’ve yet to appear.

This isn’t unusual for early winter. Most finches prefer to feed on natural seed and fruit sources first, and when those are depleted, they wend their way to our feeders. 

Some northern finches have made their way into our area. Ryan Brady, a natural resources research scientist for the WDNR in Ashland, and the coordinator of Wisconsin’s Bird Conservation Initiative, noted last week that “The Northeast U.S. is experiencing a good finch flight so far this year. Wisconsin is at the west end of this movement. Northwoods birders are finding good diversity but modest numbers of most species. White-winged Crossbills and Common Redpolls seem most prevalent right now, though Red Crossbills (mostly Type 10's) are widespread and small numbers of Bohemian Waxwings, as well as both Pine and Evening Grosbeaks have been seen in far northern counties.”

Interestingly, very few snowy owls have been reported so far in Wisconsin. Last winter by this time, roughly 87 snowies had been tallied across 40 counties in Wisconsin. And in the previous winter of 2014-15, the statewide tally for snowy owls stood at 174 by mid-December.

Howard Peitsch in Minocqua reports that he has 100 goldfinches, as well as a dozen purple finches working over his feeders. Howard also was visited by a flock of about 30 bohemian waxwings on 11/25.

David Foster in Natural Lakes photographed a lone fox sparrow on 11/23 foraging on sunflower seeds below his deck. Fox sparrows migrating through our area spend their winter in Illinois and south.

Fox sparrow photo by Bev Engstrom

Conserve School

I spent the two afternoons last week teaching winter ecology at the Conserve School in Land O'Lakes. If you're not familiar with the school, it provides: “A semester-long immersion in environmental studies and outdoor activities which deepens students’ love of nature, reinforces their commitment to conservation, and equips them to take meaningful action as environmental stewards.”

 I've taught a class there every semester now for 8 or so years, and I always come home absolutely pumped about the extraordinary quality of the students, both intellectually and emotionally. If you have doubts about young folks taking care of this world, you need to spend some time with these students. And if you have a son/daughter or grandson/granddaughter, seriously consider sending them there for a semester. Not only is it exceptional, it's free (see www.conserveschool.org). 

One of the Conserve School classes

A Place Is A Space With A Story

The story of our area starts with winter, the ultimate limiting factor and lead actor in the life and death of most northern species. But woven all together, the individual stories of each species creates the larger epic novel we refer to as the Northwoods. I encourage you to try to uncover each species’ winter story, because every one of them is remarkable.

Two quotes come to mind that summarize the breadth and power of winter’s hand: Winter is a predictable kind of Armageddon, a calamity calmly weathered, an end of the world that they (wildlife) understand and are preparing for – Diane Kappel-Smith.

And: Winter is life played out on the anvil of ice and under the hammer of deprivation – Bernd Heinrich.

Shoreline Regulations and Fish

A recently published study entitled “A Fish Habitat Conservation Framework for Minnesota Lakes” (Peter C. Jacobson, Timothy K. Cross, Donna L. Dustin & Michael Duval, 2016) summarizes the impacts of shoreline and watershed development on fish habitat. One of their conclusions was that dock (i.e. development) density in excess of 10 docks/km of shoreline resulted in significant negative impacts on fish populations. That correlates to a density of one dock every 328 feet. This flies in the face of the Wisconsin legislature’s 100-foot minimum lot size which ended local authority and is now required in every county’s shoreland zoning.

Recommended Reading for Long Winter Nights

I recently purchased John Pastor’s new book, What Should a Clever Moose Eat: Natural History, Ecology, and the North Woods, and it was an excellent read. Pastor, a distinguished University of Minnesota-Duluth research ecologist, brings clarity to often complex ecological questions. He also leaves quite a few questions explored but unanswered, acknowledging that we still have a great deal to learn. It’s a challenging book, but well worth its many insights.

Also consider reading for a different perspective on plants The Hidden Life of Trees by Peter Wohlleben and What A Plant Knows: A Field Guide to the Senses by Daniel Chamovitz.

Thought for the Week

“Each species, to put the matter succinctly, is a masterpiece. It deserves that rank in the fullest sense: a creation assembled with extreme care by genius.” – E. O. Wilson