A Northwoods Almanac for June 28 – July 11, 2019 by John Bates
Sightings
6/10: Kent Dahlgren in Presque Isle sent a photo of a pair of trumpeter swans with their seven chicks.
6/16: I was sent a photograph of a mink carrying a great blue heron chick from a rookery nest in Wausau, and this was the second chick it had carried down. I’ve never heard of mink climbing trees and taking heron chicks before! Bruce Bacon, retired wildlife manager in Mercer, says that minks do climb trees, and that they are known to raid wood duck boxes.
6/20: Highbush cranberries and pagoda dogwoods are in flower around our home, and blue flag irises are now in flower along wet edges.
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| pagoda dogwood |
6/21: Jennifer Heitz sent a photo of a red-headed woodpecker that has been frequenting their peanut feeder every few days. She noted, “We haven't seen one since we lived on Upper Gresham Lake more than 25 y ears ago! What a treat!” More and more people seem to be seeing red-headed woodpeckers in our area – perhaps this is a trend?
6/23: We have purple finch and pine siskin fledglings visiting our feeders and begging for food from their parents. Some of the young are downright fat, but still chase the adults around to be fed rather than feeding themselves. This is common among songbirds. When chicks fledge, they are typically still fed for several weeks by the adults.
6/25: The dawn bird song choir is rapidly diminishing and will be all but gone in July, but every morning we still hear a male catbird singing his heart out at the top of a dead black ash tree near our bedroom window.
CCL
On 6/12,I paddled a section of the Manitowish River with a group of high-school students from the Chicago area who are participants in the Center for Conservation Leadership (CCL). The CCL students spend three weeks hiking, canoeing, and learning hands-on about conservation from scientists, naturalists, and land and water managers, culminating in a three-day camping trip in the Porcupine Mountains. On their return home, they then begin a stewardship program in their own community over the course of the school year.
The moment I recall best from paddling with these students was when I asked two of the young men how they were doing, and both remarked how quiet it was and how calm they felt. They said we’d been paddling for over an hour but it only felt like five minutes.
I loved that – the river was working its way into their hearts.
Wetlands Hike
On 6/18, I participated in a series of hikes into wetlands in the Springstead area of Iron County, a program put-on by the Northwoods Land Trust and co-sponsored by ICORE (Iron County Outdoor Recreation Enthusiasts). Led by Tom Jerow, retired WDNR water specialist, and Ron Eckstein, retired wildlife biologist, we visited four different wetland habitats: an ephemeral/vernal pond, an open bog, a sedge meadow, and an alder/shrub complex where Springstead Creek runs out of Upper Springstead Lake.
While some classification systems divide the state’s wetlands into over 30 types, the Wisconsin Wetlands Association makes it a bit easier by only categorizing 12 different types. The typing is based on hydrology (the timing, frequency, and amount of water), soil type, and the plant life the site supports.
One differentiation that always confuses folks is between a bog and a fen. A bog receives its water from rainfall and snowmelt, and its soil is acidic and very low in nutrients. A fen occurs where springs bring groundwater to the surface, and it’s usually more basic in ph and more nutrient-rich.
Whatever the classifications, we had a great time exploring these wetlands that were all within a mile or so of one another. Bug dope was helpful as well, but once we were out on the more open wetlands, the wind took care of them.
Peter Annin Talk – Great Lakes Water Wars
Peter Annin, author of The Great Lakes Water Wars, came out in 2018 with an updated second edition of his book and remains exceptionally busy speaking around the country on how the 20thcentury was the age of oil, and the 21stcentury is becoming the age of water. Conflicts over water will escalate rapidly throughout this century and throughout the world. The Mercer Library and ICORE invited Peter to Mercer to give a talk on 6/24, and over 50 people attended, a great turnout in our tiny community. Limited column space prevents a lengthy summary of his talk, so I simply recommend getting the book – it’s an eye opener.
Impacts of European Diseases on Populations and the Impact on Earth Temperatures
The number of people living in North, Central and South America when Columbus arrived is a question that researchers have been trying to answer for decades, but unlike Europe and China, no records exist on the size of the indigenous societies in the Americas before 1492.
A recently published paper in Quaternary Science Reviews, “Earth System Impacts of the European Arrival and Great Dying in the Americas after 1492,” written by four geographers from the University College of London, is the closest thing we now have to an “answer.” The researchers estimated the pre-contact population for North America (U.S. and Canada)in 1492 to be between 2.8 and 5.7 million based on archaeological evidence, tribe-by-tribe counts and environmental carrying capacities.
However, for the entire Western Hemisphere (South America, Central America, and North America), they estimated a much higher total population of 60.5 million (a range of 44.8 to 78.2 million).That would have been about 10 percent of the world’s population at that time, and the cities in the Americas would have been among the most populous on the planet. For comparison, Europe’s population in the early days of the Renaissanceat the time was 70 to 88 million spread over less than half the area.
In the century following European contact, a tragedy of epic proportion occurred. 55 million indigenous people (90% of the total population) are estimated to have died primarily from infectious diseases for which they had no immunity, like smallpox, influenza, the bubonic plague and measles. In the aftermath of the diseases, warfare, famine and colonial atrocities did the rest.
Indigenous America’s populations were thus reduced to 5 to 6 million people, a period that is called “The Great Dying,” making the Great Dying the largest human mortality event ever in proportion to the global population.
But that’s just part of the story – here’s another part, and just one of the consequences. The Great Dying of the Indigenous Peoples of the Americas would logically have had global impacts on the Earth as a result of the abandonment of the cleared land that had supported all those people. About 62 million hectares (149 million acres)of land, or about 10% of the landmass of the Americas, are estimated to have been farmed or were under other human use when Columbus arrived. For comparison, in Europe 23% had been used by humans at the time, and in China, 20% of land.
From that base, the researchers concluded that 56 million hectares (134 million acres) of cleared land that had once been used mostly to grow food now grew up into forests. And since tree growth converts atmospheric carbon dioxide into leaves, branches, and tree trunks, this resulted in a massive uptake of terrestrial carbon. This unprecedented reforestation event in the Americas led to a reduction of 5 parts per million CO₂from the atmosphere, which, the researchers theorize, resulted in lowered global surface air temperatures.
Enough CO₂was removed from the atmosphere that it contributed to the coldest part of what’s known as the “Little Ice Age,”and likely explains the drop in CO₂in 1610 that is seen in Antarctic ice cores. During this period, severe winters and cold summers caused famines and rebellions from Europe to Japan.
Of course, scientific controversy is swirling regarding this theory, but it offers at least a partial solution to the enigma of why the whole planet cooled between 1600 and 1800, the height of the Little Ice Age.
Celestial Events
For planet-watching in July, look early in the month after dusk for Mercury low in the west-northwest, Mars very low in the southwest also early in the month, Saturn in the southeast, and Jupiter in the south-southeast. Before dawn, Saturn can be seen low in the southwest.
The days are now growing shorter by one minute every day, and by July 13, two minutes shorter every day.
The new moon occurs on 7/2, and if you’re up for an adventure, travel to South America where you’ll be able to see a total solar eclipse. 7/2 also marks the mid-point of our year.
Look after dusk on 7/3 for Mars just below the waxing sliver moon.
On July 4, the Earth will be at aphelion, the farthest it will be from the sun this year – 94.5 million miles.
Fireworks
And, oh yes, just for the record, fireworks and wildlife don’t mix. Nor do they mix with all of us who own dogs.
Thought for the Week
Once upon a time . . . there was the simple understanding that to sing at dawn and to sing at dusk was to heal the world through joy. The birds still remember what we have forgotten, that the world is meant to be celebrated. Terry Tempest Williams
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