A Northwoods Almanac for 9/18/20

 A Northwoods Almanac For 9/18 - 10/1, 2020  by John Bates

 

Goldfinch Chicks 

Adult goldfinches were still feeding chicks as of 9/10, at least in Manitowish where we watched out our window as two chicks on a nearby branch begged a male goldfinch to give them sunflowers seeds from one of our hanging feeders. 

Goldfinches are one of the latest breeders of all of our songbirds, normally waiting to nest until early July, but some procrastinate until mid-August. During the first Wisconsin breeding bird atlas, the latest Wisconsin nest observed with eggs was found on 8/25, although in Ontario, the latest date birders there have recorded is September 24.

The young fledge in about 12 days, but then they remain dependent on their parents to feed them for about three weeks. We watched as the adult male regurgitated sunflower seeds into the mouths of the very vocal chicks. For goldfinch chicks, all food is provided in the form of a sticky mass regurgitated by the parents, which while effective, is not as lovely as watching a cedar waxwing pass a serviceberry to its mate.  

Why goldfinches choose to nest so late in the summer isn’t well understood, but some research has indicated that the downy seeds of thistles are an important nesting material. Since thistles don’t flower until mid-July, goldfinches are relegated to nesting after most songbirds have long ago fledged their young.

Most pairs have time to produce only one brood in a season, although experienced breeders frequently produce two broods if eggs are laid early and the first brood is successful. To permit such second nestings, the female abandons her first brood to her mate, and then leaves to find another mate.

Many northern populations migrate, with the occurrence and extent of migration varying by sex, age, and latitude. So, unless you have banded goldfinches at your feeders, there’s no way to know if “your” pair(s) have remained the winter, or whether some northern birds have come south and found your sunflower seeds to their liking. 

 

Moose!

On 9/9, Sharon Cook spotted a bull moose crossing Hwy. 51 about two miles southeast of Manitowish. Young male moose are well-known for taking long walk-abouts in the fall, apparently out exploring the wide world and perhaps hoping to find a female partner. So, likely that was what this was about, but no matter - given their rarity in our area, they’re always amazing to see!

Our Wisconsin DNR doesn’t conduct any research or management of moose, but they do collect the reports they receive of moose from observers. Researchers writing in an article in the scientific journal “The American Midland Naturalist” (Feb. 2020) analyzed the reports and described the current status of moose in northern Wisconsin. The WDNR had collected data from January 1991 to December 2017 from reports of moose through multiple methods, including in-person reporting at WDNR offices, phone calls, e-mails, and online through a large mammal observation form. Each report was verified by WDNR staff, and the county and year of the observation was recorded in a database. Since 2012, likely double-counted moose observations were eliminated given that moose are easy to identify by their unique size and appearance.  

The WDNR documented 762 total moose observations by citizens from 1991–2017, with a mean of 28.2 moose observations/year. There was a total of 36 observations of calves (singlet or twins), but the observations did not include the estimated age of the calves (i.e., young of the year or yearling). Calf observations occurred in 21 of the 27 years, with a maximum of three in 2002, 2009, and 2012. 

Where are these moose coming from? Northern Wisconsin shares with northern Minnesota and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan the southern limit of moose distribution in the U.S., but our numbers are much lower than our state neighbors. The moose population in Minnesota was over 8,000, but has declined since 2006 by more than half to an estimated 3,150, and currently has a distribution limited to the far northeast. In contrast, 59 moose were re-introduced to the U.P. in the late 1980s, and surveys indicate the population has grown to approximately 400 individuals with a stable distribution.

The researchers suggest that the proximity to Michigan and Minnesota has had the greatest effect on the probability of moose occurrence in Wisconsin. Basically, moose wander down out of Minnesota and the U.P. and into our state, though they found evidence that the effect of proximity to Minnesota has diminished over time.                

The factors likely regulating Wisconsin’s moose populations include forage availability, disease, and warming temperatures. Moose require large areas (about 36 square miles) composed of shrub, wetland, deciduous mix, and conifers for sustainable populations. However, even where habitat is sufficient, the effects of brain worm (meningeal worm Parelaphostrongylus tenuis) carried by white-tailed deer cause moose mortality. So, where we have better winter deer survival due in part to warming temperatures, and thus high deer abundance, the transmission rate of the disease typically increases. The natural southern limit of moose is believed to be climate-mediated, and heat stress on moose may have a cumulative effect on moose survival.

However, the researchers caution that despite ongoing research, it is currently unknown how these factors affect moose distribution in Wisconsin. They call for future research to consider the relationship between disease transmission and environments favorable to moose, deer, and gastropods (the intermediate host of the brain worm). 

 

Other Sightings

Leaves on shoreland and wetland trees, like silver maples, have colored-up quickly because they are stressed by continuing high waters. However, most upland trees, at least as of this writing on 9/14, are relatively unchanged.

Our first hard frost in Manitowish occurred on 9/10, though many places around the Northwoods have yet to frost. Insects are, of course, extremely vulnerable to frost, but a few species are capable of surviving our winters. The following butterflies hibernate through the winter, finding shelter in wood piles, beneath loose bark, or in hollow trees or logs: Compton and Milbert's tortoiseshell (the tortoiseshell butterflies often hibernate in groups and may even congregate in sheds or outbuildings for shelter), eastern comma, gray comma, mourning cloak, and question mark.

Snapping turtles have been hatching out in the last week.  Art Foulke sent a photo of one and noted, “Found on our walk this snapping turtle along with at least 15 others trying to cross the road to the creek. Two did make it and the rest either got ran over or simply died trying to get to the creek.”

            Tim Kroeff in the Hazelhurst area sent this note: “Pretty good number of nighthawks the last few nights. Thursday, 9/10, they were much higher in altitude and seemed to be going through in flocks. The last two nights, some kind of hatch was going on and they were much lower, some dodging me at less than 10 feet while I was fishing. Could actually hear their wings when they were weaving to catch bugs. They must eat an incredible number!”

            On 9/11, Mary, Callie, and I camped at Imp Lake near Watersmeet, MI, where we hiked the beautiful 1.5-mile-long Imp Lake trail through a mature hemlock-hardwood forest. We took well over two hours to cover the trail, going slow, poking around, and trying to identify various mushrooms and other flora. Highlights include finding bird’s nest fungi, a tiny fungi that is best identified by the appearance of a brown, gray, or white outer “nest”, with brown or white “eggs” inside. The “eggs” are actually spore-containing structures that rest inside the ¼ inch diameter cup-shaped fruiting body. When it rains, the “eggs” are splashed out of the “cups” and can travel four feet or more before sticking to another object. Then when the “egg” dries, it splits open releasing fungal spores. Amazing!

Ostrich ferns were full-grown along many areas of the trail, their unique dark brown fertile fronds rising from the center of the vase of leaves.

            And we were required to poke some wolf’s milk slime mold, as well as delight in popping the seedpods of spotted touch-me-not (jewelweed) because no matter how old we get, we still can’t contain our inner junior high. 

            

Seek (and you shall find)

            I had heard of the iNaturalist app for several years, but I had never tried it until this week, and I was quite impressed! The Seek program within iNaturalist allows you to use your cell phone to photograph a species of plant, insect, bird, et al, and then ask it to identify the species. While it struggles to ID species that are often complicated to identify, like mushrooms and lichens for instance, it works very well on most flora, and even does well on insects which are often difficult to figure out. It’s free, too, so that’s hard to beat. 

Download it at https://www.inaturalist.org/pages/seek_app

 

Hawks Migrating! 

This from the Hawk Ridge website (www.hawkridge.org) in Duluth on 9/13/20: “What a day! Great passerine flight in the morning, over 6,000 blue jays, (35,000-/+ for the season). Lots of thrushes, warblers and straggling nighthawks, nuthatches and then the day died, winds were minimal and very overcast. The day we hoped for was not materializing.

“However, 1 p.m. rolled by and the skies cleared. Little did we know what was happening up north. The counters spotted a small kettle of broad-wings and then a dark Swainson’s hawk; perhaps the day was not done?

“Between 1 and 6 p.m., over 9,500 broad-winged hawks graced the ridge and gave the counters their first real test of the season.”

 

Hummers Gone

The last day we saw ruby-throated hummingbirds at our feeders was 9/8, and I expect by now nearly everyone in our area has seen the departure of “their” hummers. 

The 3-inch-long ruby-throated hummingbird weighs 3 grams, about a tenth of an ounce, but will gain up to a whole gram of fat each day before migrating. Hummers migrate during the day, rising in the morning and fueling up on nearby flowers before spending the day migrating. 

So help them out by keeping your feeders up for a few more weeks to sustain any late migrants coming from further north.

 

Temperature Stats

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported that the 3-month season from June through August 2020 was the Northern Hemisphere’s hottest meteorological summer on record, surpassing both 2019 and 2016 which were previously tied for hottest. 

The Northern Hemisphere also had its hottest August on record with a temperature departure from average of 2.14 degrees F, besting the previous record set in August 2016. 

 

Thought for the Week

            “We are showered every day with the gifts of the Earth, gifts we have neither earned nor paid for: air to breathe, nurturing rain, black soil, berries and honeybees, the tree that became this page, a bag of rice, and the exuberance of a field of goldenrod and asters at full bloom.” - Robin Wall Kimmerer

 

Please share your outdoor sightings and thoughts: e-mail me at manitowish@centurytel.net, call 715-476-2828, snail-mail at 4245N State Highway 47, Mercer, WI, or see my blog at www.manitowishriver.blogspot.com. 

 

 A Northwoods Almanac for 9/4 - 17, 2020  by John Bates

 

A Poor Year for Wild Rice

The wild rice crop looks rather poor this fall, likely due to the high waters we’re experiencing on so many lakes in our area. Rice can be finicky, doing best with a water depth of 0.5 to 3 feet, with 1 to 2 feet being optimal. Rice also does best with a consistent water flow, clearer water, mucky sediments, and relatively stable water conditions. Still, wild rice likes/needs minor fluctuations in water levels over the years, so as an annual, it can outcompete perennial aquatic plants. Consistently high water over several years, however, doesn’t fluctuate up and down, and thus the rice suffers.

wild rice male flowers, photo by John Bates

Historically-important sites like Atkins Lake in Forest and Oneida counties are closed due to crop failure, as are Little Rice and Spur lakes in Oneida County, and Irving Lake in Vilas County. Other well-known ricing lakes like Devine and Aurora lakes are rated as “poor”. Nixon Lake is rated “fair”, as is Sevenmile Lake in Oneida County. Only a few lakes in all of northern Wisconsin are rated “very good” including the Manitowish River in Vilas County and Totagatic Lake in Bayfield County. 

Wild rice was and still is immensely important to Native Americans, particularly the Ojibwe and Menominee. The Menominee took their name from the word for wild rice, manomin, and were often referred to as the “Wild Rice People” by Europeans. 

Entire communities would move to the lakeshore in time for the fall wild rice harvest. Working in family groups, typically a man would pole a canoe out to the family's section of the lake, where a woman, armed with two sticks would bend the rice stalks over the canoe and knock off kernels until the canoe was full. On shore, the rice was sun-dried or parched over low fires, then danced or pounded to separate the grain from the husk, and finally winnowed in the wind. 

While wild rice was a valuable item for barter during the fur trade era, no food was more important to the tribes than wild rice. Native tribes, as well as traders, explorers, and missionaries, depended on the virtual imperishability of wild rice to stave off famine during the long winters. 

Access to the best stands of wild rice provoked inter-tribal warfare. The Sioux of northeastern Minnesota and the Great Lakes Ojibwe bands battled for more than a century over access to wild rice in northern Wisconsin. One such battle occurred at Mole Lake, in Forest County, between the Sokaogon band of Ojibwe and the Sioux in 1806. According to oral tradition, nearly 500 warriors from both tribes were killed and buried in a common mound as the Ojibwe defeated the Sioux. On Strawberry Island in Lac du Flambeau in 1745, the island was the last battle site between the Ojibwe and the Lakota Sioux over the wild rice in that area. 

Wild rice remains an essential staple food for Great Lakes Indian people, and many families continue to harvest rice where their families have for generations. 

 See http://data.glifwc.org/manoomin.harvest.info/ for more specific information on this year’s rice harvest.

 

Monarch Migration

Mary and I camped last week on the Garden Peninsula just east of Escanaba in the U.P., and there we noticed quite a few monarch butterflies nectaring in various flowers. The Garden Peninsula is known as a migration funnel for monarchs, but even better known is Peninsula Point, just to the west at the end of the Stonington Peninsula. It was too early for the migration to have begun, but had we been there in September, we would have also visited Peninsula Point for its connection to the monarch butterfly.

Monarchs don’t want to cross large bodies of water if they can help it, so they funnel down through Peninsula Point, and then begin hip-hopping across a series of islands leading to the tip of Door County. The islands are a geologically unique feature, being part of the Niagara Escarpment which extends from eastern Wisconsin through Canada and ending at Niagara Falls.

Thousands of monarchs can be seen here, waiting for a light north wind to help them  cross Lake Michigan to the first stepping stone of islands.

Researchers began counting and tagging monarchs on the peninsula in 1996, making it the oldest data set on monarchs in North America. As many as 21 monarchs tagged at Peninsula Point have been recovered in El Rosario, Mexico, almost 2,000 miles from the Stonington Peninsula.

As most of you know, monarchs are unique in that they are the only butterfly known to make a two-way migration. The eastern population of North America’s monarchs goes south to the same 11 to 12 mountain areas in Mexico where they roost for the winter in oyamel fir forests at an elevation of 7,800 to 11,800 feet, nearly 2 miles above sea level. The mountain hillsides of oyamel forest provide an ideal microclimate for the butterflies because the temperatures range from 0 to 15 degrees Celsius. Colder and the monarchs would be forced to use their fat reserves. Warmer and they’d become too active.

Surprisingly, a 2012 analysis of numbers of migrating monarchs from two fall monitoring stations in the United States (Cape May, NJ and Peninsula Point, MI), which span 15 and 19 years, respectively, found that “at both locations there was no significant linear trend in average monarch numbers counted over time.” This, of course, contrasts with the numerous studies of wintering numbers showing a decline in the monarch population.

How can this be? Can all the studies be correct? The author suggests that the population remains stable for now, “probably because of the high fecundity of the species and its ability to rebound from small winter numbers.” He goes on to write, “If one assumes that both the overwintering population estimates and the fall migration counts do in fact provide (fairly) accurate assessments of the population size each year, then perhaps the lack of a decline in the fall counts can be explained simply by the incredible resiliency of the monarch (i.e. its high reproductive potential). In other words, even though the cohort in Mexico may be shrinking, there still could be enough monarchs each year that survive to re‐colonize the breeding range in the United States and Canada. The population may be able to rebound during the summer even from very small wintering colonies. 

To read the entire article, see “Are migratory monarchs really declining in eastern North America? Examining evidence from two fall census programs,” Andrew K. Davis, Insect Conservation and Diversity, 2012.

 

Hawk Migration

            Sharp-shinned and broad-winged hawk migration begins in earnest in mid-September with the peak for broad-wings occurring in our area usually from 9/13 to 9/23. Every year I say this, but it’s always worth repeating - this is the time to visit Hawk Ridge in Duluth.            

Duluth is one of the best sites in North America to see the fall hawk migration because most raptors are reluctant to cross large bodies of water. Most hawks like to catch warm thermals rising from the ground and glide south, but there’s no such thing as a warm thermal over Lake Superior. So, when they encounter Lake Superior, the birds veer southwest along the lakeshore and can be seen in impressive numbers on the bluffs overlooking East Duluth and from the overlook at Hawk Ridge.

Knowing when to visit is the key. A good flight day usually occurs with the passage of northwest winds. Hundreds to thousands of birds can be seen migrating past the Ridge on those day. In fact, most winds with a westerly component will produce large numbers of migrating hawks. But southerly or easterly breezes seldom produce large flights of raptors, though the birds that are flying are often lower and easier to see. And if it’s raining, forget about it.

The best day to visit is typically after a number of rainy days when the birds have been grounded, stacked up like planes at an airport, and now the sun has come out creating thermals and a northwest wind is blowing. That’s the day to hightail it up to Duluth. 

See https://www.hawkridge.org for lots more information

 

broad-winged hawk range map

Water Smartweeds

            I’ve been paddling numerous wild lakes in the last month, and many of their shallow waters are currently clothed in the shocking pink of water smartweed (Persicaria amphibia). The species name, amphibia, aptly describes this plant’s ability to live both in the water and on land. It “smartly” adapts to rising or falling water levels, not requiring either, and thus lives on to see another year no matter the environmental circumstances.

water smartweed on Salsich Lake, photo by John Bates

            So, I always thought the name “smartweed” simply said the obvious - this plant is smart! But no, I found a very odd historical reference, at least according to the U.S. Forest Service: “The term smartweed is thought to be a more sanitized version of the original word ‘arsmart’ for the use of the plant in medieval times to relieve itching and swelling of the human posterior.”       I’ll bet you, like I, hadn’t known that itching and swelling of the human posterior was an actual medical condition, but now you are armed with the cure in case this condition arises.

 

Bur Marigold in Flower

            One of the last wetland flowers to bloom in late August is the lovely bur-marigold or nodding beggar ticks (Bidens cenua). The seeds of various Bidens species are notorious for their ability to cling to the fur of animals, the feathers of birds, or the clothing of humans, a clever adaptation to distributing one’s seeds far and wide. 

 

bur-marigold photo by John Bates 

Celestial Events

            Viewing planets in September: Look after dusk in the south for Jupiter and Saturn, with Jupiter 14 times brighter than Saturn. Both will set in the southwest long before dawn. And if you’re awake prior to sunrise, look for brilliant Venus in the east and Mars high in the southwest. Venus will be our “morning star” through the rest of 2020.

            On 9/4, look for Mars near the waning gibbous moon, and on 9/5, Mars will practically be riding on top of the moon. On the morning of 9/14, look for Venus south of the waning crescent moon.  

            And we’re losing daylight quickly - by 9/15, we’re down to 12 hours and 31 minutes of sunlight as we streak toward autumn equinox. 

 

Thought for the Week

            “Autumn sunlight is simply perfection of the day, glory of the season, the year’s high achievement, somehow. It summons one to the outdoors, where even the autumn leaves partake of it. The maples shimmer, the birches glow, and when they drop their leaves their splendor is sunlight at their feet.” - Hal Borland, Sundial of the Seasons                            

 

Please share your outdoor sightings and thoughts: e-mail me at manitowish@centurytel.net, call 715-476-2828, snail-mail at 4245N State Highway 47, Mercer, WI, or see my blog at www.manitowishriver.blogspot.com.