A Northwoods Almanac for June 24 – July 7, 2022
River Raptors Birdathon
Since 2012, the Natural Resources Foundation of Wisconsin has organized “The Great Wisconsin Birdathon” to raise funds in support of Wisconsin's highest priority bird conservation projects. To date, the NRF has raised over half a million dollars and engaged thousands of individuals in protecting our state's most threatened and endangered species.
Birdathon teams participate any day between April 15th to June 15th. The local team from the North Lakeland Discovery Center – “The Up North Hammerheads” – recently found 108 species of birds and raised $2,900.
A few weeks back I participated on a team organized by the Northwoods Land Trust in Eagle River, and on 6/12, Mary and I participated on the “River Raptors” birdathon team by paddling a portion of the Manitowish River. The team raised $5,170 by paddling an array of rivers around the state and counting the birds seen along the rivers. We observed 56 species of birds that morning with the only disappointment being the absence of nearly all waterfowl species. But that’s to be expected at this of the year when chicks have recently hatched and the female is hiding them from predation in the shoreland vegetation.
And perhaps of equal importance to the count, Mary christened her new 12’, 21 lb. canoe on the trip. We now both have super lightweight canoes, and our aging bodies are wildly cheering the purchases.
Merlin App
Mary and I led two birding trips in the U.P. over the first weekend of June, one in Iron River and the other at Imp Lake near Watersmeet. They were remarkably different in two ways – the habitats and the number of mosquitoes. In Iron River, we hiked the Apple Blossom Trail, which shadows the Iron River, an open, breezy area rich in shoreline shrubs, but very few upland trees. The Imp Lake trail, on the other hand, wanders through a dense mature hemlock-hardwood forest where winds go to die.
So, we tallied bird lists quite different from one another, with Imp Lake offering ovenbirds, black-throated green warblers, and pine warblers, all associated with older woodlands, and the Iron River providing us numerous yellow warblers, common yellowthroats, and American redstarts, all associated with shurbs.
The other difference, which made a huge difference in our enjoyment, was that there was not one – I repeat – not one mosquito on our hike in Iron River, whereas at Imp Lake, the mosquitoes rivaled the legions of Alexander the Great.
But what I really want to tell you about is our use of a free App on our phones called “Merlin Bird ID” from Cornell. We’ve known about it for several years, but hadn’t really used it until these hikes. And were we impressed! You can push a button that looks like a microphone, and the app will listen to the birds calling around you, and quite accurately identify all that are singing. For folks who struggle trying to learn the nuances of bird songs, this is a Godsend. And for those of us who know our bird songs pretty darn well, but still get some wrong, it’s great to have an “expert” confirm or deny what we think we’re hearing.
So, if you want help learning bird songs, download this app pronto. It’s super easy to use, and you’ll be amazed at the number of bird species that are singing all around you.
Chicago’s Center for Conservation Leadership
Every June, Mary and I get the opportunity to work with a select group of young students from the Chicago area through a program called the Center for Conservation Leadership (CCL). The students are housed for a week at the North Lakeland Discovery Center in Manitowish Waters where they begin nearly a month of field experiences designed to help them develop as conservation leaders.
This year the CCL chose eight motivated early high school students from diverse backgrounds with a keen interest in the environment and a passion for the outdoors. As part of their experience, I paddle with them on a portion of the Manitowish River, and Mary describes and demonstrates her artwork, and sometimes does art projects with them.
Field-based programming includes: forest management, water quality issues, bird banding, a Powell Marsh bird walk, a bog exploration, a geology and glacial overview of Wisconsin, a Lake Superior waterfall and geology tour, among many other activities. They left on Monday (6/21) for 10 days at Northland College, and then they’ll be on to UW Stevens Point for 10 days or more of additional field experience.
It’s a transformational program for those involved. Kudos to the NLDC for hosting the group and coordinating their first week of programming.
Fireworks – Enough Already!
I try to keep everything in this column upbeat, but I have to note that I run into a lot of folks this time of year who tell me how much they dislike fireworks, how they’re set off at all hours of the night waking them up, how the explosions disturb birds in their yard during nesting season, how they scare the bejeesus out of their dogs, and how the constant salvos really upset folks with PTSD or anxiety. This lack of respect and courtesy seems to arise from the notion that “anything goes” in the Northwoods – we’re north of Hwy. 29, and it’s all “wilderness” up here.
Well, lots of people do in fact live here, and many go to work every morning. My annual plea is for visitors to either cease and desist with their fireworks altogether, or take them to an open space away from neighbors and woodlands, like a town ballfield, and set them off there during the day.
All manner of wildlife will thank you, as will a large majority of people who live here.
Sightings – Snappers, Trumpeters, American Carrion Beetle, Silver Maple Seeds, Eastern Gray Tree Frogs, Fireflies
As often happens this time of year, a large snapping turtle appeared in our yard on 6/16 and proceeded to lay her eggs in some gravel about a foot away from our house. Snappers and painted turtles almost always lay their eggs in a relatively short period around mid-June, the snappers laying 20 to 80 eggs, while the painteds lay 4 to 15 eggs.
Trumpeter swan chicks have hatched. Bob Von Holdt sent me a photo taken by Heide Boyden in Presque Isle of a family with six cygnets. We’ve seen chicks on the Little Turtle Flowage in Mercer as well as on Powell Marsh in Manitowish Waters.
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| photo by Bob Von Holdt |
While leading a bird hike on the Little Turtle Flowage on June 11, we came across a dead painted turtle that was covered with American carrion beetles doing what they do, which is feeding on drying carcasses as well as fly and beetle larvae. Safe to say it’s not a glamorous job, but I’m sure glad there are species that do this work.
When Mary and I recently paddled the Manitowish River, the silver maples which occupy much of the floodplain along the river looked brown and unhealthy. However, at closer inspection, the brown color was coming from the many hundreds of seeds that the maples had produced, instead exemplifying excellent health. Silver maples typically drop their seeds in early June as floodwaters recede along rivers exposing the soil on the banks, providing optimum conditions for germination.
Eastern gray tree frogs began singing, if you can call it that, in early June. Their rapid-fire staccato burst lasts only a second, and is delivered from above the water, usually a shoreline shrub.
Fireflies appeared in the wetland below our house on June 10, gracing the early evening darkness with their bioluminescence. Since I was a boy, I’ve always marveled at their display – there’s very little that can match it.
Shrubs in Bloom
Three blooming shrubs have stood out over the last few weeks – highbush cranberry, nannyberry, and various dogwoods. In particular, nannyberry (Viburnum lentago) has been really showy, seemingly far more so than in previous years. This native viburnum grows best in low moist woods or near stream banks, and supports numerous butterflies and birds.
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| highbush cranberry and nannyberry flowers |
I’m told the edible berries can be used to make jams and jellies, but we’ve never tried it.
Carbon Dioxide Levels
Carbon dioxide measured at NOAA’s Mauna Loa Atmospheric Baseline Observatory reached 421 parts per million in May 2022. So? Well, carbon dioxide levels are now more than 50% higher than pre-industrial levels. Prior to the Industrial Revolution, that is for almost 6,000 years of human civilization, CO2 levels were consistently around 280 ppm.
CO2 levels are now comparable to the Pliocene Climatic Optimum, a time between 4.1 and 4.5 million years ago, when the levels were close to, or above, 400 ppm. During that time, sea levels were between 15 and 75 feet higher than today, high enough to drown many of the world’s largest modern cities. Temperatures then averaged 7 degrees Fahrenheit higher than in pre-industrial times, and studies indicate that large forests occupied today’s Arctic tundra.
Bottom line: carbon dioxide is at levels never before experienced by our species.
Celestial Events
Before dawn on 6/26, look for Saturn three degrees below the waning sliver moon. The new moon occurs on 6/28. The moon reaches its apogee, its farthest distance from the earth at 252,637 miles, on 6/29.
On 7/2, the sun will set one minute earlier, the first time since 12/5/21.
And on July 4, the earth will be at its aphelion, its farthest from the sun at 94.5 million miles away. This is 3.4 million miles more distant than its perihelion which occurred on 1/4.
Thought for the Week
“What is a river’s truth? That we are all in this world together. That the earth, its water, and all its creatures are part of a single, complicated, interdependent, and dynamic system – one beautiful thing. That the survival of the whole depends on the well-being of its parts. That some parts of that system are too essential, too important, too elemental – some might say too sacred – to be traded away.” – Kathleen Dean Moore
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.
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