A Northwoods Almanac for June 23, 2023

A Northwoods Almanac for June 23 – July 6, 2023  by John Bates

 

Sightings – Blue Flag Iris, Blue-eyed Grass, Dragon’s Mouth Orchid, Fireflies, Cottongrass

6/2: Fireflies began flashing in the wetlands below our house in Manitowish on June 2. This is an event that always mesmerizes me. 

6/8: We found our first dragon’s mouth orchids blooming off of a dike in Powell Marsh.

6/10: Mary and I found our first blue flag irises in flower, as well as many blue-eyed grass flowers in bloom.

6/11: Cottongrass erupted in Powell Marsh along Hwy. 47, turning the vast wetlands into a virtual snowstorm of flowers. 

6/15: I heard my first mink frogs calling from a wetland in the Van Vliet Hemlocks SNA.

 

Moths!

            Summertime brings out a host of insect species, and one of the most fascinating groups are the moths. Mary and I saw four different moth species during the day on 6/4 - snowberry clearwing sphinx and white-lined sphinx moths in our azaleas, and rosy maple moth and twin-spotted sphinx moth resting on our neighbor’s house and garage walls. All four are strikingly beautiful and intriguing, and we were excited to see them. The three sphinx moth species all feed on nectar while hovering and have extremely good night vision.

rosy-maple moth, photo by Mary Burns

            Moths are categorized along with butterflies in the order Lepidoptera, but moth species far outnumber butterfly species. Somewhere around 2,000 species of moths can be found in the Northwoods, while butterfly species only number around 120. And for my money, many of the moth species rank right up there in beauty with our most stunning butterflies – think of the luna moth, the cecropia moth or the io moth!

white-lined sphinx moth, photo by Bev Engstrom

            Moths range in size from little bigger than mosquitoes to bird-sized, and all go through a complete metamorphosis from egg to larva (caterpillars) to pupa to adults. The caterpillars can be equally beautiful as the adults, though often in an over-the-top manner, coming in a wild array of colors, sizes, shapes, patterning, texture, and hairiness.

snowberry clearwing moth, photo by John Bates

            We gardeners are inundated with information on the importance of bees in pollination, and the need to plant bee-friendly, native flowers. But recent research on moths’ role in plant pollination suggests moths are every bit as important as bees, if not more so. A 2019 study looked at moths and bees in community gardens in Leeds, England, during the growing season and found that moths play a larger role in pollination than once thought. In fact, the moths carried pollen from a more diverse array of species than the bees during the midsummer, accounting for a third of all plant-pollinator visits studied.

            The researchers suggest that supporting the introduction of plant species that are beneficial for moths, as well as bees, will become increasingly important.

            See www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/06/230605181342.htm.  

            

Fewer Birds at Your Feeders?

            Numerous people have been reporting seeing fewer birds at their feeders, and wondering if something was amiss. Well, something certainly could be amiss, but mid-June is when most adult birds are feeding their chicks, all who need an enormous amount of protein to go from a blind, featherless chick to a fledged juvenile in less than two weeks. Sunflower seeds are a good source of protein and fat, but not as good as insects. Adults feed their chicks thousands of insects, in particular caterpillars, which contain more protein by weight than beef.            Fully 96% of our terrestrial birds primarily feed their hatchlings insects, and that’s why fewer birds are at our feeders in June. Once the hatchlings fledge, and protein needs are reduced, more activity should resume at everyone’s feeders. 

            

Update on Isle Royale Wolf and Moose Populations

You may recall that in 2018 the National Park Service released a long awaited “record of decision” calling for the introduction of 20 to 30 wolves over a three-to-five-year period onto Isle Royale National Park in Michigan. The wolf population had been declining for years, dwindling to just two wolves that were incapable of breeding, leaving moose without a predator. The moose population had grown exponentially to over 2,000, and their overbrowsing of vegetation was a huge concern to the park service. The only way to solve that was to bring back the predator balance.

            In order to restore balance, the NPS staff put a restoration plan in motion beginning with the capture and transportation of four wolves from the Grand Portage Indian Reservation in Minnesota during fall 2018. The Park Service then partnered with the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry to transport more wolves from Canada and with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources to bring additional wolves to the park in 2019. The wolves were captured in the wild and set loose on the island with tracking collars for monitoring.

            Now in 2023, the gray wolves are thriving, and the park's moose population continues a sharp but needed decline – their overpopulation was causing their own starvation as they outstripped their primary winter food – balsam fir trees.

            The scientists' annual report, based largely on aerial observations last winter, estimated the rebuilt population at 31 wolves – up from 28 last year. The wolves appeared to be forming three packs, with others wandering alone or in smaller groups. The moose total was roughly 967, down from 1,346 last year and 54% decline from about 2,000 in 2019. Ecologists are celebrating what they hope will be a healthier herd.         

            Of the 19 wolves ultimately brought from Minnesota, Ontario’s Michipicoten Island and Michigan’s Upper Peninsula in 2018-19, only a few are believed still alive, which makes sense given that wild wolves seldom live longer than five years. But their descendants are believed to have produced at least seven litters of pups, and the process of reaching a general but fluctuating ecological equilibrium continues.

 

Moose in Da U.P.

            Speaking of moose, the Michigan DNR has been surveying the western U.P.’s core moose population since 1997, typically every other winter. The 2023 survey marks the first survey completed since 2019 due to scheduling conflicts associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.

            What did they find? “The 2023 moose survey estimate was 426 individuals, which is not statistically different from the 2019 estimate of 509 individuals. This continues the trend of plateauing abundance where population growth over the last 12 years is now less than 1%.”

            The western U.P. moose core range covers about 1,400 square miles in parts of Marquette, Baraga, and Iron counties. Moose were translocated there from Canada in two separate efforts in 1985 and 1987.

 

Turtles Laying Eggs

            We saw our first snappers and painted turtles laying eggs on June 4. Snappers lay an average clutch size of 30 to 35 spherical eggs according to one study. The gender of the young is temperature dependent – males are produced when temperatures are lower in the summer, females when temperatures are higher.

            Average incubation time in a study in Michigan was 93 days, and in one Pennsylvania study over 20 years, only 27% of the young emerged in the fall – 73% emerged the following spring. However, in Wisconsin, the emergence rate and overwintering strategy is unknown.

            Painted turtles have a clutch size from 4 to 20 oblong eggs, and have a similar temperature-dependent sex determination to that of snappers – cold temps yield more males, warm temps yield more females.

            Painteds can produce two clutches in a year. Hatchlings from the first clutch emerge in September, while hatchlings from a later second clutch typically over-winter and emerge the following spring.

 

Loon Chicks Hatching

            Walter Piper (see loonproject.org) reports that the first loon chicks began hatching around June 11. He notes in his 6/13 blog that “2023 was a miserable year for black flies. But loon pairs that laid eggs in mid-May and kept incubating them despite fly harassment are getting their reward this week.” 

            Many loon pairs had to abandon their nests due to the black flies, but once the flies died back, most pairs have renested. Thus, you may see loons still incubating eggs in late June to early July – incubation typically lasts 28 to 30 days.

            Piper also noted that the female loon on Little Bearskin Lake hatched out two chicks, a particularly exciting success story given that she is estimated to be 34 years old and their oldest study animal. 

 

Grape Jelly – Good for Toast But Not for Birds

            Raptor Education Group Inc. (REGI), the superb Antigo bird rehabilitation facility, reported admitting three adult ruby-throated hummingbirds from different areas within a two-hour period in late May. “They were covered in grape jelly. One patient was deceased on arrival; the others are alive but struggling. Other hummingbirds were admitted earlier in the month, and there is little doubt more will follow.” 

            Grape jelly becomes a problem in hot weather when it becomes runny and adheres to birds’ body, feet and feathers. Feeding jelly during the cooler weather of spring migration is okay, but not once the weather turns hot. 

 

July 4^th Fireworks

            Every year I ask folks to discontinue the use of loud fireworks because of the disruption to birds who are still on their nests, and for that matter, the disruption in general of every species of wild or domesticated animal. I know every dog we’ve ever owned cowers in fear of the explosions.

            It’s also disrespectful to anyone suffering from PTSD.

            If there’s a way for all of us to enjoy quieter, more colorful fireworks and end the barrage of booms and bangs, I think all wildlife would thank us.

 

Celestial Events

            Our latest sunsets of the year occur at 8:53 from June 23 to 29, and then on June 30, the sun will set one minute earlier.

            For planet watching in July, look after dusk low in the west-northwest for brilliant Venus, and look low in the west for Mars. Before dawn, look for Jupiter high in the southeast, and Saturn in the south.

            The full moon occurs on July 3. 

            On July 6, the earth will be at aphelion, the farthest from the sun for 2023 – 94.5 million miles. 

 

Quote for the Week

            “To love a person or place is to take responsibility for its well-being.” –  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.