A Northwoods Almanac for 11/22 – 12/5/24

 A Northwoods Almanac for 11/22 – 12/5/24  

 

Sightings – Blue-spotted Salamander, Tufted Titmouse, Trumpeter Swans

            Scott Ruesch in Harshaw had two excellent sightings to report. First, a tufted titmouse appeared at one of his feeders on 10/20. Tufted titmice remain a southern Wisconsin breeding species, but are expected to eventually breed up here as climate change impacts continue. 

            And second, he spotted a blue-spotted salamander in early November hanging out on his driveway. This individual “should” have been well into hibernation had it read the books describing its normal behavior. 

blue-spotted salamander, photo by Scott Ruesch

            Bob Von Holdt in Presque Isle has been following a family of trumpeter swans all summer and emailed and sent a photo on 11/12: “All 6 cygnets have survived as of today.” 

trumpeter swan cygnets, photo by Bob Von Hold

            Mark Pittman on Lake Content (just below Big St. Germain Lake)  had more to report on trumpeter swans: “We have way more Trumpeter Swans than years past. Some days, upwards of 50. They seem to segregate in small family groups all around the lake. The thing I’m curious about is the fact that there are several mallards aggressively feeding very closely with most every group of swans. Sometimes 8 to10 mallards. Perhaps bits of deep water vegetation the swans pull up is a treat for the mallards?”

            A later email from Mark noted, “Our lake has an abundance of wild celery (aka eelgrass). The swans seem to be fond of that.”  

            Wild celery (Vallisneria americana) is indeed a choice aquatic plant that nearly all waterfowl absolutely love. And it provides shade, shelter and spawning habitat for a wide variety of fishes and invertebrates, so even more food is made available for those waterfowl who consume prey. 

            The plant looks nothing like the celery we grow in our gardens – it’s a submersed plant whose super-thin, ribbon-like leaves are nearly transparent, almost like cellophane. But it’s said to taste like celery. I haven’t tried it, so I can’t confirm this, but hence the name.

wild celery

 

Why So Many Trumpeter Swans on Pipke Pond? – An Explanation

            In my last column, I mentioned the large concentration of trumpeter swans on Pipke Pond in Presque Isle, and I wondered why so many were gathering there. Eric Benn responded with a very thorough explanation, which I’ll very briefly summarize here. 

            In 2021, a water control structure on the south pond failed, resulting in the pond draining completely within a few weeks. The DNR issued an administrative order to the town describing how the repair work needed to be done according to statute and various legal rulings. 

            A committee to address the issue was eventually formed in later 2022 and began working with an engineering firm to design the repair. The committee then applied for a WDNR grant to pay for one-half of the project and received it this year, with the work to commence in 2025. 

            In the meantime, some work had been done to hold the water in the pond. The south pond had very little water in it until this spring, and it gradually filled nearly all the way up. The exposed soils and the low water led to a very healthy growth of vegetation along the shoreline and in the shallows. 

            Eric feels this aquatic vegetation has been the draw for the swans and other waterfowl, but suspects that when the structure is finally brought into compliance, that the consistent higher water will result in less forage, and thus fewer birds. 

            Time will tell, of course, but swans eat an enormous amount of vegetation, and this fall they appear to have been the beneficiaries of an unexpected but exceptional food base.

            

Wounded Deer

            On 11/3, Greg Bassett in Hazelhurst sent me this note along with a distressing photo of a deer with an arrow protruding from just below its eye and coming out the side of its neck: “John, this poor girl came to our yard earlier this week and continues to show about once a day. I thought if you can use the pictures in your article it might be a way to remind hunters to do a better job of placing their shots and following up after their shots to prevent this kind of misery for their targets. She is able to eat and the DNR rep who called me back said he had a case like this about a year ago and the deer has been spotted recently and seems to be doing okay – the arrow had come out and the wound has healed. Nevertheless, a clean kill is still the most  important part of hunting!! We are keeping our eyes on this doe, and I have a friend who can put her down if it looks like she is struggling.”

Wounded deer, photo by Greg Bassett

            Greg’s email led me to wonder how many deer during our archery and gun deer hunts are wounded and/or die later from wounding. I knew who to ask – Keith McCaffery. Why Keith? Keith began as a research biologist with the Forest Wildlife Research Group of the Wisconsin Conservation Department (later DNR) in 1963 and conducted deer and ruffed grouse habitat projects until his retirement in 2000. He served as the State Deer Biologist during that time, and continues to contribute to our understanding of deer biology and best management practices. It’s fair to say that no one knows more about Wisconsin’s deer than Keith.

            So, Keith sent me an article he’d written on the subject in 2019, and here’s my short summary:

            “Literature on firearm “crippling” is quite abundant and some of it dates to the 1940s.  Some of this information is based on hunter questionnaires and some is based on ground checks.  

“However, a couple of the best sources come from Wisconsin and are based on ground checks following deer hunts.  A series of surveys was conducted in central Wisconsin during the 1950s and 1960s . . . The pooled results of 11 such surveys indicated that the unretrieved wounding mortality averaged 6.7% as great as the counted harvest. Adding strength to these results was corroboration provided by the long-term (1963 to 1989) demonstration hunts at the Sandhill Wildlife Area, also in central Wisconsin . . . Again, the un-retrieved wounding mortality averaged 6.6% as great as the counted harvest.

            “The most intensive study of bowhunting to date occurred at Camp Ripley in the 1990s.  Here, detailed post-hunt exit-interviews and close examination of harvested deer found that 87% of the deer reported to have been hit were retrieved.  Only 13% went unaccounted for and many of these deer were believed to have survived.”  

            Other studies from many other states specifically on archery wounding-loss provide an array of loss percentages, but nearly all suggest a loss below 10%.

            Keith’s final thoughts on the matter are perhaps most important. “No wild creature dies peacefully between starched bed sheets. All death in the wild is violent by human standards whether it is caused by starvation, predation, or projectile. And, while we might bemoan what appears to be ‘waste’ when we lose a deer, we should remember that nothing really goes to waste in the woods. Something usually benefits from a dead deer. The beneficiary may be an admired scavenger like a bald eagle or a lesser noticed chickadee. Still, we have an obligation to hunt as humanely as possible.”

            My hope is for a good hunt with sharp-eyed hunters and accurate shots.

 

Winter Finch Forecast

            The Finch Research Network in Ontario recently put out its 26^th Annual Winter Finch Forecast, which analyzes cone crops across Canada to predict whether various species of finches will be able to remain in Canada because of good cone crops, or if they’ll need to migrate south to find food. 

            Food abundance is the key for winter bird survival, not winter temperature. When we want to find out inside information on someone, the mantra is always “follow the money.” For birds, the insider info comes from a different mantra – “follow the food.”

            So, here’s a quick summary of their predictions based on cone and fruit availability:

            Pine grosbeak: Most pine grosbeaks should remain in the boreal forest areas, but areas around Lake Superior and particularly northern Minnesota may see a larger movement as a weaker cone crop in northwestern Ontario is consumed.

            Purple finch: Purple finches have  already been moving south, as reported by Hawk Ridge at Duluth, Minnesota. The majority should leave Canada with a moderate flight that will go well south to the Great Plains and southern United States.

            Redpoll: First this news. In 2024, Common Redpoll, Hoary Redpoll and the Lesser Redpoll in Europe have all been lumped into the same species, now just called Redpoll. 

            As for their predicted presence this winter, redpolls focus on birch and alder seeds, as well as seeds from weedy fields, and the boreal forest appears to have average to above crops of both birch and alders. So, the finch forecast predicts little overall movement south, but hedge their bets by noting that fires and pests created some holes in the seed crop success, so we may see some southbound birds.

            Pine siskin: The forecast says, “Many Pine Siskins will remain in the boreal and western mountains this winter. [But] areas from Manitoba eastward affected by Spruce Budworm infestations have a poor cone crop.” So, some siskins may have no choice but to come our way, but it sounds minimal.

            White-winged Crossbills: The Finch Forecast says most white-winged crossbills should stay in the boreal forest due to good white spruce cone crops. However, on 11/9, Ryan Brady from Washburn posted this: “This morning I tallied a state record 1,322 White-winged Crossbills migrating along the south shore near Herbster, WI. In 4.5 hours, flock after flock chattered on their way, mostly in groups of 15-30 birds, sometimes high over the lake, and only occasionally dipping down to sample nearby spruces. This species was not expected to dip south much this winter but clearly they are vacating the eastern boreal forest and moving west in big numbers right now. Whether they stick around will depend on how much food they find here, but at least for now look for them primarily at spruces, hemlocks, and tamaracks in the northern half of the state.” 

            Evening grosbeak: The forecast says there should be a moderate flight of evening grosbeaks southward this fall. Evening grosbeaks are the most rapidly declining songbird in North America for reasons that are still unclear.

 

2024 Warmest Year on Record?

            Scientists with the European Union’s climate monitoring program say they are “virtually certain” that 2024 will become the warmest year on record. It will also probably be the first full calendar year when temperatures rose more than 1.5° C, or 2.7° F, above the preindustrial average – a critical line signaling that Earth is crossing into territory where some extreme climate effects may be irreversible.

 

Celestial Events

            The average ice-up date for 37-acre Foster Lake in Hazelhurst is 11/27, according to 48 years of data kept by Woody Hagge. Small, shallow lakes typically ice-up much earlier than large, deep lakes, so there’s a good two weeks of variability for this date depending on the lake.

            New moon on 12/1. Look after dusk on 12/4 for Venus two degrees above the waxing moon.

 

Quote for the Week

            The miracle of gratitude is that it shifts your perception to such an extent that it changes the world you see. – Dr. Robert Holden

 

 

 

A Northwoods Almanac for 11/ 8 – 21//24

 A Northwoods Almanac for 11/ 8 – 21//24  by John Bates

 

Sightings – Trumpeter Swans and a Great Egret

            On 10/30, Sarah Krembs told me she had received a phone call from someone who saw an unusual all-white bird flying around Pipke Pond in Presque Isle. It wasn’t a gull said the caller. What was it, she wanted to know?

            Sarah and I talked about the possibilities – after all, there aren’t that many all-white birds to choose from – but with so little information, we couldn’t draw any conclusions.

            The next morning, Sarah emailed this: “It’s an egret. I drove around Pipke Pond in the driving rain this morning. There are still a minimum of 16 Trumpeter Swans out there. But in addition to the swans this morning, along the shoreline, I spotted a blob of white between the swipes of my windshield wiper blades. I grabbed the binoculars, and I could see it was a cold, wet, hunched up Great Egret standing there. Poor guy. He should have flown south yesterday when the getting’ was good.”

great egret, photo by Bev Engstrom

            Great egrets are a rarity up here, but every few years one shows up. In a quick look at some of my old columns, I have records of one in our area in 2021, 2016, 2011, and 2009, so they do wander our way. But the sighting of a southern species like this always raises the question of what are they doing up here? 

            They are listed as a threatened species in Wisconsin, but while Wisconsin is at the northern edge of the great egret’s range, during the 2006 breeding bird survey in Wisconsin, 10 breeding sites were found in the state. Their primary range, though, is well south of here along the Mississippi River and around Horicon Marsh/Lake Winnebago. 

            Still, great egrets can turn up almost anywhere in the summer, often traveling hundreds of miles north from their spring rookeries, for reasons no one can say. But this late in the year? Well, it’s been a warm autumn overall, so perhaps this individual was just on an adventure and delaying its inevitable migration south.

great egret range map

            As for why 20+ trumpeter swans were hanging out on Pipke Pond, well, trumpeter swans don’t necessarily have to migrate south to survive, needing only open water and sufficient forage to stay north. For instance, a small flock stays all winter on the Manitowish River near Benson Lake. 

            However, most Wisconsin trumpeter swans migrate, and largely to Illinois, but they can go just about anywhere given that they’re a re-introduced native species hatched from Alaskan eggs, and thus don’t have an established migratory route in Wisconsin.

            Okay, well, why so many in one place? Territory defense only lasts until their cygnets hatch and leave the nest, or they may remain territorial until fledging of the cygnets, but after that, trumpeters obviously are happy to socialize. 

            And why so many specifically on Pipke Pond? Well, it must be good foraging, because trumpeters are North America’s largest waterfowl species, and they eat a lot. But many other Northwoods lakes have good forage, too, so . . . As with many things in nature, there’s no easy answer. “Knowledge is an island in a sea of mystery,” wrote Chet Raymo, and I abide by that.

            

The Muddy Ontonagon River

            I recently attended a wonderful event in Eagle River celebrating Joe and Mary Hovel’s selection for the 2024 Land Legacy Award from Gathering Waters, Wisconsin’s alliance organization for more than 40 Wisconsin land trusts. Joe and Mary have worked for decades to conserve and protect lands in the Border Lakes region of Wisconsin, as well as in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and in Wisconsin’s Central Sands region. Together, they have raised public awareness of the importance of land conservation, served as watchdogs for land use, and negotiated and facilitated the purchase and sale of thousands of acres of land and conservation easements. 

            I have them properly placed on my “conservation heroes” pedestal where they belong. We should all aspire to work as hard for conservation as they do.

            During the event, Joe gave a talk on Wisconsin’s connection to Michigan’s wild and scenic rivers, and the question came up as to why the Ontonagon River begins clear but becomes quite red and muddy as it passes through wild sections of the U.P. Ron Eckstin, retired DNR wildlife manager, noted, “These [north shore] rivers flow through a wide band of red clay soils. The red clay soils are ”young” soils formed in glacial times on the bed of Lake Superior when the lake was much higher (Glacial Lakes Duluth and Algonquin). These soils are subject to natural erosion that is accelerated by agriculture, development and past lumbering. The “red” in the rivers is iron oxide formed when the red soils come in contact with oxygen.”

            I also brought up the impact of the intense logging and subsequent river drives that took place in the U.P. and Wisconsin, all of which scoured the river bottoms and obliterated shorelines. Can you imagine how much our narrow and shallow rivers were altered by literally tens of thousands of logs being driven down them, as well as the erosion of the river banks after the drives from the clearcutting to the river edges? 

            If you haven’t read Deep Woods Frontier: A History of Logging in Northern Michigan by Theodor Karamanski, I recommend it highly. The Diamond Match Company was the single biggest timber cutter in the UP, and their impact was immense. Kamanski writes,”The high water mark of pine logging in northern Michigan came in the 1894-95 season. Forest fires, caused by a dry summer but spurred by the debris from Diamond Match’s own logging, ravaged the woods of southern Ontonagon County. The fast burning fire did not consume the pine forests, but the trees were badly scorched by the blaze.” 

            Loggers were concerned that the wood had to be cut immediately or insects would consume it. So, they brought in “Six thousand lumberjacks, a small army, [who] labored the winter butchering the timber. Thirteen million board feet of pine per week fell in the wake of their cross-cut saws. A total of 1200 horses, brought from farms in far-off Iowa and southern Wisconsin, hauled the mountain of wood from the cuttings to the banks of the Ontonagon River . . . One hundred eight-five million feet of pine were scaled at the side of the Ontonagon River . . . it was estimated that if all the logs were loaded on railroad flatcars, it would take a train more than 250 miles long to carry the haul . . . 

            “It was at this point that the ambitious appetite of the Diamond Match Company ran afoul . . . of the serpentine Ontonagon River. Mammoth log jams occurred all along the course of the drive . . . For the remainder of 1895 and all through the spring and summer of 1896, the Ontonagon River remained choked at Grand Rapids . . . Finally in 1897, the jam was cleared and all the logs delivered to the lakeshore.” 

            Well, there’s so much more worthy of reading here, but the point is to try to envision 185 million feet of pine being cut in one year and sent down one river, and all the jams that ensued. The violent gouging of the river banks and the dredging of the river sediments is, for me, nearly impossible to imagine. At the time, this was considered the “world’s greatest logging operation.” What would have been its impacts to the red clay banks of the Ontonagon, and what are the impacts still today in this often hilly region of the U.P.? I believe it’s part of the reason the river runs so red.

 

The Flambeau Trail

            While I’m talking history, I read a recent article in “The Wisconsin Archeologist” (January-December 2023) by John Wackman entitled “The Montreal Portage Trail/Flambeau Trail – A History” that challenged what I thought I knew about the 45-mile long Flambeau Trail.

I had always understood there was a single trail starting at the mouth of the Montreal River that ran all the way to the north end of Long Lake in Iron County. From there, Native Americans and fur traders would paddle south to the base of Long Lake, enter Long Lake Creek, which flows into the Turtle River, then head into Echo Lake (formerly Big Turtle Lake) in Mercer. From there, a short 100-yard portage took them into Tank Lake (formerly Grand Portage Lake), then into a tiny creek that runs under Hwy. 51 right next to the giant fiberglass loon greeting folks entering Mercer, and into Mercer Lake (formerly Sugar Camp Lake). Then a nearly four mile portage had to be taken southeast through some serious wetlands into the Manitowish River. 

            Now the options were to head upriver on the Manitowish through the current “Chain of Lakes” in Manitowish Waters, which wasn’t a chain back then, and on into the Trout River to Trout Lake and through a series of lakes and portages to the Wisconsin River.

            Or they could go downriver on the Manitowish until they hit the Bear River, and paddle upstream into Lac du Flambeau. 

            Well, it turns out the Flambeau trail had two branches, one originating at the mouth of the Montreal, and the other at Saxon Harbor. Both, however, came together about three miles later near Saxon Falls. Which of the trails was the principal trail is a matter of conjecture, but Wackman believes the Montreal River mouth was the main starting point.

Montreal Portage Trail and Flambeau Trail

            The trail was first described in writing by Raddison in 1661 and Perrot in 1667, but was later described among others by Schoolcraft in 1820, Cram in 1840, Owen and Norwood in 1848, and Sweet as late as 1880. 

            The earliest use of the trail is unknown and can only be speculation. Archaeologist Robert Salzer (1969) described the long-term occupation on Strawberry Island in Lac du Flambeau: “We can hypothesize a minimum of three occupation periods: Middle Woodland (sometime during the first few centuries after Christ?); Late Woodland (beginning as early as AD 1000 . . .); and Historic, dating around AD 1900.” Without written records over these periods, the earliest use of the trail, which would have brought people to Strawberry Island, will likely never be known. 

            The trail was a 120-pause portage, a “pause” occurring when the travelers had to stop and rest, which depending on the terrain, was usually about a half-mile. 

            Think about this for a moment. What’s the longest portage you ever did? The longest single portage I ever accomplished was a one-miler in the Boundary Waters, and I was pretty spent after carrying a pack and a lighter weight canoe to the next lake. The voyageurs and natives carried 95 pound packs, but more often two packs, so they didn’t have to return and do the trail twice. 

            So, the Flambeau Trail was surely not for the faint of heart or frail of body. Francois Victor Malhiot, a 28-year-old Frenchman appointed to take charge of the North West Fur Company's trading post in Lac du Flambeau, crossed the Flambeau Trail in July of 1804. He's most often quoted for this observation of the trail: “Of all the spots and places I have been in my thirteen years of travels, this is the most horrid and most sterile. The Portage road is truly that to heaven because it is narrow, full of overturned trees, obstacles, thorns, and muskegs. Men who go over it loaded and who are obliged to carry baggage over it, certainly deserve to be called ‘men’ . . . This vile portage is inhabited solely by owls, because no other animal could find a living there, and the hoots of those solitary birds are enough to frighten an angel or intimidate a Caesar.”

            Attempts have been made to relocate the trail, but given the intensive logging that occurred in the late 1800s, and still occurs today, and how quickly trees grow back, the trail has for the most part been obliterated.

            

Celestial Events

            Yesterday, November 7, marked the midway point between the autumn equinox and winter solstice. 

            After dusk on 11/10, look for Saturn barely below the waxing moon.

            The full moon – the Beaver/Freezing/Ice is Forming Moon – occurs on 11/15.

            Look before dawn on 11/17 for the peak Leonid Meteor Shower, which averages 15 meteors per hour.

 

Thought for the Week

            “History is a very tricky thing. To begin with, you can’t get it mixed up with the past. The past actually happened, but history is only what someone wrote down.” – A. Whitney Brown