John Bates: January 2025

Friday, January 31, 2025

A Northwoods Companion for Jan. 31 – Feb. 13, 2025

A Northwoods Companion for Jan. 31 – Feb. 13, 2025 by John Bates

The Upside of Extreme Cold

The 3-day period from 1/19-1/21 where we had some serious sub-zero temperatures was very welcome. We hit -27°F as our lowest temperature on the morning of 1/21, and while I was standing close to our woodstove, I was applauding. And though some may think this as evidence of my ever-escalating insanity, it is only common sense. Cold is what helps to define us as the Northwoods. And actually, -27° is relatively minor in an historical sense. We used to hit between -30° and -40° regularly, once making us Zone 3 as defined by the plant hardiness zones established by the USDA. But now we’re considered Zone 4, with winter temperatures at their lowest reaching between -20° to -30°.

To state the obvious, severe cold creates hardships for plants and animals – the hordes of birds at our feeders during this period were visual evidence. However, hardship can be a good thing when applied to invasive species we don’t want in our area. For instance, emerald ash borer larvae burrow into ash bark for the winter where they cease feeding, purge all their stomach contents, and actually fold themselves in half. They are able to tolerate freezing by increasing the concentration of glycerol and sugars in their tissues to lower their freezing point – think of it like Prestone antifreeze. But like the antifreeze in your car, their antifreeze is only good down to a certain temperature, and then the fluids in their tissues freeze, and the insects die.

At 20 below zero, as much as half the population of emerald ash borers will die off. At 30 below, nearly all of the pests are likely to die.

Same is true for what were once known as gypsy moths (Lymantria dispar), now called spongy moths. They begin to freeze to death when temperatures fall to 17 below, with 22 below considered the limit for the cold hardiness of their eggs.

Likewise, hemlock wooly adelgids, an invasive insect primed to soon appear in northern Wisconsin, begin to die at 10 below, and most populations die at 20 below. If we get to 30 below, 99% typically die.

Still, while these extreme cold events dramatically lower these populations in the short term, they don’t completely do away with them. They can and do rebound over time.

Wisconsin boasts at least 18,000 species of insects, all with a complex ecology, and extreme cold is only one of many factors that may control a specific population. For instance, when spring arrives and insects resume activity, the effect of local weather conditions at the time of egg laying and the emergence of the first offspring can overshadow any population changes that took place during winter. A spring thaw that encourages insects to reproduce followed by a deep freeze, for example, can be devastating.

It’s complicated. Biological control of insects is a long game. Populations will swing up and down through time with the long-term goal being to find a balance. Still, extreme cold is one very effective tool for knocking back many harmful insect populations, and we should celebrate the cold when it comes.

And now I’m going to go warm my hands by the woodstove.

Birds So Far This Winter? Not Many!

During some winters we’re the recipients of battalions of birds visiting from Canada, while other winters provide us with only modest numbers. Their presence or absence at our feeders depends primarily on how abundant their food is in Canada – northern birds can tolerate cold, so that’s not really an issue. Given how few species have been present at everyone’s feeders so far, it appears there’s plenty of food in Canada for many of the bird species we often see.

To date (1/24), very few people are seeing pine siskins, redpolls, evening grosbeaks, pine grosbeaks, or bohemian waxwings. These species may yet wander down here if their food runs out in Canada, so there’s still hope.

male cardinal in Manitowish, 1/24/25

At our feeders in Manitowish, we currently have 13 species visiting: downy woodpecker, hairy woodpecker, pileated woodpecker, red-breasted nuthatch, white-breasted nuthatch, mourning dove, black-capped chickadee, blue jay, American goldfinch (40+), purple finch, American tree sparrow, one male cardinal, and one female grackle with a distended wing.

male purple finch, photo by Bev Engstrom

WinMan Success Story

If you’re not familiar with WinMan Trails in Winchester, the 1,300-acre site has evolved from its inception in 2011 into a remarkable complex of trails for biking (mountain and fat), hiking, running, skiing, and snowshoeing. It’s now a destination trail system for Midwesterners seeking self-propelled recreation, but its reputation draws folks from much further away. In 2024, visitors from 30 states utilized the trails, with three-quarters of the visitors citing WinMan as the primary reason for traveling to our area.

The organization recently issued its 2024 report, and noted that the system had 55,000 visits, which generated an estimated $4 million to the local economy. WinMan conducted a visitor survey from May to September in 2024, and found that 86% of the users lived outside the area. About half stay in a local residence owned by themselves, family or friends, and the other half spend money on lodging, as well as food, gas, restaurants, etc.

On average, survey respondents stayed in the area for 4 days, and they enjoyed other recreational opportunities in our area like our paved bike trails, paddling our rivers and lakes, boating, hunting and fishing. It’s a great story of “build it, and they will come.”

See the full report at https://www.winmantrails.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Economic-Impact-Report-2024.pdf

Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Program

The Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Program (KNP) is up for refunding, and it’s important to know what it’s all about. The program preserves natural areas and wildlife habitat, protects water quality and fisheries, and creates opportunities for outdoor recreation. It was created 35 years ago and was named after two notable Wisconsin conservationists: Warren Knowles (R) Governor of Wisconsin 1965-67, and Gaylord Nelson (D) U.S. Senator from Wisconsin 1964-81.

While the program is used to acquire land and conservation easements, it also invests money in a huge array of smaller projects such as developing and supporting local parks, boat landings, campsites, beaches, and recreational trails. For instance, KNP has helped fund dozens of projects in Oneida County, including:

· The Minocqua boat landing

· The Town of Sugar Camp Lion’s Park (play equipment, basketball courts, bleachers etc.)

· The Brandy Lake beach in the Town of Arbor Vitae (play equipment, wood fiber base, timbers and access pad)

· Renovation of the City of Rhinelander Hodag Park public boat landing

· The Oneida County Perch Lake Park and trails (shelter, restroom and equipment storage)

· Fredrick’s public boat landing on the Wisconsin River near McNaughton

· The Bearskin State Trail (snowmobiling, biking, and walking) acquisition

· Minocqua-Kawaguesaga Lakes chemical treatment of invasive Eurasian water milfoil

· Parking lot, road, shelter, water system, toilet, and picnic area at the Town of Newbold Wooden Bridge Park

· Lake Tomahawk boat launch restroom facilities

· City of Rhinelander Boyce Drive boat landing

· Acquisition of land for the Northern Highland-American Legion State Forest

KNP funds are budgeted by the Wisconsin Legislature. It’s currently funded through 2026, but is up for review during this legislative session.

The program is supported by every environmental organization I know, but also by a wide cross-section of other organizations including Ducks Unlimited, Pheasants Forever, The Ruffed Grouse Society, The Congressional Sportsman’s Foundation, Wisconsin Trout Unlimited, Wisconsin Waterfowl Association, Wisconsin Counties Association, the League of Wisconsin Municipalities, as well as a large majority of Wisconsin residents from all political spectrums.

The program does cost money though. But as with anything, what do we want our tax dollars used for? The KN Stewardship program is estimated to cost each Wisconsin resident about $15/year and represents a tiny fraction of Wisconsin’s debt – only 2%.

See https://knowlesnelson.org for what we have received for that money.

The program is truly an investment in Wisconsin’s present and future, and I recommend readers take the time to become fully informed on it. Personally, I think it will be the best $15 I spend this year, and, if the program is fully funded again, for years to come.

Celestial Events

Tonight, 1/31, look after dusk for Saturn about one degree below the waxing crescent moon.

Today also marks the anniversary of the first U.S. satellite sent into orbit in 1958. Things have changed just a bit since then. As of 5/4/2024, the satellite tracking website Orbiting Now lists 9900 satellites in various Earth orbits, of which about half are non-operational space debris.

Operating satellites are now registered in 105 countries or multinational organizations, but only 14 countries had satellites as of 2000. In the last two decades, 91 new countries launched orbiting satellites. The U.S. leads all countries by far with nearly 3,000 operational satellites.

Back to watching the night sky: Nearly all planet watching takes place after dusk in February. Mercury can be seen extremely low in the southwest and setting quickly; Venus is low, but brilliant in the southwest; Mars is high in the east; Jupiter is very bright and high in the south, and Saturn is very low in the southwest.

Regarding sunrises, as of 2/9, the sun will be rising only a half hour earlier than our latest sunrise.

Why don’t the sunset and sunrise times coincide? There are two factors involved. The first is that the earth's axis is tilted with respect to its orbit around the sun, and the second is that the earth's orbit is not a circle but an ellipse. That’s the simple “answer.” But for the complex whole story, see http://www.larry.denenberg.com/earliest-sunset.html.

The full moon – “The Sucker Moon” or “Hunger Moon” or “Snow Moon” – occurs on 2/12.

Thought for the Week

If we’re not extremely careful about how we protect this incredible place where we live, this quote may come true for us: “Truly, we live in those long-ago times people will talk fondly of.” – John A. Murray

Sunday, January 12, 2025

A Northwoods Almanac for 1/17-30, 2025

A Northwoods Almanac for 1/17-30, 2025

Otters Sliding and Playing

I recently photographed an otter slide near our home on the Manitowish River. He, or she, was running and sliding for quite a ways down the river, likely enjoying the perfect conditions of the light powdery snow on top of the ice.

Otter slide on the Manitowish River

Otters clearly use sliding as a form of locomotion to get from one place to another, but do they also slide for the pure joy of it? A study done in 2005 on the Youghiogheny River in southwestern Pennsylvania confirms that while otters do slide for the practical purpose of travel, they also use sliding as a form of play (“Sliding Behavior in Nearctic River Otters: Locomotion or Play?,” S. Stevens and T. Serfass, Northeastern Naturalist, 2005).

The researchers set up remote video cameras and obtained a video of three otters sliding 16 different times down an incline, for a total of 53 seconds, each slide traveling two to five meters, and all in the same area. Clearly they weren’t going anywhere. They were also wrestling and scent-marking, which involved a “dance” in “which the otter treaded both back feet for approximately five to 10 steps while holding its tail in the air.”

The study authors note that play has been defined as “any behavior that does not directly serve the functions of food-getting, reproduction, safety from predators, or other immediate vital needs of the organism or the species.” The researchers, thus, summarize the study by saying “our observation of three river otters repeatedly sliding down an incline suggests that in some cases sliding is also a form of play behavior.”

So, there you have it – otters play. Now about that dance . . .

Endless Overcast Days?

This winter has often felt like the sun has deserted us, and that sunrises have become an endangered phenomenon. However, I’ve learned the hard way over time that what we think is going on environmentally isn’t always supported by the data. So, have we had an inordinate number of overcast days?

The easiest way for me to check that is to look at our solar panel data. We have 22 solar panels that we installed five years ago, and a software program graphs how much solar energy we produce every day. The program then summarizes our gains by the month, by the quarter, and by the year, allowing us to compare data over time

So, relative to overcast days this winter, yes, it has been quite overcast. In fact, this December was the least sunny of the last five years. But all Decembers are generally gloomy – it’s just a fact of life for living up here. We produce the least amount of solar power in December, in large part because the days are the shortest, but also because the sun prefers to hide behind clouds on most days.

To give you a sense of how gloomy it has been this winter, on the last six days of November, we produced only a hint of solar power, perhaps an hour or so total. Then from the beginning of December through the 23^rd, 13 of those days the sun didn’t shine at all, and on another 5 of those days, the sun shone for perhaps half an hour. Only on one of those days did the sun actually shine for almost half the day. So, for 29 days in a row, we were almost completely entrenched in shadow.

Things perked up for the last 8 days of December, and on 12/30, we actually had one full day of sun, the only day of full sun in all of December (see December’s graph).

So, if you felt like there was no such thing as sunrises or sunsets during December, you were correct.

As of this writing on the evening of January 9, things are looking up. We’ve had two full days of sun so far in January, three days of about half a day of sun, two days when the sun made an appearance for maybe an hour, and two days of overcast. Not great, but we’ve already produced more electricity in January than we did in all of December.

Our lifetime revenue in saved electricity bills over the last 5 years is nearly $5,000. Utilizing tax credits, depreciation, and a Focus on Energy rebate, we will have paid back the cost of our system in two more years.

When I last looked at our propane furnace bill, there was no payback, and will be no payback – ever.

Our solar production over 5 years in Manitowish, WI

Fire Scars

One of the blessings winter provides is how far one can see into the woods now that all the leaves are down. Mary and I commonly walk in the Frog Lake and Pines State Natural Area across the river from our home, and we have known for a long time that this was an area regularly burned by the Ojibwe prior to Euro-American settlement. Over the years, we’ve found major fire scars on numerous trees throughout the site, and a DNR study on one red pine along the lake noted that the tree began life in 1805 and had fire scars from 1833, 1846, 1855, 1864, 1877, and 1895.

Well, on a recent hike, we found additional trees with fire scars because we could see beyond all the hazelnut shrubs whose leaves usually block our view. In this case, we found a row of five smaller red pine all with similar size small fire scars on them. The scars were all facing south, meaning the fire most likely came from the north. I’ve written about this before, but as a reminder, as a fire passes through a woods, the fire often “eddies” on the backsides of trees and can sit there and burn while the rest of the fire continues forward. Thus, you can surmise the direction the fire was running by where the scar is on the trunk.

Fire scars on five red pines in a row

Usually fires in our region come out of the south or west, because they most often occur in the spring before leaf-out, and it’s a warm wind blowing the fire along.

Evidence of historic controlled fire’s benefits and its crucial value to Native populations is documented and preserved in Ojibwe oral tradition. Low intensity ground fires cleared the understory and made conditions perfect for the growth of blueberries in particular. We often think that Native American tribes only used fire in the prairie country of southern Wisconsin, but Native tribes used fire extensively in the North Country as well,.

Friday, January 3, 2025

A Northwoods Almanac for 1/3-16, 2025

A Northwoods Almanac for 1/3-16, 2025

Psychological Effects of Watching Birds

I recently helped run a couple birding routes on both the Manitowish Waters and Minocqua Audubon Christmas Bird Counts, and I was surprised at how few people feed birds! Birds have charisma and fascinating personalities. I’m amazed at their aerodynamic capabilities, and I’m often humbled by them. We have our breakfast table set up next to large windows with feeders right outside for easy viewing of the birds.

Mary and I derive genuine joy out of observing birds. In 1979, a medical director named R.A.F. Cox wrote the following in a note titled “Ornitherapy” for the British Journal of Medicine: “To the depressive or physically homebound, the simple pleasure of watching birds can be an incalculable comfort, while a deeper study of their identification and behavior can add a new dimension to the most despondent of lives. As a tranquilizer, birdwatching may be as effective as any drug, but cheaper and safer than many.”

Well, that’s true, but awfully limiting. While watching birds is certainly peaceful, it is far more than a comfort or a tranquilizer.

Conservation biologist Nils Peterson and colleagues conducted an experimental study cited in the Journal of Environmental Psycholog, June 2024, in which college students were randomly assigned to a control condition (receiving no specific instructions), a nature-walk condition (instructed to take a specific walk through nature at least once a week), or a birdwatching condition (take the same walk and notice how many birds you see using a phone app). Students who noticed birds on their walk reported significant increases in positive emotion and significant decreases in distress compared to the other two conditions. These findings indicate that there’s something specific about looking for birds (or at least looking for specific elements in nature) that leads to mental health improvements.

A 2013 study in the Journal of Environmental Psychology found that, of all the natural sounds one might hear, people were most likely to associate birdsong with stress recovery and attention restoration.

A 2017 study published in BioScience found that bird abundance in urban neighborhoods was associated with a lower prevalence of depression, anxiety, and stress.

Another study published in 2020 in Ecological Economics showed a correlation between happiness and the number of bird species around people’s homes and towns.

And in the book Slow Birding: The Art and Science of Enjoying the Birds in Your Own Backyard, author Joan Strassman says “The mental-health benefits are profound. There’s lots of drama . . . They can fly. They can do something that we can never do, outside of a plane, so there’s that fascination.”

She notes that there’s a soap opera that plays out in the treetops every day, and, boy, is that true. There’s clearly a pecking order between species – blue jays feed first, for instance. But also within species, chickadees, for instance, employ a strict hierarchy with the largest male and female, which have nested at least once successfully, dominating the feeders. Then below them are a “beta” couple, followed by other pairs and then singleton juveniles. Typically, males dominate females and adults dominate juveniles.

While it may not seem “fair,” and it’s easy to assign the “bully” label to various birds, their rank in the social order helps alleviate conflicts at the feeders and save energy during the winter when energy serves as the currency that runs their economic system. Energy-in has to equal energy-out. If they overdraft their account, the consequences can be dire.

In doing these bird counts, the time passes with hardly a notice because we’re so attuned to trying to find them. It’s one of only a few times when our attention is so in the moment and so focused. I love that feeling.

JB on Lake Superior

Observing birds also helps us feel connected to this place we live in – less a tourist, more a community member. I feel an empathy for the birds and a deep appreciation for how hard it must be to withstand a Northwoods winter, even a relatively mild one as ours has been so far. Each species has a winter story, and the unraveling of at least some of each story is often quite remarkable.

If you’re not feeding and watching birds this winter, and the winter is already feeling pretty long, I recommend buying some bird seed and some feeders, and seeing who might come to visit.

Manitowish Waters Christmas Bird Count

We conducted the 32^nd annual Audubon Christmas Bird Count in Manitowish Waters on 12/14 with temperatures in the high teens and only a few inches of snow on the ground.

What were our takeaways? Well, we had 1073 total birds, which is 1 more than last year at 1072. Pretty coincidental!

Most remarkable were the number of white-winged crossbills – 90 – our highest count ever for this species. No red crossbills, just white-winged.

white-winged crossbill

We had 40 trumpeter swans, also our record high.

American goldfinch were the most common bird, even besting chickadees, which is no small feat.

No evening or pine grosbeaks, no bohemian waxwings, and only Mary and I had a small flock of cedar waxwings at our house on our high bush cranberries.

Redpolls are scarce, too. Only one of our counters found a small flock. And while pine siskins are around a little bit, they’re not what I’d call numerous.

Finally, no gray jays again. We haven’t had any since 2011.

Mary and I have a common grackle coming to our feeders. One of her wings is a bit distended, so we wonder if she’s incapable of a long migration flight.

Mice!

A few years back we had a fall/winter explosion of mice finding their way into our house, and this winter has provided a similar invasion. I’ve caught 28 in our basement to date, but I’ve heard of other folks catching 50 or more already.

Why the influx? Well, I can only speculate that our last winter’s extreme moderation made for a good reproductive spring, and we’re now reaping the benefits of that population bomb.

I haven’t noticed any weasels around our property, but I hope one or two find their way here soon along with a fox or bobcat, all of whom are excellent mousers. We’d be happy to share our bounty of mice.

How Active are Plants in Winter?

I was recently asked if plants are active at all in the winter, or are they all dormant? Of course, the answer is mixed (few things are ever simple and universal!) Most people think herbaceous plants are dormant under the snow, but a little light does penetrate through the snow, and those plants that retain their leaves throughout the winter, like a few fern species, wintergreen, and others, can still engage in photosynthesis.

A few deciduous trees can also continue to photosynthesize on warmer sunny days –white birch, beech, cottonwoods, and aspens, for instance. Even though their leaves are all gone, photosynthesis can happen in plant tissues other than leaves. The inner bark of woody plants contains chlorophyll, so when sunlight can penetrate species with thin outer bark, a tree like an aspen can photosynthesize during the winter.

white birches in winter

Evergreens, by dint of retaining most of their foliage, can and will also photosynthesize during the winter, particularly if the temperature rises above freezing.

wintergreen

There’s also the issue of surviving extreme cold. Plants either utilize something akin to antifreeze, or in the case of truly northern species like jack pine, balsam fir, black and white spruce, and others, they utilize “extra-cellular freezing” which allows them to literally freeze solid without bursting their cells.

Every species has a story for how it survives winter – it’s quite an intellectual and investigative journey to try to consider it all.

Contagious Communication

The question often comes up about how we can influence more people to do right by the environment, to be more “green” if you will. It turns out that while our individual actions feel awfully small and to little matter in the larger scheme of things, they can act as billboards for others looking for cues on what to do in their own lives. Policies coming out of Washington or Madison are essential, but they’re an abstraction for most of us. We pay more attention to what people around us are doing.

Says Michael Brownstein, a professor who studies societal change, “It’s a shift of perspective to see yourself . . . as an entrepreneur of norms.” What captures our attention is what our neighbors are doing, particularly successful neighbors. If your neighbor can grow an abundant garden, maybe you can, too. If you put in a heat pump or solar panels, and they clearly reduce your energy bill while helping the environment, well, maybe I can, too.

Think of bicycling. Over the last few years, I’ve seen incredible numbers of people out biking, in part because we have so many excellent trails now, but also because people of all ages and sizes are doing it with smiles on their faces.

To see what factors influence people’s environment-related behaviors from recycling to switching modes of transportation, researchers examined data from 430 individual studies (see the March 21, 2023 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences) and summarized their results. They found that providing data or facts to people to change their behavior ranked last, persuading an average of 3.5 percent of people compared to a control group. Appeals to act more sustainably fared better, but were still middling performers. Financial incentives such as subsidies or savings performed relatively well, persuading about 12 percent.

Leading the pack in creating change, however, were what scientists called “social comparisons” – people’s ability to observe the behavior of others and compare it with their own. This persuaded more than 14 percent of people to change their behavior in experiments from around the world.

Still, it’s mighty complicated what’s going on in people’s heads, and why they chose behaviors that they do.

It seems the best we can do to try to create change is model what works.

Solar panels are a classic example. In a 2021 paper published in Nature, researchers found the most important factor that determined whether someone installed panels on their roof wasn’t subsidies, geography or policy. It was whether their neighbor had them.

In another study, a single solar rooftop project increased installations by nearly 50 percent within a half-mile radius.

Thus, it appears the primary barrier in helping people to make a change is finding enough trusted others to show the way.

A popular saying goes “be the change you wish to see in the world.” Proving that something works not only helps our lives, but it can show the way for others to do the same.

The researchers concluded, “The most persuasive argument might be you.”

Be the change.

Celestial Events

Look after dusk tonight, 1/3, for Venus just a degree or so above the waxing crescent moon.

On 1/4, the Earth will be at perihelion, its closest to the sun in 202. Look for Saturn after dusk less than a degree below the moon.

Don’t look now, but as of 1/12, we will have gained 20 minutes of sunlight since the winter solstice on 12/21. We now have 8 hours and 59 minutes of sun, and we’re also now gaining over one minute of sunlight per day.

Thought for the Week

“The goal of life is to make your heartbeat match the beat of the universe, to match your nature with Nature.” – Joseph Campbell