A Northwoods Almanac for 9/12 – 25, 2025

 A Northwoods Almanac for 9/12 – 25, 2025 

 

Sightings

            For over 40 years, Mary and I have walked the dikes at Powell Marsh Wildlife Management Area looking for birds and simply enjoying the beauty of the wetlands. On September 1, we had a sighting we’ve never had before – four great egrets foraging along the eastern shoreline of the Vista Flowage. We’ve seen individual egrets perhaps three or four times over all those years, but never four together.

             Great egrets have a wide-ranging global distribution, breeding throughout Asia to northeast China and as far south as Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and southern Chile. But they’re not a northern species, at least in North America. In Wisconsin, they breed along the Mississippi River from Burnett Co. south, and also in the southeast from Winnebago Co. south to Waukesha Co.

great egret range map

            They were once on the verge of extinction in the U.S. due to the wild feather fashion trade in the late 1800s that led to millions being slaughtered, but they’re recovered fully from that period with the advent of hunting regulations on migratory species.

            The great egret became the organizational symbol for one of the oldest birding groups in the United States, the National Audubon Society because of the decimation of the great egret and its critical need of protection.

 

Male Common Loons Declining?

            As always, I highly recommend everyone read Walter Piper’s website and blog (loonproject.org) for the latest and most thorough analysis of the common loon population in the Lakeland area. His “Loon Project” investigates the territoriality, breeding ecology, and population dynamics of common loons in the Upper Midwest. Most importantly it’s an ongoing long-term scientific study, which is what all wildlife studies need to be if we want to understand the big picture of their lives.

            Walter began studying loons in our area in 1993, and so has 33 years of data on 105 marked breeding pairs, chiefly in Oneida County. He began a second study of 110 marked pairs in north-central Minnesota (Crow Wing and Cass counties) in 2021. 

            He notes on his website, “Comprehensive statewide data come from Breeding Bird Surveys, which have been conducted by expert birders on fixed routes across North American since 1967. These data show that loon populations were on an upswing from 1967 until about 2010 in both states [Minnesota and Wisconsin], but have been falling sharply in the past decade and a half . . . The data collected by the Loon Project in northern Wisconsin since 1993 echo the pattern above; breeding success and population size rose in the late 1990s and early 2000s but are now in sharp decline.”

            In 2019, Walter reported that there were warning signs related to the survival and breeding success of loons in northern Wisconsin. His data showed that the loon population in northern Wisconsin had declined overall by 22% during the past quarter century. Wisconsin loon pairs were producing fewer chicks; chicks were growing more slowly; and chicks were dying at much higher rates now than 30 years ago, when his work began. 

            Walter’s analyzed the trend and made a population projection that the northern Wisconsin loon population was shrinking by as much as 6% each year, indicating that we will likely see noticeably fewer loons on northern Wisconsin lakes within the next five to ten years.

            Walter’s most recent blog posting (9/3/25 – “A Devastating Year for Males”) discussed his recent finding of the loss of five established male breeders on area lakes, and the subsequent slow replacement by unmated males on those vacated territories. He notes, “I have pointed out before that males are the limiting sex in loons. That is, males live shorter lives than females, and this tilts the adult sex ratio towards females. Put simply, males are in short supply, while there are ample females to fill breeding positions. Males have also been impacted by loss of water clarity. They, like chicks (and unlike females), are of substantially lower mass now than 20 years ago. As the ‘weak link’ in the population, males seem most likely to be the cause of further population decline.” 

            Walter worries what this could mean. “Does the loss and lack of immediate replacement of these males this past season signal the beginning of that downturn? I hope not.”

            Time will tell, again emphasizing the importance of having long-term studies. 

            The National Science Foundation provided funding for Walter’s work from 2003 through 2018. And between 2021 and 2022, the National Loon Center provided substantial funds. However, the Loon Project has no major source of funding for Minnesota or Wisconsin for 2026 and afterwards. If you’re looking for worthy environmental research to support, perhaps consider the Loon Project.

            

Passenger Pigeon Anniversary

            September 1 marked the 111th anniversary of the death of the last passenger pigeon, “Martha,” at the Cincinnati Zoo.  Here are the words of Margaret Fuller describing a flight of pigeons on the Rock River in Illinois in 1843:

            “Every afternoon [the pigeons] came sweeping across the lawn, positively in clouds, with a swiftness and softness of winged motion, more beautiful than anything of the kind I ever knew. Had I been a musician, such as Mendelssohn, I felt that I could have improvised a music quite peculiar, from the sound they made, which should have indicated all the beauty over which their wings bore them.”

             The last documented wild pigeon for which there is an extant specimen anywhere in the world is on display at Millikin University in Decatur, IL. The male passenger pigeon was shot in the wild near Springfield, Illinois, in March 1901. 

 

Wild rice 2025

            Annual wild rice production across the region is strongly linked to climate and weather events over the previous year, and last year, and this year, have not been good ones.

            “The 2025 season has brought a mix of conditions, including several notable storm systems,” said Kathy Smith, Ganawandang manoomin (she who takes care of wild rice) with the Great Lakes Indian Fish & Wildlife Commission. “A fast-moving windstorm in mid-June produced widespread wind damage and heavy rainfall across the upper Midwest. In late June, some areas saw 6-7 inches of rain in a short period, contributing to temporary high-water levels on seepage lakes.”

            According to the Great Lakes Indian Fish & Wildlife Commission, remote sensory imagery suggests that across northern Wisconsin the surface area coverage of wild rice is 18% less this year than last year’s crop. Very few traditionally good ricing sites are open this year for harvest due to poor crops.

            The Great Lakes Indian Fish & Wildlife Commission maintains the Annual Harvest Outlook webpage, which includes helpful information for harvesters and wild rice production conditions for some historic wild rice waters in Wisconsin. 

 

Nighthawks

            Nighthawks put on a show in our area on August 31. Numerous folks contacted me saying they were watching flocks of nighthawks near their homes. We saw a relatively small flock in Manitowish around 5 p.m.

            In Duluth, MN, over 10,000 were counted in the late afternoon and early evening passing over or near Hawk Ridge.

            Still, that wasn’t the best day for nighthawks at Hawk Ridge. On 8/22, one of the professional counters wrote this: “Hard to put any words down about today. The [nighthawk] flight began early, and large kettles of nighthawks formed along the ridge. As the cold front approached, the flocks coalesced into rivers of birds, overhead and inland. The nighthawk signal had been flashed! Thousands of these magnificent goatsuckers flowed against a steely gray wall of clouds as the front arrived. High altitude instability brought a few pop up showers that shifted nighthawks off the shore and back to the ridge in a flurry of shimmering wings. The action slowed after 3pm, but more were certain to arrive as the sticky summer evening arrived. An unforgettable day!”

            Indeed it was – their final count was 17,870!

            Nighthawks migrate a great distance between their breeding range and winter range, making their journey one of the longest migrations of any North American bird. Individuals become quite gregarious during fall migration with flocks of thousands occasionally occurring.

            Most will winter in South America, as far south as Argentina.

 

Honey!

            Mary and I extracted honey from our two hives on 8/31, and when all the work was done, we had 25 quarts, or 6.25 gallons, which weighs in at 77 pounds. This was our best year ever, and most impressive was that one of the hives produced over 90% of the honey - the other did quite poorly.

            So, how do bees make honey? My standard answer is that it’s magic, and I’m really not far off in saying that when you consider the actual process.

            When bees collect nectar, they use a long tongue, called a proboscis, that can slide down into the flower and suck nectar out like a straw. They store the nectar in a second stomach that doesn’t digest the nectar and basically serves as a carrying purse. The honey stomach can hold up to 70 mg of nectar and weigh almost as much as the bee itself.

            Honey bees also have tiny hairs on their bodies allowing pollen to stick to them, so they can carry both nectar and pollen while flying.

            When the worker returns to the hive with the nectar she has foraged, there will be a younger worker bee (a “house bee”) waiting. Her job is to suck the nectar out of the honey stomach of the forager. 

            Once the nectar has been transferred, the house bee will chew it for about 30 minutes, adding enzymes to break it down, forming a simple syrup. The enzymes also reduce the water content in the nectar. This makes it easier to digest and less likely to be plagued by bacteria while stored inside the hive.

            Once this process is complete, the worker will distribute the resultant syrup over the comb of the hive. This is accomplished by spitting up the nectar that she chewed for the past half hour. She will deposit this inside a cell in the honeycomb. Then she spreads the syrup out to maximize the surface area so that water can continue to evaporate from the honey syrup and make it thicker over time. The bees also help reduce the water content by fanning the honey with their wings.

            Bees need nectar and water to make honey, but they also need lots of high protein pollen in order to transform into adult bees. Pollen is a vital component for bee health in general. When bees arrive back at the hive with pollen caught in their hairs, it must be “processed” and then stored within the hive for later use as a protein source.

            Bottom line? I still go with “it’s magic.” 

 

Celestial Events

            On 9/19, look in the northeast before dawn for brilliant Venus less than one degree below the waning sliver moon. 

            The new moon occurs on 9/21.

            The autumn equinox takes place on 9/22. The sun will be directly over the equator. The next day, 9/23, the sun will rise at its nearest to due east, and set at its nearest to due west.

            And on 9/25, we’ll officially have less than 12 hours of sunlight, and night will now be longer than day (for the first time since March 16)!

 

Thought for the Week

            “We are the first generation to feel the effect of climate change and the last generation who can do something about it.” – Barack Obama

 

Please share your outdoor sightings and thoughts: e-mail me at johnbates2828@gmail.com, call 715-476-2828, snail-mail at 4245N State Highway 47, Mercer, WI, or see my blog at www.manitowishriver.blogspot.com