A Northwoods Almanac for June 19 - July 2, 2026
The First Ripe Berries of the Summer
We picked our first wild strawberries on 6/9. And so begins the delicious summer berry season, with Juneberries next to follow.
I’ve quoted this before about strawberries, but it always bears repeating: “Doubtless God could have made a better berry, but doubtless, God never did.” - 17th-century English physician Dr. William Butler and popularized by Izaak Walton
Many birds believe this as well. Strawberries are relished by a long list: ruffed grouse, wild turkey, red-bellied and red-headed woodpeckers, yellow-bellied sapsucker, northern flicker, eastern kingbird, blue jay, gray catbird, cedar waxwings, veeries, wood thrushes, brown thrashers, eastern towhees, northern cardinals, swamp and white-throated sparrows, and rose-breasted grosbeaks.
Then there are all the mammals, from mice to chipmunks to squirrels to snowshoe hares, and it’s lucky that any are left for the rest of us.
Dragonfly ID
I find it difficult to identify many dragonfly species because of their very nuanced markings coupled with the occasional distinct differences between males and females and juveniles.
Two easy ones to identify are the adult male whitetail dragonfly and the chalk-fronted corporal dragonfly. The mature male whitetails have a strikingly all-white abdomen, while the chalk-fronted corporal has two broad, white “corporal” stripes on its thorax.
common whitetail dragonfly
The whitetail is particularly territorial. Males display their white abdomens to establish dominance over intruding males, who lower their tails to signal their submission. Meanwhile, the female lays up to 1,000 eggs a day, and may mate every day or every other day. She strikes the water when she lays each egg while the male hovers above her to prevent intruders.
The chalk-fronted corporals, on the other hand, are highly social and are often seen in large numbers along trails. I love seeing them out on Powell Marsh when the deer flies are doing laps around my head. They’ll pick them off one by one and eat them, and for that, I’m eternally grateful.
chalk-fronted corporal dragonfly
Turtles Laying Eggs, and Mammals Digging Them Up
We saw our first painted turtles laying eggs on June 6th, and snappers were not far behind. Snappers deposit on average 20 to 50 eggs into a 4 to 7-inch-deep hole, while painted turtles drop 4 to 8 eggs on average into a 3-inch-deep hole.
Both females then tamp the dirt down over the nest and try to conceal the nest, but usually to no avail. Nearly all are dug up by raccoons, foxes, minks, or skunks, even thirteen-lined ground squirrels and moles, before the sun rises the next day, the scattered, wrinkled eggs looking like squished ping-pong balls. Nine out of 10 eggs never get a chance to incubate into a baby turtle and then hatch and run the gauntlet of survival to the nearest lake where they are met by yet more predators. Predation is more pronounced wherever more people live, because raccoons, in particular, do best around human habitation.
I’m surprised any make it to adulthood. If a baby snapper does survive, it will be six years before he or she mates. Female painted turtles may take seven years until maturity.
Best Flower Fragrances of the Year
Our three most fragrant wildflowers will all be in bloom in this period - wild rose, spreading dogbane, and common milkweed.
Trumpeter Swan Cygnets Hatched
Trumpeter swan eggs hatched in two locations we observed during the first week of June. One clutch had six young, the other four. Turns out four to six is average, so these two pairs hit the median.
Incubation takes around five weeks, so these trumpeters likely laid their eggs at the beginning of May. The chicks grow quickly, but won’t fledge for at least 3 months - so, first flights should be around the first or second week of September.
photo by Bev Engstrom
Goat’s Beard (Tragopogon pratensis)
I like the name of this lovely yellow flower that we first saw come into bloom this year on 6/11. Tragos means “goat” and pogon means “beard.” “Beard” references the fuzzy seedhead that is produced after flowering, but the goat reference escapes me - maybe goats like eating it?
The species name pratensis means “of the meadows.”
photo by John Bates
The foliage contains a bitter white latex that deters the consumption by mammalian herbivores.
Another common name is “Jack-go-to-bed-at-noon.” The flower heads only open in the morning sunshine, and usually close by early afternoon, hence the name.
The flower produces a fluffy ball that’s like a dandelion’s, only much larger. Each plant produces 100 to 850 one-seeded tiny fruits, each with a feathery umbrella to catch the wind.
It’s a non-native, found across Europe (British Isles in particular) in fields and on roadsides. It’s not invasive around here to my knowledge, but other references say it can be aggressive and hard to remove.
Beats me. I just know I see solitary flowers here and there, and I find them beautiful.
Froghoppers - AKA Spittle Bugs
Common names given to insects (and birds and fish and . . . ) can be, shall we say, creative, but right near the top of the list are the froghoppers.
pine spittlebug
“Froghoppers” (family Cercopidae) got their name because of their wide, frog-like heads and bodies (you have to use your imagination), and their ability to make massive, powerful jumps to escape danger - they are said to jump hundreds of times their own body length!
In their nymph stage, however, they are referred to as spittle bugs, an apt name given that the nymphs dwell within a foamy mass of aerated plant sap that could easily be construed as spit. The spit keeps them moist and insulated, and also conceals them from predators. Few predators would even think to wade through the glob of spittle in search of an easy meal!
I know of two species in our area: the pine spittlebug, which is found in spittle masses above ground; and the Saratoga spittlebug, found in spittle masses below ground, on the roots of plants like sweet fern and blueberry and red pine.
The spittlebug manufactures its spit by sucking juices from the host plant and mixing them with an ingredient from its abdomen. A clear mixture is then excreted, and air is blown through the liquid by a pump-like structure beneath the abdomen, producing bubbles one at a time until the liquid becomes a froth.
If you gently probe through the spit with your fingers, you will find the spittlebugs enjoying another day in a controlled environment. It's an unusual but apparently effective adaptation, though it doesn't offer the nymphs much of a view.
Pine spittlebugs are not a significant problem, but the Saratoga adults feed on new shoots of red pines in particular, damaging the tissue with a toxic injection of saliva. Characteristically these pines look "flagged" with dead foliage, and may ultimately be killed.
What to do about them? Well . . . nothing really. They’re harmless to people, and unless you’re growing a red pine plantation, you can just be entertained by yet another very odd evolutionary adaptation employed by insects to up their chances of survival.
The Iron County Bird Count
Four years ago, a small group of birders in Iron County began conducting an annual spring bird count for the purpose of establishing a baseline for what birds breed in the county. The intent is to be able to compare future counts to these baselines to determine species that may be declining, remaining stable, or increasing.
This spring we counted birds on May 27 and 28 in a number of specific areas throughout the county that tend to be “hotspots.” These included a section of the Manitowish River, the Little Turtle Flowage, Gile Flowage, Saxon Harbor and Falls, the Saxon Sewage Treatment Ponds (yes, sewage treatment ponds are often hotspots for birds), Interstate Falls, and various backroads and backyards in varying habitats.
We observed 123 species, an excellent number, though our high was 137 in 2024, with our low last year of 114.
Highlights included 22 species of warblers, our 7 common species of woodpeckers, and our 7 most likely nesting species of sparrows (white-throated, clay-colored, swamp, song, Savannah, house, and chipping - we missed Lincoln’s). Perhaps our most unusual songbird was a gray-cheeked thrush, which almost certainly was still in migration since none are known to nest in Wisconsin.
We missed some relatively common birds like red-tailed hawk, American kestrel, black tern, brown creeper and golden-crowned kinglet, along with a number of duck species, but that’s pretty normal - it’s hit or miss on any given day.
Celestial Events
The most important celestial event of this period is, of course, summer solstice, which occurs on 6/20. We’ll be the recipients of 15 hours and 44 minutes of possible sunshine.
The sunrise and sunset occur today (and yesterday actually) at their furthest north of the year. Today is also the year’s latest sunset, occurring at 8:53, which is 3 hours and 39 minutes later than the earliest sunset around winter solstice. The sun will continue to set at 8:53 until July 1, and then slowly begin setting earlier.
Meanwhile, our sun will start rising later on 6/21, and our days officially begin growing shorter.
The full moon - the “Strawberry/Rose Moon” - rises on 6/29, and is the southernmost and lowest full moon of the year.
Thought for the Week
“If you stand still long enough to observe carefully the things around you, you will find beauty, and you will know wonder.” - N. Scott Momaday
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