NWA 6/13/14

A Northwoods Almanac for 6/13 – 26, 2014   

White Pelicans!

On 5/25, Elizabeth Stone on Trout Lake saw six white pelicans on Trout Lake.

And on 6/1, Chuck Schlindwein observed 17 white pelicans on Buckskin Lake south of Lac du Flambeau.

            The sighting of white pelicans still draws great surprise from most Wisconsin residents, but white pelicans have been nesting in Wisconsin since 1994, when two pairs were found nesting on Cat Island in the bay of Green Bay. The nests failed, but in 1995, nine pairs nested, with 35 birds present throughout the summer. After that, it was “Katie bar the door.” The year 2013 marked the twentieth consecutive year white pelicans nested on Cat Island, and 1,065 nests were documented on 5/24.

            In 2003, some breeding pelicans from Cat Island spilled over onto nearby Lone Tree Island, and in 2013, 1,088 nesting pairs were documented, more than on Cat Island!

            The pelicans didn’t nest only in Green Bay. They spread south into Horicon Marsh where the first breeding pelicans were documented in 1999. They also began breeding on several dredge spoil islands on Lake Butte des Morts in 2005, on Pancake Island in Lake Puckaway in 2007, on two islands on Lake Winnebago in 2007, and on an island in Beaver Dam Lake in 2011.

            All told in 2013, 4,123 nesting pairs of white pelicans were documented at eight colony sites in Wisconsin.

            What makes this all the more interesting is that no conclusive evidence exists that white pelicans ever nested in the state historically.

            So, where did they come from? And why? These western breeding birds (Minnesota supports some 22,000 breeding pairs) began an eastern expansion two decades ago apparently due to agricultural reclamation of their breeding marshes and water diversion projects, as well as periodic predation events. Also, major colony abandonment occurred for unknown reasons in 2005 at the Chase Lake National Wildlife Refuge in North Dakota, the largest breeding colony in North America (over 35,000 pelicans in 2000!), with thousands of pelicans leaving to nest elsewhere.

            Whatever the reasons for their eastern movement, the bottom line is that white pelicans are still steadily increasing in Wisconsin, with colonies expected to expand onto the Wisconsin side of the Mississippi River and onto Lake Superior.

            So, for now, our area remains a minor stopover site for white pelicans on their migratory journeys. But soon I expect we’ll be seeing many more of these magnificent birds whose 9-foot wingspans rival those of the California condor.

Other Sightings

5/26: Eastern gray tree frogs began calling in Manitowish.

5/27: Thousands of cottongrass plants flowered in Powell Marsh, making it appear as if it had snowed.

5/27: Cedar waxwings arrived in Manitowish and immediately began eating the flower petals on our plum trees. Waxwings usually are the last of the migrants to arrive in any given spring.

5/28: American elm trees dropped their seeds, an event Mary and I had never taken notice of before. We were sitting on our deck (pre-mosquito hatch!) and a rain of these seeds was coming down from our two elm trees. 

5/29/14: Sharon Drawz saw a moose crossing Hwy. 51, about two miles south of Manitowish.

5/31: Lilacs bloomed in Manitowish.

Yellow Scum!

Nope, this isn’t about your cowardly evil neighbor, but rather this: That yellow film currently so prevalent on the surface of puddles and ponds is the male pollen from pine trees. Pines produce prodigious clouds of pollen that are borne on the wind and often collect wherever there is calm water. The pollen grains are a mere four one-hundred-thousandths of an inch in length, requiring a scanning electron microscope for study. They’re worth studying, too, because they’re virtually indestructible and form “microfossils,” which persist for literally millions of years at the bottom of lakes and ponds. Thus, a pollen specialist (a “palynologist”) can identify the species of trees that once lived in a region by studying their lake sediments, and by doing so, then tease out how regional climates varied over centuries and millennia.

As for the tiny immature female pine cones, their scales are slightly separated and contain a small amount of fluid secreted by the plant. When pollen sifts down between the scales and comes to rest on the fluid, the pollen is then drawn into the cone until it comes into contact with the ovules at the bottom of each cone scale. And voila! The cone is fertilized, and the scales grow thicker until they press together and firmly close the cone. In the case of white pine, the cone eventually grows to eight inches long and opens a year and a half later in the fall, shedding its winged seeds. In jack pines, the cones can remain tightly closed for as many as 20 years or more with the seeds remaining viable, until a fire comes through and the heat induces the cones to open.

Babies

Nesting season is here, which often leads to encounters with baby birds and other wildlife. But unless clearly injured or orphaned, a baby wild animal's best chance for survival is with its parents. Wisconsin DNR offers a handy key to determining how to best help a baby bird at: http://1.usa.gov/TB0xK0. The agency also provides a rehabilitation directory and general species guidance at: http://1.usa.gov/1kL0KVg

Celestial Events

Jupiter continues to be visible in the evening night sky. Early in the month it sets about three hours after sunset, but by month’s end, it sets an hour after sunset. Look for the giant planet, shining at a brilliant - 2.0 magnitude, below Castor and Pollux, the twin stars of Gemini. Four of its larger moons should also be easily seen through high-powered binoculars and small telescopes – we use our 20x bird spotting scope.

Mars, shining at magnitude -1.2, is also visible in the evening sky in the constellation Virgo, along with Saturn, which can be found in the constellation Libra low in the southeast. Venus is also still visible low in the eastern sky, but at pre-dawn.  

The full moon occurs on 6/13. It was called the “Full Strawberry Moon” by nearly every Algonquin tribe because of the relatively short harvesting season for strawberries in mid-June. 

The Lyrids Meteor Shower occurs on 6/15, but will be pretty much washed out by the nearly full moon. 

Summer Solstice

June 21 marks the summer solstice and the first “official” day of the summer season.  The sun will reach its highest elevation in the northern hemisphere’s noontime sky, and at this point, it “pauses” before beginning its southward trip, lowering its noontime elevation each day until it reaches its lowest altitude in December at the Winter Solstice.  

The word “solstice” is derived from two Latin words “sol”(sun) and “stitium” (to stop), reflecting the pause in the northward movement at noon. Today generally marks the longest daylight period and shortest night here at the mid-latitudes. 

Many still incorrectly equate our warmer summertime temperatures with our distance from the sun. The truth is our seasonal temperature changes are caused by the earth's axial tilt, not our distance from the sun.  We are actually at our greatest distance from the sun in July, some 3 million miles more distant than in January.

Mosquitoes!

            They, which shall not be named, have reached Biblical proportions. But one of Mary’s friends said, “I don’t care. I’m just so happy to be up here. I’ll just wear a head net or bug dope until their numbers go down.”

Perhaps that’s the attitude we all need to take.              

No One Ever Washed a Rental Car

Harvard’s president, Lawrence Summers, once said, “In the history of the world, no one has ever washed a rented car.”

I’m taken by this statement, because it so clearly shows the need for ownership to help people act with conservation in mind. A person who owns something has a strong incentive to take care of it.

But what happens when there’s no ownership and you’re responsible only for some small aspect of the company you work for, or the property you’re camping on, or the two square feet of the right wing of a plane you helped build? The issue is that only whole planes fly, companies succeed best when everyone buys in, and public lands are treated with the most care when everyone assumes ownership.

The question then is how can people be encouraged to take care of things they don’t actually own? How does one come to a sense of ownership?

It’s worth noting, however, that ownership doesn’t automatically instill care. Sometimes ownership creates a “what’s mine is mine” and cavalier attitude that one can do whatever one wants and no one can say otherwise. Ownership can lead to the attitude that my little piece of the pie is more important the all others, whatever the impact on anyone or anything else.

We’ve got lots of important issues in the Northwoods that require all of us to assume ownership, but an ownership that assumes no privilege over any other owners. We can’t be renters who assume no responsibility, but we also can’t be owners that grab on to their piece and growl.

Whatever the cause, whatever the issue, we’re called upon to honor the whole, all of its parts, and all of its processes. Until then, we’re still just renting the car.

Please share your outdoor sightings and thoughts: call me at 715-476-2828, drop me an e-mail at manitowish@centurytel.net, or snail-mail me at 4245N Hwy. 47, Mercer, WI 54547.