A Northwoods Almanac
for April 17 – 30, 2015
Sightings – Snowy
Owl, Snow Buntings, Woodcocks, Eagles Eating Snails, More!
3/31: Peggy Grinvalsky photographed a snowy owl on
Lake Minocqua. Her comment, “Wowowowowow!!!! Snowy owl on Lake Minocqua across
from Savemore at 1:15 today . . . nobody even noticed!!!!! Been looking for one
for at least 40 years. Great warm sunny day to just watch and be in awe.”
3/31: Sarah Krembs reported seeing a flock of snow
buntings north of Rhinelander on Highway 47. They were undoubtedly males given
that male snow buntings return to their high arctic breeding grounds in early
April, even though the temperature often dips to -22°, and the landscape
remains snow-covered. The females, the apparently brighter of the genders, won’t
arrive for another four to six weeks, when days are warming and the snow is
beginning to melt.
Sarah also noted: “I went out for the nightly peanut
run for the flying squirrels, and I heard a constant repeated sort of low whistling
noise up in the trees far in the backyard. Whoa, ho! A saw-whet owl. I
love it. I went from a couple years ago listening to various owl sounds on a
disc thinking, "Never, ever heard it," to now being outside at the
right time of the evening to hear it in our own backyard. Incredible!”
Listen after dusk for the male saw-whets wooing
females – their “song” sounds like the continual dinging that a commercial
truck makes when it’s backing up.
4/1: Bill McCutchin reported a truly unique sighting:
“We have four eagles on the [Trout] river behind our house. There is one
mature, one almost mature and two immature all hanging around together. They
are staying on the edge of the ice and appear to be pulling up wild rice and
eating that. They are wading in 2 to 3 inches of water on the wild rice
flats. Is this normal?”
I had never heard of eagles eating wild rice, so I
emailed Ron Eckstein, retired DNR wildlife biologist and an eagle expert. His
response was this: “There is no record of eagles eating any grain including
wild rice. They do pull aquatic grasses and use the grass to line their
nests. So, actually eating wild rice seeds or wild rice stems is unknown to
science.”
The
next day, Bill responded saying, “The strange part about the eagles was they also
used their feet to break the thin ice, then moved the ice with one foot, and
then pulled up a clump of rice and swallowed it. It looked like spaghetti going
down.”
The following day, 4/3, Bill sent
another email this time with a possible answer to the mystery: “I was down by
the pier and noticed all kinds of big snails (1”) all over in the shallows in the
mud. Were they maybe eating these and the rice stems came with the lunch?”
Ron responded, saying, “The snails
are likely the answer! This is great to document eagles eating snails.”
Who would have thought eagles were
ingenious enough to pull up wild rice stalks in order to eat the snails
clinging to them? Just another example of the remarkable adaptability and
intelligence of wildlife.
4/1: Mary, Callie, and I counted
ten sandhill cranes on Powell Marsh.
4/2: Ed Marshall sent a photo of a
first-of-the-year (FOY) woodcock in the spring snow, noting: “This guy showed
up outside my library window.” Woodcock probe the soil with their long beaks
for invertebrates, so one wonders how difficult it was finding food while we
still had snow on the ground.
4/3: We had a northern shrike show
up at our feeders, and later that day, saw another shrike on Powell Marsh. We
hadn’t seen a shrike all winter!
4/5: On a less happy note, cowbirds
appeared at our feeders, while starlings had arrived on 4/2.
4/6: Cherie Smith in Lake Tomahawk sent
a photo of a hermit thrush that was eating suet at one of her feeders. This is
a FOY for hermit thrushes in our area, but also is a great sighting, because
hermit thrushes simply aren’t known for coming to suet. Hunger makes for
creative responses I guess.
She also noted: “Last year in March when the weather
was really bad we had a robin come in. I started putting out mealworms for
him and pretty soon he found them. If we didn't get outside fast enough
for him, he'd perch on this log by the house and just stare in the window until
we spotted him. He actually started running towards us when we'd go
out. I never tried to tame him enough to eat out of our hand, but he'd
stand about a foot away waiting for us to toss the worms to him. Then
later on in the summer, he brought the "wife and kids" in for a
treat. Well, to make a long story longer . . . darn if he didn't show up a
few days ago. I wasn't sure it was the same robin, but when I went outside
and called "Papa" (my nickname for him), he came running for the
mealworms I had. He's quite the little beggar. We have two that we
are feeding now, and I'm pretty sure the other one is his son. He does do his
own hunting, but if he gets the chance he'd rather have the easy meal!!”
4/7: Don and Greta Janssen reported
hearing cardinals singing at their home for the first time this year. A pair of
cardinals have nested at the Janssen’s for quite a few years now.
4/7: A FOY fox sparrow appeared at
our feeders in Manitowish.
4/10: Sarah Krembs sent a photo of a couple of trumpeter
swans preening at Powell Marsh.
4/12: Mary, Callie, and I saw our
FOY northern flicker, a flock of them in fact, as well as our FOY morning cloak
butterfly, and one species of the “comma” butterflies, all of which overwinter here
by hibernating as adults, and then emerge typically in early April.
4/13: Linda Johnson on the Tomahawk
River reported the FOY eastern phoebe for this area.
4/13: Dan Carney in Hazelhurst
spotted the FOY yellow-rumped warbler for our area.
4/14: We
had a pair of FOY yellow-bellied sapsuckers feeding on aspen flowers in our
yard.
Loons Slow in
Returning
Ice-out has come rather quickly
this spring. Many smaller lakes were ice-free as of 4/10 or 4/11, which is
about a week earlier than average. What I found unusual about the open
water was the utter lack of common loons, at least on the lakes that I
observed. Typically loons appear on their territorial lakes the very same day
as ice-out, often before the ice is even completely off the lake. That has not
been the case so much this spring.
I suspect the reason why is quite
simple – the loons were just as surprised by the sudden 60° temperatures as we
were. Their experience, particularly the last two springs, likely spurred a
conservative approach to completing their migration into northern Wisconsin, a
“I’ve been burned (or perhaps frozen) before by going up there too soon.”
Walter Piper, a long-time loon
researcher in our area, had this to say in his blog (www.loonproject.org) about the unusually
slow appearance of loons so far:
“Why would territory owners leave
their lakes undefended, especially at a time when many adult loons without
territories are on the prowl, anxious to seize any vacant lake? The answer
is simple. Weather changes rapidly. As migrants that must fly hundreds of miles
between the wintering and breeding grounds, loons face a meteorological puzzle.
If they molt their feathers and migrate too early to the breeding grounds, they
will encounter wintry conditions and uninhabitable frozen lakes on arrival,
struggle to find enough food on open water along rivers, and ultimately settle
on their breeding lake in poor condition. They will then be at risk for losing
their territory to a fitter, stronger usurper who times his or her arrival better
and remains in better condition. If, on the other hand, they wait too long
to migrate, they might return to find that a squatter established on
their territory. In such cases, a territory owner would have to battle the
squatter to reassert itself as owner. In short, gauging when to return to the
lake you own is an inexact business for a territorial loon.”
The Great Wisconsin
Birdathon!
What is a Birdathon? It's kind of a
Spot-a-thon with birds, a grassroots, community event that directly benefits
bird protection projects in Wisconsin. Teams of birders from all over the state
have 24 hours to find as many birds as they can. Our Birdathon team, the Northern
Highlands team, will spend most of our 24-hour period in Iron, Vilas, and
Oneida counties with the goals of seeing 100 bird species or more and raising
at least $1000. Funds we raise will support eight statewide programs that meet
the year-round needs of Wisconsin’s birds, programs like monitoring and managing Kirtland’s warblers or
reintroducing whooping cranes.
I’ve
never done one of these before, nor has anyone on our team, but the cause is
really a good one. You can help us help Wisconsin birds by pledging or donating to the Northern Highlands
team. Most folks contribute a set amount, or they pledge a quarter per
species, whatever feels good to you. To donate online, go to WIBirdathon.org, click on Donate to Someone You Know, find my
name, and make a tax-deductible donation. Or find our signature team, and do
the same.
The Great Wisconsin Birdathon started in 2012 as a joint effort
between the Natural Resources Foundation of Wisconsin, the Wisconsin Society
for Ornithology, and the Wisconsin Bird Conservation Initiative (WBCI). In
2014, 217 birders, 55 teams, and 745 donors together raised $56,000 to support
seven bird conservation projects in Wisconsin. We’re hoping to make that number
go higher.
Celestial Events
The peak for
the Lyrid meteor shower occurs in the predawn of 4/23. The Lyrids average about
10-20 meteors per hour.
On 4/25 and
4/26, look for Jupiter near the waxing gibbous moon.
And, if you haven’t noticed, it’s
staying light a lot later. By 4/29, we’ll hit 14 hours of daylight.
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