A Northwoods
Almanac for March 18 – 31, 2016
Sightings
3/4: Redpolls
are the only winter finch being seen locally in good numbers right now. Bruce
Bacon, a master bird bander in Mercer, has had over 200 at his feeders. We have
perhaps 30 or more in Manitowish, and many others are reporting significant
numbers at their feeders. But as for the other Canadian birds that we always
hope to see over the winter – purple finches, pine siskins, evening and pine
grosbeaks – they appear for the most part to have skipped our area.
3/4: John
Werth reported seeing several geese, the first of the year, on the open water
of the Manitowish River.
3/4: Jeff Burke in Presque Isle wrote
the following about two recent experiences with eagles. “As we left the house,
we came upon a large dining event near Crab Lake Road attended by five eagles –
four mature and one immature, plus several ravens. They were feasting on a
fresh small deer kill. But even better was last Saturday (2/27) on Big
Lake when a group of us witnessed both nest building activities followed by a
no-foreplay mating activity, a five-minute break and a repeat. Any day I see an
eagle close up is a good day. Yesterday and last Saturday were way above
average.”
3/8: Speaking of eagles, Gary Ruesch on
the Rainbow Flowage watched four immature eagles early in the morning sitting
on the ice and eating something they were finding on top of the ice. The four
took off, and soon after a number of eagles were circling around the same spot
on the ice. Eventually 14 landed, a mix of adults and immatures, and all, too,
were eating something that they were finding on the ice. Gary said that ice
fishermen had been fishing near that spot all winter. He speculated that there
was likely a bounty of fish guts free for the taking, and the eagles had found
the treasure trove.
3/9: The first grackle returned to
Manitowish.
3/12: A
common loon was reported on a lake in Madison, the first of many to come, all
of which will be scouting further north and looking for open water.
3/12:
Thousands of tundra swans were being seen throughout southern and central
Wisconsin.
3/13: Greg
Holt on Benson Lake in Manitowish Waters observed several common mergansers on
the open water.
3/13: The
first flock of red-winged blackbirds filled the trees near our home in
Manitowish.
3/14: The
first junco returned to our feeders in Manitowish, as did our first robin,
which was eating some very fermented crabapples. We also had our first snow
bunting migrating back through, as well as a small flock of bohemian waxwings
also eating the crabapples.
3/14: We had
our first fresh maple syrup of the season thanks to the generosity of Bob
Simeone – fabulous! The season is off to a shaky start with our overly warm
weather, but there’s hope yet for the requisite below-freezing nights and warm
days.
3/15: The
first European starling arrived at our feeders in Manitowish.
3/15:
Numerous people have reported seeing trumpeter swans on the open water in our
area. Bev Engstrom took a marvelous photo of one on the Wisconsin River, which
I’ve included.
 |
| trumpeter swan photo by Bev Engstrom |
Coming Our Way Soon on a South Wind
Depending on your location in the
Northwoods, these birds may or may not be back already, but they typically
first appear in late March:
American woodcock
Killdeer
Eastern bluebird
Northern harrier
Turkey vulture
Red-tailed hawk
Peregrine falcon
Waterfowl:
American
wigeon
Northern pintail
Gadwall
Green-winged teal
Ring-necked duck
Hooded merganser
Red-breasted
merganser
Mourning Cloak Butterflies
Not
arriving on a south wind, but emerging from hibernation in a tree cavity or
tucked under tree bark, mourning cloak butterflies are usually our first
butterflies of the spring, often appearing while there’s still snow on the ground.
Food is hard to come by this early in the year, but mourning cloaks can somehow
find enough sustenance from tree sap and decaying fruit. In order to fly, they
have to bask in the sun to raise their body temperature close to ours – their
dark bodies and wings help in solar collection.
Mourning
cloaks win the longevity award among butterflies, living for 10 to 11 months.
 |
| mourning cloak butterfly photo by Mary Burns |
Early Bats
On
3/13, Carolyn Paduzzi reported the following: “I went
up to both the Presque Isle and Black River Falls. Interestingly, I saw two
brown bats flying very close by me, one at each river's entrance into Lake
Superior. Mid-day, bright sunshine, and there they were buzzing about me like
two hummingbirds. I wasn't aware of any bugs in the air, so am not sure what
they were eating. Is this a normal time to come out of hibernation? By
day?”
I called Licia Johnson, lead
naturalist at the North Lakeland Discovery Center and a lover of all things
“batty,” and she said that she had received a number of phone calls in the last
week from others seeing bats. Apparently, some bats will go in and out of
hibernation briefly if the weather is quite warm. They don’t remain active
long, so they don’t need to feed extensively, which is good given that the
insect hatch at this time of year is minimal.
However, another factor may be at
work here – white-nose syndrome. Licia called a statewide expert on bats who
said she had been receiving many reports of flying bats in southern Wisconsin
since January. White-nose syndrome, a Eurasian fungal disease that has killed
an estimated 6 million bats in North America, disrupts the hibernation cycle of
bats, repeatedly awakening them and burning up their fat reserves. They then
are forced to leave their hibernation site looking for food, which ultimately
leads to their deaths. Some winter colonies have experienced 100% mortality.
White-nose syndrome is now in 26
states and 5 Canadian provinces, and appeared through much of the U.P in
2014-15. The disease has now been confirmed in Minnesota and may be affecting
our area as well.
Manitowish River Ice-Out
The
Manitowish River opened below our house on 3/9, eight days earlier than our
27-year average of 3/17. Over that time, the river has opened on an earlier
date only five other times. I anticipate an early ice-out for our area lakes as
well, unless, of course, March is really yanking our chain and winter returns
with a vengeance.
The snow
melt in the last week has been remarkable, and most open areas are now clear of
snow, while the shaded woods will hold the snow much longer. The early snow
melt bodes poorly for river and lake levels, though significant spring rains
can change all of that. We were still skiing on 3/9, but at 50°, the conditions
were a slog.
Spring Equinox
The first day of spring arrives this
year at 11:30 p.m. on March 19, when theoretically we should experience equal
periods of day and night. In northern Wisconsin, though, we’ll experience the
equinox on March 17, which will be our first day longer than night since
September 26.
But spring IS on its way. How soon
will spring occur in the Northwoods compared to southern Wisconsin? We can
accurately predict the date of the first bloom of our northern spring flowers
based on Hopkins Law, which says that phenological events vary at the rate of
one day for each 15 minutes of latitude and one day for each 100 feet of
altitude. (Phenology is the study of the seasonal march of observable
biological events – when the first robin returns, when the first trillium
blooms, etc.) If we compare biological events in Madison to those in Minocqua,
there should be a 20-day interval between the two areas, given their distance
apart (about 220 miles) and their differences in elevation.
Note that variations do occur along
the Great Lakes where the weather is moderated by the still icy waters. And
Hopkins Law is considered valid only up to June 1, when other factors take
control, like available sunlight, soil conditions, and rainfall.
Full Moon and Penumbrial Eclipse
Look at 6:47 a.m for the moon at
maximum eclipse to be 78% shaded. The sun rises just 8 minutes later, so much
of the effect will be washed out.
Spring?
“Spring is when you feel
like whistling even with a shoe full of slush.” – Doug Larson
