A Northwoods Almanac for 9/28/18

A Northwoods Almanac for 9/28/18 – 10/11/18  

Loons Staging

On 9/20, a local birder observed 47 loons on Trout Lake. She wondered if it was a bit early for loons to be staging, but given that peak migration for adult loons in the Upper Great Lakes begins in mid-October, it seems like a reasonable time frame.

Common loons often utilize staging areas for rest and for foraging prior to their long-distance migrations. Like a 5-star hotel, the best staging areas have abundant prey, clear water, and offer safety. Trout Lake and Fence Lake represent two of our largest area lakes, and loons have been observed staging in large numbers on these two lakes over many years. 

Even though loons often stage in significant numbers prior to migration, loon adults migrate independent of their chicks and of each other, while young-of-the-year loons remain on their natal or adjacent lakes until near freeze-up.Usually by late November, however, most have arrived in their wintering areas.  

Based on extensive banding efforts as well as the implantation of satellite transmitters, researchers in New England and the upper Midwest now better understand loon migration routes. The loon populations of the Upper Great Lakes in Michigan and Wisconsin – “our” loons – migrate along the southern Great Lakes and then use an overland migration route to the Gulf of Mexico. They typically first use the Great Lakes as staging areas, and then often gather along the way on large reservoirs in Tennessee and Alabama. Some even choose to over-winter on those reservoirs.

A 25-year statewide dataset in New Hampshire shows that 17% of the fall loon population is comprised of young-of-the year, a percentage likely accurate for our area as well. 

The juvenile loons will remain on their wintering sites, finally returning in their third year to near where they were raised. 

Sightings: Snow Geese

            On 9/20, Bob Kovar photographed a small flock of snow geese mingling with a flock of Canada geese on one of the cranberry marshes in Manitowish Waters, an unusual sighting for our area these days. Snow geese were once a common sight locally during migration – the Powell Marsh master plan from 1979 describes “dramatic and large flocks of migrating geese” descending upon freshly burned areas in the early 1950s to graze on tender green shoots. It goes on to say “Powell Marsh is within a major flight lane for both Canada and snow geese.”

photo by Bob Kovar

            Well, times have changed for snow geese, which now migrate either well west of our area or simply wave as they pass over the state. “Wisconsin’s” birds are part of a Mississippi Flyway population that breeds in the eastern Arctic and winters along the Gulf Coast of Louisiana and Texas. Most snow geese now overfly Wisconsin on a direct flight to the Gulf from staging areas on James Bay. If they do stopover, the best areas to see them are at Crex Meadows Wildlife Management Area, Horicon Marsh, and Necedah National Wildlife Refuge.

I asked Bruce Bacon, retired DNR wildlife manager, why they now fly over our state rather than stopping, and he says it’s mostly because they migrate much later in the year, often not until late November. That’s because of a change in farming practices in Canada from fall plowing to minimum tillage, which leaves a lot of crop debris, and thus food, in the fields. The snow geese now can forage much later in the fall in Canada, and then when they finally have no choice but to migrate, most hightail it through our area to the Gulf.

Better Water Clarity Increases Property Values 

In a recently released study examining the relationship between water clarity and property values on 60 lakes in Oneida and Vilas Counties, the researchers found that home prices rise as water clarity improves. Using actual home sales data, they determined that within Vilas and Oneida Counties, an improvement of water clarity by 1 meter increases average home sale prices by 8 to 32 thousand dollars. 

The study was conducted by Dr. Thomas Kemp, Head of the Economics Department at UW Eau Claire and was funded by a grant from Lumberjack Resource Conservation & Development. See “The Impact of Water Clarity on Home Prices in Vilas and Oneida Counties, Wisconsin” which is available from the Vilas County Land & Water Conservation Department.

Migration Numbers

            Cornell Lab of Ornithology researchers researched data from 143 weather stations from 2013 to 2017 to provide the first large-scale counts of migratory bird activity across the United States. They estimate an average of 4 billion birds pass from Canada across the northern border of the U.S. in autumn, with 2.6 billion birds returning to Canada in the spring.

            Across our southern border, an average of 4.7 billion birds leave the U.S. for Mexico and points south each fall, with 3.5 billion birds coming back across the border in the spring.

Frost

Our first frost in Manitowish occurred on the morning of 9/22, although it was a light frost and didn’t harm our garden like a heavy frost would. From my records for Manitowish since the late 1980s, our shortest growing season was in 1993 when our last frost of spring was on June 21, and our first frost of autumn was on August 12, giving us a 52-day growing season.     This last decade has consistently given us frost-free days until well into September, and even into October. While this is good for gardens – we still are picking ripe tomatoes – it’s also a clear sign of a warming environment.

Red Pine Fire Data

            Over the years, I’ve led many hikes in the Frog Lake and Pines State Natural Area which is just across the Manitowish River from our house. One place I like to take folks is a point on Frog Lake where several old red pines have big fire scars at their base. I’ve often wondered about when the fire, or fires, occurred. This summer, I learned that Jed Meunier, an ecologist and research scientist with the WDNRstudying forest and fire ecology, took one partial section from a living tree on the point and by examining the rings, found the following dates:

Pith: 1805. So, the tree is now 213 years old.

Fire scars: 1833, 1846, 1855, 1864, 1877, 1895, 1909.

            These dates are remarkable in that European settlement in our area didn’t occur until the 1880s. So, how did these fires occur? Is it likely that there could have been a natural fire occurring nearly every decade for eight decades? 

I think not. The data suggest instead that the native Ojibwe were consistently setting ground fires in this area. Why? I suspect for berries, particularly blueberries. Just about every collectable berry species in our area only grows in full sun, and consistent fires would have kept both the canopy and the groundlayer open enough for all berry plants to dominate.

Fires also create a “fresh bite” – new plant growth that would be ideal for desirable wildlife species like deer and rabbits. 

Ojibwe elders have told us that they burned areas south of Lac du Flambeau so frequently that it was a “prairie.” Fire research like Meunier’s will help corroborate that, though nearly all of the big trees that could have given us that fire data via their growth rings are long gone. I’m eager to see additional data and analysis as he learns more.

fire scar on a white pine in the Frog Lake and Pines State Natural Area

Fall colors

            Mary, Callie, and I hiked along the Escarpment Trail in the Porcupine Mountains on 9/24 and saw very little color change. That’s normal, however, for fall colors along Lake Superior to be a week or more behind the rest of the Northwoods given the moderating effect of the world’s largest lake. 

Fall colors in Wisconsin’s Northwoods have been coming on slowly. As of 9/24, Boulder Junction reported 20% of peak, Eagle River 15% of peak on 9/19, Hayward 20% of peak on 9/24, and Manitowish Waters 20% of peak on 9/20. Not that long ago, most area chambers of commerce ran their fall “color-ramas” right around fall equinox – 9/22 – but that’s usually too early these days. The peak of fall color in New England and the time of leaf drop both occur about eight days later than they did 25 years ago, and I suspect that’s right for us, too.

Expect peak color this fall in the first week of October.

Celestial Events

            Planets in October: Look for Mars, in the SSE at dusk, Jupiter in the WSW at dusk, and Saturn in the SSW at sunset.The Draconid Meteor Shower peaks during the evening of 10/8, coinciding with the new moon, so viewing should be good. This is a modest meteor shower, averaging 10 per hour.

            On 10/11, look for Jupiter 4 degrees below the waxing crescent moon. 

Thought for the Week

“I'm so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers.”– L.M. Montgomery, author of Anne of Green Gables.