A Northwoods Almanac for July 12 – 25, 2019

A Northwoods Almanac for July 12 – 25, 2019  by John Bates

Loon Raising a Mallard Chick

            I was delightfully surprised by a recent photo of a mallard chick riding on the back of an adult loon and the accompanying article in Walter Piper’s blog https://loonproject.org/recent-events/. There are numerous instances of other waterfowl acting as foster parents for the chicks of other species, but given the fierce territoriality of common loons, I would not have expected an adult loon to parent an orphaned mallard chick. Loons commonly chase off and/or attack other waterfowl within their territory, sometimes even killing them. Adoption of other species is not “part of their nature.”

Elaina Lomery, a field biologist working this summer on Walter’s nearly 30-year-running Loon Project, snapped the photos on Long Lake. She observed that the adults treated the mallard just as they would one of their own, guarding the chick from predators and trying to feed it tiny fish that it, of course, rejected because mallards don’t eat fish.   

            Here’s where long-term research pays off. Walter’s studies of nesting loons in Oneida County has provided many, many insights into loon behavior. A bevy of loon volunteers watch their lakes and report their sightings to him, as do a number of trained assistants. In this case, the nest on Long Lake had been observed since the loons began nesting in mid-May. A month later, on 6/14, egg fragments were found in the nest, indicating a chick had successfully hatched. So, the adults were hormonally primed to take care of a chick.

            In his blog, Walter notes that the story gets speculative after this, because no one knows what happened to that loon chick, or for that matter, to the mallard chick that the loons eventually adopted. Walter suggests that the loon adults, now hormonally pre-disposed to care for a chick, likely lost their own chick and soon after found this mallard chick, taking it on as their own.

            The duckling, for its part, surely imprinted on the loon pair shortly after hatching, the adult hen mallard having likely been killed. Instances of ducks imprinting on the first larger animal they see, and then remaining attached to that adult, are well documented. 

            The problem for the mallard chick is that it eats only plant matter and invertebrates while loons primarily eat fish. The question to yet be answered is whether the duckling will survive its adopted parents’ mistaken dinner options. Still, as of Walter’s writing on 6/29, the mallard had survived for at least 10 critical days, so something must be working. 

            Walter notes two documented instances of loon adults adopting other species – in one case five common eider ducklings and in another a common goldeneye duckling. But eiders and goldeneyes are fish eaters, so there wouldn’t have been a dietary disconnect.

            Time will tell, as it always does, how this story evolves. Subscribe to Walter’s blog to be kept up to date, and be sure to read his many past entries that richly describe his observations and analysis of loons on our northern lakes.

             

Sightings: Polyphemus Moth, Red-headed Woodpeckers, Shamrock Orbweaver

I was cutting grass on our property in Manitowish on 7/1 when I noticed a large brownish moth fluttering along the ground. I ran to get my camera and got numerous photos of a very cooperative polyphemus moth that was intently focused on something in our lawn that was completely unobservable to me. 

Bill Niemuthon Boulder Lake emailed to say that he and his wife have a nesting pair of red-headed woodpeckers. He wrote, “I think the young are chirping now. Not having seen many of them over the years, we initially thought it was a flicker, but were pleased to see the red head. Love the screech.” I’m envious – I’ve yet to see a red-headed woodpecker this spring or summer.

Hannah Dana sent me photos of a shamrock orbweaver spider, beautifully describing her encounter with it: “Last night I stepped out on my deck and noticed something glistening in the light emanating from the porch light. When I stepped closer to it I saw an orb weaver spider (female because males don't build webs) creating a triangulated web from my patio chair to the post supporting the deck roof and to a wind chime. I moved closer so I could see the silk coming out of the spinnerets and was utterly fascinated. 

“I watched for almost an hour while the spider ingeniously dropped down, swung across, retraced existing silk lines (without getting stuck) and reached out with its legs to make a parallel line. Once the framework was in place, the spider noticed a pine needle that was caught in the place of the web's origin and she worked for ten minutes to remove it. Then the spider began making dozens of parallel strands.  

“I went inside the house after watching for almost an hour and returned an hour later to find the spider still at work, seemingly testing the tensile strength and the security of the three base points. I was in awe, even humbled, at this sight. The spider's tenacity and innate knowledge of geometry was absolutely amazing. 

“I suppose some people would tell me to get a life, but it was thrilling to watch another living creature at work. Just think of how long three or four hours is in relation to the ephemeral life of a spider. I will feel guilty about whisking away webs which I previously considered unsightly. I understand the silk webbing is five times stronger than steel of the same diameter. 

“This morning I went to the deck to check on the "project" and saw many trapped gnats and the remnants of a moth which appeared to have been the spider's dinner. The spider was absent but the large web was intact. I decided not to destroy it, and I will leave the chair in place, so I will not be responsible for disturbing the web. Apparently, spiders will eat up their own webs to aid in the production of the proteins, etc., needed to produce the silk. I will leave the demolition to her! I have lived nearly 70 years and never took the time to witness this commonplace wonder.” 

Blue Flag Iris

            Wetlands everywhere are now splendidly painted with blue flag iris (Iris versicolor). Our extremely wet spring has ensured a “water-water-everywhere” summer, and blue flag has responded in kind. 

            If you’re not familiar with blue flag, its long, parallel-veined leaves (up to 3') are like pointed swords. The showy violet-blue flowers spread out nearly flat, the longer sepals appearing like extended wings, with a greenish-yellow blotch at their base and beautiful white veining throughout. A thick horizontal rhizome extends underground and sends up new stems, thus cloning blue flag in patches. 

            Blue flag is known also as "fleur-de-lis", commonly thought to mean “flower of the lily”, but in fact the name originated as the result of Louis VII adopting the blue flag as the emblem of his house. The “fleur-de-Louis” was corrupted through spelling errors over time into the “fleur-de-lis”. 

            Irismeans “rainbow” in Greek. Mary Durant, in her book Who Named the Daisy? Who Named the Rose explains the origin:“Iris was the goddess of the rainbow and a member of Juno’s court, where her special office was to receive the souls of dying women.  Moreover, Iris was a model of every virtue and so impressed Juno with her purity that Juno decided to commemorate her forever with a flower that would bear Iris’ name and bloom in the rainbow colors of Iris’ robes.”

            If you have the time, sit down close to a blue flag iris and watch the pollination of its blossom. The unique shape of the blue flag flower ensures cross-pollination. When a bee lands on one of the three floppy sepals with the greenish-yellow blotch at their base, it follows the yellow lines (nectar guides) into the opening under the female part of the flower, scraping off any pollen on its back from a previous blue flag. As it crawls further in, the bee gets new pollen from the male part of plant, and then finally reaches the base of the flower where it feeds on the nectar. After drinking its fill, the bee exits out through an opening and is off to pollinate another blue flag. 

            For the last beautifully written word on the subject, one often turns to a revered author like Henry David Thoreau. But in this case, Thoreau dropped the ball. Thoreau felt the blue flag was “a little too showy and gaudy, like some women’s bonnets.” Ah, but what did he know?

             

Bird Banding with Bruce Bacon

            I, along with over a thousand other birders around the state, am involved in the Wisconsin Breeding Birds Atlas II, a comprehensive field survey documenting the distribution and abundance of birds breeding in the state. Each atlaser is given a roughly 3-mile by 3-mile block in a specific area to try to confirm breeding in as many bird species as possible. The tricky part is the word “confirm,” because it requires us to not just ID a bird, but to confirm breeding by, for instance, visually finding a nest, or seeing a chick, or seeing an adult carrying food. And that’s not easy! In my block, I’ve identified 92 bird species, but only confirmed that 42 were breeding.

            One great way to get our confirmations is by working with master bird bander Bruce Bacon from Mercer, who also is our county coordinator for the project. If Bruce can capture birds within our blocks, he can physically confirm whether the male is sexually active by seeing whether he has a “cloacal protuberance” (use your imagination), or whether the female has an incubation patch on her belly, and thus confirm breeding. 

yellow-bellied flycatcher eating a deer fly

I was not doing very well on my confirmations, so Bruce and I went out banding on 6/27 on a little dead-end road near Springstead. In four hours, we caught 15 different species of birds, of which 12 were new confirmations for my block. Hooray!

magnolia warbler

 The first Wisconsin Breeding Bird Atlas was initiated by the Wisconsin Society for Ornithology in 1995 and represented the largest coordinated field effort in the history of Wisconsin ornithology. During the six-year survey period, over 1600 field observers documented 235 species as at least probable breeders in the state. 

The second atlas will expand on the findings of WBBA I and provide critical data for years to come. In comparing these observations to those collected during the first atlas, researchers expect to identify shifts in the range and abundance of Wisconsin’s bird species.

Deer Fly and Horse Fly Season

            July is hatching time for deer and horse flies, and there’s no repellent that truly works to deter them. But here’s the thing – deer and horse flies like most to attack high up on your body, typically doing laps around your head until they land and take a painful bite out of you. So, over the years I’ve learned to use a product called “Tred-Not Deerfly Patches” which is a double-sided tape. One side is only slight sticky and sticks gently to my hat, while the other side is very sticky – basically a fly paper. The flies land on the 2” x 6” flesh-colored strip, get stuck, and at the end of my walk, I peel off the tape with the all the flies, roll it up and throw it away. 

My record “catch” on one walk is 75. No chemicals, no odor, no spray cans. Many local sporting goods stores carry these, or try www.deerflypatches.com.

Celestial Events

            On 7/13, look for Jupiter about 2 degrees below the gibbous moon. On 7/15, look for Saturn just above the moon. The full moon (the “Thunder” or “Full Velvet” Moon) occurs on 7/16.

Thought for the Week

            The way we see the world shapes the way we treat it. If a mountain is a deity, not a pile of ore; if a river is one of the veins of the land, not potential irrigation water; if a forest is a sacred grove, not timber; if other species are biological kin, not resources; or if the planet is our mother, not an opportunity – then we will treat each other with greater respect. This is the challenge, to look at the world from a different perspective.– David Suzuki