A Northwoods Almanac for 3/19 – 4/1/21
Spring Is Coming and Lakes Are Booming
Bob Kovar lives on Wild Rice Lake in Manitowish Waters and wrote this on 3/11: “The lake looked different at first light this morning, more dark than white, something big was going on. When I stepped outside, I heard the sound of rolling thunder in the distance. You know that sound – the constant rumbling of a big storm approaching, the occasional louder boom punctuating the din of the ceaseless, uninterrupted rumbling as it gets closer. Down on the shoreline, I realized I was hearing the seismic rumble of the entire ice pack on the lake breaking up. It was loudly re-locating, cracking and shifting as this morning’s wind pushed hard against it, causing a lake quake measuring a magnitude 9.0 on the Bob scale. I’ve not heard the lake have this much to say in quite some time. I’ve always been told we have two ears and only one mouth because we are supposed to listen twice as much as we speak. So I settled myself in on a patch of ground, waited for the sun to rise, and listened.”
Common Loon Decline
I recently listened to a talk given by Dr. Walter Piper on the reproductive decline in Wisconsin loons. Piper has been studying loons since 1993 on over 200 lakes, nearly all in Oneida County, and in his most recent analysis, he’s found some very disturbing trends. Here are the highlights (or lowlights):
- Regarding loon chicks, there’s been a slight loss of chicks less than 5 weeks old.
- For chicks older than 5 weeks, however, the rate of loss has increased by 82% since 1993. The annual loss is now 5.6% compared to 2.9%.
- Two chick broods are now declining at a rate of 3.4% annually. From 1993-98, 47% of loon pairs had 2-chick broods. In recent years, only 27% had 2-chick broods.
- Chicks are lighter, and less robust – an 11% decline since 1998.
- Floaters, those adult loons between 3 and 6 years old who don’t have territories, have dramatically declined since the 1990s. Nearly 40% used to return after their migration as juveniles to the Gulf of Mexico, but now only 15% return.
- The overall population of loons in Piper’s study area is declining at a rate of 6% annually.
The question, among many, is whether this is a international, national or local trend. This is the most closely monitored population in the U.S. The second most monitored population is in Ontario, and their population is in decline as well.
The reasons for the decline? No one knows for sure, but the possible list is long: red tides in their Florida wintering grounds, climate change, lead consumption, eagle competition, a fisheries issue on breeding lakes, black flies, recreational impacts, and periodic die-offs from botulism on Great Lakes staging grounds (thousands of loons died from 2006 – 2012 from toxicity on the Great Lakes).
No species is more iconic to the Northwoods than common loons, so their decline is an issue of great concern. I’m very thankful for dedicated researchers who forewarn us of such things so that we have a chance to react. The question now is what specifically needs to be done.
First-of-the-Year Sightings
March marks the beginning of birds migrating back into the Northwoods, and we always are excited to record our “first-of-the-year” (FOY) sightings. The first two weeks of March have been mild, contributing to a very significant snowmelt in open areas. As the ground bares itself, a few “early” songbird species respond by heading north, despite their DNA telling them it’s likely a fool’s errand. Our usual FOYs arrive around spring equinox, but this year on 3/11, we already had common grackles, European starlings, and red-winged blackbirds return to our property on the Manitowish River, and I heard a robin that same day as well.
Some of our overwintering bird species mate and nest very early, too. We heard a great horned owl hooting across the river from our house on 3/8. Great horned owls are one of our earliest nesting species and should be on their nests by now, well along in incubating their eggs.
And on 3/9, Mary picked just the right moment to watch a pair of eagles mating on their nest across the river from our house.
Canada geese flew over our house on 3/10. Trumpeter swans are returning, at least those that migrated (a hardy cadre of trumpeters remain the winter on the Manitowish River). Sandhill cranes are due back any day as are great blue herons. A host of waterfowl will arrive as soon as open water beckons. And I wouldn’t be surprised to see the first pioneering killdeer and tree swallows arrive this week.
Birds are only part of the early spring story. We watched a pair of red squirrels mating in our back yard on 3/8, while Pat Schwai spotted a chipmunk under her feeders on 3/11. I’m waiting for someone to call me with a sighting of black bears – I would bet many are on the move already, and then it’s time to bring your bird feeders in at night.
Wisconsin Conservation Congress Spring Hearings Advisory Questions
The Wisconsin Conservation Congress (WCC) and the WDNR will again hold the annual Spring Hearings online due to Covid. The hearings will open on April 12 at 7 p.m. and will remain open for 72 hours. The public can provide input on proposed rule changes via the online website. The WCC received a record-setting 64,943 responses to the 2020 Spring Hearing Questionnaire, so join in to make your voice heard.
The Spring Hearings ask a very wide range of natural resource-related advisory questions. For instance, there’s this question on supporting the Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act: “Should the Wisconsin Conservation Congress endorse and encourage the U.S. Congress to enact carbon fee and dividend legislation with the intent of reducing CO2 emissions, benefitting conservation, and stimulating technological innovation and economic growth through revenue recycling?”
Along other environmental lines is a question regarding the Enbridge Line 5 crude oil pipeline that runs under the 5-mile-long Mackinac bridge. The pipeline has already spilled over 1.1 million gallons of oil in 33 incidents. Another study described the Straits of Mackinac as “the worst possible place for an oil spill in the Great Lakes” because the Great Lakes are the source of drinking water for more than 1.6 million Wisconsin residents alone.
One questions asks: “Do you support WCC opposition to construction of a new 42-mile segment of the Enbridge Line 5 crude oil pipeline in Ashland and Iron Counties to replace the existing portion of the Line 5 pipeline that bisects the Reservation of the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa?” A second asks: “Do you support WCC opposition to issuance of any permits for the Line 5 project by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources at the conclusion of its EIS process?”
One other environmental question regards protecting our rivers and lakes: “Would you support legislation to require perennial native species vegetative buffers of 50 feet along rivers and streams and 16.5 feet along ditches not covered by local zoning ordinances under Wisconsin’s Shoreland Management Program in NR 115?”
On the other side of the coin, there’s this one, which has repercussions for our area and rightfully already failed twice in previous years: “Would you support legalizing the harvest of white (not albino) deer statewide?”
First off, there’s no way a hunter can determine from a distance whether a white deer is albino or not. According to geneticists, you need a genetic test to confirm albinism because of the many forms it can take, and somehow I don’t think hunters can administer the test prior to taking a shot.
Further, the description in the questionnaire wrongly states that albino deer are “completely white with eyes, nose and other soft parts being pink.” In writing the text for Jeff Richter’s book White Deer: Ghosts of the Forest, I contacted Dr. William Oetting at the Institute of Human Genetics at the University of Minnesota to determine if our local white deer were indeed albinos. I sent him close-up pictures of two of the deer that have blue-green eyes, and through a series of correspondences, he concluded, “Without confirming this with molecular testing, both of these deer have tyrosinase negative oculocutaneous albinism. There is a lack of pigment in the hair, skin and eyes of both deer. A close-up of the eye of the yearling shows a lack of pigment in the iris (green-blue).”
In addition to Dr. Oetting’s statement about eye color (albinos can have green-blue eyes), the literature on albinism clearly states that there are different kinds of albinism, and that some albinos may show some color in their irises – often a light blue or gray.
The questionnaire goes on to say, “In the wild, white fur and markings place these animals at a selective disadvantage because they lack the typical protective coloration and are more visible, making them more susceptible to predators.” My response to this endlessly repeated assertion is that if they were at a selective disadvantage, they wouldn’t have survived in the wild for the last 10,000 years. Not to mention that we have 5 months of white winter here, where they are obviously at a selective advantage, not a disadvantage.
One last statement on this that needs to be addressed: “From a strictly biological perspective, there is no reason to protect white deer.” That’s true. It’s also true, however, that from a strictly biological perspective, there’s no reason to hunt white deer either.
To see the entire questionnaire, go to:
https://widnr.widen.net/view/pdf/frop1w9xkk/WCC_SpringHearingQuestions_2021.pdf?t.download=true
Correction
Isle Royale is in Michigan, not Minnesota, as I mistakenly wrote in my last column.
Celestial Events
On 3/19, look after dusk for Mars about 2° north of the waxing crescent moon.
The Vernal Equinox occurs officially on 3/20.
The full moon – the Maple Sugar/Crust on Snow Moon – shines bright on 3/28.
Thought for the Week
“This simple technique of awareness had long been my way to open a conversation with any unfamiliar landscape. Who are you? I would ask. How do I say your name? May I sit down? Should I go now? Over the years I’d found this way of approaching whatever was new to me consistently useful: establish mutual trust, become vulnerable to the place, then hope for some reciprocity and perhaps even intimacy.” – Barry Lopez
No comments:
Post a Comment