A Northwoods Almanac for 4/16/21

 A Northwoods Almanac for 4/16-29, 2021  by John Bates

 

World’s Oldest Known Loons Again Return to Seney National Wildlife Refuge

            The two oldest documented common loons in North America, named ABJ and Fe (“Fay”), separately returned on 4/8 from their oceanic wintering grounds to their long-term breeding territory on Seney National Wildlife Refuge in the eastern Upper Peninsula of Michigan. ABJ was banded as a Seney chick in 1987, so his age is known precisely: He will turn 34 this June. 

            His partner Fe’s age is less clear. She was first color-marked in 1990 as a successful Seney mother, but it’s impossible to age an adult loon. So, given that the youngest age of verified common loon reproduction is four, Fe will be turning at least 35 this season, but she certainly could be older. 

            While other banded adults have reached their late twenties, it’s even more remarkable that among thousands of color-marked loons across northern North America, the oldest two are not only paired together, but have been so for a record 25 consecutive years.

            Staying together that long in the intensely territorial world of loons is really phenomenal. While loons can mate for life, it’s a rarity. Nearly daily territorial fights take place on northern lakes between young loons seeking to usurp a territory and the defending territorial pair. Loons of either gender often get evicted from a territory by an invading younger loon, and when that happens, the usurped loon moves to a non-territorial lake nearby and soon after begins to look for a new territory and mate, which may require he or she to usurp another loon’s territory. Meanwhile, the loon whose mate dies or is evicted readily establishes a new pair-bond with the conquering loon. 

            So, loons are married to their territories, not to their mates. And since loons are long-lived and constantly threatened by younger interlopers, most loons end up having multiple mates during their lifetime. 

            Thus, 25 years of monogamy in the loon world is unprecedented. Think of it this way. In the human world, while we celebrate silver anniversaries at the 25-year mark, each partner in the marriage isn’t under daily physical hand-to-hand combat with an intruder trying to drive them from their home during the spring and summer. That would make 25 years together special indeed!

            So, let’s hope that ABJ and Fe can successfully repel all attacks this spring and settle in for one month of incubation of one or two eggs. Any chicks that ultimately emerge will extend the pair’s other record – they’ve hatched 32 offspring over those 25 years. 

            Visitors to Seney can observe ABJ and Fe on the first body of water along the Marshland Auto Drive in the F Pool. ABJ displays the very faded red over green plastic colorbands that were affixed during nighttime capture in 1996. 

            If you’re not familiar with the 95,238-acre Seney National Wildlife Refuge, it was established in 1935 as a refuge and breeding ground for migratory birds and other wildlife. It’s been a massive restoration effort because the land was once heavily logged, burned, ditched, drained and cultivated. Nothing worked for human settlement, however, so our entrepreneurial loss became a huge gain for wildlife. The refuge also contains the Strangmoor Bog National Natural Landmark and the renowned Whitefish Point Unit of the Seney National Wildlife Refuge, a Globally Important Bird Area for birds migrating between the US and Canada. 

 

Frogs!

            Our nearly 70° days in early April led to not only ice-off on most of our lakes, but also to the emergence of spring peepers, wood frogs, and chorus frogs on our many ephemeral woodland ponds. The male singing that has ensued is a flamboyant and boisterous pandemonium that, despite the April (and even May) snowstorms that we may yet see, proclaims that SPRING IS HERE. 

            All three of these species had to emerge from being encased in ice underground for weeks to months. Two-thirds of their bodies were completely frozen during this time, and they no longer breathed, circulated blood, or had a detectable heartbeat. However, within thirty minutes of thawing out this spring, their heart began to beat and they came back to life. After two days, they headed to the ponds to sing and mate, which given all they’ve been through, gives them license to be as loud as they want to be.

            And consider this positive side-effect of the Covid pandemic: Wood frogs are often joined by spring peepers and spotted salamanders in migrating to their breeding pools during rainy nights in early April, which on back roads works fine. But on busy roads, road mortality can be as high as 100% during the one night of the season that most migration takes place.

One study showed an average mortality of 20 percent of amphibians at any road crossing in a given year.

            But last year, with far fewer vehicles on the road because of the pandemic, twice as many frogs and salamanders survived the journey. In fact, one study (https://www.ecori.org/natural-resources/2020/7/21/pandemic-lockdown-spared-millions-of-animals-from-roadway-deaths) found that pandemic lockdowns last year spared millions of animals from roadway deaths.

 

FOYS (First-of-the-Years)

            Let’s start with ice-off. Woody Hagge has collected 49 years of ice data on Foster Lake in Hazelhurst, and this year the ice went off on March 30^th. Woody wrote, “Foster went from 75’ to 100’ of open water yesterday morning along the north shore to ice-out this afternoon – all because of strong NW winds (30+ mph). This is the 5th time in 49 years Foster went out in March, and the 4th time in the last 15 years. Throw in 3 May ice-out dates in the last 9 years, and I’m not sure what to make of the data.” 

            Indeed, the last decade has been a roller coaster of spring extremes, which is congruent with what scientists keep telling us about climate change – it brings on extreme events.

            Woody’s average ice-out date is 4/16, so this was 18 days early. The average number of open water days on Foster Lake is 224. 

            Now to wildlife firsts-of-the-years:

3/31: Purple finches returned to our feeders in Manitowish.

4/1: We saw our first yellow-rumped warblers, one of which perched nicely on one of our porch railings for our viewing.

4/3: Mary spotted our first mourning cloak butterfly.

Mourning cloak butterfly, photo by Mary Burns

4/4: We heard our first chorus frogs.

4/5: Spring peepers began chorusing in the woodlands across the river from us. We saw our first kingfisher of the year. And on a walk at Powell Marsh, we saw our first American wigeons, northern pintails, blue-winged teals, green-winged teals, and sandhill cranes.

            Bruce Bacon, master bird bander, banded 80 dark-eyed juncos and 60 common redpolls at his house just north of Mercer. He said he could have banded more juncos, but only put up one net because he was catching them so fast. Juncos are everywhere right now!

dark-eyed junco, photo by Bev Engstrom

4/6: Out on Powell Marsh again, we saw our first redhead ducks. Fox sparrows and an Eastern phoebe returned to Manitowish.

4/6: Bob Kovar reported a loon had returned to Wild Rice Lake in Manitowish Waters – the ice went off the day before.

4/7: Pat Schmidt on Silver Lake in Hazelhurst reported her loon pair had returned, though the ice on the lake had gone off on 4/1. Since loons typically return on the same day as ice-out, it seems to me that many loons were taken by surprise by the early ice-off and simply weren’t scouting their territorial lakes this early. 

            Mary spotted our first northern flicker in Manitowish.

            Jennifer and Joe Heitz observed FOY tree swallows on Ballard Lake.

4/10: I heard my first snipe winnowing over our house. On a walk with Bob Kovar along Wild Rice Lake, I saw and heard numerous golden-crowned kinglets, and saw my first yellow-bellied sapsucker.

            And that evening before midnight, a very large – and I mean very large – black bear tore down our bird feeders. We came down and found it sprawled on our deck eating sunflower seeds and suet. No one to date has contacted me to say that a bear had hammered their feeders, and I was wondering when I’d finally hear from someone. No need to wonder anymore.

 

Salmonella Outbreak at Bird Feeders

            This is the time of year when salmonella occasionally occurs in people’s bird feeders. Bird symptoms include diarrhea, ruffled feathers (a “puffed-up” appearance), and lethargy. Birds who are showing symptoms usually die in 1 to 3 days.

            But there are dangers for humans as well. A recent salmonella outbreak at bird feeders has caused at least 19 people in eight states to be infected with salmonella due to contact with wild birds or bird feeders. The outbreak mostly affected pine siskins, goldfinches, and other feeder birds.

            The CDC encourages the following steps to prevent salmonellosis:

1-    Always wash your hands right after touching a bird feeder, bird bath, or after handling a bird – even if you wore gloves.

2-    Keep pets away from bird feeders and bird baths and the areas under them.

3-    Clean bird feeders outside with a 10% bleach solution.

4-    If you find a sick or dead bird, call the DNR or a wildlife rehabilitator, and remove any bird feeders and baths for two weeks.

                        

Celestial Events

            Look tonight and tomorrow night for Mars just above the waxing crescent moon. 

            The average low temperature in Minocqua reaches 32° for the first time since 10/25. Minocqua averages 182 days with low temperatures above freezing – almost exactly half of the year.

            The Lyrid meteor shower peaks in the predawn of 4/22 – look for 10 to 20 per hour.

            The full moon (the “Maple Sugar Moon”) occurs on 4/26. 

 

Thought for the Week

            Earth Day is April 22. What to do? Pone simple thing: pay attention to the world around you. Because . . . Attention is the rarest and purest form of generosity . . . Attention, taken to its highest degree, is the same thing as prayer. It presupposes faith and love. – Simone Weil

 

Please share your outdoor sightings and thoughts: e-mail me at manitowish@centurytel.net, call 715-476-2828, snail-mail at 4245N State Highway 47, Mercer, WI, or see my blog at www.manitowishriver.blogspot.com.