A Northwoods Almanac for 11/26/21

 A Northwoods Almanac for 11/26 – 12/9 /21   

Sightings – First Pine Grosbeaks and Common Redpolls

            November usually ushers in the first winter finch visitors from Canada, and this year has been no different. We saw our first pine grosbeaks feeding in one of our highbush cranberries on 11/18, and then saw our first common redpolls on 11/20 at our seed feeders.

female pine grosbeak feeding on crabapples, photo by John Bates

            For those of us who feed birds throughout the winter, these birds are eagerly awaited and deeply appreciated, because they are not a guaranteed thing every winter. A “Winter Finch Forecast” is put out annually by Tyler Hoar, from the Finch Research Network in Ontario, Canada, and his bottom line is that this should not be an irruption year though some southerly movement of most of the finches will occur. Along the southern edge of the boreal forest, a belt of good to bumper food crops are reported from Lake Superior eastward through Central Ontario, southern Quebec Atlantic Canada to Newfoundland, southward to Northern New England, and New York state.

            West of the Great Lakes, however, extreme drought and record-setting high temperatures this summer have played a significant part in their winter forecast. With over 2000 forest fires stretching from Northwestern Ontario to British Columbia, and severe droughts in wide areas westward from Lake Superior, food sources have been significantly impacted. 

             So, further west, many northern birds are going to have to move south to find food. But here in the Midwest and further east, most can stay put. For instance, with the excellent spruce, hemlock and eastern white cedar crop across southeastern Canada and Northeastern border states, most pine siskins in the east should remain in this area for the winter. Likewise, given that the seed crops on birches, alders and spruce are average to good,  most redpolls will likely stay north. 

common redpoll, photo by Bev Engstrom

And since there is a widespread good to excellent crop of mountain ash berries from Lake Superior eastward, most pine grosbeaks and bohemian waxwings will likely stay closer to home. 

bohemian waxwing, photo by Bev Engstrom

            Still, I bet we’ll get a smattering of all these species this winter, just not dozens at everyone’s feeders. When they do appear, their relative rarity will make their presence all the sweeter.

 

Snowy Owls – A Non-Irruption Year So Far

            Every few years, large numbers of snowy owls move into the state, an event known as an “irruption.” One of the largest irruptions in recent history was the winter of 2017-18, when 280 snowy owls were documented in Wisconsin. This winter the numbers look slimmer, according to Ryan Brady, Conservation Biologist for the WDNR’s Bureau of Natural Heritage Conservation: “As of November 15, only three snowy owls have been documented in Wisconsin this season, including the first in Burnett County on October 23, another in Sawyer on November 9, and the latest in Kewaunee on November 13. These low numbers are reflected elsewhere as eBird only shows three reports from Michigan, two in North Dakota, and none in Minnesota, as well as only a handful in New England and none in the western United States.

            “Such low totals by this date suggest an irruption is unlikely this year. For example, in the irruptions of 2014, 2015, and 2017, our statewide totals were already 28, 79, and 41, respectively. Meanwhile, in non-irruption years like 2016, 2018, 2019, and 2020, our totals were 2, 14, 3 and 2. The outlier, for those still hopeful of a big year, was 2013, which featured a huge irruption across Wisconsin and the eastern U.S., was also late to unfold and had only one owl in the state as of this date.”

             

snowy owl, photo by Bob Kovar

            If you want to see a snowy owl, you’ll almost certainly have to depart our forested lands for treeless places and wide-open landscapes that mimic the snowy owls’ nesting areas in the Arctic tundra. Airports, shorelines, and farm fields are typically the best areas. To track sightings around the state, visit the eBird website at ebird.org/wi and click on “Explore” to search a customizable map for sightings in Wisconsin.  

 

November Subtleties

            I wrote this 15 years ago, but I think it bears repeating:

            Appreciating the post-fall colors of November is for the most part an exercise in developing appreciation for the multiple shades of yellow and brown. The burgundy of red oak leaves and the deep greens of conifers offer some background contrast, but they play second fiddle during this brief snowless period to these yellow-browns that take on dozens of muted hues. 

            Sounds grow muted as well. The wind interprets what is left on the landscape, raspily singing in a brittle voice. It rushes through dry stems that no longer allow the summer wind to almost purr in its passage through green leaves.

            It’s easy to feel a deep melancholy in the threadbare skeleton that November presents. The decreasing daylight, the chill that comes through your coat, the heavy frosts, the gray skies—all of these carry some emotional weight for those of us who think about mortality. I think some of us run south for the winter not just to escape the cold, but to escape the feeling of loss that November exhales. 

But there’s cause for celebration, too—it’s just not as easy to find as it was in the overindulgence of summer. Buds have formed and are alive in every perennial plant, bristling from the tips of every branch, and embedded with all the life created in the biological storm of summer. Most mammals have put on fat, glossed up and thickened out their fur, while some, like male moose and deer, stumble exhaustedly into winter after a month-long hormonal rut that would make the writers of grocery store tabloids go faint. Arctic owls and songbirds glide in and take up residence in what to them must appear mild weather. Sunsets and sunrises seem more intense, the last blue on lakes more startling. Billions of seeds lie under leaves, awaiting the cycle of freezing and thawing to break open into new life. 

You can walk with regret or with gratitude in the brilliant leaves lining every trail; watch with sullenness or appreciation as the squirrels and chipmunks steal your bird food; hear the rattle of dry seeds as the death of the year or the promise of a new one; scowl at the cold or enjoy the warmth of the woodstove and the smell of oak fires.

Despite November’s somber tone, remember we’re alive, still part of it all, and hopefully, still wide open to the grace of every new day. 

 

Recommended Books for Christmas

            Here are my annual unsolicited, but at least free, thoughts on five great books to give for Christmas:

            Finding the Mother Tree: Discovering the Wisdom of the Forest. Suzanne Simard is a pioneer on the frontier of plant communication and intelligence and has written a wonderful book on her path of discovering that trees actually communicate between one another.

            The Democracy of Species by Robin Wall Kimmerer. This slim 88-page book is part of the Penguin series “Green Ideas,” a collection of 20 short books on the environment. This series also includes similarly short books by Terry Tempest Williams, Wendell Berry, Jared Diamond, Edward O. Wilson, and others. I just learned about the series, so – full disclosure – I haven’t read any yet. But I’m betting the series is exceptional given the all-star team they’ve assembled.

            Earth’s Wild Music: Celebrating and Defending the Songs of the Natural World by Kathleen Dean Moore. One reviewer said this, “Every essay is a sortie into deep engagement with the natural world . . . Earth’s Wild Music is a lamentation, an exaltation, an impassioned indictment and most definitely a call to action.” I love the writing of Kathleen Dean Moore, so I recommend any of her earlier books as well.

            The Nature of Oaks: The Rich Ecology of Our Most Essential Native Trees by Douglas Tallamy. I’m always drawn to any writer who can tell the deep and complex stories of the lives of trees. Read Tallamy’s 2009 book Bringing Nature Home, too.  

            And Wisconsin’s Wild Lakes: A Guide to the Last Undeveloped Natural Lakes by John Bates. I rarely indulge in self-promotion in this column, but I’ve just released this book, today as a matter of fact, and I’m genuinely proud of both its quality and its exceptional color illustrations by Manitowoc artist Rebecca Jabs. If you enjoy paddling or sitting by a peaceful, wild lake, I think you’ll find this guide truly useful.   

 

Celestial Events

            We missed the lunar eclipse on the early morning of 11/19 due to complete cloud cover, which was unfortunate given the next two nights were crystal clear. Hopefully wherever you were the skies were clear and you got up to watch it.

            Marshes and lake shoreline edges are icing up now. According to Woody Hagge’s 45-year average ice-up date for Foster Lake in Hazelhurst, 11/27 should be the magic date. But lots depends on the size of the lake, wind speeds, the shape of the lake, and of course, the severity of our temperatures. Foster Lake now averages 140 days, or about 20 weeks, of ice-cover annually.

            We’re down to nine hours of daylight as of 11/29 as we continue our journey toward winter solstice on 12/21 when we will bottom-out at 8 hours and 39 minutes.

            The moon will be at perigee, its closest to the earth in 2021, on 12/4. If you live on an ocean coastline, this means bigger tides.

            Planet watching in December is mostly all about what’s visible after dusk. Look for Venus low in the southwest and setting after 7 p.m., Jupiter in the south-southwest and setting by 10p.m., and Saturn in the southwest and setting after 8 p.m.

            Mars can be seen before dawn very low in the southeast. Look for Mars just below the waning crescent moon on the morning of 12/2.

            The new moon occurs on 12/4. 

            Look for Venus nearly 2 degrees above the waxing crescent moon on 12/6.

 

Thought for the Week

            I love science and it pains me to think that so many are terrified of the subject or feel that choosing science means you cannot also choose compassion, or the arts, or be awed by nature. Science is not meant to cure us of mystery, but to reinvent and reinvigorate it. – Robert M. Sapolsky

 

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.