A Northwoods Almanac for April 29,2022

 A Northwoods Almanac for April 29 – May 12, 2022  

 

            (Please note that my deadline for sending this column is now one week prior to the paper’s publication, so, whatever I’m writing is a week behind – my apologies.)

 

Ice-Off – Still Waiting

            As of Friday, 4/22, nearly all the lakes in our area were still iced-up, though this may have changed in the ensuing week with our warming temperatures and high winds. According to Woody Hagge’s 49 years of data (1973-2021) on Foster Lake in Hazelhurst, most of our smaller lakes similar to Foster open on average around April 16. So, ice-off is definitely “behind schedule.”

            Late ice-off delays spawning for those fish species that lay eggs shortly after the ice departs (for instance, walleye, yellow perch and northern pike). It also delays the first chorusing of frogs, like spring peepers, wood frogs, and chorus frogs, though these early singers mate and lay their eggs mostly in ephemeral woodland ponds which open up more quickly. And it delays the return of various birds that utilize open water, like waterfowl and osprey. So, there are impacts, but none are serious to overall wildlife populations, at least that I’m aware of.

 

Sightings - Harriers

            We saw our first male harrier (marsh hawk) on 4/15 careening in a stiff wind across the marsh below our house in Manitowish. Harriers forage on the wing, and they are masters of the nuanced tilt of a wing to adjust direction and height in a strong wind. They course low and buoyantly over the ground, relying heavily on auditory and visual cues to capture prey. They’re an opportunistic predator, taking what’s available at the time and season, but they really put the fear of God into rodents like meadow voles and mice. They will also eat frogs, snakes, some smaller mammals like rabbits, and some birds, particularly recently fledged or in the nest. And they’ll even scavenge carcasses – one harrier was caught in a mammal trap baited with dead duck. But voles are their soup du jour. 

            Harriers have “sexually dimorphic” plumage, a rarity among birds of prey, which simply means the two genders look very different. The male is often called “the gray ghost.” It’s gray above, mostly white below, with black wing-tips, while the adult female is brown above, but buffy with brown streaks below. Typical of birds of prey, the females average about 50% heavier and are 12% larger than males.  

            Harriers are slim birds with long wings and tail, and long, slender legs. Their distinctive white rump patch helps make them quickly identifiable, as does their flight behavior over a marsh. If you can get a close enough look, their face appears owlish owing to a facial ruff (disc) similar in structure and function to that found in most owls.

 

Other Sightings – Bald Eagles, Sandhill Cranes, Waterfowl Galore, Sparrows

            We’ve been watching two eagles carrying branches and marsh grasses to two different nests just across the Manitowish River from our house. Ordinarily, eagles are incubating eggs by around April 1, so to still be repairing nests as late as 4/21 indicates these two eagles aren’t going to be reproducing this year. We’ve been watching one of these nests for decades, and the eagles have nearly always successfully raised chicks, so we’re speculating that the former pair are no longer with us, and this is a new pair.

            Sandhill cranes have been back for week. A hike out onto Powell Marsh on Earth Day, 4/22, yielded at least nine cranes. And for the first time in the 38 years we’ve lived in Manitowish, a pair of cranes walked up to some of our feeders and spent a half hour poking in the exposed duff. We’ve heard cranes every year, observed them in the nearby marshes, and watched them flying down the river, but never had them right next to the house.

sandhill cranes below our house in Manitowish

            Numerous species of sparrows have returned. In Manitowish, we saw song sparrows on 4/8, fox sparrows on 4/12, and a chipping sparrow on 4/21. Tree sparrows and white-throated sparrows should also have returned by the time you read this.

fox sparrow photo by Bev Engstrom

            As of 4/22, waterfowl are concentrated everywhere on what little open water exists. Bob Kovar in Manitowish Waters watched a flock of male common goldeneyes perform part of their complex courting display called a “head-throw,” with variations called the “slow head-throw-kick” and the “fast head-throw-kick” where the male thrusts his head straight upward, then lowers it backward to his rump with his bill pointed back way past vertical, at which point he utters a single, grating call, and thrusts his head rapidly forward (sometimes flicking it from one side to the other) while kicking water out with his feet.

goldeneye photo by Bob Kovar

            Well, men will do just about anything to attract females, but why a female goldeneye would be impressed by this is anyone’s guess. Still, the females also engage in a display called a “head-forward” display where she lowers and swings her neck and head forward in response to a leading male performing his head-throws. So, I guess everyone just has their own dance moves.

 

Pine branches as Habitat and Food

            I’ve seen lots of folks working hard to clear all the branches that fell from our early April ice storm. However, just a reminder – those branches can serve as cover for ground-nesting birds and small mammals. You might consider stacking some of the branches together to make a brush pile, which is good habitat for rabbits and hares.

            You many also have noticed how many deer are browsing these branches. So, for browsers hungry for the first greens of spring to appear, the branches are manna from heaven.

 

Yellow-rumped Warblers (Myrtles)

            It pays to be flexible in this world, and yellow-rumped warblers have taken that advice to heart. They’re the first wood warbler to return in the spring, and I’ve had four people now tell me that they’ve seen yellow-rumps on their property, and each one is eating something different. At Mitch Meyer’s home in Mercer, the yellow-rumps have been eating small pieces of peanuts. At Bob Kovar’s home in Manitowish Waters, they’re eating suet. And at two other homes, they’re licking sap dripping down the side of sugar maple trees or eating nyjer seeds.

            Yellow-rumps are thus one of the most ecologically generalized bird species in North America, and that’s a requirement if you’re going to migrate north in mid-April when there are very few insects and little else to eat. 

            Yellow-rumps were formerly considered two species, the myrtle warbler in the East and Audubon's warbler in the West, but now are fused into one species. Throw in their ability to digest the waxes in bayberries (Myrica spp.), and they become unique among warblers, allowing populations to winter in coastal areas as far north as Nova Scotia.

yellow-rumped warbler photo by Bev Engstrom

 

Mother’s Day Birds

            Right around Mother’s Day is the usual time for ruby-throated hummingbirds, Baltimore orioles, rose-breasted grosbeaks, and indigo buntings to first appear in our area. Get those hummingbird feeders ready and the oranges out for the orioles, because they’re coming!

 

World’s Oldest Known Common Loons 

            The world’s two oldest-known common loons once again have returned to Michigan, and if they choose each other as mates, it will mark a record 26 consecutive summers together for the pair.

            The male and female loons, named ABJ (“adult banded juvenile”) and Fe (pronounced “fay”), were seen on April 17 at Seney National Wildlife Refuge, the pair’s long-time breeding grounds in the Upper Peninsula. 

            The two birds are the world’s oldest documented common loons. ABJ was banded as a chick at the refuge in 1987, so researchers know his precise age: He will turn 35 this June. Fe was first banded at the refuge in 1990 as a mother, and because the youngest age of verified common loon reproduction is four, researchers can say she will be turning at least 36 this year.

            The pair’s species record-setting 32 hatched offspring might somewhat explain their remarkable fidelity to each other: Common loons don’t mate for life, but researchers have found that if two loons successfully hatch chicks together, they’re more likely to pair up again the following year.

            

Avian Flu

            The H5N1 strain of the highly pathogenic avian influenza virus, which is widespread in Europe, was first reported in North America in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. Millions of chickens on commercial poultry farms have sickened and/or died from this highly virulent strain in recent months. The virus has also taken an unusual toll on raptors or birds of prey, including more than three dozen bald eagles. Waterfowl, which are natural hosts of avian flu, have been especially hard hit. The 763 reported wild bird infections, according to the U.S.D.A., include snow geese, northern shovelers, brown pelicans, and mallards.

            Avian flu poses little threat to people, but we all should still avoid direct contact with wild birds and their feces. 

            Some experts have advised people to take down bird feeders to reduce the spread of H5N1 in wild birds. But very few birds that use feeders, such as songbirds, have become infected with the virus – they’re considered at low risk for infection. So, it appears we can keep our feeders up, at least for now.

            Still, bird feeders can spread other pathogens and parasites, so it’s important to regularly clean the feeders with a 10% bleach solution, remove waste under the feeders, and move feeders around to different locations if you can.

 

Celestial Events

            In the hours before dawn on April 30, look in the southeast for Jupiter rising within 0.2 degrees of Venus.

            The new moon occurs on April 30.

            Look to the east in the hour or two before dawn on 5/5 for the peak Eta Aquarid meteor shower. You can expect about 20 per hour. You may also catch some meteors near dawn on 5/4 and 5/6. These meteors are one of two showers that occur with Earth passes through the trail of debris left behind by Halley’s Comet.

 

Thought for the Week

            Imagine that a flock of fifty swans are sporting before you, as they have more than once been in my sight, and you will feel, as I have felt, more happy and void of care than I can describe. —John James Audubon (1843) 

 

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.