A Northwoods Almanac for 6/24/22

 A Northwoods Almanac for June 24 – July 7, 2022  

 

River Raptors Birdathon

            Since 2012, the Natural Resources Foundation of Wisconsin has organized “The Great Wisconsin Birdathon” to raise funds in support of Wisconsin's highest priority bird conservation projects. To date, the NRF has raised over half a million dollars and engaged thousands of individuals in protecting our state's most threatened and endangered species. 

            Birdathon teams participate any day between April 15th to June 15th. The local team from the North Lakeland Discovery Center – “The Up North Hammerheads” – recently found 108 species of birds and raised $2,900. 

            A few weeks back I participated on a team organized by the Northwoods Land Trust in Eagle River, and on 6/12, Mary and I participated on the “River Raptors” birdathon team by paddling a portion of the Manitowish River. The team raised $5,170 by paddling an array of rivers around the state and counting the birds seen along the rivers. We observed 56 species of birds that morning with the only disappointment being the absence of nearly all waterfowl species. But that’s to be expected at this of the year when chicks have recently hatched and the female is hiding them from predation in the shoreland vegetation.

            And perhaps of equal importance to the count, Mary christened her new 12’, 21 lb. canoe on the trip. We now both have super lightweight canoes, and our aging bodies are wildly cheering the purchases.

Merlin App

            Mary and I led two birding trips in the U.P. over the first weekend of June, one in Iron River and the other at Imp Lake near Watersmeet. They were remarkably different in two ways –  the habitats and the number of mosquitoes. In Iron River, we hiked the Apple Blossom Trail, which shadows the Iron River, an open, breezy area rich in shoreline shrubs, but very few upland trees. The Imp Lake trail, on the other hand, wanders through a dense mature hemlock-hardwood forest where winds go to die. 

            So, we tallied bird lists quite different from one another, with Imp Lake offering ovenbirds, black-throated green warblers, and pine warblers, all associated with older woodlands, and the Iron River providing us numerous yellow warblers, common yellowthroats, and American redstarts, all associated with shurbs.

            The other difference, which made a huge difference in our enjoyment, was that there was not one – I repeat – not one mosquito on our hike in Iron River, whereas at Imp Lake, the mosquitoes rivaled the legions of Alexander the Great.

            But what I really want to tell you about is our use of a free App on our phones called “Merlin Bird ID” from Cornell. We’ve known about it for several years, but hadn’t really used it until these hikes. And were we impressed! You can push a button that looks like a microphone, and the app will listen to the birds calling around you, and quite accurately identify all that are singing. For folks who struggle trying to learn the nuances of bird songs, this is a Godsend. And for those of us who know our bird songs pretty darn well, but still get some wrong, it’s great to have an “expert” confirm or deny what we think we’re hearing.

            So, if you want help learning bird songs, download this app pronto. It’s super easy to use, and you’ll be amazed at the number of bird species that are singing all around you.

 

Chicago’s Center for Conservation Leadership

            Every June, Mary and I get the opportunity to work with a select group of young students from the Chicago area through a program called the Center for Conservation Leadership (CCL). The students are housed for a week at the North Lakeland Discovery Center in Manitowish Waters where they begin nearly a month of field experiences designed to help them develop as conservation leaders. 

            This year the CCL chose eight motivated early high school students from diverse backgrounds with a keen interest in the environment and a passion for the outdoors. As part of their experience, I paddle with them on a portion of the Manitowish River, and Mary describes and demonstrates her artwork, and sometimes does art projects with them.        

            Field-based programming includes: forest management, water quality issues, bird banding, a Powell Marsh bird walk, a bog exploration, a geology and glacial overview of Wisconsin, a Lake Superior waterfall and geology tour, among many other activities. They left on Monday (6/21) for 10 days at Northland College, and then they’ll be on to UW Stevens Point for 10 days or more of additional field experience.

            It’s a transformational program for those involved. Kudos to the NLDC for hosting the group and coordinating their first week of programming.

 

Fireworks – Enough Already!

            I try to keep everything in this column upbeat, but I have to note that I run into a lot of folks this time of year who tell me how much they dislike fireworks, how they’re set off at all hours of the night waking them up, how the explosions disturb birds in their yard during nesting season, how they scare the bejeesus out of their dogs, and how the constant salvos really upset folks with PTSD or anxiety. This lack of respect and courtesy seems to arise from the notion that “anything goes” in the Northwoods – we’re north of Hwy. 29, and it’s all “wilderness” up here. 

            Well, lots of people do in fact live here, and many go to work every morning. My annual plea is for visitors to either cease and desist with their fireworks altogether, or take them to an open space away from neighbors and woodlands, like a town ballfield, and set them off there during the day. 

            All manner of wildlife will thank you, as will a large majority of people who live here.

 

Sightings – Snappers, Trumpeters, American Carrion Beetle, Silver Maple Seeds, Eastern Gray Tree Frogs, Fireflies

            As often happens this time of year, a large snapping turtle appeared in our yard on 6/16 and proceeded to lay her eggs in some gravel about a foot away from our house. Snappers and painted turtles almost always lay their eggs in a relatively short period around mid-June, the snappers laying 20 to 80 eggs, while the painteds lay 4 to 15 eggs.

            Trumpeter swan chicks have hatched. Bob Von Holdt sent me a photo taken by Heide Boyden in Presque Isle of a family with six cygnets. We’ve seen chicks on the Little Turtle Flowage in Mercer as well as on Powell Marsh in Manitowish Waters.

photo by Bob Von Holdt

            While leading a bird hike on the Little Turtle Flowage on June 11, we came across a dead painted turtle that was covered with American carrion beetles doing what they do, which is feeding on drying carcasses as well as fly and beetle larvae. Safe to say it’s not a glamorous job, but I’m sure glad there are species that do this work.

            When Mary and I recently paddled the Manitowish River, the silver maples which occupy much of the floodplain along the river looked brown and unhealthy. However, at closer inspection, the brown color was coming from the many hundreds of seeds that the maples had produced, instead exemplifying excellent health. Silver maples typically drop their seeds in early June as floodwaters recede along rivers exposing the soil on the banks, providing optimum conditions for germination.

            Eastern gray tree frogs began singing, if you can call it that, in early June. Their rapid-fire staccato burst lasts only a second, and is delivered from above the water, usually a shoreline shrub.

            Fireflies appeared in the wetland below our house on June 10, gracing the early evening darkness with their bioluminescence. Since I was a boy, I’ve always marveled at their display – there’s very little that can match it.

 

Shrubs in Bloom

            Three blooming shrubs have stood out over the last few weeks – highbush cranberry, nannyberry, and various dogwoods. In particular, nannyberry (Viburnum lentago) has been really showy, seemingly far more so than in previous years. This native viburnum grows best in low moist woods or near stream banks, and supports numerous butterflies and birds.

highbush cranberry and nannyberry flowers

            I’m told the edible berries can be used to make jams and jellies, but we’ve never tried it.

                        

Carbon Dioxide Levels

            Carbon dioxide measured at NOAA’s Mauna Loa Atmospheric Baseline Observatory reached 421 parts per million in May 2022. So? Well, carbon dioxide levels are now more than 50% higher than pre-industrial levels. Prior to the Industrial Revolution, that is for almost 6,000 years of human civilization, CO2 levels were consistently around 280 ppm.

            CO2  levels are now comparable to the Pliocene Climatic Optimum, a time between 4.1 and 4.5 million years ago, when the levels were close to, or above, 400 ppm. During that time, sea levels were between 15 and 75 feet higher than today, high enough to drown many of the world’s largest modern cities. Temperatures then averaged 7 degrees Fahrenheit higher than in pre-industrial times, and studies indicate that large forests occupied today’s Arctic tundra.

            Bottom line: carbon dioxide is at levels never before experienced by our species.

 

Celestial Events

            Before dawn on 6/26, look for Saturn three degrees below the waning sliver moon. The new moon occurs on 6/28. The moon reaches its apogee, its farthest distance from the earth at 252,637 miles, on 6/29.

            On 7/2, the sun will set one minute earlier, the first time since 12/5/21.       

            And on July 4, the earth will be at its aphelion, its farthest from the sun at 94.5 million miles away. This is 3.4 million miles more distant than its perihelion which occurred on 1/4. 

 

Thought for the Week

            “What is a river’s truth? That we are all in this world together. That the earth, its water, and all its creatures are part of a single, complicated, interdependent, and dynamic system – one beautiful thing. That the survival of the whole depends on the well-being of its parts. That some parts of that system are too essential, too important, too elemental – some might say too sacred – to be traded away.” – Kathleen Dean Moore

 

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.

 

NWA June 10, 2022

 A Northwoods Companion for June 10 – 23, 2022  by John Bates

 

Sightings - FOY- First-Of-the-Year

5/25: I saw my FOY fawn in the woods from only 20 feet away, but it was so exceptionally camouflaged that I would never have seen if its mother hadn’t run from that very spot. 

5/27 and 5/28: Seen in flower on hikes in Baileys Harbor in Door County: long-spurred violets, Solomon’s plume, Solomon’s seal, goldthread, early meadow rue, large-flowered trillium, columbine, bunchberry, starflower, wood betony, jack-in-the-pulpit, large-flowered bellwort, white baneberry, sarsaparilla, wood anemone, blue cohosh, thousands of invasive forget-me-nots, and most impressively, dozens and dozens of yellow lady slippers. 

5/29: Apple trees and crabapple trees blossomed at our home in Manitowish. And right on time, a flock of cedar waxwings arrived to eat the blossoms. 

5/29: Mosquitoes also hatched in droves today – our cool spring had mercifully kept them at bay until now.

5/29: FOY Eastern gray tree frogs calling in Manitowish. 

6/1: Seen in flower on a nearby hike this morning: wild blueberry, starflower, gaywing, barren strawberry, chokecherry, black cherry, wild strawberry, nannyberry, currants, calla lily, nodding trillium

6/1: FOY Canadian tiger swallowtail butterfly

6/2: FOY major dragonfly hatch 

6/2: FOY monarch butterfly in Manitowish

 

Mosquito Avoidance

Mosquitoes have hatched in spades. How to slow them down? They’re attracted to carbon dioxide, and can smell it from an impressive distance of up to 50 meters, so, be a good listener, because the big talkers are releasing CO2. 

Movement and heat also attract mosquitoes, so stay cool and calm. Those folks who flail away at the mosquitoes and get seriously worked up are only attracting more mosquitoes.

Mosquitoes are also drawn to dark colors. So, wear light colored clothes, as well as long sleeves, long pants, and loose clothing – women wearing black tights may look fashionable in the woods, but the mosquitoes are attracted to black and will bite right through the tights. 

If you have dark hair, wear a white hat – this can reduce attacks by 75 percent.

Skip perfume, too – your date may like your perfume, but mosquitoes like perfumes, too. And wait to have that beer until after the hike, because, you guessed it, mosquitoes like beer.

 

World’s Oldest Known Bald Eagle

            In early June of 2015, a bald eagle died in Henrietta, New York, struck by a car, probably while tearing into a roadkill rabbit carcass. This was no ordinary bird: Eagle 03142, age 38, was the oldest wild banded bald eagle on record in the United States (the typical eagle lifespan is about 20 years). He was an alumnus of a conservation program that brought eagles back from near-extinction in New York.

            The male eagle hatched in the summer of 1977 near a lake in northern Minnesota. At the time, bald eagles were on the endangered species list – at their lowest point, in 1963, only 487 breeding pairs remained in the lower 48 states. By 1974, that number had only climbed to 791. The infamous pesticide DDT had been outlawed since 1972, but it was still playing havoc with birds, as leftover DDT permeated the eagles’ bodies and weakened their eggshells. 

            In the state of New York, only one breeding pair was left in the wild, in a nest by the shores of Hemlock Lake. But biologists had a plan to replace New York’s absent eagles. At just a few weeks old, 03142 was whisked from his Minnesotan nest and taken to New York’s Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge, along with a few eaglets from other states.

            As the species recovered, biologists stopped tracking 03142’s every move, but he likely stayed at that nest for the rest of his life, since he died only about 25 miles away. He was probably there in 1989, when the New York eagle recovery program ended, and in 2007, when bald eagles were taken off the federal endangered species list. By that point, their population had grown more than tenfold since their initial listing.

            Today eagles still die from accidental poisoning, or by illegal shooting, or by being hit by a car, like 03142. But the species’ future is far brighter than it seemed 38 years ago, though the current outbreak of avian flu may be taking a toll.

 

Baileys Harbor Boreal Forest

            Mary and I spent Memorial weekend in Door County’s Baileys Harbor, and specifically at The Ridges Sanctuary, a 1,600-acre site that’s home to over 475 plant species, including the ram’s-head orchid and the dwarf lake iris. Famed for its distinctive topography – a series of 30 ridges and swales formed by the movement of Lake Michigan over the past 1100 years – The Ridges Sanctuary has been designated as a Wisconsin State Natural Area, a National Natural Landmark by the National Park Service, a National Audubon Society Important Bird Area, A Wisconsin Wetland Gem, and A Wetland of International Importance under the Ramsar Convention. 

            It also supports a narrow band of boreal forest. Cooler springs and summers, warmer falls and winters, and reduced evaporation rates have allowed northern species and a boreal forest to thrive here, far south of their normal range. Balsam fir and white spruce dominate the forest, which grades into northern wet-mesic forest of white cedar, white pine, paper birch, and hemlock. Common understory plants are thimbleberry and mountain maple. Many orchids and rare plants find refuge in the forest – remarkably, 24 of Wisconsin’s 40 native orchids are found at The Ridges.

            What stands out here for me more than anything are the extensive, dominant stands of white cedar, a species that in our area is faring poorly, but here is going gangbusters. Deer are certainly browsing the cedars, but there are so many that the deer are unable to be the ultimate controlling agent that they are in our area.

 

Beech Bark Disease

The only negative in our time at Baileys Harbor was seeing the number of American beech trees succumbing to beech bark disease, which has killed millions of beech trees throughout eastern North America. The disease is the result of an interaction between a beech scale insect and one of several species of fungi - the disease does not occur if either is absent. One beech bark disease fungus is a native North American fungus, while the other is an introduced fungus.

Beech scale insects were accidentally introduced from Europe into Nova Scotia, Canada, around 1890. By the 1930s, the scale and an associated fungus were found to be killing trees in eastern Canada and Maine. 

            The disease has continued to spread and was discovered in Door County in September 2009. The good news is that a small percentage of trees are resistant to the scale and do not develop disease symptoms even in heavily infected stands. Therefore, breeding resistant trees is a possible long-term management option. 

            It’s an ugly disease. The trees take on a rough and cankered appearance in comparison to their normal, smooth-barked form.

            Beech trees only reach into the eastern counties of Wisconsin, so we don’t have the pleasure of seeing these beautiful trees, nor the sadness of seeing them die. Beech is a major component of most eastern forests, so its loss can dramatically change forest structure and have a negative impact on many wildlife species that rely on its nuts for food, as well as the loss of nesting habitat for birds. 

 

Birdathon 

            On 5/24, I participated on the Northwoods Land Trust’s birdathon team, just one of  dozens of teams around the state with the goal of finding as many bird species as possible within a 24-hour period while raising important funds for bird conservation. The funds raised through the Great Wisconsin Birdathon go to the Bird Protection Fund, which supports our state’s highest priority bird conservation projects.

In 2021, 65 teams from all across Wisconsin recorded 253 species of birds and raised over $107,000. 

            Our team, the “Northwoods Land Trust Turkeys” led by Frank Schroyer, found 127 species – an excellent day! I was clearly the weak link in the group, only coming up with 66 species at the Little Turtle Flowage and Powell Marsh. Still, I was both thoroughly challenged and delighted to be out with nothing else to do but to try and find birds. The only unusual bird I observed was a semipalmated sandpiper, but I had a large number of “first-of-the-years” for me, and that was gratifying to see these species after a long winter hiatus. 

 

Oldest Common Loon in Our Area Is Alone

            From Walter Piper’s “The Loon Project” blog (https://loonproject.org): A 33-year-old common loon on Little Bearskin Lake known as “Silver-only, White over Yellow” is the oldest surviving adult in Piper’s study area in Oneida County, and she has returned again this spring.             Piper notes in his blog: “Our delight was tempered, however, by her current situation. You see, she is alone. We confirmed through four lake visits in May that her mate – a robust, aggressive male who would have been nineteen years old this spring – has not returned. 

            “It is not uncommon for adult breeders to fail to return in the spring. Death is a fact of life. Roughly 8% of all adults that are alive at the end of one breeding season do not come back the following spring. What is surprising is that Little Bearskin Lake has not attracted a male settler to take the missing male's place. Little Bearskin Lake -- one of twelve territories that I began watching back in 1993 -- is a high quality territory. The lake has produced 23 chicks over the past 30 years. More to the point, “Silver only, White over Yellow” and her mate reared two healthy chicks last year.”

This is prime real estate, so it’s quite surprising that a male has not appeared to take over this territory. 

I’ll report Piper’s further observations as they develop.

 

New Records for Renewable Electricity Generation

[From “Inside Clean Energy”]: “To make a swift transition to a cleaner grid, the United States needs to set records for renewable electricity generation pretty much every single quarter. So far in 2022, the numbers are encouraging. From January to March, U.S. renewable energy power plants generated 23.5 percent of U.S. electricity generation, both records—an increase from 19.5 percent in the first quarter of 2021. More than 120 new power plants began operating in the first quarter, thanks in large part to more than 80 new wind and solar plants that went online.

“Natural gas remains the country’s leading fuel for power plants, with gas-fired plants producing 35.2 percent of U.S. electricity generation in the first quarter. Coal was at 21.2 percent for the quarter. Four coal-fired power plants closed during the quarter.

“The new wind farms were on the large side, with 11 projects producing a total of 2,469.8 megawatts. Solar projects came in a wide variety of sizes, with 71 projects and a total of 2,196.7 megawatts.  

“The overall system needs a mix of other resources, which could include new geothermal, nuclear and other technologies, plus lots of energy storage. That’s part of how to make carbon-free electricity grow at the pace required to help avoid the worst effects of climate change. We’re getting there, if we keep accelerating.”

 

Celestial Events

            Full moon – the Strawberry or Rose Moon – occurs on 6/14. This is the year’s southernmost full moonrise.

            Our earliest sunrises of the year – 5:08 A.M. – begin on 6/11 and last through 6/20. Our latest sunrises occur at 8:53 P.M. beginning on 6/20 and last until 7/1.

            Summer solstice occurs on 6/21 – we’ll be graced with 15 hours and 44 minutes of sunlight. 

            On 6/21, look before dawn for Jupiter 3 degrees above the waning crescent moon. On 6/22, look for Mars before dawn less than 1 degree above the moon.

 

Thought for the Week

            “Fueled . . . by a million wings of fire the rocket tore a tunnel through the sky and everybody cheered. Fueled . . . only by a thought from God, the seedling urged its way through the thickness of black and, as it pierced the heavy ceiling of soil and launched itself up into outer space . . . no one even clapped.”  Marcie Hans

 

NWA May 27, 2022

 A Northwoods Almanac for May 27 – June 9, 2022  by John Bates

 

Sightings – First-Of-Years (FOY)

Cal and Beth Huizenga in Presque Isle sent the following FOYs:

5/9: first male hummingbird

5/11: first male and female rose breasted grosbeaks, plus male and female Baltimore orioles 

            Beth also sent pictures of both the female and male orioles perched on their hummingbird feeders. If you don’t know, Baltimore orioles commonly drink sugar water! We used to have an oriole sugar water feeder that was frequently used by the orioles. So, besides putting out oranges for the orioles, you might consider putting up an oriole sugar water feeder.

Greg Bassett in Hazelhurst sent me this note on 5/18: “I'm watching and taking pictures of three scarlet tanagers fighting over the suet. And then I watched as they got bumped from the feeders by two red-headed woodpeckers, while a lone indigo bunting was working the area under the feeder. The tanagers are gorgeous!! They make the red-headed woodpeckers look bland.”

            At our home in Manitowish, we had our first rose-breasted grosbeak on 5/8, our first hummer and our first white-crowned sparrow on 5/11, our first Baltimore oriole and brown thrasher on 5/12, and our first indigo bunting on 5/13. 

            We did our first of three frog counts for the DNR on 5/10, and were surprised to already hear American toads and leopard frogs, along with spring peepers and wood frogs. The ice had only gone-off most of our sites two weeks earlier, so that was a quick appearance for the toads and leopard frogs.

            Earlier that day on a hike north of Winchester, I found firsts of ovenbirds, blackburnian warblers, pine warblers, black-throated green warblers, common yellowthroats, black-throated blue warblers, chestnut-sided warblers, and Eastern peewees. 

            And birds were still migrating through as of 5/22, as evidenced by two Wilson warblers that were foraging in our yard. Wilson warblers nest well up into Canada, but not here.

 

Birds are Laying Their Eggs Earlier

            A new analysis published in the Journal of Animal Ecology shows that the average egg-laying dates have moved up by nearly a month for 72 species of birds in the Upper Midwest region.

A 120-year-old collection of eggshells held by Chicago’s Field Museum provided the data. The museum houses hundreds of the shells, most of which were collected before the 1920s, along with data about the types of birds and when the eggs were laid. The scientists also used records of bird nesting observations taken in the Chicago area between 1880 and 1920 and about 1990 to 2015. 

Over time, the researchers found, the average egg-laying advanced by an average of 25.1 days, with less shift for resident species and a wider shift for short- and long-distance migrants. 

Birds are sensitive to climactic shifts. The researchers found that small changes in temperature – approximated using carbon-dioxide data from over the years – affected birds’ laying patterns. 

 

Loons Often Slow to Initially Incubate Their Eggs

            From Walter Piper’s blog (“The Loon Project” – see www.loonproject.org) on 5/15: “We have learned over the years that loon pairs take a day or more to ‘accept’ that they have laid an egg and must incubate it. On these initial days, pairs sometimes wander far from their new nest, leaving the egg dreadfully exposed. I find this curious. The egg is, of course, in danger of being found and eaten from the moment it is laid. The embryo inside it cannot begin developing rapidly until it becomes optimally warmed by the parents. Every moment spent off the eggs seems time wasted and needless risk taken. I suppose, though, that I must defer to my study animals, who have a pretty good record of turning eggs into chicks.”

 

Barren Strawberry

            Barren strawberry (Waldsteinia fragarioides) is in flower everywhere in the dry, sandy soils of the Northwoods. Their bright yellow, five-petaled flowers appear in May to early June often in large numbers in pine/acid habitats. The leaves look very similar to wild strawberry, being compound and having three toothed leaflets at the end of a long slender stalk, but they’re shorter and more wedge-shaped. The big difference between the two plants, and evident by the name, is that barren strawberry lacks runners and strawberries, instead producing a dry non-descript fruit that no one would bother to pick, much less eat.

A member of the huge rose family, which includes most of the best fruiting species like blackberry, raspberry, thimbleberry, apple, cherry, and plum, the barren strawberry is the bridesmaid among the clan. To the casual observer stumbling upon a large colony of these plants, the immediate promise of fruit would be large, but the payoff nil.

            Barren strawberry spreads by creeping rootstalks, and holds its flowers often into July. The species name fragarioides comes from the Latin root, fraga, meaning “fragrant”, but the aroma is slight to my nose.

 

JASM – Joint Aquatic Sciences Meeting

            Last week, Mary and I, along with 2,500 others from 57 countries, attended the Joint Aquatic Sciences Meeting in Grand Rapids, MI, the world’s largest gathering of aquatic scientists, students, practitioners, resource agency staff, and industry representatives in history. Comprised of nine groups representing various interests within aquatic sciences (the American Fisheries Society, Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography, Coastal and Estuarine Research Federation, Freshwater Mollusk Conservation Society, International Association for Great Lakes Research, North American Lake Management Society,

Phycological Society of America, Society for Freshwater Science, and Society of Wetland Scientists), the JASM 2022 meeting was designed to bring together multidisciplinary expertise in a collaborative effort to solve the complex environmental problems facing our societies and our planet today.

            Mary was invited to show her woven portraits of women in a display she’s entitled “Women and Water: A Global Exhibit.” Her exhibit is still a work in progress, but she’s completed 19 portraits with quite a few more to go. 

My task is to write-up the stories of each of these remarkable women’s lives. I’ve had the opportunity to learn the stories of Rachel Carson’s life and her 1962 publication of Silent Spring; of Marjorie Stoneman Douglas’ successful efforts to protect the Florida Everglades; of Berta Caceres who won the world’s foremost prize for environmental defenders, the Goldman Environmental Prize, for rallying the indigenous Lenca people of Honduras to successfully stop the construction of a dam from flooding their lands, and was murdered for her effort; and of Nafisa Barot in India, who after watching a child die from lack of clean water, organized communities of women to fight for their right to clean water, and in doing so, had to also challenge deep patriarchy, feudal exploitation, and caste discrimination at local and national levels.

            The conference gave Mary the opportunity to not only share her work, but to meet others who she may portray, including nine women scientists from Africa who are working on protecting the seven Great Lakes of Africa (see the photo).

            We’ve been involved in other art and science collaborations in the past, all with the goal of bringing scientific findings into a more accessible light through artistic interpretation, but this is Mary’s most ambitious effort to date. And from the exceptionally positive comments we received from those who viewed the exhibit, she’s on the right path. 

            More on this as it progresses.

 

Plum Lake Old-Growth Forest Dedication on June 1

            On Wednesday, June 1st, at 1:00 pm, the Plum Lake Hemlock Forest State Natural Area of the Northern Highland-American Legion State Forest will be formally inducted into the national Old-Growth Forest Network. To celebrate the dedication of this protected forest, a ceremony will be held at the trailhead. Old-Growth Forest Network’s Nick Sanchez will present a plaque to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. Following the ceremony, I’ll assist in leading a short (one hour max) trail walk.

We will gather for the small celebration at the parking area off of Hook Road. To get there from the junction of Hwy. 155 and N in Sayner, go east and north on N for 4.8 miles, then southwest on Tramper's Trail (Hook Lake Road) 0.8 miles to a parking area. This one-lane dirt road no longer has a road sign –it is just before (south of) the entrance to the East Star Lake campground.

Plum Lake Hemlock Forest stretches between Star Lake and Plum Lake and comprises one of the best hemlock-hardwoods stands remaining in Wisconsin. The stand is thought to primarily have originated from a fire that occurred around 1810, though there are hemlocks significantly older than this within the stand.

            Across Star Lake was the site of the Star Lake saw mill, which was built in 1895 on the peninsula jutting into the lake. It’s estimated that nearly 2 billion board feet of pine timber was logged from lands around Star Lake. At any one time, the mill had 30 million board feet of timber piled in its yards. The mill sawed its last log in 1906, the planning mill shut down in 1908, and forest fires charred the area in 1903, 1908, and 1910. In less than 15 years, Star Lake went from a boom town to a cutover/burned-over forest and near ghost town, but this stand of trees was saved.

            The mission of the Old-Growth Forest Network (OGFN) is to connect people with nature by creating a national network of protected, mature, publicly accessible, native forests. The organization’s goal is to preserve at least one forest in every county in the United States that can sustain a forest. OGFN’s program works to identify forests for the Network, ensure their protection from logging, and connect people to these properties to experience old-growth forests.

            Plum Lake Hemlock Forest State Natural Area will be the third Wisconsin forest to join the Old-Growth Forest Network. It will join Cathedral Pines in Oconto County and Muskego Park in Waukesha County. The full list of forests in the Network may be viewed at www.oldgrowthforest.net.

 

Celestial Events

            On 5/28, look in southeast before dawn for Mars dangling just below Jupiter.

            The new moon occurs on 5/30. 

            On 6/1, we’ll be the recipients of 15 hours and 30 minutes of sunlight. Summer solstice occurs in just three weeks from this date.

 

Thought for the Week

            It’s May. The day starts early now, and with its own exultance. Soon after first light the birds begin to celebrate the dawn, and those who would know bird song at its best are awake and listening. – Hal Borland

 

NWA May 12, 2022

 A Northwoods Almanac for May 13 - 26, 2022   by John Bates

 

Sightings – Double-crested Cormorants, White Pelicans, Trumpeter Swans, Ice-Out

            Greg and Dawn Holt reported seeing a flock of at least 60 double-crested cormorants on Benson Lake in Manitowish Waters on April 24.  They noted, “The cormorants hung out in one of the bays for about half an hour and then all flew off up river. We'd never seen that before.”  

            Cormorants are usually associated with much larger water than tiny Benson Lake, so this was quite unusual.

            The next day, 4/25, I hiked out on the main dike at Powell Marsh and saw one cormorant, but the most exciting observation occurred when four white pelicans flew low over my head and then landed on the back pool. They loafed and fed there for the hour that I spent scoping other waterfowl, which included trumpeter swans, buffleheads, American wigeons, gadwalls, redheads, hooded mergansers, a hundred or more ring-necked ducks, blue-winged teals, green-winged teals, American coots, mallards, Canada geese, and sandhill cranes. 

            A few days later, I counted 28 trumpeters at Murray’s Landing on the Turtle-Flambeau Flowage.

            Woody Hagge on Foster Lake in Hazelhurst noted that the ice went out on the lake on April 29, which ties the record for the fifth latest ice-out on the lake in the 50 years he’s kept records. We noted that the ice went out on nearby Frog Lake on the same date. However, as of this writing on May 5, a number of our largest lakes remain ice-covered. All of this will finally change with the advent of 65° weather.

            Mary, Callie, and I spent May 1 – 4 along the North Shore of Lake Superior, and we heard that up in the Boundary Waters, the ice on the most of the lakes was still 20 inches!

 

Spring Ephemeral Wildflowers

            Spring flowers are coming! In early May in rich maple-basswood forests, bloodroot blooms in an ephemeral symphony with trout lilies, hepaticas, and spring beauties. Bloodroot doesn't deign to dip its roots in the sandy pine soils around our home, but patronizes only dark-soiled and deeply shaded hardwood understories.

            Usually just one waxy white flower rises 6 to 10 inches with eight showy petals embellished with numerous golden-orange stamens. If picked, the flower almost immediately closes or the petals drop. The petals expand flat in the morning, become erect by late afternoon, close by evening, and are sensitive to weather changes, closing up when it's cold or cloudy. 

            The lower part of the stem is sheathed, and the single, smooth large leaf is rounded with 5 to 9 lobes and a conspicuous cleft at its base. The leaf curves upward and inward like a cupped hand. 

            Bloodroot is truly an ephemeral flower, living only a few days to a week, but attracts many insects, mostly bees, to gather pollen (though they find no nectar).

            Bloodroot is a card carrying member of those plants who employ the “stable-habitat strategy” of flowering. Stable-habitat plants put little energy into creating fruits attractive to birds and mammals, because over time their habitat remains generally uniform. They, unlike annuals and perennials found in disturbed habitats, don't need to produce masses of seed to spread to newly exposed areas in order to ensure their survival the next year. Instead, they invest most of their energy in leaf, stem, and root growth to maximize their winter survival into the next spring. Thus, bloodroot has evolved a thick, finger-size rootstalk that stores up nutrients in order to rush the flower into bloom in early spring.

            The rootstalk and the flowers stems all bleed a vivid red when broken, hence the common name of bloodroot as well as the genus name, Sanguinaria, which means “bloody.”

            The seeds of bloodroot, spring beauty, and several violets all bear elaiosomes which contain certain lipids that ants can't get from other foods. The ants gather the seeds and feed them to their larvae, meanwhile dispersing them well away from the fruiting plant. The leftover seed is dumped in the colony garbage dump, a sort of mini-compost heap that is rich in nutrients and moisture, providing an ideal site for germination. 

            This is a form of “mutualism,” a relationship between two species in which both benefit. Without the work of ants, the profusion of bloodroots and other flowers like trilliums that one often finds in a woods would be dramatically reduced. If you like fancy terms, this seed farming by ants is called “myrmecochory.” 

 

Bears Awakening and Are Much Lighter

            Bears are out of their dens by now, but are a much thinner version of themselves after this long winter. Dr. Lynn Rogers in Ely, Minnesota, keeps close tabs on several bears near his wildlife center, and this year noted that the adult sow showed up on April 22 with her two yearling sons. One yearling weighed 62 pounds, the other 57 pounds, while the sow weighed 180 pounds. Six months ago on October 21, 2021, their respective weights were 84, 75, and 343.

            That means the sow lost 48% (163 pounds), and the two yearling lost around 26% (22 and 18 pounds). 

            The sow, however, would not have been nursing the yearlings, so her weight loss can’t be ascribed to that stress. Rogers notes that some well-fed mothers continue to lactate in the den, and he wondered if the sow’s high weight loss over those 185 days (0.88 pounds per day) was due to that. 

 

Sturgeon Spawning

            Lake sturgeon will soon be spawning on the Manitowish River and the North Fork of the Flambeau. Sturgeon, a truly prehistoric fish species, spawn every year once water temperatures reach at least 50 degrees. Spawning, however, is dependent on both water temperature and water flow. During seasons when water flow is high and water temperatures rise slowly, spawning begins when the water temperature reaches 53°F. In contrast, during seasons of low water flow and more rapid water temperature rise, spawning does not begin until water temperatures reach 58° to 59°F.

            Female sturgeons only spawn every 3 to 5 years, and then only when they reach maturity between 20 to 30 years old. Male sturgeons, on the other hand, spawn every other year once they mature at 15 years old. 

            Males arrive ahead of the females, often in groups of eight or more, frequently cruising so close to the surface that their tails, backs, and snouts are out of the water.  When a ripe female enters the group, spawning begins.  As she drops her eggs, the males swim alongside her and thrash their tails as they release milt (sperm).  The one-eighth inch diameter fertilized eggs are sticky, and cling to the rocks until they hatch some 10 days later.  

            Even though one female may produce from 50,000 to 700,000 eggs, sturgeon remain rare because the eggs are eaten by crayfish, redhorse, carp, and even the adult sturgeon. Or they are lost to dropping water levels, or to a fungus that can grow on the masses of eggs.  Less than one in a thousand eggs will survive to the one-third inch-long larval stage.

            Females live longer than males and grow to astounding sizes.  Some 97 per cent of all sturgeon over 30 years old are females. A 152 year old, 215 pound, 81 inch long sturgeon was caught in 1953 in Lake of the Woods, Ontario. The Fond du Lac Journal in Wisconsin reported the capture of a 9 foot long, 297 pounder in the spring of 1881.

            They not only live long and grow huge, they swim enormous distances. A five-foot lake sturgeon caught in commercial fisherman's net in Saginaw Bay in November of 1994 was traced by its aluminum tag to be from Lake Winnebago, 450 miles by water from the spot it was caught and tagged on 10/20/1978 by the Wisconsin DNR. It had navigated the lower Fox River which has 14 dams and 17 locks on it before reaching Green Bay, and then wandered through Lake Michigan, the Straits of Mackinac, into Lake Huron, and finally down the east coast of the Lower Peninsula to Saginaw Bay.  In those sixteen years, it had grown 8 inches, which is an average rate of growth for sturgeon. 

            Another sturgeon was taken in Lake Erie five years after it had been tagged in Lake Winnebago, a distance of 850 miles away.

            While huge in size and shark-like in appearance, they are absolutely placid, and have been known to swim with and among humans – they're “harmless as a wet log,” says one writer.

            The Ojibwe know the sturgeon's importance. They call it nah ma – “king of fishes.” 

 

Follow Bird Migration in Your County!

            A new online tool provides summaries of radar-based measurements of nocturnal bird migration, including estimates of the total number of birds migrating, their directions, speeds, and altitudes. The “BirdCast Migration Dashboard” depicts migration patterns in near real time or as a summary of a whole night. This includes additional historical information (2013-2021) as well as previous nights’ movements. The counter tracks the total number of birds estimated to have overflown an area since the start of a night (e.g. between local sunset and sunrise).

            Note that the dashboard currently provides data for states in the contiguous US, but you can also enter your specific county, and a whole host of graphs and charts will appear. For instance, on the night of 4/28-29, BirdCast estimated that 470,300 birds crossed my home county of Iron, and 508,300 birds crossed in Vilas. Remarkable!

            Go to: https://birdcast.info/migration-tools/migration-dashboard/

 

Celestial Events – Lunar Eclipse!

            For planet watching in May, look before dawn for Venus and Jupiter in the SSE, Mars in the SE, and Saturn in the ESE.

            The full moon occurs on 5/15, and a total lunar eclipse occurs that same night. Partial eclipse begins in our area at 9:27, with total eclipse beginning at 10:29 and ending at 11:53. The whole shebang comes to a close on 12:55 a.m. as the moon exits the Earth’s shadow, though the penumbral eclipse, a light shadowing, continues until 1:50 a.m.

            We’re up to 15 hours of sunlight as of 5/17. 

            Look before dawn on 5/24 for Mars and Jupiter about 3 degrees above the waning crescent moon. 

 

Thought for the Week

            “Have holy curiosity.” – Albert Einstein