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
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