A Northwoods Almanac for May 24 – June 6, 2024
An Owl Story
On May 13, Greg Bassett in the Hazelhurst area sent me the following email along with several photos: “This little guy/gal [a barred owl chick] was alongside my neighbor’s driveway just walking around. When I stopped to take this picture, Mom or Dad did a dive bomb and then landed on a branch in a tree above the little one. Is it normal for a baby owl to be on the ground and not be able to fly? Not sure if I should contact the wildlife center or just leave them alone.”
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| barred owl chick photo by Greg Bassett |
I responded, “Well, I don’t think it’s normal, but the question is obviously whether this bird has fledged and is just experiencing flight issues, or whether it fell out of the nest and can’t fly. I’d check again, and if it’s still there, call the wildlife center to see what they say. The parents might continue to feed it as well, even if it’s on the ground, so it’s a hard call to make.”
Greg checked again and wrote: “I went back and checked it again. At that point it was about 8' off the ground in a pine tree. It made an attempt to fly, but it wasn't successful and landed in the leaves. Didn't seem to be injured and both mom and dad made me aware that they were taking care of things and would prefer I move along and let them handle it. I'll check their progress tomorrow morning, but I feel like the little one has a good chance. If I have any reason to think it's in trouble I'll let the wildlife center know.”
The next day Greg wrote: “It looks good today for Little Owl. He or she is perched in a small maple tree about 15' up, safe from ground predators and waiting for mom or dad to bring some breakfast. As usual, Ma nature seems to be doing just fine without a dumb human interfering. Even though I know I should trust nature to handle things, it's still hard to walk away from babies. I keep having to remind myself that nature does fine without our help and usually when we do help we make a mess of things. So, it looks like our neighborhood owl population is going to increase by at least one this spring. Go team Nature!”
I share Greg’s experience because it is often really hard to know if you’re doing the right thing in a situation like this – are you helping or interfering? I think Greg’s response was perfect. If the animal doesn’t appear to be seriously injured or in significant distress, keep an eye on the situation and see how it develops. I think it’s also wise to call one of the wildlife rehab centers in our area to get their professional opinion, because do any of us really know what the right thing to do is for a specific species in a specific place and time?
Barred owls nest early, often by mid-March. With an incubation period of around a month, an owlet in our area would likely be hatched starting mid-April. So, this little owl was likely around 4 weeks old. The literature says, “At approximately 4–5 weeks of age, flightless young leave the nest, perching on the rim or climbing to a branch on the nest tree, eventually dropping to the ground and climbing a nearby leaning tree to perch. Young begin short flights at approximately 10 weeks of age, attaining longer flights by 12 weeks . . . Fledged young initially stay near one another and the nest site, being fed by parents.”
Sightings
5/3: Judith Bloom on Tomahwak Lake reported her FOY ruby-throated hummingbird.
5/7: Judith Bloom later reported seeing her FOY indigo buntings. She also keeps close track of the nesting loons on the 3462-acre Tomahawk Lake and wrote, “Have been able to locate 5 of the 6 territorial pairs with two already on the nest. Once again, one of the pairs is nesting next to a Canada Goose nest. Two years ago (in 2022) this pair raised a goose gosling, but that year we did not see the Canada Goose nesting nearby. The other year that we DID see it nesting at the same time was 2018.”
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| photo by Judith Bloom |
I had not heard (or perhaps I just forgot – this is happening more and more!) about the loon pair raising a gosling. It was in 2019 that the news was full of the loon pair in Oneida County raising a mallard chick, but the gosling story never got the same media exposure. So, I’ve attached Judith’s photo of the gosling riding on the back of the adult loon. I’ve also attached Judith’s photo of the loon pair and the goose pair nesting within four feet of one another. I find this really remarkable – they’ve apparently not read the textbook about how territorial they are.
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| photo by Judith Bloom |
5/8: Joan Galloway had her FOY Baltimore oriole visiting her property in Manitowish Waters.
5/11: Hannah Dana reported seeing her FOY ruby-throated hummingbird and noted, “When I marked the sighting on the calendar I noticed it is exactly one year since last year's first sighting! Amazing. The loons and the hummers are back . . . life is good.”
5/11: I took a group of birders out to Powell Marsh as part of the North Lakeland Discovery Center Bird and Wildlife Festival, and the highlight of the walk was the sighting of two Wilson’s phalaropes, a “life” bird for me. They were hanging out with six greater yellowlegs, a shorebird species that we often see as they migrate through on their way to central and northern Canada.
But under the category of “I really don’t know much at all,” I later learned that Wilson’s phalaropes actually nest, albeit rarely, in Wisconsin. They commonly nest in wetlands of western Canadian provinces and western states, and winter mainly in Bolivia, Argentina, and as far south as Tierra del Fuego. In Wisconsin, however, seven confirmed nesting areas were located during the six years of data collecting for the Atlas of the Breeding Birds of Wisconsin, something I was utterly unaware of.
5/15: Our big sighting in Manitowish was of a yellow-headed blackbird at our feeders. I think this is only the 3rd time in 40 years in Manitowish that we’ve seen one of these at our feeders. They are a gorgeous bird!
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| photo by John Bates (through a window) |
5/16: White-crowned sparrows appeared at our feeders on 5/4, and are still here as of 5/16. These birds nest in far northern Canada and Alaska, a long ways from here.
North Lakeland Discovery Center Bird and Wildlife Festival
The final tally for bird species seen during the festival on 5/10 to 5/11 was 84 species, a fine number that would have been even higher if the peak migration had arrived. It was a well-organized, excellent festival. If you’ve never attended, consider doing so next year!
Counting Birds on the Manitowish River
On 5/15, Mary and I did a bird count on a section of the Manitowish River for the Great Wisconsin Birdathon, which is organized by the Natural Resource Foundation of Wisconsin. We’re one of 10 crews for the “River Raptors” team that take to various Wisconsin’s rivers and streams to count birds. Our total for the 3.5 hours we were on the river was 56 species. The biggest positive surprise was the yellow-headed blackbird that was at our house on the Manitowish River where we pulled-out.
Our biggest negative surprise was the nearly complete lack of waterfowl along the river, likely due to the very low water levels this spring as the Manitowish Waters Chain refilled their lakes. This was, of course, a year with very little snow to recharge the rivers flowing into the chain. The autumn drawdown doesn’t allow for adequate refill during droughty winters and springs, and truly needs to be revisited. It’s hard to nest in spring wetlands that should be flooded but are dry.
Ovenbirds
Macy Washow sent me this email recently after hearing a talk I gave on keynote/emblem birds of the Northwoods: "You’re right, we do have a lot of signature birds in the area, so it is hard to pick just one. I have to say the loud but elusive Ovenbird with his “teacher, teacher, teacher” following me as I walk down the road is my top contender. It’s like he’s saying ‘Don’t be lonely, I’m coming with you.’ I always wonder if he’s following me, or if they are just that ubiquitous.”
In fact, they are ubiquitous, at least in relatively mature to older forests. Their territories vary in size but are relatively small, and they do far better in contiguous forests than in fragmented ones. One study found nest sites on average 18 meters, or 59 feet, apart. So, on a given walk in a mature woods, one hears overbirds very regularly along a trail.
Both sexes have olive-brown backs, dull-orange caps and spotted breasts that blend well with the forest understory, so ovenbirds are far more often heard than seen. Their notoriously well-concealed nests are also on the ground, mainly constructed of leaves, and are dome-shaped, thus the name – it appears the birds are living in a small, leafy oven.
Bar-tailed Godwits in New Zealand!
When Mary and I were in New Zealand in early April, we spotted bar-tailed godwits in a wetland near Christchurch on the east coast of the South Island. And we were thrilled, because we were seeing the holder of the world’s longest non-stop distance record for migration – 13,050 km, or 8,108 miles!
The important word in the above sentence is “non-stop.” Over a decade ago, shorebird researchers in New Zealand put satellite trackers on bar-tailed godwits. One individual, labelled ‘4BBRW’, never landed, and now holds the record for a single one-hop flight from Alaska to Tweed Heads, Australia, in September 2021. The distance of 13,050km was done in a little over ten days.
Researchers have found that to prepare for such a flight bar-tailed godwits alter themselves physically by putting on a huge amount of body fat accounting for 55% of their weight. To accommodate this incredible gain in fat, they shrink their gizzards, livers, kidneys, and guts, and only maintain those organs essential for long-distance flight. Then they rebuild these organs upon arrival at the migratory destination.
Seeing these otherwise unremarkable looking shorebirds was like seeing the world record-holder in a sporting event. But the difference was the godwit’s record is utterly implausible – flying non-stop for 10 days over 8,000 miles while only weighing less than a pound? Well, how is that even possible, and why did they evolve to do this?
Celestial Events
The full moon was last night (5/2),, but it’s still 97% illuminated tonight – 5/24.
On 5/31, look before dawn for Saturn just below the waning crescent moon.
By 6/1, we’re up to 15 hours and 30 minutes of sunlight – enjoy!
On 6/2, look before dawn for Mars about 2° below the crescent moon.
New moon on 6/6.
Thought for the Week
“Life will break you. Nobody can protect you from that, and being alone won't either, for solitude will also break you with its yearning. You have to love. You have to feel. It is the reason you are here on earth. You have to risk your heart. You are here to be swallowed up. And when it happens that you are broken, or betrayed, or left, or hurt, or death brushes too near, let yourself sit by an apple tree and listen to the apples falling all around you in heaps, wasting their sweetness. Tell yourself that you tasted as many as you could.” – Louise Erdrich
Please share your outdoor sightings and thoughts: e-mail me at johnbates2828@gmail.com, call 715-476-2828, snail-mail at 4245N State Highway 47, Mercer, WI, or see my blog at www.manitowishriver.blogspot.com
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