A Northwoods Almanac 6/25/10

A Northwoods Almanac for June 25 – July 8, 2010

Drought Update

We received nearly four inches of rain in Manitowish during the first half of June, a welcome respite from the severe drought which has impacted our lakes and rivers since 2003. This drought is the worst in the historical record for north central Wisconsin; however, it has not been uniform in its effects. First, weather stations at various northern Wisconsin sites have recorded dramatically different local precipitation totals:

Location                        Precipitation Deficit from 2003 - 2010

Rest Lake                         - 59.4 inches

Rice Reservoir             - 55.9 inches

Rhinelander                        - 47.4 inches

Wausau                        - 39.5 inches

Minocqua Dam            - 37.0 inches

Lac Vieux Desert            - 24.7 inches

Eagle River                        - 19.24 inches

Phelps                                    - 17.2 inches

            Thus, the Manitowish Chain of Lakes and the Manitowish River have experienced the worst local effects of the drought, which confirms the local belief that storms have been tracking just north or south of us for many years.

            Second, the drought has impacted distinct types of lakes very differently. Lakes with no inlet or outlet streams – those that get their water solely from precipitation and ground water – have fared much worse. Water levels in these “seepage” lakes have historically fluctuated between 2 ½ and 11 feet. Lakes that get their water from streams and rivers (“drainage” lakes), as well as receiving water from precipitation and groundwater, have historically fluctuated far less – between 1 ½ feet and 4 feet. Many drainage lakes in our area have only dropped 1 or 2 feet during this drought, while many seepage lakes are at least 6 feet down.

            Third, lakes that are high in the landscape have fared worse than those lower in the landscape. Since groundwater flows downhill, lakes at high elevations receive very little groundwater compared to lakes lower in the landscape that get the benefit of lots of water draining downhill and into their basins.

            Fourth, humans impact water levels in a drought, too, though in our area the effects are unclear. In central Wisconsin, the pumping of irrigation water onto farm fields has substantially lowered groundwater levels. In the Lakeland area, we don’t have that intensive agricultural use to draw our water tables down. However, one wonders what the impacts are of cranberry marshes that draw water directly out of rivers and lakes.

            Dams also alter water levels, for better or worse. The Manitowish Chain, for instance, is drawn down 3 ½ feet every winter to protect docks. As of June 1, water levels had only come up 1 foot. If the Chain had only been drawn down 1 foot last fall, it would have been at full pool in late May.

Drawdowns at dams are always a major problem when drought occurs, given that the public’s water must be shared with wildlife, plants, and people throughout the watershed.

            The far more difficult issue in this drought is to determine how long it will take to refill the many seepage lakes in our area that are way down. Since every seepage lake is different in terms of its inflow of groundwater, limnologists are unable to say how much rain we’ll need above our annual average to bring all of the lakes back up to “normal”. Many people have docks and boathouses that are now literally hundreds of feet away from water, and the problem, of course, spills over into wildlife and plant communities. The shoreline branches and logs that supported abundant fish, insect, and amphibian communities are high and dry, reducing the reproduction and growth rates of many species. Beaver lodges and bank dens are completely out of the water; waterfowl nesting along shorelines are impacted as waters continue to recede; frogs that hatched from eggs laid in marshes or woodland pools that have dried up won’t make it.

            Some good has also come of the low water. For instance, rusty crayfish are faring poorly as the logs they utilize for cover in shallow water are no longer available. Plants that are adapted to germinating on exposed shorelands during a drought are singing halleluiah. Unfortunately, non-native plant species often are best adapted to disturbed soils, so they may win the race to colonize the new open ground.

Nature always operates under a dynamic profit-loss statement, with the decline of some species providing opportunities for others. A fire, a flood, a drought – any natural disturbance – has a host of species that are adapted to the “disaster”. In fact, a number of species require powerful natural disturbances to occur.

As I’m writing this on the evening of summer solstice, it’s dark and a thunderstorm is marching through. Every drop it gives us will help, but how long will the road back to recovery take?

Whip-poor-wills

During our last frog count on 5/25, we heard whip-poor-wills calling at three of the ten sites we visited. At one site near Nichols Lake, we’ve heard a whip-poor-will calling for at least a decade. It’s a sound that we are thankful to hear every year, though we are equally thankful that one doesn’t sing below our window. Their extraordinarily loud and repetitive call could easily drive someone to dark thoughts.

A ground-nesting species, whip-poor-wills lay their clutch of two eggs directly on the leaf litter of the forest floor where the adults remain motionless on the nest or on a roost site during the day. At dusk, they begin actively foraging for flying insects, and on moonlit nights, they catch moths and beetles all night long. The hatching of their chicks seems to be closely tied to when the full moon will occur, so the parents can forage all night and supply the extra energy needed for their growing chicks.

Dry forests with little or no underbrush and a high degree of openness appear to be their optimal habitat, habitat we seem to have in abundance. However, whip-poor-will populations appear to be declining gradually, though their presence has been poorly sampled over the years because most breeding bird surveys occur in the early morning when whip-poor-wills are quiet and nearly impossible to see. Still, most ornithologists agree that today they occupy less of their available breeding range due to habitat loss from agriculture. The closing of forest openings due to growth and succession of trees also appears to be a major cause. Grazing by farm animals in open woodlands also causes whip-poor-wills to fail to return to those areas because of loss of understory nesting cover.

On the other hand, too many plants in the understory can be equally problematic, particularly when invasive shrubs like honeysuckle and buckthorn take over. The appropriate balance of food and cover in a habitat, as always, is the key.

Whip-poor-wills actually sing 100 to 200 different songs, though few of us have the endurance to differentiate their nonstop songs from one another. The males sure must want to impress the lady whip-poor-wills, though one could argue that perhaps they need an adaptation lesson in quality over quantity.

Luna Moths

            Jody Bognar sent me a lovely picture of a luna moth a few weeks ago. I hope the paper is able to print her picture in color, because luna moths rank right up there with some of the most stunningly colored creatures in North America.

Batty Volunteers Needed

            The WDNR is trying to collect as much baseline data as it can on bat populations in Wisconsin and needs your help. A disease called “white-nose syndrome” is devastating bat populations in the eastern U. S., causing “the most precipitous wildlife decline in the past century in North America,” according to biologists. This fungal disease causes bats to awaken more often during hibernation and use up their stored fat reserves, leading to their death by starvation or freezing. The syndrome has killed more than a million bats in fourteen states since 2006, and will very likely make its way into Wisconsin in the next few years.

            Thus the rush to get baseline data, so we at least know what the bat populations were before we lose many of them. A citizen monitoring program has been established utilizing a recorder that makes the echolocation calls of bats audible and also visible as a sonogram. One method to capture this data is for volunteers to slowly paddle or quietly motor around the circumference of their lakes after dark, press a button on the device to save the information whenever a bat call is registered, and then go home and download the data onto a computer and e-mail it to Madison.

            The process is very simple, and I’ve had a number of people tell me it’s great fun as well – most folks were surprised to learn the bats were so active and so noisy! Given the positive ecological value of bats – they eat mosquitoes – their presence is highly desirable.

            I’d love to see every lake association take this and run with it. To volunteer, call wildlife biologist Linda Winn in Woodruff at 365-5211, extension 207, or call the North Lakeland Discovery Center at 543-2085. A training session will be held at the Discovery Center on July 21.

Celestial Events

            The full moon – the Strawberry or Rose Moon according to tribal traditions – will occur on 6/26. A partial lunar eclipse, the first of two lunar eclipses in 2010, will also occur this night, though it won’t be visible in northern Wisconsin. It will be visible after sunset from Australia and eastern Asia if you wish to hop a plane. Or it can be seen before sunrise over western North and South America, but the moon will set just as the eclipse starts to become interesting.

The second lunar eclipse will be a total eclipse on 12/21, winter solstice, and that one we’ll apparently see.

July 2^nd marks the mid-point in the calendar year, and though the solstice occurred back on 6/21, the sun finally begins setting one minute earlier on this date. The Earth reaches its farthest point (its “aphelion”) from the sun on 7/6, some 94.5 million miles away. Nearly six months ago, on January 2^nd, we were a mere 91.4 million miles away. It may seem strange that it was coldest when we were closest to the sun, and it will be warmest when we’re farthest, but the degree of tilt of the earth toward or away from the sun is the important number, not the distance away.

A Northwoods Almanac 6/11/10

A Northwoods Almanac for June 11 – 25, 2010

Frog Count – Bullfrogs Already Singing

            On 5/25, Mary and I conducted the second round of our annual frog count for the DNR in western Vilas County, and we were very surprised to hear bullfrogs and green frogs already calling. We began running this route in 1988, and can’t recall in those 22 years ever hearing bullfrogs this early.

            The timing for the singing of breeding frogs goes like this: In the ephemeral woodland ponds of spring, the water warms far more quickly than in larger permanent lakes, so we hear the early spring woodland frogs singing first (spring peepers, wood frogs, chorus frogs, and a little later, the northern leopard frog) when water temperatures hit an optimal point for their breeding, usually about 50°F. As the temperatures in wetlands and lakes increase, other frogs begin to chime in. The late spring breeding frogs (American toad, eastern gray tree frog) breed most productively in semi-permanent wetlands when the water temperatures reach 60°F. Finally, the summer breeding species (green frog, mink frog, and the bullfrog, which is the last voice in the choir), usually don’t vocalize until at least mid-June or when water temperatures hit 70°F.

            The calling of these frogs so early in the season tells us how quickly the lakes have warmed up. Pair abnormally shallow waters with abnormally warm April and May temperatures, and one result is much earlier breeding frogs.

Nighthawks Booming

During our frog count, we also heard nighthawks peenting and booming along Bear Lake Road, which has had substantial recent clearcutting. A nasal “peent” or “beernt” (some say the sound resembles the word “beard” being whispered) is produced during level flight by both sexes.

However, the booming sound produced (presumably) by the male is the real attraction. The males produce the sound as air rushes through their primary feathers after a sudden downward flexing of their wings during a dive. They begin their dives from 15 to 100 feet up, and descend at about a 70° angle, often only turning when they are less than 10 feet from ground, and then climbing upward at about a 60° angle. They dive on average about once per minute.

The booming flights are associated with mating displays, and are not made outside of the breeding season, so if you want the best chance to see and hear them, you need to go out within the next two weeks. Recent clear cuts are the best sites to find them, or over open fields.

Early Flowerings and Fruitings, Egg-layings and Hatchings

            Everything has been early this year (except for perhaps the arrival of neotropical migrating birds like hummingbirds). Leaf-out, wildflowers, and fruits seem to be at least two weeks ahead of what I consider “normal” dates. Rosy Richter in Mercer reported finding ripe wild strawberries over the Memorial Day weekend – the normal time is mid-June. Mary and I found wild roses in prolific bloom on Powell Marsh on 6/5 (though they may have been in bloom earlier). We usually expect them at the earliest in the latter half of June. Blue-flag iris was also in flower prior to the Memorial Day weekend, and is also a flower we would more normally expect to see in June.

            Painted and snapping turtles were laying eggs over the Memorial Day weekend, typically a mid-June event.

            We saw our first loon chick out on Powell Marsh on June 5^th. June 15^th is the usual average date for around here.

Sightings

5/26 – Betsy Ullman, next door to us in Manitowish, had a red-bellied woodpecker visiting her feeders.

5/27 - Jim Sommerfeldt reported seeing a male goldfinch, “except the bright yellow color was all white. All the black color was normal.” 

5/29 - Jim and Tally Schuppel reported hearing a whip-poor-will “for the past four nights that is doing a wonderful job as an alarm clock at all hours of the night. It's been about 7 years since we have heard a whip-poor-will. We also spotted a pair of cedar waxwings in our yard this morning.” 

5/31 – Mary and I were biking an old railroad grade near Sandy Beach Lake and were looking into the surrounding bog when a sandhill crane suddenly stood up about 50 feet out from us. A few seconds later, another crane stood up right in front of the first one. The second crane walked steadily away, but the first stayed relatively tight to the area where it first stood up, a likely indication that it had been sitting on a nest. So, we quickly walked our bikes away, and as quickly, the crane settled itself back down on the bog mat, further indicating that it was probably on a nest. The “Atlas of the Breeding Birds of Wisconsin” states that the latest recorded date in Wisconsin for eggs is June 20. Incubation averages around one month, thus for a sandhill to still be on nest on May 31 would not be unusual for our area.

6/2 – John Werth reported hearing “a sound we never heard before! It took some time and a visit to our bird book when we got back home. I've seen many nighthawks in my life, but never heard that sound which came at the low part of which I would explain as almost a freefall! It was fantastic as the bird was only about 50 yards from us!”

6/3 – Lynn Wilkins on Squaw Lake was delighted to find a luna moth on her property. To my eye, the exquisite green coloration, split tail, and four-inch wingspan of the luna moth make it one of the most beautiful creatures one can find in the Northwoods.

6/3 - Jane Flanigan in Hazelhurst sighted seven bears in her yard. “At 6:20 a.m., we had two medium-size bears, one of which got the hummingbird feeder. Then at 6:40 a.m., along comes mama bear with her three little cubs. And at 8:30 am I finally thought the coast was clear and was going to open the door to let the dog out and along strolls another bear. Far too many bears for me.”

Drought Update

            We received a long steady rain on 6/4, amounting to nearly an inch – good news for the start of June. But the month of May came up well short of the average precipitation, adding to our drought condition. According to biologist David Schmoller, the precipitation data for May showed 0.89 inches at the Minocqua Dam. Thus, for the year, we are at 3.32 inches at the Minocqua Dam, which is 6.27 inches below our average to date of 9.59 inches. Since 1/1/03, we are 36.14 inches below normal.

           

Summer Solstice/Celestial Events

            June 21 marks the summer solstice, the sun reaching its highest altitude above the horizon and rising its farthest north of the equator. We are blessed today with 15 hours and 45 minutes of sunlight. Tomorrow, the sun will rise a minute later – the first time since December 27^th.

            The sun rises today, 6/11, at its earliest time of the year – 5:08 CDT.

New moon occurs on 6/12. On 6/14, look at dusk for Venus about four degrees north of the crescent moon.

Wolf/Deer Role Reversal

            Last year, I read an article in the Wisconsin State Journal about Jim Hintz, a logger from Fifield who in mid-February, 2009, was using his skidder to move logs at a timber sale in Ashland County when he watched several adult deer charge two wolves. “The smaller wolf didn’t wait. It ran away,” Hintz said. “The big one stayed and those deer just overhauled him. First they stood on their hind legs and batted him with their front hooves, and then some of them turned and kicked like mules with their back hooves. I’m sure they broke his ribs . . . I doubt the whole thing lasted a minute . . . If I hadn’t seen it myself, I’d think someone was telling a bald-faced lie.”

Hintz had been cutting maple and yellow birch for several months, causing 30+ hungry deer to congregate every day and eat the tops. Hintz wasn’t surprised when the wolves appeared because he often saw their tracks.

Veteran wolf researchers, Dave Mech at the University of Minnesota and Michael Nelson of the U.S. Geological Survey’s Wolf Project, said that although they had never witnessed similar attacks in nearly 80 years of combined field work, they weren’t surprised. Nelson once saw a deer face down three wolves until they left; and Mech saw a deer leap over a wolf three times and mule-kick it each time it landed. Plus, they cited a case in which a wolf died after getting gored by a buck’s antlers — and another died after a deer crushed its skull with a kick.

They also said wolves kill deer in only 20 percent of their chases. “People generally think wolves kill anything they want, but their success depends on the deer itself and the wolf’s age and experience,” Mech said.

I’m citing this article to run a bit of interference for me in relating a similar observation I had on 5/31. Our daughter Callie and I were walking a logging road north of Minocqua in the late afternoon when I heard a loud crashing to my left and saw a deer running towards us through the woods. I could also see, however, that the deer was chasing a large mammal, which I couldn’t see well enough to immediately identify. They burst out onto the road, crossed it in a second, and were gone into the woods on the other side. The deer was chasing what clearly looked like to me to be a mangy wolf.

Now, when folks call me with strange sightings, my “doubting Thomas” antennae go up, and I try as kindly as possible to ask pertinent questions that will help confirm what they saw. I start kiddingly with things like their state of sobriety, and move on to questions about size and coloration, how good a look they got, and their familiarity with the species in question. I do this because I know how I often I misidentify things. If I had a nickel for every time I was wrong about something, we’d have some major land holdings.

So, yes, I was sober. Yes, I got a very good look, but it was also very brief. And no, I’m not an expert on coyote vs. wolf identification.

In the meantime, our little (28 pound, one-year-old) Australian shephard, Zoe, took off at race-car speed after the deer and wolf, and fortunately gave up the chase with Callie and I screaming at her to STOP! She likes to play with other dogs, you see.

So, what to make of it? I related the story to Rosie Richter who worked the front desk at the Woodruff DNR for many years, and thus heard many stories, and she said that they would get three or four calls every year around Memorial Day from folks who were having trouble with deer intimidating their dogs. Does are well-known to occasionally give birth to their fawns close to people’s homes, presumably to reduce predation from bears, wolves, coyotes, and others which tend (but not always) to stay deeper in the woods. Thus, many Fidos and Fluffies of all breeds have likely had an unfriendly enounter with a protective doe.

So, I suspect the large doe I saw was protecting her fawn from this single wolf, which, in its mangy condition, may no longer be associated with a pack, and may not be healthy enough to win a battle with an angry and much larger doe.

Hard to know, of course. We speculate a lot about animal’s intentions, observe and study their behaviors endlessly, and hope by doing so that we can better understand their life cycle, and thus do a better job of managing their habitats and our behaviors that affect them. We get it right lots of times, and are surprised lots of times. All we can do is share what we see, and by a consensus of similar observations try to gain a little understanding into the life of an animal.

All I know is that Callie and I saw something quite amazing, and we were buzzing about it for long afterwards.

A Northwoods Almanac 5/28/10

A Northwoods Almanac for May 28 – June 10, 2010

Raven Nest

            Mary, Callie, and I spent last week exploring the beautiful Grand Marais area of Minnesota’s North Shore, and one of the many highlights of our trip was our discovery of a raven’s nest on a vertical cliff face of the Kadunce River. We wouldn’t have seen the nest if the three chicks hadn’t been making such a racket that we were drawn to it. The cliff face was literally straight down – we were unable to actually see the river below given the narrowness of the gorge – with the large stick nest hanging precariously on a tiny shelf. 

I’m not privy to raven nesting data for Minnesota, but observers for the Wisconsin breeding bird atlas found 34 active nest sites in Wisconsin, “but none with eggs, which is due most likely to a combination of winter/early spring nesting and deep snows that make access to nest trees or cliffs difficult.” In other studies, eggs have been found in raven nests in Wisconsin as early as February 16. The atlas observers did report 15 nests with young in them as early as March 16 and as late as June 17. Fledglings were seen as early as April 10 and as late as August 14, illustrating the wide variation in nesting times that ravens are known for.

Ravens are said to mate for life, but no long-term studies have been done to clearly support the contention. Ravens typically lay 3 – 7 eggs, incubate them for 18 – 21 days, with the young fledging 38 – 44 days later. The female does most of the incubation of the young, but lest you think poorly of the male, he often stands guard while the female incubates, feeds her, and may incubate the eggs in cold, stormy weather when the female may have to leave the nest to feed.

            The young were described by one researcher in 1945 as looking like “grotesque gargoyles,” but not to us. We had never seen a raven nest before, and we were thrilled to find it.

Northern Parula Warbler and Usnea Lichen

            We also heard and saw many northern parula warblers along our various hikes, and while we didn’t see any of their nests, we frequently saw the material they use to make their nests, a hanging lichen (Usnea) commonly called old man’s beard moss. The female parula builds her nest within the hanging masses of the lichen, weaving the stringy material into a cup at the bottom with an entrance hole in the side of the mass. In studies of the parula’s nest building, one female carried 221 loads of materials to the nest site, while at another nest, a female carried 206 loads to the nest. In both cases, the male did not assist the female, but he did accompany her on about half the trips, I suppose giving her positive encouragement on the good work she was doing.

Interestingly, the nest may be used in successive seasons; one nest in Maine was used for four successive seasons. This is quite unusual for songbirds, which rarely reuse their nests.  

Beyond that, surprisingly little is known of their breeding behavior. The penultimate resource on birds – The Birds of North America – says the “lack of information can be attributed, at least in part, to the inaccessible nature of the nest; even if it can be located, hidden in hanging tendrils of epiphytic growth, it is usually high in a tree, and often in moist, swampy habitat. Thus far, because of closed structure of nest, it has proven impossible to directly observe activities that take place between nest construction and fledging of young.”

Their primary song is very easy to identify, suggesting a zipper being zipped up, or a rising buzz.

Parulas are uncommon in the Northwoods because of their adaptation to nesting in northern conifers that host masses of Usnea. Only 42 observations of breeding pairs were confirmed for the Wisconsin Breeding Bird Atlas, and only four of those also included actual observations of a nest.

The Grand Portage

            Grand Marais is just south of the Canadian border, and thus close to the famed Grand Portage, which linked the French voyageurs on Lake Superior to the vast interior of Canada north to Great Slave Lake and west to the Athabasca River. The 8.5-mile-long Grant Portage bypassed the wild rapids and waterfalls of the Pigeon River and for a period was the site for the headquarters of the North West Company. In mid-May after the ice break-up, the men posted in western Canada returned with their furs to Grand Portage to rendezvous with another group of voyageurs who had left Montreal at the same time. Two months and thousands of miles of paddling later, they met to exchange the furs for trade goods, to exchange news and supplies, and to partake in some serious “entertainment.”

            The Grand Portage trail took the voyageurs a few hours to traverse while typically carrying two 90-pound packs. The post and trail were abandoned in the early 1800s, and the trail obscured by fallen trees and vegetation. In 1958, the Grand Portage band of Ojibwe donated the lands surrounding the Grand Portage, and that same year, it was designated a National Monument.

            The trail today is rarely hiked its entire length since one must go out and back, a 17-mile roundtrip which is not particularly scenic given that the purpose of the trail was to find the flattest and easiest path possible for hauling goods and canoes.

            We hiked just a short section of it, but I hope we’ll go back another time and hike its length. It’s rare today to be able to hike any trail that is many centuries old, and rarer yet to hike a trail of such historical significance. Native people are known to have lived in Grand Portage area for nearly 2,000 years, so perhaps the trail is as old as that.           

Superior Hiking Trails

            Mary, Callie, and I hiked some portion of the Superior Hiking Trail every day we were there. I’ve written about this trail system before, but it bears repeating given the exceptional quality and length of the trail. The main trail runs 235 continuous miles from Two Harbors to the Canadian border, with an additional 39 miles of trail through Duluth. More importantly, the rugged and steep trail climbs cliffs, runs along ridges, follows rivers with dramatic whitewater, and bisects an array of forested habitats with abundant wildlife.

            Mary and I are leading a hike for Nicolet College there in September and will be staying at the extraordinary Naniboujou Lodge northeast of Grand Marais, a trip I hope we repeat for many years to come.

Sightings

5/10: Bob and Sandy Alfano in Woodruff reported their first northern oriole

5/12: John Werth reported a moose wandering east of Boulder Junction.

5/12: We saw our first-of-year (FOY) yellow warbler near our home in Manitowish.

5/12: Dan Carney saw a FOY chestnut-sided warbler near Hazelhurst.

5/15: We had our FOY least flycatchers at the Van Vliet hemlock stand.

5/15: Dan Carney saw a FOY golden-winged warbler and yellow-throated vireo near Hazelhurst.

5/17: Jane Flannigan reported the FOY indigo bunting in Hazelhurst.

5/18: Wendy Ross and Don Kassien in Boulder Junction saw a sow black bear and four cubs cross Hwy. M. “She had two cross with her and there were two others up a red pine. She made 4 trips back across the road to get the two out of the tree!” 

5/18: Dan Carney reported FOY Tennessee and magnolia warblers.

5/22: Eastern gray tree frogs were singing like crazy in Manitowish.

5/24: We saw our first lightning bug of the year below our house.

Hummers Late Arrival

Despite our warm spring weather, ruby-throated hummingbirds arrived unexpectedly late this year. Here are some of the reports I received:

5/11 Pat Schmidt in Hazelhurst

5/14 Sharon and David Lintereur in Lake Tomahawk

5/15 Ron and Pat Drought on Spider Lake in Mercer

5/16 Judith Bloom in Lake Tomahawk

5/17 Diane Shay in Arbor Vitae (the latest in the 10 years she’s been keeping records)

5/17 Jane Flannigan in Hazelhurst

Pine Pollen

            On May 24, pine pollen was dusting everything in our yard, an event we usually don’t expect until the second week of June. If you’re seeing a yellow film on water, it’s very likely pine pollen. The male pollen cones are smaller than the female seed cones, and they shrivel and dry up as soon as the pollen has been shed.

            The quantity of pollen produced is enormous. Each pollen grain is tiny – about four one-hundred-thousandths of an inch and viewable only through a scanning electron microscope. All are windborne and pollinate the open, very small and newly formed female cones, which will continue to grow into large, hard, green, tightly closed cones by this fall.

Lakeland Discovery Center Bird Fest

            Participants in the NLDC Bird Fest held on May 15 tallied 93 species of birds, an excellent number given that many migrating neotropical species had yet to arrive in our area. Last year, we birders had to deal with strong winds and a few snow flurries. This year we were wearing short sleeves later in the morning.

            The event attracted 90 or more people, and as always, was well organized and highly enjoyable. Kudos to the NLDC staff and volunteers for showcasing the birdlife of our area.

Drought Update

            We are continuing our six-year-long adventure with drought. As of May 18, nearly all of Vilas, Oneida, Forest, and Florence counties were in severe drought conditions as determined by the U.S. Drought Monitor. Water levels on many local seepage lakes are at record low levels (seepage lakes are those without an inlet or outlet source of water, and thus are only fed by precipitation and groundwater).

Celestial Events

            We will be blessed with 15 hours and 30 minutes of daylight as of June 1; summer solstice will be here shortly!

            Planets viewable at dusk in June: Venus low in the northwest, Mars in the southwest, and Saturn in the southwest. Planets viewable at dawn in June: Mercury very low in the east until mid-month, and Jupiter low in the southeast.

A Northwoods Almanac 5/14/10

A Northwoods Almanac for May 14 – 27, 2010

Sightings

On 4/18, Jane Flanigan in Hazelhurst thought she had sighted an eastern bluebird, so she promptly put up a bluebird box. No bluebirds showed up, however, and five days later black-capped chickadees moved in! But on 5/1, the bluebirds arrived, evicted the chickadees, and are now nesting.

On 5/1, barren strawberry came into flower in the Manitowish Waters area.

On 5/2, Dan Carney in Hazelhurst spotted first-of the-year palm and Nashville warblers along the Bearskin Trail. 

On 5/2, Pat Schwai on Cochran Lake reported the first black-throated green warbler of the year in our area. 

On 5/3, we found gaywings in flower near Mercer.

On 5/5, we had our first rose-breasted grosbeak appear at our feeders.

On 5/6, Linda Johnson on the Tomahawk River reported the following: “While sitting in the den my husband heard an enormous bird strike against the window. In fact, he thought the window was shattering. Upon looking outside he saw a small hawk (sharp-shinned?) on the deck in a very contorted position. He went out and carefully righted the bird and then noticed a grackle lying on its back with its beak and eyes wide open about 20 feet away. He also righted this creature. Kevin had time to come in the house, dig out his camera and snap a couple shots. Then he let the two of them have some quiet time to either make it or not. About 20 minutes later he checked back and both birds were gone.”

  Linda also noted that she watched a pair of northern flickers, the male of which was doing a display for the other by fanning his tail and hopping toward her. Apparently the female wasn’t impressed and flew away.

On 5/7, Mary and I observed gosling chicks on the Manitowish River. We also had our first northern oriole in our yard.

On 5/9, Sharon Lintereur in Lake Tomahawk reported the first indigo bunting of the year. She noted, “They are right on schedule according to my records.”   

On 5/10, Diane Gaynor reported the first scarlet tanager of the year on her deck in Arbor Vitae.

Vultures Nesting?

On 4/30, Gloria reported the following from a site north of Rhinelander: “I was walking with my friend Jody . . . we scared up some vultures that were in an old fallen down building along the road. Not one or two, but at least 7 vultures came out of the building. We looked in the window expecting to see a dead elephant for that number of birds and could see nothing. Is this normal for this number and type of bird to roost in a building, or should we assume that they were feasting on something we did not see?” 

On 5/9, Gloria followed up her earlier post with this note: “Went and checked out the site today and scared up five vultures from the building, so they must be roosting or nesting in there. Two of the birds were pretty reluctant to fly far from the site.” 

The question I had for Gloria was whether she thought a pair might be nesting in the building (though the fact that there were 5 to 7 birds in the building would seem to suggest a roosting site rather than a nesting site). The reason I asked her about possible nesting is that data from The Atlas of the Breeding Birds of Wisconsin confirmed 33 actual nest sites statewide, half of which were in rock outcroppings. But about a third of the nests were found in artificial structures, of which most were in abandoned houses and farm buildings (three were found in elevated deer-hunting blinds!).

Atlas field observers were unable at that time (through the year 2000) to confirm any vulture nests in Oneida Country, but eight sites were listed as possible. Since turkey vultures tend to be secretive at their nest sites, the lack of confirmed nest sites may not demonstrate that no vultures were nesting here, but may simply indicate how good the vultures are at hiding their nests.

Turkey vultures were considered rare in Wisconsin until the mid-1900s – the first confirmed vulture nest in the entire state wasn’t found until 1947. But their population has been steadily on the rise since then, with mean annual population increases calculated at 15% for Wisconsin.

If Gloria’s site proves to be a nesting site, the female likely laid her average of two eggs in late April or early May. Incubation is by both adults, and lasts 28 to 40 days, with chicks usually appearing around June 1.

Turkey vultures are highly social, however, and roost communally throughout the year, so they may just be hanging out in the evenings in the abandoned house or loafing there during the days. Vultures typically roost in dead trees, on cell towers, and often on roofs. Though I’ve not heard of them roosting or loafing inside abandoned houses, I wouldn’t be in the least surprised – I’d think they’d like a roof over their heads.

Jazz Singers

On 5/4, Mary and I were awakened at dawn by a bird singing a wildly creative song below our open window. It took us both a moment to clear our heads, and then we looked at one another and said simultaneously, “Brown thrasher!” The thrasher was continuously riffing notes like a jazz musician at a late night club in Chicago. The songs came fast and furious in no discernible order or melody, the only distinguishing pattern being the repetition of each note in couplets – hi there, hi there . . . how are you, how are you . . . good day, good day . . . listen up, listen up – each couplet occurring about a second apart. We never heard any individual couplet repeated later in the overall sequence, though the thrasher voices so many songs that we’d have to record them and play them back in a lab to discover any duplicates. The thrasher sang his heart out for about 10 minutes, then departed, and we haven’t heard another since.

I hope one returns soon. The brown thrasher holds the world record among birds for most songs sung by a species, with a repertoire of somewhere between 2400 and 3000 distinct songs – researchers can only estimate the number. No other bird on Earth is so skilled and so versatile a songster. 

Donald Kroodsma, author of The Singing Life of Birds, recorded in mid-May a brown thrasher as it sang thousands of songs for two hours from its perch in an oak tree. He later counted the songs and found that it sang 4,654 couplets. He then had the arduous task of printing out sonograms of each song and comparing them to see what songs were unique and what songs were repeated. Kroodsma eventually estimated that the thrasher sang about 1800 different song couplets in those two hours, but that was just one bird in one place for two hours. How many more songs did that thrasher know, or could improvise, but didn’t have time to sing? If thrashers improvise their songs, it could be true that they have an infinite array of songs. 

Not long after doing this recording, Kroodsma heard two male thrashers singing in another area, the second thrasher echoing precisely every song the other thrasher was singing. He later learned of another researcher who played thrasher songs over a loudspeaker to a resident male, and that thrasher matched the tape song for song.

Kroodsma, a world-renowned expert on bird song, knows of no other songbird in the world with the ability to repeat another bird’s songs instantly. Most birds simply repeat the same song over and over, like a chipping sparrow. It’s the same song today, tomorrow and next week. Some birds have a small variety of songs they repeat, which usually occurs in a predictable pattern. But no bird comes close to the repertoire of the brown thrasher.

A last question one must ask is why? Why sing so many different songs? No answer, of course, will ever be known, but since songs are sung with the primary intent of attracting a female, perhaps the brown thrasher female has the most discriminating ear of any species on Earth. Kroodsma also allows that “I have to consider the idea that this master of the largest song repertoire known among birds is somehow enjoying himself.”  

Migration Is On!

On 5/5, a birder in the Appleton area observed a “fall out” of 20 species of warblers in one hour while sitting still in one spot. Twenty-four species of shorebirds were reported on 5/6 near Madison and the Horicon marsh area. Hawks were migrating hot and heavy two weekends ago (May 1 and 2) on strong southerly winds. The hawk counter at Brockway Mountain in Copper Harbor, MI, reported over 1500 hawks coming through in a three-hours span on 5/1. 

So, this is the time to keep an eye skyward for waves of warblers and hawks and whatever else a southerly breeze might bring.

Celestial Events

Planets visible at dusk in May: Venus low in the northwest, Mars high in the southwest, and Saturn high in the south. At dawn, look for Mercury very low in the northeast, Jupiter low in the southeast, and Saturn setting in the west.

On 5/16, look at dusk for Venus just below the two-day-old moon. May 17^th blesses us with 15 hours of daylight. On 5/20, look for Mars about 5 degrees south of the first quarter moon. Full moon – the “Planting Moon” – occurs on 5/27. This is the year’s southernmost/lowest full moon, climbing only 18° above the southern horizon.

Drought Update

Our total precipitation so far for 2010, as measured at the Minocqua Dam at the end of April, was 2.43 inches, a deficit of 3.87 inches for the year (we normally average 6.3 inches) and down 33.74 inches since 1/1/03.

Transformation

If I had to pick the two most exciting weeks of the year to be alive, I’d pick these last two weeks of May. The plant world achieves the greatest of transformations, transitioning from a 5-month-long white-out to a full-tilt, eye-popping greenery that includes every shade of green one could imagine, emanating from literally billions if not trillions of leaves. 

The neotropical songbirds arrive across the North Country by the tens of thousands, having winged their way across thousands of miles of land and water to arrive in our backyards and forests and lakes. They bring with them a riot of songs that transform every early morning into a free ticket to one of the greatest concerts on Earth. Just wake up at dawn and open the window. Better yet, take a walk as the world awakes, and soak in all the expressions of life and ardor and, if you will, joy. There won’t be another time this year when life is at this height of expression. You’ve spent, as they have, a long winter under wraps. It’s time to enjoy.

A Northwoods Almanac 4/30/10

A Northwoods Almanac for April 30 – May 13, 2010

Killdeer Nesting

Mary and I stumbled upon a killdeer nest at a city park along the Lake Superior shore in Ashland. We wouldn’t have seen the cryptically colored female if she hadn’t scolded us as we came within a few feet of her nest, but killdeer are not in the least shy – in fact, they seem to noisily advertise themselves whenever possible.

Killdeers typically exhibit little architectural flair in the design of their nests, and this female followed suit, incubating her eggs in a shallow scrape she had made in the sand right in the middle of the park. You’d think she would have wanted a little privacy. But the eggs are so well camouflaged that spotting them is virtually impossible.

She was sitting on four buff-colored eggs, the norm for killdeer. The male, who was nearby and also scolding us, helps incubate, a process that takes the about 25 days. 

Killdeer nest almost always in dry uplands, from beaches to gravel roads and parking lots, to lawns and golf courses, and even on top of flat roofs. All the land-clearing and development engaged in by humans has greatly increased their reproductive success which is up some 50% in the last three decades.

Killdeers mostly eat insects, so welcome them back with open arms. 

Coming Soon To Your Local Feeders

Mother’s Day weekend marks the average return time for highly desired species like ruby-throated hummingbirds, indigo buntings, Baltimore orioles, and rose-breasted grosbeaks. Given how extraordinarily early this spring has been, I suspect we may see these species a week earlier than normal, so be sure to have your feeders out and ready by May 1 just in case. 

Woodcock Sky Dance

The male woodcock below our house continues to put on his show at twilight every evening and every morning. Woodcocks’ courtship flights begin when the ambient light only measures one to two footcandles, which occurs about 30 to 45 minutes after sunset and before sunrise. It’s nearly dark, so one usually hears the male rather than sees him. His courtship flight begins when he jumps into the air and ascends to two hundred feet, producing a trilling sound from vibrating his wing feathers as he climbs. At the apex of his flight, there’s a moment of silence, and then he zigzags back to the ground, vocalizing loudly this time in a series of five to six notes: chip-CHIP-chip-chip-chip-chip. The whole sky dance takes up to a minute to complete, whereupon the woodcock lands very near to where he began his flight and begins repeating a raspy note that is variously described as “peent” or “beezp.”

The courtship flights last about 40 minutes, less if the female deigns to appear and mate with the male in a brief flirtation. She quickly disappears never to see the sky dancer again, builds her scrape nest much like a killdeer’s, unconcealed, and begins incubating her eggs.

The male in the meantime continues dancing, hoping another female will find his art too dazzling to ignore.

Frog Count

On April 20, Mary and I conducted our first of three frog counts that we do every year for the DNR, and in the 16+ years that we’ve done the count, we have never heard so few frogs. We count at 10 different sites, all picked because of their excellent habitat for breeding frogs, and at three of the sites, we only heard silence. Usually all 10 sites have chorusing spring peepers, but of the seven sites where we did hear frogs, only four of them had enough peepers singing to call it a chorus.

It’s very dry out there, and those species dependent upon wetlands for any part of their life cycle are experiencing significant hardships.

Nourse Sugarbush SNA

Mary and I celebrated our 31^st anniversary last week by spending a couple of days in the Bayfield peninsula hiking, biking, exploring, and meeting some great people. One of our hiking destinations was the Nourse Sugarbush, a state natural area established in 2006 to conserve what is arguably the finest old-growth sugar maple stand left in Wisconsin.  The sugarbush rests on the northwest flank of Mt. Ashwabay, a steep-sided hill rising over 700’ above Lake Superior. Large hemlock and sugar maple, some towering 100 feet high, dominate the canopy. The site has a long history of maple sugaring. For hundreds of years, the Ojibwe tapped the large trees for maple syrup production – diagonal slash marks from early sap collecting are still visible on some trees. The trees are still tapped today.

Nourse Sugarbush was purchased by the Mt. Ashwabay Outdoor Education Foundation, then donated to the State of Wisconsin and designated as a state natural area.

Because the site supports a healthy understory of saplings and shrubs, black-throated blue warblers, a relatively rare species, are said to flourish there. However, we missed them on this trip – the neotropical warblers that nest in our area usually don’t return until mid-May.

Sightings

4/13: Mary and I heard our first-of-the-year (FOY) winter wren.

4/14: We heard toads trilling in the wetlands below our house, which is nearly a month earlier than we ordinarily first hear them.

4/14: Dan Carney in Hazelhurst reported seeing his FOY yellow-rumped warblers, ruby-crowned kinglets, and chipping sparrows.

4/17: While taking part in the annual sandhill crane count, we heard our FOY hermit thrush, ruby-crowned kinglet, and pine warbler. While we were out there before sunrise specifically to count cranes, their presence is only part of the reason any of us participate in the count. Every year produces some unusual sighting, and for us this year, we had the best close-up looks we’ve ever had at green-winged teal. The sun had just come up and was behind us, illuminating the teal in that magical first morning light that makes colors richer than seems possible. The teal’s dark rufous head with the brilliant broad green stripe running through the eye is absolutely stunning. I was surprised to see that the green stripe turned dark brown when the teal turned its head, much like the red neck of the ruby-throated hummingbird turns dark if it moves its neck away from the direct sun. 

Also on 4/17: We’re convinced the eagle chicks in the nest across from our house were hatched by this day, if not earlier, given the eagle’s behavior around the nest. Eagle chicks typically are all hatched by 5/1, so this was an early hatching.

4/18: We saw our FOY yellow-rumped warbler and dragonflies (species unknown). 

4/19: I heard my FOY American bitterns on Powell Marsh.

4/20: We saw our first wild strawberries and bog leatherleaf in flower.

4/23: We saw our FOY marsh marigolds and juneberries in flower.

4/26: We saw our FOY wood violets and goldthread in flower. Flowers in general are very sparse so far – we need rain for more reasons than filling our lakes!

Celestial Events

The full moon from last night (4/29) is still 98% illuminated, so enjoy! On 4/3, look low in the west at dusk for Mercury three degrees below brilliant Venus. 

Planets visible at dusk in April: Mercury low in the west for the first half of the month, Venus low in the northwest, Mars high in the south, and Saturn in the east. At dawn, look for Jupiter low in the southeast, and Saturn setting in the west.

A Northwoods Almanac 4/16/10

A Northwoods Almanac for April 16 – 29, 2010

Drought

On April 1, David Schmoller in Minocqua sent me a note saying, “We are now 39.18 inches behind normal [rainfall] since 2003. We have had 0.68 inches this year; normal is 3.95.The early ice-out is not welcome.”

Regionally, as reported in the U.S. Drought Monitor, warm temperatures continued the first week of April. Most of the Midwest experienced temperatures more than 10°F above normal. Western Iowa and southwest Minnesota were 6° to 10°F above normal while the rest of the Midwest saw double digit temperature departures with northeast Ohio nearly 20°F above normal. More than 1000 record highs temperatures were set across the region with at least 60 record highs in each state and at least 40 record highs each day.

In the northern half of lower Michigan, stream flows are now within the lowest ten percent for their periods of record, which is a minimum of 30 years. In addition, the January to March 2010 season went down as the driest on record at Alpena, Traverse City, Sault Sainte Marie, and Gaylord. At Traverse City, only 1.18 inches of liquid equivalent precipitation fell during the period, which breaks the old record low of 1.98 inches set nearly a century ago (1912).  In upper Michigan, the area of moderate hydrologic drought conditions has expanded, based largely on the very dry weather in recent weeks, precipitation deficits over the past 12 months, and the early snowmelt, with several river sites at or approaching record low stream flow values for this time of year. At Iron Mountain, MI, the 21-month precipitation deficit is now approaching 15 inches.

Some lakes in northern Minnesota experienced a record early ice-out due to the warmth this spring, while in southern Minnesota, the winter's heavy snow caused one of the biggest winter fish kills on record, the worst in many decades.

The U.S. Drought Monitor can keep you up on these details nationally as well as regionally and locally – see www.drought.unl.edu/dm/monitor.html.

Also see the Wisconsin Palmer Drought Severity Index at www.aos.wisc.edu/%7Esco/clim-watch/graphics/pdsi-ts-02-l.gif. This site provides specific data on North Central Wisconsin, and currently is showing our area in moderate to severe drought condition. To get an historical perspective on droughts, please see the graph illustrating the cycles of high and low precipitation for our area since 1895.

Another website to consult for historical climate data is the Wisconsin State Climatology Office at www.aos.wisc.edu/~sco/clim-watch/index.html.

One can also get specific site climate data for our area. For instance, there are data recorders locally for Rest Lake, Eagle River, Buckatabon, St. Germain, Phelps, Minocqua Dam, Rhinelander, Sugar Camp, Park Falls, Prentice, and many others. Check the Midwest Regional Climate Center site to reference all their data: http://mrcc.sws.uiuc.edu/climate_midwest/mwclimate_data_summaries.htm.

In the meantime, if the lake or river closest to you is experiencing very low water levels, please spare the DNR the blame. One of the understandings required of all of us who live on water is that water levels rise and fall in natural cycles. We need to learn to accept the risks of flood and drought, as well as the joys, inherent in living on water.

Vernal Ponds Drying Up

            One of the direct effects of drought is the drying of vernal ponds in our woodlands. These ephemeral sites typically fill with water in the spring after snowmelt, then gradually evaporate until they’re often completely dry by mid-summer.

Our early breeding frogs and salamanders lay eggs in these ponds on the bet that their young can grow and metamorphose into adults before the water disappears. So, species like spring peepers, wood frogs, and chorus frogs are dependent on these sites for reproduction. Where the ponds have vanished, or where the water levels are so low that the water won’t last long enough for the young tadpoles to reach adulthood, the frogs won’t successfully reproduce.

One of the great joys of spring in the Northwoods is hearing the absolute din created by spring peepers in the wetlands and vernal ponds. There are certainly spots where the water is sufficient to send the frogs into their utter merriment. But overall, that sound has been significantly muted by the drought conditions.

Exceptionally Early Ice-Out

            Woody Hagge has collected ice-up and ice-out data on Foster Lake in Hazelhurst for the last 37 years. The average date for ice-out prior to this spring was April 17. This year the ice went out on March 27, three weeks earlier than average.

Ice-out in March occurred on Foster during only one other year in this 37-year period – on March 25 in 2000. For comparison, the latest ice-out date was May 7 in 1995, the only time in Woody’s record where the ice remained into May.

            Most lakes in our region were ice-free as of the end of March.

Sightings

            On 3/31 at the Vista overlook on Powell Marsh Judy and Tom Erickson counted at least 51 swans, most of which were very likely tundra swans. They also observed 30+ ringnecked ducks, 30+ geese, five sand hill cranes, and a Marsh hawk.  

             During the first week of April, Mike Trost was able to watch a northern harrier pluck a blackbird from its nest on Muninghoff Marsh near McNaughton.

In Boulder Junction, Dave Bosshard e-mailed with tongue planted firmly in cheek, saying he was “pleased to announce the very first wood tick of the season parked comfortably behind my wife's ear on the evening of April 3.”

            On 4/1, John Randolph reported hearing his first wood frogs on Bolger Lake Road in Minocqua.

            On April 1, at 11:00 AM, Renn Karl reported that his mother-in-law, Jerri Warling of Somerset, WI, was driving north on Highway 47 when she saw an adult cow moose about midway between Highway 182 and Highway 51. The moose stood in the southbound lane as Jerri approached and continued to stand there until Jerri came to a complete stop. The moose seemed undecided as to which direction to proceed when another car approached, and then the moose turned and loped into the woods.

Pat Schwai reported seeing juncos everywhere on 4/1. Although she had spied the first one of the year on March 23, they were moving through in numbers that day. She noted, “They're even sipping at a pedestal birdbath.”

In Manitowish, aspen trees and maple trees came into flower on 3/30. On 3/31, a woodcock took up residence in the wetland right below our house and began “peenting” in earnest. We’ve been able to watch and listen to him doing his “sky dance” for the last two weeks. We heard our first spring peepers, wood frogs, and chorus frogs also on 3/31. On 4/1, we heard our first Wilson’s snipe winnowing over the house, while on a human phonological note, we slept with our windows open and hung the laundry out for the first time this year. We also saw our first great blue heron. On 4/2, we observed FOYs (First-of-years) wood duck, blue-winged and green-winged teal, goldeneye, pied-billed grebe, song sparrow, yellow-bellied sapsucker, marsh hawk, and cowbird. We saw our FOY flicker on 4/3. For a first-ever sighting on Powell Marsh on 4/4, we watched two juvenile golden eagles soar close overhead. On 4/7, we saw our first osprey, and on 4/10, we found trailing arbutus and hepatica in flower, and saw our first flock of tree swallows. Finally, on 4/12 during our first paddle of the year, we watched and listened to10 tundra swans on the Turtle Flambeau Flowage.

           

Timing Off in an Early Spring

            During a typical Northwoods spring, the arrival of loons on most area lakes occurs within 24 hours of ice-off. Prior to ice-off, the loons are usually seen biding their time on the open waters of the Wisconsin River. Every day, however, it’s thought that they fly over the frozen lakes to check when the ice vanishes. Then, presto, they appear on the lakes.

Well, not this year. Though some loons are back, the timing of ice-off was so early that many lakes have still not seen the arrival of “their” loon pair as of this writing (4/12). Postings this past week on the Wisconsin BirdNet tell of loons by the dozens still hanging out on lakes in the Madison area apparently awaiting whatever signal goes off within them to move the next leg northward.

Lots of other natural events have come early this spring, from early blooming shrubs and trees to the return of many bird species like tree swallows. Even leopard frogs were singing on the Turtle Flambeau Flowage on 4/12, at least a month before we typically first hear them (the TFF usually is still totally iced-up until April 20 or so).

The fear regarding such early arrivals is that the timing will be thrown off for other species that may not have responded with such robust enthusiasm to the flirtings of April. For instance, unless a spate of insects hatch soon, the tree swallows will find slim table fare and then death via starvation. The various plant species that bloom or leaf-out now may also regret their blind fervor when hard frosts hit later in the month and possibly long into May and early June.

So, we’ll see how all this works out. Ruby-throated hummingbirds were reported in southern Illinois on 4/11. They’re not “supposed” to return to the Northwoods until around Mother’s Day, a month from now. But they’re not far from our doorstep, and they fare poorly when evenings frost hard. Let’s hope their innate wiring dictates appropriate caution rather than exuberance.

Migration at Sunset – Watch For It on Weather Maps

            Most songbird migration takes place about a half hour after sunset. This phenomenon can easily be observed on any weather website that shows regional weather radar. To see the migration taking place on any given night, check the regional radar just before sunset to see what the actual weather is like in a given area. Then check again a half hour or so later to see the mushroom-like “blooms” of birds that are taking off and heading north – see the attached radar map from April 4 this year.

Celestial Events

            Tonight (4/16) at dusk look for Venus about four degrees south of the two-day-old moon. The peak Lyrid meteor shower occurs on the night of 4/22. The Lyrids are rated at an average of 10 to 20 meteors per hour.

            We’re up to 14 hours of daylight as of 4/24! The full moon occurs on 4/28.

A Northwoods Almanac 4/2/10

A Northwoods Almanac for April 2 – 15, 2010

First of Spring Sightings

3/10: Sue Aitken on the Manitowish Chain reported the first Canada geese.

3/11: Jane Wierschem on Blue Lake in Minocqua reported seeing the first chipmunk.

3/14: Nancy Burns on the Manitowish Chain reported the first hooded mergansers.

3/14: Pat Schwai on Cochran Lake reported the first mourning cloak butterfly flitting along their south facing hill.

3/15: With temperatures around 60°, Ron Winter in Boulder Junction also reported seeing a mourning cloak butterfly and a silver-spotted skipper fluttering around his yard. He noted that some adult butterflies which hibernate fly around during a mid-winter thaw.  

3/16: Jim Sommerfeldt on Middle Sugarbush Lake reported the first robin.

3/16: Nancy Burns on the Manitowish Chain reported the first common mergansers.

3/19: Sue Aitken on the Manitowish Chain reported the first buffleheads.

3/19: Jim Sommerfeldt on Middle Sugarbush Lake reported the first juncos returning. 

3/21: We returned from a 10-day trip to North Carolina and noted immediately that “our” pair of bald eagles was sitting on eggs in the nest across the river from our house. We also saw our first red-winged blackbirds and grackles.

3/22: Mary and I observed our first rough-legged hawk of the year near Springstead.

3/22: Terry Daulton reported hearing sandhill cranes calling from a marsh in the Turtle Flambeau Flowage.

3/23: Dave Foster reported observing a pair of hooded mergansers in a wetland pool near their house in Natural Lakes, the earliest he has seen this species in the five years they've lived here. 

3/23: Jim Sommerfeldt saw his first single American tree sparrow (we had two tree sparrows stay at our feeders the whole winter which was quite unusual).

3/24: Jane Wierschem on Blue Lake about five miles south of Minocqua reported that black bears are out.  She had one hit her bird feeders, and then saw one in her front yard on 3/26 (see her picture).

3/24: John Randolph reported seeing seven male Buffleheads and a single loon on open water on the Wisconsin River north of Rhinelander. 

3/24: John Werth  reported seeing three loons on Maple Lake.

3/25: Pat Schwai on Cochran Lake wrote that “the lake opened up enough for waterfowl to land early this morning although large sheets of ice remain. My neighbors Frank and Nancy Sevcik saw two swans on the lake. My neighbors Sig and Mary Kaminski spotted the first 3 loons of the year. They seemed confined to a long "channel" of open water and by mid-afternoon were gone.”

3/26: Mary and I heard our first sandhill cranes of the year at Murray’s Landing on the Turtle Flambeau Flowage.

3/27: John Werth reported the first great blue heron of the year fishing on the Manitowish River.

3/27: On our first spring walk on the Powell Marsh dikes (usually we would be skiing the dikes on this date, but they’re dry now), we spotted several rough-legged hawks, dozens of geese and mallards, two sandhill cranes, four hooded mergansers, and two trumpeter swans. Most unusual of all, we came across the severed lower half of an ermine, the upper half likely carried off by a raptor. The ermine was still white, and thus an easy target when set against the all-brown landscape. Very early springs like this one can upset the timing that animals have evolved for changes in their pelage.

3/28: Fox sparrows appeared at our feeders in Manitowish, giving us three sparrow species feeding below our house - white-throated, tree, and fox. We also have a bevy of goldfinch and pine siskins, several purple finch, four evening grosbeaks, and dozens of red-winged blackbirds and grackles along with the usual array of woodpeckers, nuthatches, blue jays, mourning doves, and chickadees. After a relatively quiet winter for birds, we’re back in the seed-buying business.

3/29: We saw our first ring-necked ducks of the year at Powell Marsh, and later that day saw six sandhill cranes on the almost completely open Turtle Flambeau Flowage.

Swan ID

On 3/15, Jeff and Diane Zanski observed two large white swans landing on Squaw Lake.  A few days later on 3/19, Phil Williams sent me photos of two swans that had arrived on the open waters of Rock Creek north of Winchester. We’ve had many others report swans in the general area, and as of this date, 3/29, it’s a very good bet that those reported have been trumpeter swans because only the trumpeters winter-over in our area. But migrating tundra swans were reported in large numbers this last week in southern Wisconsin, and a few of those will likely be migrating through our area, so swan identification becomes a much more difficult task now.

The easiest way to tell the difference is by voice. The trumpeter sounds like the very poor and loud effort of a first-time trumpet player, while the tundra sounds like a baying hound or a bit like honking geese. Visual identification, on the other hand, is very nuanced (if you can get close enough, look for the yellow spot on the bill of the tundra). I confess to still having problems easily telling the difference between the species. Dust off your bird guide (get Sibley’s if you need a new one), and see what I mean.

But whether tundra or trumpeter, don’t get so lost in the ID process that you forget to simply appreciate the stunning beauty of these birds. Trumpeter swans are the largest waterfowl species in North America, and when they fly close overhead, they’re a sight to behold.

Viewing the International Space Station

To view the ISS, as well as space shuttles approaching the ISS to dock, go to: www.heavens-above.com. When you click on the date of a visible pass, a chart shows the path of the ISS or the shuttle across the sky. It displays the exact path through the constellations that the satellite will travel while it is visible.

Another website: http://www.spaceweather.com/flybys/flybys.php?zip=53581 will also give you times and locations for the ISS and various satellites.

Here’s an example: On 4/10, look at 5:31 a.m. in the southwest for the ISS to appear. It will arc across the sky for 5 minutes, blazing like a very bright star at negative 3.0 magnitude, and then fizzle out in the northeast.

Drought and Fire Danger

            It is dangerously dry in the woods right now, and no one should be outside burning anything until we get significant rain. The risk is simply too high.

            Still, fire has always been a part of our natural ecosystem. On our sandiest soils, like the “jack pine flats” around Boulder Junction, fires occurred regularly, returning to the same area on average every 50 to 75 years. In fact, jack pines evolved specifically to take advantage of fires by producing seed cones that only open when temperatures reach 116°F. Their cones don’t drop off every year like other pine species, but hang on for up to 25 years awaiting a fire. One study reported up to two million jack pine seeds per acre waiting in reserve in unopened cones.

Historically, the smell of fire was always in the air over Wisconsin. From original surveying records, ecologists estimate that 178,000 acres once burned annually from natural fires (now only about 2,500 acres annually). However, in 1870 when settlement began in haste with the first railroad entering northern Wisconsin, there came a whole new era of fire. In 1871, the worst forest fire disaster in American history occurred, the Peshtigo Fire. Then for 60 years, fires were always burning somewhere in the Northwoods, creating the great era of holocausts that lasted into the 1930s. Only with the exhaustion of virgin timber, the abandonment of agricultural settlement, and the statewide commitment to fire control did the fires cease.

The fires were considered by most as positive, because settlers were needed to hasten the transformation from forests to fields, and fires cleared the land faster than any other tool. The Detroit Post depicted the devastating fires of 1881 that occurred throughout the Midwest as: [a] “chance for new settlers . . . Where the fires have raged the forests have been killed, the underbrush burned and the ground pretty effectively cleared. There are square miles and whole townships where the earth is bare of everything except a light covering of ashes; and other square miles where all that is needed to complete the clearing is to gather up a few scattered chunks per acre and finish burning them.” 

In 1898, Filibert Roth described northern Wisconsin this way: “During forty years of lumbering nearly the entire territory has been logged over . . . In addition to this, the fires, following all logging operations or starting on new clearings of the settler, have done much to change these woods. Nearly half of this territory has been burned over at least once, about three million acres are without any forest cover whatever, and several million more are but partly covered by the dead and dying remnants of the former forest . . . Here are large tracts of bare wastes, ‘stump prairies,’ where the ground is sparsely covered with weeds and grass, sweet fern, and a few scattering, runty bushes of scrub oak, aspen, and white birch.”

In 1905, fires broke out in nearly every one of the 32 northern counties – 1,435 in all, and they burned over one million acres. The smoke was so bad that navigation was impeded on Lake Michigan.

Times have changed, of course. Since the 1930s the success of fire-suppression efforts has eliminated most of the wildfires. But when severe drought occurs, even the best fire-fighting efforts can be overmatched. We need rain, and lots of it. But until it arrives, please exercise the greatest caution with fire.