Ripples 3/9/23

Posted on by March 13, 2023
We are used to seeing crows locally – they are intelligent and adaptable birds which have prospered in the landscape we’ve forged. They’re at home in farmland and city, living alongside people but at the same time keeping their distance.  They aren’t the only birds in the family Corvidae, which also includes in our neck of the woods, ravens and jays.  Jays, too, have developed the ability to cohabit the landscape of people as long as there’s a patch of woods nearby. But around here, ravens are a special treat. We might not notice them at first sight- if you don’t look closely you might not distinguish them from crows. But ravens are larger and are found usually singly or in pairs.
 
photo of ravens & crows depicting differenceMostly, ravens are found in northern Wisconsin, nesting on rocky cliffs or in tall pine trees. Their rough, croaking call is much different from the caws of American crows, and hearing them reminds me of my favorite times in places like the Boundary Waters or the UP of Michigan.  They are significantly larger than crows, although if the two are not seen together it’s not always obvious.  The ends of both their bodies give them away, however.  Their beaks are massive, much larger and heavier than a crow’s and their tails are diamond-shaped at the trailing end, unlike the square tails of crows. 
 
Despite the general similarity in appearance- large, all-black birds- the two species do not get along well with each other.  Both are very intelligent, and are measurably among the smartest of animals. Researchers are constantly coming up with new ways to test this with very interesting results.  Recently I read that ravens were able to recognize certain patterns in lines of written characters, something few animals aside from people can do.  There are many accounts of the interesting behaviors of both crows and ravens, such as bringing gifts in return for being fed.  But, they can use those abilities for mischief as well, sometimes to harass other animals and even each other.
 
Their intelligence also gives rise to our suspicions about ravens.  In places where they have become used to people, they are often thieves, stealing food and other items which catch their fancy.  Their blackness prevents us from discerning any expression, and it’s hard to know what they are thinking or to predict what they will do. They are highly regarded by Native people as both spirits and tricksters, deservedly so.  As ravens are found almost all across the world, from here across Europe, Asia, even Siberia and over to Alaska, there are many stories from many cultures about them. People who have observed nature recognize their intelligence, and they often have high status. For example, in some stories ravens created the world. In others, they advised leaders like the Norse god Odin, who had two ravens, Huginn and Muninn (thought and memory). Being such interesting birds, there must be countless stories.
 
Recently some of our staff were driving and spotted a raven in a location they’ve been seen before, near a silo in a field near a wetland.  One raven flew from the silo to a small woodlot, but was immediately spotted by two crows which flew to and began to harass their larger cousin. Another raven flew out from the silo, circled around and flew back, to be joined there by the first one.  As we have no cliffs around here, we wonder if the silo is close enough to serve as a nesting place.  It is no longer used for agricultural storage, and has been used for nesting by pigeons and starlings. But perhaps it is enough like a high, steep cliff to entice the raven pair to make it their home.  Much to the disappointment of the pigeons and others (perhaps to their peril).   We’ll continue to watch the site, hoping to see the pair during courtship (which can be quite an aerial display), nest building, and rearing of young. We’ve found ravens at Woodland Dunes almost every year, but have never documented a nesting. They have been known to nest in silos in other locations, and it seems logical that they would do so. 
 

We see them nearly every year at Woodland Dunes, and consider ourselves lucky to do so.  And I’m certain at the same time they are observing us, watching and wondering what we are up to.  

 
Image- Raven vs. Crow, Audubon Photography awards

Ripples 3/2/23

Posted on by March 2, 2023
photo of swamp white oak So, one of my greatest joys is tree planting.  At least, when successful. There is no guarantee.  If I have chosen a place with suitable soil, moisture, and sunshine for the tree species I’ve selected, and I protect it from browsing animals, the tree may have a chance.  There are no guarantees, and I’ve planted enough trees in what I thought were suitable spots which failed to thrive or just plain died for reasons I didn’t know.  In that case persistence, or stubbornness is the only option. You try again until you get it right.
 
And what trees to plant?  It depends on your goals.  Appearance, food, and wildlife value are all good reasons to plant trees, and there are hundreds of species to choose from.  My interest is in wildlife, so first I look for trees native to this area.  The number of species isn’t limiting to that, but availability of native species is.  As with many things, we are drawn to the novel and flashy.  Foreign trees are often that, and we generally latch onto them- blue spruce, Norway maple, and many others are purchased and planted in large numbers.  Some become invasive pests like common and glossy buckthorn.  Why?  because they aren’t from here, and there is nothing in our natural world to interact with or control them.  Deer and other animals don’t browse on them, but birds do eat their fruit and spread their seeds throughout the forest.  There, their seedlings grow unmolested and eventually crowd out the native plants.  What’s left is a very undesirable woods overcrowded with dense stands of thorny trees, not good for most wildlife.
 
It is possible to determine which are the best, however.  If one wants to help birds, well, they all need insects to feed on.  If one wants to help game, nuts are an excellent food item for many.  Which trees best provide a combination of both?  Oaks.  White oaks in particular.  This has been pointed out by Prof. Douglas Tallamy of the University of Delaware.  He is an entomologist and studies the relationships between insects and plants, and points out that more than 500 insects, many of them caterpillars, feed on oaks.  Not that they kill the trees- oaks are tough and have ways to tolerate the insect feasting.  Also, many if not most songbirds eat caterpillars and feed them to their young.  They are a preferred food because they are very nutritious and so ideal for baby birds.  And in turn, the birds help the oak trees by removing caterpillars so the trees aren’t munched to death.  Its a relationship that has developed over millions of years.  At the same time, oaks produce nuts which feed many other wildlife species from birds to many mammals.  White oak acorns are the most preferred, more than those of red oaks.  Considering that it takes 6,000-9,000 caterpillars to feed a nest of chickadee chicks, trees like oaks are extremely important.  
 
In second place are willow, which support more than 300 different insects, including some of our most beautiful butterflies like the tiger swallowtail.  Although they don’t have pretty flowers, willow catkins provide an early pollen source for many bees and other important pollinators, which help pollinate the willows also.  Willows also produce ample leaves for browsing animals, and tiny, fluffy seeds which can be used to line a bird’s nest.  The trees are not as strong as oaks, so may not be suitable for home yard use, but if growing on wild land should be left to help wildlife.
 
If we can provide a landscape where we live that is 70% native plants, wildlife and ultimately our own lives can be sustained.  We can have 30% non-native plants around if we like, as long as they are not ones that escape and become invasive. It’s easy to tell which ones those are.
 
So if you have space or need to replace a tree, consider planting an oak.  For much of our area, even in wetter spots, white oak, swamp white oak, and bur oak are excellent, strong trees which beautify our yards and make them friendly for birds and other wildlife.  If on dry ground, red oak will grow. Even the smallest planting effort helps.
 
photo- a 20 year old swamp white oak in the butterfly garden at Woodland Dunes

Ripples 2/23/23

Posted on by February 28, 2023

As I write we have passed through another false spring and are back to winter, at least it seems that way on the surface. Roads are bad, but the house is warm and the birds are fed.  A typical February day, but if you look closely things are shifting to spring one aspect at a time.  

The first flowers of spring are waking.  In swamps, the alien-looking blooms of skunk cabbage- spotted purple horns with yellow spikes inside are beginning to poke themselves up through leaf litter and even melt through snow, emitting a wonderful stink to attract pollinating flies, which also wake up on warm days.  The cabbage blooms are surrounded by springtails, or snow fleas (not really fleas) on the forest floor, sometimes gathering en masse on the edge of flooded areas, driven out of their homes by meltwater.  Nearby, the buds of willows are getting ready to open- some already are, providing additional pollen for early insects.  If you look closely at the snow, you can often find spiders too- how cold-blooded creatures can be active in the cold amazes me.
 
Sap is already flowing in maple trees, a miracle of spring.  Sap moves up all tree trunks in spring, but not always with the vigor it does in the maples.  People who make syrup are already busy tapping as the flow starts and stops, depending on weather.  A more reliable flow should be happening soon.
 
photo of eagle's nest in the snowEven though its snowing, cardinals and chickadees are singing their spring songs- we can hear them from inside the house.  Such optimists!  Perhaps that’s influenced by never having to shovel show.  Other birds are already nesting.  In Manitowoc County, at least two of the bald eagle nests that volunteers are monitoring have birds sitting steadfastly inside, presumably incubating eggs.  Not always as visible, great horned owls are doing the same.  They begin their reproductive year in February because it takes a long time for their large young to develop.  They will be ready to leave the nest in May or June when prey will be more abundant than it is now.  Females do most of the incubation, while males hunt and bring food back to the nest.  Last year, bald eagles nested in every county in Wisconsin, for the first time in a long time. However, avian influenza took a toll on them, and many young birds and some adults were lost.  Both nests I monitored last year failed- all the young died.  But this year, the adults are back on eggs once again, continuing a life cycle millions of years in the making.
 
When I’m outside at night and am lucky,  I hear coyotes singing, as this is their mating time too.  Same for foxes.  i know some people are fearful of such “predators”, but I don’t thiink such fears are justified.  After mating, females will use a den to birth and raise their pups.  This is the only time of year they typically use such dens.  The rest of the time they are able to live outside just fine.
 
Even under the ice, spring-spawning fish are moving upstream.  In a few weeks, suckers will move up from Lake Michigan to spawn, and other fish like smelt.  These runs were a cause for excitement when I was young, growing up at Manitowoc Rapids.  The old dam would bottle up the fish and make netting them more fruitful.  Of course, then there was the cleaning of them in the middle of the night.
 
Next week is March, the real beginning of biological spring here.  Soon, every single day brings something new for the year, for those of us who appreciate the dynamics of nature in this part of the world.
 
Photo- bald eagle in snowy nest, by Pennsylvania Game Commission

Ripples 2/16/23

Posted on by February 17, 2023

by Kennedy Zittel, Asst. Naturalist

Ever since I was little, I have always loved possums! Or, opossums… well we will discuss that later. There are even several photographs of me as a toddler chasing after an opossum in our forested backyard trying to befriend the cute creature. Perhaps unsurprisingly, I never did manage to befriend them. As I grew older and learned more about them, I have grown to love them even more, as they are so interesting! 

Opossum or possum? Excellent question. Both terms are used when referring to the Virginia Opossum (native to Wisconsin). The word “opossum” comes from the Algonquian word “apasam” meaning “white animal.”  Early settlers referred to the creatures as “opossum”… however, through a process called aphesis (the loss of a short unaccented vowel at the beginning of the word) the “O” was dropped giving way to the term “possum.” This is pretty confusing, especially given that possums are completely different animals than opossums. Possums are marsupial animals native to Australia, New Zealand, and China whereas the opossum is a marsupial animal native to America and southern Canada. Textbooks and scientific writings favor the usage of “opossum” whereas general speech has “possum” being more common. I grew up saying “possum” but now use the two interchangeably.

Regardless of what you call it, the Virginia Opossum (Didelphis virginiana) can be found throughout most of Wisconsin. They have adapted to live close to humans, and their adaptability has allowed them to survive for millions of years!

They are the United States only marsupial mammal, how neat! Baby opossums will stay in their mother’s pouch for around two months before they climb out onto their mother’s back for the cutest piggyback ride you will ever see! They have little hands that look similar to ours, they even have an opposable digit on their back feet similar to our thumbs called a hallux. Their fur-less hands are adapted to grab and hold onto things, perfect for helping them to climb. Speaking of climbing adaptations, they use their tails to help them climb and balance as well. They even use their tail to help carry bedding materials to their den!

Opossums are omnivores and are adept at scavenging for food… they will eat almost anything! They also have the most teeth out of any North American mammal, a whopping 50!

One thing that comes to people’s minds when they think of opossums is the saying “playing possum”… which is true! They really do fake their death when they are frightened. This behavior is involuntary, not a conscious choice made by the animal. They will fall onto their side, eyes open, drool, and emit a foul-smelling musk to deter predators. They can stay motionless like this for minutes to even hours until they start to wake up, beginning with a twitch of their ears. 

Here at Woodland Dunes, we see opossums on our trail cameras throughout the preserve, both near the nature center and out in the State Natural Area. Whether or not you agree about them being the cutest animals ever, they are very important parts of our ecosystem. They are food for other animals, eat things we deem as pests, and clean up rotting foods and dead animals too. And they are our only native marsupial mammal, so that is pretty neat! Younger me would’ve been ecstatic to get to share all of this “possum” information with others, and hopefully it inspired you to see them as the unique and interesting creatures that they are too. 

Photo from the University of Texas Biodiversity Center

Ripples 2/9/23

Posted on by February 10, 2023

 by Kennedy Zittel, Naturalist Assistant

In winter, I am reminded of how much I enjoy seeing the beautiful colors that are plentiful in spring, summer, and fall. The greens of spring, flowers in summer, and color-changing leaves of fall. Winter is full of soft muted colors, but it is not nearly the same as the bright colors of the other seasons. Yet, I am also reminded each winter of how absolutely beautiful it is as well. 

Some of my favorite things to see in winter… how conifers stand out against leafless deciduous trees. How tracks in the snow show that people aren’t the only ones using our trails. When frost clings to goldenrod stems, looking like little bits of glass shining in the sunlight. When bird nests are visible in shrubs along the trails, once covered by leaves, showing how close their little homes were to us all along. When sunlight hits the blanket of snow on the ground, causing the snow crystals to sparkle like glitter. And how all of the colorful plants and animals stand out against the winter backdrop, giving us a bit of color in such a muted landscape.

Birds like cardinals, with their brightly colored feathers, are that color all year. Yet when we think of them, we think of winter… as their vibrant coloring stands out so much more now. One of my favorite things in winter, like cardinals, is colorful year-round, yet I grow to appreciate the color it provides much more in winter. And, like the cardinal, it is red.

If you walked on Willow Trail during any other season, you probably had many colorful things to look at. Leaves dancing overhead, birds moving amongst the branches, leopard frogs hopping across the trail, and flowers like bottle gentian, goldenrod, and milkweed lining parts of the trail. If you walk down Willow Trail this winter, I bet you would notice what I’m talking about right away, even though it has been there this whole time. The red of red-osier dogwood shrubs really stand out amongst the muted winter colors, lining Willow Trail with a beautiful pop of color.

Cornus sericea, the red-osier dogwood, is one of the 16 dogwood species native to North America. This shrub grows in areas with poorly drained soil, and is fond of wet areas. They are medium-sized shrubs, typically growing around 3-9 feet tall, and can grow into dense thickets. Here at Woodland Dunes, they are a common plant in the wet areas, such as along Willow Trail or out near the swales. While they are usually bright red in color, some may lack the red and look gray if they are in a really shaded area. They have white flowers that pollinators enjoy and white berries that many species of wildlife, including 47 species of birds, love to eat! Red-osier dogwood shrubs are great nesting habitat and form a great cover for wildlife. They are an important food for deer, especially in winter.  They are often used to help stop erosion, especially along waterways. Due to their hardiness, tolerance of flooding, and ability to grow from cuttings, they make a great low-cost restoration plant. 

Native people also appreciate red-osier, which is referred to as red willow.  Makes sense as it grows in wet areas alongside several willow species.  Its red bark is dried and processed, and is used to make kinnikinnick  for ceremonial purposes along with other plants.

I hope that you can go out for a nice winter walk and see some of the beautiful things that winter has to offer. If you go out on Willow Trail, look for the red of the red-osier dogwood along the trail. See if you can see any tracks underneath them, as humans aren’t the only ones that enjoy being around them. Try and look for things that may go unnoticed during the other seasons like colorful lichen, fungi, and tracks too.

Photo of Red Osier Dogwood on Willow Trail by Kennedy Zittel