About Those Signs Of Spring

Spoke too soon about springtime.

When you live half-way between the equator and the North Pole the month of March can throw you a curve ball from time to time.

Woke-up today to this.

Business has been brisk at the bird feeders all day with the arrival of more of the summertime species in the past week.  So doggo and I went out to top them-off and deployed an additional two suet feeders.

Presently it looks like there is 8 to 10 inches of snow on the level, with another 18 to 20 in the next twenty four hours.  We got a regular nor'easter on our hands with winds coming off the lake gusting to 40 miles per hour.

Snug here with a nonstop fire in the wood burner since last evening.  We even had bacon with breakfast; because, there's a blizzard going on.

No power outages (yet).

Everything is closed except the local watering hole  Come to think about it the only way to get there is by snowmobile.....  

 

Backyard Birding

On the recommendation of my pal, Braumeister, at the start of last  month I hung the contraption you see below from a branch on a red maple in our yard.  It is a bird feeder that you fill with peanuts.  Peanuts in the shell; raw and unsalted.   

I bought a big bag of nuts at a local bird food joint.  And while they're clearly labeled:  NOT FOR HUMAN CONSUMPTION I suppose if I tried one I don't think it would kill me.  But you never know.  

It took a few days for the local birds to figure-out what it's for and now I'm restocking it almost twice a week.  

In any event the trail camera I installed to monitor who might like peanuts needed to be rearranged.  It needed to have its back to the sun so that subjects were appropriately lit.  It took a couple of tries to get the focal length correct.  Trim some branches and there was the opportunity cost of losing several days of potential photos as a consequence of an improperly-formatted SD card.  Mind you, the camera is old too.  Originally-deployed during COVID in 2020 it is quite frail and could fail catastrophically just about any time.  Nevertheless, being the cheap SOB that I am I intend to squeeze every last gigabyte of digital imagery out of this old Moultrie device as I can.

So, here's an update

Yours-truly wrangling and wrassling the gizmo one of countless times to get it situated 

Blue jay

White-breasted nuthatch

Red-breasted nuthatch

Pileated woodpecker

Downy woodpecker

Black-capped chickadee

And a hairy woodpecker

Altogether a nice collection of some of the year-round bird residents.  The migrators are beginning to arrive so it will be interesting to note if any of them like peanuts.

Stay-tuned....  

 

Update On The Peanut Gizmo

On the recommendation of my pal, Braumeister, at the start of this month I hung the contraption you see below from a branch on a red maple in our yard.  It is a bird feeder that you fill with peanuts.  Peanuts in the shell; raw, unsalted.   

I bought a big bag of nuts at a local bird food joint.  And while they're clearly labeled:  NOT FOR HUMAN CONSUMPTION I suppose if I tried one I don't think it would kill me.  But you never know.  

It took a few days for the local birds to figure-out what it's for and now I'm restocking it almost twice a week.  I figure before too long some other undesirable critter is going to discover it; so it's hung on a branch (likely limber-enough to NOT support a large mammal) from a carabiner using a length of army-surplus metal cable parachute rigging connected to the feeder.  It might just be raccoon-resistant.

These four photographs are a bit of an experiment.  It's an old trail camera on its last legs and the position is all wrong as it's aimed generally into the sun.  I'm thinking I'll have to reposition the cam 180 degrees and relocate the feeder - if the tree and its branches allow.

Photos are from this morning.  Chickadee, white-breasted nuthatch, blue jay and a downy woodpecker.

Stay-tuned....

 

CSI Door County

Under ordinary circumstances our yard is a busy location if you enjoy bird watching. Five different feeders attracting juncos, finches, nuthatches, jays, cardinals, chickadees and every variety of year round woodpecker known to these parts. 

 

Anyway, before I took doggo out for a romp it occurred to me that the yard had gone vacant and silent. 

 

Not a bird in the neighborhood. 

 

Once we were outside and inspected the snow in the yard there was this.

 

Forensic evidence….

 

 

Peaaanuts! Get Your Peanuts!

At the ball park a treasured memory is the guy hiking up and down the steps of the grandstand pitching salted-in-the shell ballpark peanuts.  In my view the perfect game day snack.  Just thirst-provoking enough to justify a frosty beer and easy enough to eat because you can leave the shells on the concrete beneath your seat  for someone else to clean-up.  

In any event, after consulting with my pal and mutual bird aficionado, Braumeister, I invested in this contraption.

It's spring-loaded device for holding unsalted peanuts in the shell for song birds.  Namely blue jays and other peanut-centric birds.  I picked it up at the local bird food supply outlet in Sturgeon Bay, primed it with a generous dose of peanuts and hung it from a maple tree in the yard by means of a raccoon-proof length of army surplus braided metal parachute rigging.  (At least I think it will be raccoon proof.)

Days passed and aside from an occasional curious chickadee nobody was acknowledging the presence of my bird-world ballpark peanuts.  Days turned into a week without a single customer. At that point I reached-out to my buddy to inquire as to what might be the problem.  He cautioned patience.

The next day, sure as shooting, there was a blue jay on the feeder pecking-away at my peanuts to break the shell and extract a nut.  At which point the bird would fly-off, disappear to likely stash the prize in a food cache.  Jays do that.  In reasonably short order the word went forth and every day there have been jays hammering-away at the peanuts.  Once and a while a chickadee or nuthatch might give it a passing sniff - but only jays have been actively feeding.

Braumeister says to be patient as other species will naturally become attracted and join-in the ever-growing bird buffet in our yard.

Peaaanuts!  Get Your Peanuts!

  

Fall Feast

Quercus bicolor​ - the swamp white oak​ - is a North American white oak species​.  A key player in our overall reforestry plan we planted thousands of them decades ago.  Its acorn development follows a fairly consistent cycle, typical of white oaks, but with a few species-specific traits​.

Like all members of the white oak group swamp white oak acorns mature in a single growing season (roughly 4–5 months after pollination).​  Fertilized flowers begin to swell in late May–June​ and the acorns remain small through early summer.​ Beginning now the acorns enlarge rapidly.

The cap is distinctive​ - shallow and scaly​ - covering about one-third of the nut, often with loose, fringed edges.​  The acorns reach full size (about 1–1.5 inches long) in September–October​ and are light brown to chestnut brown when mature.​  They drop to the ground soon after ripening, and because they lack a dormancy requirement, they often germinate in the same autumn if soil conditions are​ optimal.​  They're ​dispersed mainly by gravity, squirrels, and jays.

​This species of oak tends to have high acorn production in mast years, but irregular cycles ​with bumper crops every 4–7 years.​  As a wildlife food source they're relatively sweet (low tannin) compared to red oaks, making them highly favored by deer, turkeys, duck​s and squirrels.

​I have an aux naturele bait pile.....

2025 Graduating Class

It's been a terrific year for the birds that come to the oriole feeder; including the Baltimore and orchard orioles, indigo buntings, purple finches, catbirds, rose-breasted grosbeaks and red-bellied woodpeckers.  Sometimes a ruby-throated hummingbird will pay a call.  Anecdotally, I've observed more orchard orioles than in any previous year.  

Best of all, for a couple of weeks the fledglings of all of the foregoing are now coming to the feeders to be fed by mom and dad before figuring it out on their own.  By the time you read this I will have gone thru fifteen, 32 ounce (two pound) jars of grape jelly and a pile of navel oranges.  And taken thousands of digital images with a trail camera strapped to a post on the west side of the porch.

Anyway, here's a selection of this year's graduating class since the last time I've reported on the subject.

Fun Fact: Fledglings of these species oftentimes look like females.  They're all adult-sized. Male orchard orioles share the coloration of a female (the lack the distinctive ruddy brownish red of an adult male) but share the distinctive black hood and bib of an adult male. 

Grubs

 

 

Picked these-up at the bird food outlet as a supplemental protein source for my migratory bird arrivals until the local bug hatch.

Consider the same.

The birds will thank you....

 

Frustration

Wisconsin's wild pheasant hunting season closed on Sunday.

Look who showed-up at the feeder in the front yard to taunt the dog today....

 

Ever See A Ghost?

Yesterday I was out running errands and stopped at the Havegärd Bird Feed Outlet Store to replenish my dwindling stock of wild bird seed.  If you've never been be sure to check them out.  Likely the best selection and pricing for large quantities of bird feed and supplies on the planet.  East side of highway 42/57 just south of the Sturgeon Bay.  I digress.  

 

Upon entering the store the guy at the register asked if I had something to take a photo.  To which I replied:  You bet.  Got my phone with me.  Gesturing, he said to go outside and checkout what was perched on the utility pole at the side of the road.

click on image for a closer look

Meet Bubo scandiacus.  A snowy owl.  Yowza cool!  It is not unusual to learn of reports of them appearing along the Lake Michigan coastline in the winter months; yet observing one in person is an event worthy of celebration.

This is a big bird tipping the scales at 3.5 to 6.5 pounds.  Standing up to 28 inches in height and with a wingspan of up to 4.8 feet this is the largest owl in North America.  It sports bright white plumage, large yellow eyes and larger feathered talons.  Home territory to this bird is the treeless tundra above the Arctic Circle.  From time-to-time small numbers may migrate to southern Canada and the northern reaches of the contiguous United States.  Larger numbers infrequently show-up in an event called an owl ‘irruption’.  

What is the cause of an irruption?  Possibly fluctuations in food supply.  It is hypothesized that a temporary abundance of lemmings allows the owls to successfully raise large families and then these young owls disperse southward by the hundreds to avoid competition with older birds for winter territories.  Similarly, shortages of prey prompt these birds to move from their normal wintering grounds.

These owls hunt during daylight hours and will roost on almost anything. They like flat open land (it’s what they know), sometimes sitting on the ground, but more often on hay bales, fence posts, telephone posts, rock piles, muskrat houses, tree snags, silos, and other structures.  Snowy Owls will dine upon almost any live thing that moves - voles, mice, lemmings, waterfowl, rabbits, muskrats, weasels, and pigeons. Other bird species are taken as well. They swallow small prey whole.

 

It is notoriously challenging to estimate population numbers for this iconic species.  Nevertheless, recent data suggests that the snowy owl population is much smaller than previously thought and declining.  This bird is now listed as vulnerable to global extinction.

 

Because these birds are not accustomed to seeing humans they likely will appear fearless in your presence.  Approach them with caution and observe them at a distance.  Do not flush them.  The rare sighting of this beautiful bird can be a once in a lifetime experience.  Sorta like seeing a ghost.

 

Learn more about snowy owl sightings near you here.

Update From The Oriole Ranch

Our first oriole sighting was Wednesday.  So I deployed a grape jelly feeder outside the kitchen window at the southeast corner of the porch.

Yesterday, there were orioles coming to the west side of the house looking for a grape jelly and orange treat that wasn't there.  

Do they remember from one year to the next?  Are they habituated to a feeder location?

So I deployed the second feeder there where it belongs.  Including a Moultrie trail camera.

 

And sure as shooting we've got birds coming to both locations now.

Check-in periodically for an update from the oriole ranch...

Update From the Oriole Ranch

With the arrival of the orioles on May 10th activity on the feeders was land office brisk.  The hungry migrators were gorging on high energy fruit and grape jelly. 

 

Business recently has been quiet.  The orioles haven’t entirely disappeared - but their feeding habits have switched.  As they rear their young high in the tree canopy they're now dining on the abundant high protein insects and insect larvae.  

True to form, in July the adults will return with their fledglings to introduce them to the decadence of grape jelly and oranges. 

That return is always a hoot because those fledglings will find a perch and beg mom or dad to feed them. By the time they’ve figured out how to feed themselves the orioles beat it out of Dodge and depart for their wintering grounds.

Last to arrive and first to depart. 

In the interim, the red-bellied woodpeckers continue to come around on a daily basis to indulge their sweet tooth. 

 

With all the dead and dying ash on the landscape the resident woodpecker population has soared to record numbers.

 

Hangry Birds

I kicked-off this year's oriole season eighteen days ago (May 10) with a half jar of this stuff leftover from 2021. 

Yesterday I opened another 32 oz. jar of store-brand grape jelly.

Jar number eight of 2022.  It will be gone before the close of business tomorrow.

And it isn’t just Baltimore and orchard orioles. Indigo buntings, rose-breasted grosbeaks, red-bellied and downy woodpeckers dig grape jelly. Catbirds too. 

I get scolded when a feeder goes empty. 

Hangry birds…..

 

Round-up At The Oriole Ranch

Anecdotally, I've gotten the impression that the bird action at the ranch this year is slightly slower than prior years.  As evidence of this I would submit that the consumption of grape jelly is lower and slower.  And with the exception of their earlier arrival there have been no Gray Catbirds at the feeders.

What he have seen in the past week includes:

A male Indigo Bunting

A Red-Bellied Woodpecker

And an adult and immature male Baltimore Oriole 

Feeder Photography

I have embraced an experiment using a game camera to monitor one of the bird feeders. 

It is an intriguing theoretical notion however with the birds flitting and out and about along with the breeze moving a feeder from time-to-time the motion-activation feature is working overtime.  Case in point - 444 photos in roughly two hours!

The current fix is to power-up the camera for short intervals when the lighting is optimal and the winds are calm.  That keeps the sheer volume of photos manageable and allows for better photo composition. 

Some specimen photos are included in this post. 

Since the Orioles began arriving a week ago we’ve had to open another 30 ounce jar of grape jelly.

click on images for a closer look

 

Check-in periodically for updates.

Fork Horn

In case you were wondering what came of all the stale Cracker Jack and peanuts I scattered around the trail camera a couple of weekends ago - not much.

I'm beginning to think that I need to drag some of the cameras back to the house for a good dehydration and maybe even a software upgrade.  After-all, why would there be absolutely no pictures and plenty of evidence of birds and other critters?  Bad SD cards maybe?

Grrrrrr.

In any event this two and-half-year-old fork buck survived the slaughter this fall and stopped by the camera for a nibble...

click on image for a clearer view

Selfie

click on image to enlarge

From the weekend before last (that would be ten days ago) and from the trail camera furthest north (think active scrape and all the YUGE bucks that paid a call) there is yours truly scattering a bag of stale peanuts within range.  Stay tuned to see if this profligate waste of stale legumes catches anyone's attention.

Deer Movement Goes Natural

Now that the bait piles are off of the landscape the movement patterns of deer have become much more natural.  Plenty of daytime sightings.

Not that deer don't move during the evening hours at all but when there is artificial feed placed out for them they're more likely to restrict their movements to the evening hours when there is no hunting pressure but the corn buffet remains open.

This is the new deer management paradigm in Wisconsin.  Supplemental feeding, shooting deer off of corn piles and a one-size-fits-all deer management policy. I guess all a person can do is get by as best they can on their own chunk of turf.  Oh well.


Successive photos taken of a group of three deer...

Followed by two more...

And two more...

click on images to enlarge

Seven deer in the space of a minute.
 

Door County Deer Damage

Been spending some time performing winter chores on the tree farm this weekend and I wanted to share with my readers evidence of the damage to working forests when a deer population begins to outgrow the carrying capacity of its habitat.  I took these photos last weekend.

In this part of Door County there is no longer any natural regeneration of cedar, oak, hemlock, white pine, etc.  None.  Having been picked clean by the deer and any new growth halted in its tracks (no pun intended) the understory is barren.  These cedars have been hammered by browsing deer.  

They’ll survive in their stunted condition but as a food source they’re done-for.  Nothing left to eat and it’s only the beginning of February.

This is one of many smaller trees.  It happens to be a red oak.  Like its thousand or so other struggling hardwoods it happens to be anywhere from knee to shoulder in height and already has been stripped of this season's buds by browsing deer.   

The tree will push out replacement buds in order to grow new leaves but a tree can only do this so many times over the course of several growing seasons before its reserves are depleted and the fatally-weakened plant succumbs to disease or insects.  This is not a laughing matter.  This has a cost that is measured in real money.

Southern Door County has too many deer.  Be mindful that high deer numbers result in a severe economic loss to tree farmers across the state.

After four years of inaction the Walker administration rolled-out their County Deer Advisory Councils (CDAC).  The purpose of the CDACs is to allow grassroots participation at the county level to influence deer management decision in each of Wisconsin's counties.  The Door CDAC has voted unanimously to reduce deer numbers.  The CDAC also voted unanimously to put an end to baiting and supplemental feeding of whitetail deer.

They already cannot sell $12 antlerless permits that nobody cares to purchase.  And as soon as the bait piles come out in September the deer restrict their movements to the dark hours when there is no hunting pressure.

Getting rid of the baiting and supplemental feeding is a good start.  And if I had my druthers I'd bring back the October antlerless gun hunt.  Oh wait.  Everything has to have legislative approval now.  Good luck with that.

Gotta wonder what use is the CDAC process after-all.