Ripples 3/24/22

Posted on by March 24, 2022

By Nancy Nabak, Communication Coordinator 

photo of sandhill flyingIt’s a prehistoric look accompanied by a prehistoric trumpeting sound. This interesting beast is our current pterodactyl of the sky, the Sandhill Crane.

Sandhill Cranes are making their way home and their arrival numbers are ever increasing. On Saturday, April 9th, bird enthusiasts from six states in the Midwest will be awake in the dark, coffee in hand, and counting sandhill cranes as the sun rises.

What began in just one Wisconsin county in 1976, has grown into a Midwest program with over 1,600 volunteers in six states signed up to count how many species they see and hear, including those in courtship.

Why are people counting these mammoths of the sky? Because in the 1800s they were hunted to near extinction. In 1916, the federal Migratory Bird Bird Treaty Act was signed, protecting the rest of them in our Midwest region. The count now includes the endangered Whooping Crane, all to get an idea of population trends and habitat management.

In 2001, the Midwest Birding Symposium took place near here, in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Conservationists and bird enthusiasts from the Midwest gathered to learn more about what can be done to protect and enjoy our birds. During the symposium, there was a focus on raising funds for Whooping Crane reintroduction in the eastern part of the United States. The National Fish & Wildlife Foundation awarded challenge grants to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to help fund the reintroduction.

“Every $1 you contribute will be matched by the Foundation, bringing us ever closer to the day when Whooping Cranes will again grace our landscape. The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation is also supporting the crane reintroduction through the Pathways to Nature Conservation Fund, an exciting partnership with Wild Birds Unlimited.”  Though this program, $25,000 went into reintroduction efforts at the Necedah National Wildlife Refuge in Wisconsin.

As our state continues the debate on Sandhill Crane hunting, so do current headlines that go something like this, “4 endangered whooping cranes killed in Oklahoma during hunting season being considered in Wisconsin,” Jan. 3, 2022. Following these headlines are these poignant facts: The cranes are endangered, with a few more than 800 in the world, both wild and captive. About 80 are nesting in Wisconsin.

I’m not sure how much money was raised at the symposium 21 years ago, but there will never be enough to bring back these endangered and majestic birds. Caring for our feathered brethren will always be.  Continue we must, to face into the wind so we can learn and they can fly.

-If interested in participating in this year’s crane count, please contact Jessica Johnsrud at jessicaj@woodlanddunes.org.

Photo by Nancy Nabak

Ripples 3/17/22

Posted on by March 18, 2022
 by Kennedy Zittel, Assistant Naturalist
 

While out walking through the woods, a familiar song was heard in the surrounding trees… “Cheeseburger!” Guess what that means…spring is near! What does a cheeseburger have to do with spring you may ask? Well, my favorite little bird, the chickadee, calls out its “Cheeseburger!” or “Hey Sweetie!” song more frequently in the springtime. Males begin singing that song in mid-January, becoming more frequent as the winter progresses, and is then heard much more often in spring. Since we are on the topic of those neat little birds, you may know their famous “chickadee-dee-dee” call, but did you know that they use that call to tell an entire story to one another?

Chickadees are one of the best alarms of the bird world. They warn each other and other birds when danger is near. How do they do that? Well, recent studies done on chickadee calls have discovered that they can not only share information within their alarm call about a nearby threat,  but also the size, relative threat level, and location of that danger. How neat is that? All by slightly adjusting their “chickadee-dee-dee” call. 

A study done by the University of Washington reported that after listening to over 5,000 alarm calls, there is indeed a pattern to what the chickadees are saying! The number of “dees” at the end of their call corresponds to the size and threat level of the danger nearby. The more “dees” at the end of the call, the more dangerous the threat is. Now we humans may think that a large predator like a hawk would be the most dangerous threat in the chickadee’s eyes, but that isn’t the case. Chickadees actually see smaller-sized threats as being more dangerous, given that smaller predators are more agile and more likely to catch the chickadees. This means that the number of “dees” added on to their song is much higher for smaller predators than it is for larger ones. For example, a large cat on the ground may only elicit five to ten “dees” whereas a smaller hawk perched nearby may elicit two dozen “dees.” So, just by changing the number of “dees” in their call, they can tell others about the size of danger (and that there is danger nearby).

But what if they want to say where that danger is? Well, they can. Chickadees will use their “chickadee-dee-dee” call for predators that are on the ground, stationary, or perched. If the danger is flying above them, they will use a different call, their “seet!” call, to tell other birds that there is an aerial threat. 

Now, just because you hear the “chickadee-dee-dee” call does not mean there is always danger around. They also use that call for other social conversations, such as announcing where food is, which is why you may hear that call around bird feeders. But, the general rule is that if you hear 5 or more “dees” then it is more likely to be a warning call instead of just a social call. 

Another call they make is called their gargle call. This call is said to sound like “a garbled mixture of calls all mashed together” and even though to us it may not sound like a song, it acts like their other songs in that it is linked with courtship and establishing territories. This call is also heard when lower-ranking chickadees are too close to higher-ranking chickadees. 

For being such a small bird, they sure do have a lot to say! How they are able to communicate so well with one another about the specifics of danger is already really neat, but it gets even cooler when you think of how they are making those calls to tell other chickadees about what they will be up against. Chickadees will often mob together and fly at the threat in an attempt at driving it away. Those little birds seem to have no fear.

Next time you hear a chickadee, try to listen and figure out what they may be communicating with the birds nearby. That might help you spot and understand what they are seeing.

Photo from US Fish and Wildlife Service digital library 

Ripples 3/10/22

Posted on by March 8, 2022

Ripples from the Dunes by Nancy Nabak, Communication Coordinator

photo of mother robin on nest with babies under herIt can be said in any language, any accent, and in any culture, and the truth still remains, there’s no place like home.

Planet Earth, our precious home, our habitat, is where we gain security, promote learning and growth, and further the continuation of our species line. Everyone and every living thing comes from a home, even single-celled amoebas. Species with a greater numbered cell-count may roam, fly, swim, or take root in larger spaces, but home is where we live best.

Certain forms of life have actually adapted to a dual-residency type of home situation. Some people make their homes in the Midwest during the mild temperatures then head south for the winter – “snowbirds.” Other animals, such as neo-tropical songbirds, will conduct an instinctual migration and fly to their non-breeding residency further south. When nesting season begins to tickle their northward urges, they head back. It’s a complicated but cool phenomenon with no passport necessary.

Soon, very soon, our early migrators will be arriving back home. Reports of Red-winged blackbirds, Sandhill cranes, and Grackles are already coming in. Snowy owls, Common redpolls and crossbills that made it down from Canada this winter will soon be returning to their northern home to start nesting and raising their young.

Every now and then a species may wander or be pushed off its course from its home. Last week, Kennedy Zittel wrote about the Clay-colored sparrow that has been at Woodland Dunes this winter. This bird would normally be in the very southern US or Mexico at this time, but “Clay” didn’t make it home. So, we adopted this feathered cutie. We continue to feed him nourishment. We offer him water and provide shelter. We also love Clay in a way that we understand, but are uncertain if his little birdbrain gets it. Whether or not, Woodland Dunes enjoys being his home.

As we make advances for our human comforts, we may also be forcing adaptations in other species, such as the Chimney swift. Originally, this species made its home from hollowed- out trees in old growth forests. As we logged and cut, these habitats were lost, but the clever swift found a way to adapt to the inside of our chimneys. Unfortunately, this species is once again losing its habitat, where it lives best. Chimneys are no longer being built, and they are either being capped or demolished at a rate that puts this bird’s numbers in peril. Chimneys are this bird’s home and should be preserved.

Unfortunately, there are also times when a species is abruptly displaced from its home. Right now, more than one million Ukranian people have fled their homes because the instinct to live is stronger than staying put. The world-changing Russian invasion has caused a human species displacement where “living best” is not an option or even possible. Although Woodland Dunes is far away, we wish for comfort and secure newfound homes for these people. We honor the love and compassion as strangers from surrounding countries open up their hearts and homes to them. And today, in Two Rivers Wisconsin, we realize how truly blessed we are.

The newly launched James Webb telescope is expected to see what the universe looked like around a quarter of a billion years ago. Ironically, we have the eyes to see, without a telescope, what’s needed for all life right now. A home. A place where we live best.

Photo of robin in nest by Nancy Nabak

 

 

 

 

 

Ripples 3/3/22

Posted on by March 3, 2022

Article and photo by Kennedy Zittel, Assistant Naturalist

clay-colored sparrow at feeder in winterWho needs a warm and sunny winter vacation when you can spend winter here in Wisconsin instead right? Well, that is the logic that our little friend Clay has. Clay is a (very creatively named) clay-colored sparrow that has been hanging out at our bird feeders at the Dunes for the past month or so. And yes, you’ve heard that right, he is supposed to be spending winter down in the Mexico/Texas area, but decided that our bird feeders are a much better spot to vacation. Who can blame him? Plenty of shrubby cover and tall trees to shelter in. Shrubs right next to the feeders for shelter from predators, and all of the food that they can eat supplied by us…what a vacation!

Clay-colored sparrows are small sparrows that have a pinkish-colored bill and legs, a gray collar around their neck, a slightly notched tail, finely streaked crown, a pale stripe above their eye, and dark-colored cheeks. Overall, they are awfully cute little birds, but they often go unnoticed during the breeding season when they are found in this area of Wisconsin (mostly found in northern Wisconsin) as they like to hide and are fairly “dull” and small. Though you can imagine our surprise when we saw him at the feeder here in the winter! 

Though we see this little bird almost daily, this bird has been incredibly difficult to photograph. We have been joking that he seems to know when we have our cameras out because he will suddenly hop to another branch or move to the other side of the feeder before we can get a good photo. Though it is not just our bird that moves around like that, clay-colored sparrows are described to be “bustling little birds” and will often quickly move from branch to branch and shrub to shrub. 

Shrubs are incredibly important to this bird, not only do they prefer to feed under shrubs or within close range of shrub cover, they also play an important role in their breeding season. Male clay-colored sparrows will sit in a low shrub and sing to establish their territories (unlike a lot of other birds that will choose the highest point to sing from). Clay-colored sparrows also make their nest in the lower branches of a shrub (often less than a foot high). Speaking of songs, their song is very unique, it is said to be a flat monotonous buzzing sound that sounds a bit like: Bzzz bzzz za za. 

As mentioned, our little friend should be spending his winter down near Mexico, but they are found here in Wisconsin during the breeding season. In winter they gather with small flocks and head down south, sometimes they will also join flocks of other sparrow species as they go. During winter they stay in desert grasslands, upland plains, fields, and brushy hillsides. Yet, Clay decided that he would much rather spend winter here with us in Wisconsin instead. Though it may not make sense to those of us wishing that we could be somewhere warm right now, there are plenty of shrubs around that provide him with feeding and nesting shelter, and of course, plenty of food. We are happy to have him as our winter guest and getting to see the cute little sparrow almost every day hasn’t stopped being exciting. And hey, it just goes to show that if Clay would rather vacation here instead of somewhere warm, this must be a pretty great place.

Ripples 2/24/22

Posted on by February 25, 2022

Written by Jennifer Klein, Land Management Coordinator 

Have you ever wanted to know more about the natural community around you? Maybe you are looking for a way to volunteer while maintaining distance from others and breathing in some fresh air. If so, citizen science monitoring may be just what you need. There are many citizen science opportunities in our area and the best thing of all is that you don’t need any experience or a fancy degree. There are people eagerly waiting to teach you everything you need to know.

Citizen science monitoring is a great way for anyone to be involved in collecting valuable data which is used to make important habitat and wildlife management decisions at all levels within the state.  Woodland Dunes partners with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and others on a variety of citizen science monitoring projects.  One example of this is Water Action Volunteers, or WAV.  WAV is a program where volunteers are trained to test rivers or creeks for qualities such as water temperature, dissolved oxygen and turbidity (how clear or dark the water is).  These measurements, and others, help biologists determine the health of a river system and track changes over time. They can even help detect a pollution event right after it happens so clean up efforts can start in a timely manner.  There is a similar program to this for lakes called the Citizen Lake Monitoring Network.

Another citizen science program is through the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago.  Woodland Dunes has been partnering with them to monitor the migration of suckers from Lake Michigan into Forget Me Not Creek in the spring.  Other tributaries up and down the Lake Michigan shoreline are also being monitored by volunteers.  Shedd Aquarium also monitors the local air and water temperatures, and volunteers track the weather conditions and water levels and clarity at their sites, as well as noting any obstacles which may prevent suckers from reaching suitable spawning habitat. This data is very valuable and is part of important research.  Other spring opportunities include bird migration surveys, frog and toad surveys, salamander surveys, and even bald eagle nest monitoring. 

At Woodland Dunes, we participate in all of that and more, including monitoring chimney swifts which roost and raise young in our chimney in the nature center.  We coordinate the Manitowoc County area for the International Crane Foundation’s Annual Crane Count. We also monitor bee populations in our prairies as part of the Wisconsin Bumble Bee Brigade.  There are so many interesting species to monitor depending on your interests.  I would encourage you to reach out to Woodland Dunes and find your passion.  Connecting with nature is a great way to stay grounded and balanced.  Nature is vital to our mental and physical well being and we could all benefit from a little more time connecting with the natural world.

Photo of suckers in creek by Jennifer Klein