Red Wing Nature Notes

With the turn around in winter temperatures, I decided to head  for Frontenac State Park  Monday afternoon and the well groomed trails in the open prairie section of the park.  No sooner that I left my car at the park office, the sun went under the clouds.  This was somewhat disappointing as I was planning to check out the springs at the far east end of Frontenac pond and hopefully take some photos of possible bird activity.

As I approached the springs and open water, I jumped a flock of close to twenty mallards.  As soon as the mallards flew off, a flock of several robins made their grand entrance.  Robins not at the springs, could be heard singing in the trees nearby. Amidst the robin calls, I could detect an occasional bluebird call and eventually observed several in with the robins.  With the poor lighting conditions, I made a feeble attempt at trying to get some photos.  The results were less than satisfying.

With the clear skies and good sunlight, I decided to make another visit to the springs on Tuesday afternoon.  As I approached the desired area, numerous robins could be seen actively flitting around the open water. I skied into the area of the activity and tried to determine the angle for the best light conditions for my photo attempts.  Of course, all the birds flew off with my appearance.  After becoming situated behind some marsh grass, I waited for their return.

Thirty minutes later, there still were no birds and I was slowly getting the feeling that I blew this opportunity.  Eventually, I could hear and see robins perched in the top of a large cottonwood tree forty yards away.  One hour after arriving at the springs, a lone brave robin made it’s appearance about twenty feet away.

Within five minutes, I was surrounded by a couple dozen robins some within six feet.  It appeared that in addition to getting a drink, the birds were feeding upon invertebrates along the edge of the ice.  It was interesting that as I packed up my camera, daypack and put on my skis to head back, these birds were not the least bit concerned with my presence.

Tuesday morning amidst the fog and frost on the trees, I checked out eagle activity at Colvill Park.  Twenty eagles were counted including the one that posed for me in a tree adjacent to the parking lot.  The next couple months should provide some exciting eagle viewing at this wonderful location maintained by the city of Red Wing.  Don’t miss this great opportunity.

Those of you reading this might be interested to know that at 7 pm. on January 21st, the Minnesota Audubon Society is providing a great opportunity to learn about the increasing number of golden eagles that are being observed in southeast Minnesota ans southwest Wisconsin.  The event will be held at United Lutheran Church at 5th an Dakota in Red Wing.

I thought things were rough lately with the cold temperatures and two inches of solid ice on my driveway, until some recent observations of local wildlife trying to stay alive changed my perspective.  On my way into town the other morning, I noticed a sizeable flock of wild turkeys trying to work through the hard crust in an attempt to find something to eat.  Birds like pheasants and turkeys are dependant upon scratching and uncovering food on the ground.  With current snow and ice conditions, I am sure both species of birds are having great difficulty  getting enough to eat.

Upon further examination as I was stopped along the side of the highway, I noticed one creative and energetic turkey hanging on for dear life to a slender box elder branch eating seeds left over from last summer.

This past Sunday afternoon despite the minus 20 degree wind-chill, I put on a number of layers and headed out on the nearby Wacouta Bay on my cross country skis.  On my way to the upper end of the bay, I noticed a pair of coyotes travelling on the ice between a couple of small willow sandbars next to the main river.  As I skied closer to the coyotes, they eventually spotted my presence.  As they ran off in the other direction, I continued skiing and quickly came upon their fresh tracks in the snow.  At this point, I thought it might be more interesting  to follow their tracks in the direction from which they had appeared rather than chasing after them.

Soon after starting on their trail, I discovered where they had recently been bedded down on the south sunny side of a muskrat house well out of the effects of the cold northwest wind that was blowing.  As I continued back tracking the wily animals, I discovered they had been patrolling the edge of the ice on the river in search of sick or injured waterfowl.

Continuing to ski up river, I jumped numerous American mergansers that were resting on the open water and diving under the surface to feed on the abundance of gizzard shad that were available for the catching.  These ducks are sometimes called sawbills because of their serrated bills which are adapted for catching fish.  The silence of this remote part of the backwaters was periodically broken by their wing beats as a flock would fly overhead.  Another frequent sound was that of the clanking of huge sheets of ice moving swiftly downstream and smashing into the red and green navigational buoys marking the main channel of the river.

After a couple hundred yards of back tracking, I discovered that these two coyotes had just visited an active beaver lodge with the remote possibility of finding a tasty meal.  In the winter, it is quite easy to determine if a lodge is inhabited by looking for hoar-frost on the top of the structure.  The warm moist air from the breathing of the beaver rises and condenses on the cold sticks which their home is constructed.  More years ago that I care to admit, my father introduced me to the late Irv Benson who lived with his wife Tempest on a remote island on the Canadian side of Saganaga lake at the end of the Gunflint Trail.  Irv made a living running a winter beaver trap line over a large area in this part of the wilderness.  He was convinced that timber wolves were smart enough to follow his trail and check out these active lodges only to return in the spring and open water to prey upon the young kits as they were learning to swim.  On numerous winter trips that I led over the years with the Environmental Learning Center into the BWCA, we observed many times where timber wolves had walked on top of beaver lodges checking for evidence of activity.  I wonder if these two coyotes that I just observed will return in the spring for a possible meal of beaver kits?

Early yesterday morning as the sun was starting to appear over the bluff east of Colvill Park, I stopped in to check on eagle activity and numbers.  In addition to observing a dozen eagles, there were numerous mallards resting at the edge of the ice as misty clouds of steam were rising off the river.  With assistance from my binoculars, I noticed that like the mergansers these mallards were feasting upon the small shad in the river.  Evidently, wild creatures possessing the ability to adapt to the rigors of nature stand a much better chance at survival.  Maybe there is a message there for me and the two inches of ice on the driveway.

On December 27th, Kathy and I participated along with several other people in the Red Wing area Christmas Bird Count”.  This activity was the result of a considerable amount of hard work and planning by Laura Coble of Cannon Falls.  Laura is an avid birder, retired teacher and single handedly organized this fun and interesting event.  The first Audubon Christmas Bird Count in Minnesota was held in 1905 and Red Wing was one of the communities that was involved.  The Red Wing area participated off and on over the years with the last count being held in 1973.  Through Laura’s efforts, these counts started back up in 2007.

This count was conducted by eight different groups with each being assigned to a particular area within the larger Red Wing area.  Kathy, Al Larson of Lake City and I  were given the Frontenac area which included Frontenac State Park.  The count is conducted by travelling by car on various county and township roads with periodic stops along the way.  The species of birds observed along our morning route included: Wild Turkey, Red-Tailed Hawk, Rock Pigeon, Mourning Dove, Red-Bellied Woodpecker, Downy Woodpecker, Hairy Woodpecker, Pileated Woodpecker, Blue Jay, American Crow, Black-capped Chickadee, White-breasted Nuthatch, Eastern Bluebird, American Robin, European Starling, Dark-eyed Junco, Northern Cardinal, Purple Finch, House Finch and American Goldfinch.

In the afternoon, Kathy and I conducted a count based on observations in our backyard and feeding station.  The way this count works is that your count is based on the highest number of a certain species that you can see at one time.  Birds observed on the count included: Blue Jay, Dark-eyed Junco, Black-capped Chickadee, Northern Cardinal, Hairy Woodpecker, Downy Woodpecker, Tree Sparrow, Purple Finch, House Finch, American Goldfinch, Red-bellied Woodpecker, White-breasted Nuthatch, American Crow, Mourning Dove and Cedar Waxwing.

For those who have been following Nature Notes, our brave chipmunk decided that enough was enough.  He hasn’t been seen since the sloppy rain/snow mix on Christmas Day.

The last couple days I have tried my hand at ice fishing in the Mississippi backwaters near Wabasha.  To get to our fishing spot, we drove on highway 61 as it passes through Reads Landing.  The number of eagles and American mergansers taking advantage of the feeding opportunities in the open water at the lower end of Lake Pepin was incredible  If you happen to be travelling in that area in the next few days, please stop at one of the wayside viewing areas and enjoy this seasonal spectacle.

As we celebrate the winter solstice today and the shortest day of the year, my first outdoor observations each morning of recent days have been well before sunrise.  Almost like clockwork, numerous pairs of northern cardinals arrive thirty minutes before the official sunrise.  They also happen to be the last birds to visit our feeders each evening.  They feed throughout the day, but are present in much bigger numbers early and late in the day.

I recall an incident a number of years ago that demonstrates how vulnerable these birds are to the forces of nature.  That particular winter, we were observing upwards of twenty cardinals at our feeders at one time in early December.  As the winter season progressed, their  numbers seemed to dwindle with each passing week.  By the end of winter, we were lucky to see even a couple birds.

In the meantime, our next door neighbor noticed on a mid-winter stroll through his backyard  a screech owl looking out from the entrance of a wood duck nesting box.  Thinking that it was still sometime until the return of the wood ducks, the sighting of the owl was of no big concern.  By early March,  it was time to clean out and ready the nesting box for the next occupants.  Upon opening the box, he discovered the bottom was lined with nearly an inch of cardinal feathers.  Apparently the large white spruce trees in our backyard not only were providing an excellent roosting site for the cardinals, but easy picking for these little owls.

For those of you who read my post from last week, our chipmunk is still alive and very active.  I am beginning to wonder if this guy will ever decide to hibernate.

In a recent email, Scott Mehus the Education Director for the National Eagle Center reported that on Wednesday December 16 and Thursday December 17 they observed over 400 bald eagles between Reads Landing and Wabasha.  The fall migration of eagles that we have been waiting for is definitely in full swing.

Late this afternoon, I decided to try out a ski trail in Frontenac State Park that I haven’t visited yet this winter.  The trail out to Sand Point had a nice amount of snow and was beautifully groomed.   Once out to Lake Pepin, I decided to ski along the shore up to the mouth of  Wells creek just downstream of old Frontenac. 

This is a fairly remote section of the park and is comprised of interesting wetlands and willow thickets.  Along the edge of the lake, there was an abundance of fresh coyote tracks in the fresh snow from last night.

 There was evidence that even a sure footed coyote can slip on the ice.  I also happened upon a fresh deer skull and neck vertebrae, probably a result of a wounded deer during the recent hunting season.  It was reported in tonight’s Rochester Post-Bulletin that two dogs in the Wabasha area were poisoned by someone intending to kill coyotes using a road killed deer carcass. 

This reminded me of an incident that took place in the spring of 1993 on Fish Lake between Siren and Spooner, Wisconsin.  A couple years ago, the late Ann Tincher  whose family has a cabin on Fish Lake, told me about someone putting out meat laced with poison with the intention of killing bald eagles.  This travesty resulted in the death of 19 bald eagles.  It is hard for me to imagine how someone can be so cruel and heartless to fellow creatures of our natural world.

All fall we have been observing a very energetic chipmunk gathering seeds from under our bird feeders.  Once the duel pouches near it’s mouth were stuffed to the max, it would head for one of two miniature junipers to stash the booty for the coming months.  No doubt there is a complex underground burrow system with food storage chambers where these seeds are cached.  Chipmunks usually hibernate from October thru March as their body temperature decreases and they fall into a deep sleep.

Since mid-November, we have expected that any day the chipmunk would disappear for the winter.  Finally with the ten inch snowfall on Tuesday and Wednesday, it’s feeding activity ceased.  With no sign of the chipmunk on Thursday, we were sure hibernation had commenced.  Lo and behold it was back today scurrying around gathering available forage.  I would be curious to know if any of our Nature Notes readers have ever observed chipmunk activity this late?

Speaking of seed gathering activity, I recently received a phone call from Tom Danielson  a friend who lives on Devils Track Lake just outside Grand Marais, Minnesota.  He wanted to share a most unusual observation.  It seems that Tom has a long narrow birdfeeder which is situated on a deck railing within full view of their dining room window.  While enjoying his morning coffee recently, he observed a single blue jay gather at one time 42 sunflower seeds before flying away.  He was amazed and intrigued by this bird’s capacity.  Blue jays are like chipmunks in that they possess duel pouches for storing food.  Once the pouches are full, they fly away and stash these seeds under bark or in various hiding spots for later winter sustenance.  Canada jays which are much more common in the canoe country are also very adept at stashing food for later use.

The ten inch snowfall was most welcome and much needed for winter time outdoor activities.  After spending most of Wednesday digging out, I was more than ready to take my cross country skis out of storage and put them to good use.  Thursday morning I decided to bushwhack ski my own trail out to the summit of Rattlesnake bluff overlooking Lake Pepin, Wacouta and highway 61.  Bushwhack skiing is much more work than skiing groomed trails, but opens up unlimited places to explore.

Friday found me down at Frontenac State Park trying out the wonderful trails that are available to any skier carrying a state of Minnesota ski pass. 

Their various trails are all packed and many are nicely groomed.  A most pleasant surprise was the new Pine loop section that travels through a beautiful stand of Norway and white pines which is a part of the recent 37 acre donation to the park from the Millicent Lange family.  It is a great addition to what is already a wonderful cross country skiing resource for this area.  Be sure to check it out this winter.