Red Wing Nature Notes

Today’s post will feature observations that I made during an early morning hike down to Presbyterian point in Wacouta at the Head of Lake Pepin on Monday November 24th.

1. Two large mature bald eagles with their white head and tail were sitting in a large cottonwood tree on the point. Especially at this time of year to save valuable heat and energy, the eagles will perch for hours in trees along the river as they digest their early morning breakfast consisting mostly of fish. When the supply of fish is abundant out in front of the point, I have observed where the eagles will eat only the eyeballs and leave the rest of the fish.

2. As I was standing along the water”s edge gazing out over the lake, three sand hill cranes flew directly overhead heading to the southeast. I would have guessed that most of the cranes would have already left this area.

3. On the far side of the river, I noticed three large flocks of common mergansers flying just above the water. They fly in lines with their necks held straight out from their bodies. Merganser”s rapid wing beats are easy to distinguish.

On the south side of our home near the kitchen window, we have a wind chime that easily reminds us when even a slight breeze is blowing. This morning, I encountered another set of wind chimes down at the lake. The northwest wind was creating waves that were washing up and moving irregularly shaped ice crystals towards shore. The tinkling sound made by these thin slivers of ice hitting each other created a very melodic early winter symphony.

In amongst these moving crystals, I discovered a floating fresh beaver chewing. Beaver eat only the bark off these freshly cut small willow saplings. As I looked around the immediate area, I noticed several other chewings indicating that beaver were quite active nearby last night.

To start on my return trip to home, I walked across some safe ice in shallow water near shore that was covered with a fresh skiff of snow from last night. Travelling near open water were an unmistakable set of otter tracks. In recent years, the river otter population has been expanding quite significantly along the river in the Red Wing area. If a person is fortunate enough to see otter at this time of year, it will probably be near open water or active springs as they search for small fish, crayfish or clams to eat. About a month ago, as I was hiking along the shore on the north side of the lake let in Frontenac State Park, I discovered numerous otter droppings that contained fish scales and bones.

My final observation of the morning before arriving home was a fresh excavation in a dead aspen tree made by a pileated woodpecker. A huge mound of chips were at the base of the tree. Interestingly enough, a few days ago our neighbor asked me to stop by and investigate some significant damage done to the wooded enclosure that surrounds their outdoor hot tub. A huge hole at least 1 foot in diameter had been opened up near the base of the structure. As it turned out, a pileated woodpecker was the culprit as it was trying to get at a nest of bees.

Of the 200 black walnut trees Ena and Bruce planted here in 1976, about 120 remain. ? Of these, about 80 have the size and diameter (and hopefully the space) to grow well into maturity. ? The largest 33-year-old black walnut is roughly 70 feet tall. ? Its trunk, measured four and a half feet off the ground, has a circumference of 46 inches (and a diameter, then, of 14 inches). ? My guess is the average black walnut tree in this stand is 40 to 50 feet tall with a trunk diameter of 9 to 10 inches.

Walking through this grove of trees, I was surprised that no buckthorn grows under them. ? There are plenty of buckthorn shrubs nearby–under the red oaks, and on the northeast edge of the walnut grove–but none under the walnut trees. ? Perhaps ?the juglone toxin found in the tree’s roots, leaves and wood keeps the buckthorn away. ? ?Are other stands of black walnut trees free of ?buckthorn?

Other notes: ? The Zestar apple tree planted this spring refuses to shed its uppermost leaves. ? (The photo, above right, is from November 21st.) ? Also, this weekend we enjoyed watching a half-dozen bluebirds out the picture window. ? I thought they would have already started their migration south.

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This post will include observations that I have made during the past week culminating with through the State Wildlife Management Area on the north side of Wacouta pond alongside highway 61 this afternoon.
1. The last of the white pelicans seem to have left from the backwaters at the head of Lake Pepin.

2. Small flocks of common mergansers are arriving at the head of the lake the past couple days. In a couple weeks, there will be flocks of several hundred seen at the head of Lake Pepin resting and feasting of the abundance of gizzard shade. Their arrival usually signals the end of this fall’s waterfowl migration.

3. The transition from fall into winter is characterized by beautiful sunrises.

4. During this past week, many v-shaped flocks of tundra swans could be seen flying overhead on their way to wintering grounds on the east coast. Monday and Tuesday flocks were going over every 15 minutes. By today, only a couple flocks were observed all day. Reports of hundreds of swans were common in the Brownsville, MN. and Trempealeau, WI. backwaters of the Mississippi.

5. Wacouta pond froze over as of Tuesday night November 11th. It won’t be long before the backwaters will also start to freeze. This will usually push bald eagles into the open water at Colvill park and the Mississippi river.

This afternoon, I went on a short hike down to the base of Rattlesnake bluff through the Wildlife Management Area which is closed to public hunting. It is quite obvious that deer are aware of the protection. Deer sign was everywhere and included deep heavy trails as well as numerous buck rubs. Bucks will use these rubs to spar with in preparation of an upcoming fighting match with another male.

In addition to all the deer sign, I observed the bright red berries of climbing nightshade (Solanum dulcamara) a species of vine in the potato family. It is native to Europe, but invasive here. These juicy red berries are poisonous to people and livestock, yet edible for birds.

With most of the leaves off the trees, a very large paper wasp nest was easily spotted high up in a tree. These wasps gather fibers from dead wood and plant stems, which they mix with saliva and use to construct water resistant nests that appear gray in color. Paper wasps are sometimes known as umbrella wasps because of the distinctive design of their nests.

Our neighbor is harvesting corn from the field across from us today. I think he would have been out a few days earlier if it wasn’t for the rain and snow this past week. If he had been delayed much longer there could have easily been snow on the ground. I doubt if they could negotiate these hilly fields if they had any snow cover.

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Suddenly its been cold and cloudy. In the last week we’ve had lows in the twenties and high temperatures in the thirties and forties. It snowed a couple times this week but the ground is warm and it hasn’t been any accumulation to speak of, so it has all melted. There have been a couple mornings where I’d really like to get out and follow tracks in the snow, but I haven’t had the time.

The big flocks of starlings are still around but it seems we are no longer in their flight path. The trees were filled with them for a short time this morning though.

The deer hunters are out in force. I hear the occasional shots in the distance when I’m out. A big buck presented himself in our yard as our deer hunting son snoozed in bed for the first time in several days. We took several photos but the camera automatically focused on the window screen only inches from the lens so I have no proof of his existence.

Tonight the sky is partially clear for the first time in a while and the coyotes have been singing on and off all around the house. We tried a dieing rabbit call and the night suddenly got very quiet. I’ve recorded coyotes so many times, but here is just one more recording that’s a small part of the total of tonights concert:

coyotes_11-16-2008_front_porch-good harmony at the end

I haven’t seen any sign of turkeys for days until I glanced out the window this morning to see five or six turkeys running across the field for the shelter of the woods. I got off one shot with the camera before they disappeared.

We put out our bird feeder with immediate response. On the first day we had lots of thumping as birds ran into our windows. Delicate feathers sticking to the windows when I get home from work and the occasional dazed bird sitting on our deck tell me its still a problem. It’s almost enough to make me remove the feeder. I hate to see the little guys getting clobbered. I hope they learn about windows soon.