Accoustic Bat Monitoring Program and An Introduction to Our Live Education Bat

Thank you 2013 Acoustic Bat Monitoring Volunteers

The bat survey season has ended for this year and I want to say THANK YOU to those who took the time to become involved in bat conservation efforts.  We completed 41 surveys throughout the season, with over 110 hours invested.  These efforts have added to more information and greater knowledge about Wisconsin’s bat population.  

Next year’s acoustic monitoring training sessions will be held in April and May 2014. Check out our website for more information and contact me if you have any questions.
 
Have you met Penelope?

This past April we were became home to an education bat – a big brown bat named Penelope.  She was rescued and rehabilitated out of Madison, was unable to be released into the wild, and is now with us for educational programming.  

More Bat Information:
 
http://www.futurity.org/male-bats-croon-love-songs-to-get-the-girl/  - interesting article on bat vocalizations used for mating
 
http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/volunteer/julaug11/white_nose.html - Minnesota Conservation Volunteer Magazine article on threat of WNS to MN bats
 
http://www.whitenosesyndrome.org/ - great resources on up-to-date info on WNS and latest spread maps
 
http://wiatri.net/inventory/bats/News/2012DecNewsletter.pdf - December 2012 Wisconsin Bat Program newsletter
 
http://dnr.wi.gov/topic/WildlifeHabitat/bats.html - WI bat information and links
 
http://wiatri.net/inventory/bats/Media/ - links to interviews/audio with WI bat ecologists
 

Late Fall Trip to View Migrating Raptors along Lake Superior a Success

On Saturday, October 26, the Discovery Center Bird Club went on their 35^th outing for 2013.  We joined in for the North Lakeland Discovery Center’s trip to Hawk Ridge Nature Reserve in Duluth, MN. While the bird club has visited Hawk Ridge in recent years, joining the Discovery Center’s program enabled a new dimension when we were treated to a behind the scenes tour of the Hawk Ridge Raptor Banding Station.  

It was a real treat to be able to see how researchers entice raptors, capture them, handle them, and band them before releasing them back into the wild. Due to the size of our group we had to be split up, so one-half of us did the morning banding tour and the other half did it in the afternoon.  The afternoon group was treated to having a researcher show us a captured juvenile Red-tailed Hawk, allowing the group to learn details about that bird.  Later, that bird was ‘adopted’ by bird club member Peter Rasmussen, who got to hold the bird and then release it, a truly unique and special experience! 

In the past, bird club field trips to Hawk Ridge have occurred in late September when we would typically be able to observe hundreds of Sharp-shinned Hawks and Broad-winged Hawks.  We decided to join the Discovery Center’s late October program because a different mix of raptors typically migrate later during the migration season.  As it turned out, shortly after we first arrived the group encountered cold winds and a rain/snow squall.  However, bad weather only lasted for about one-half hour, the sky became partly cloudy, the winds moderated, and the raptors put on a great show.  In terms of numbers, by far the most frequent flyers of the day were Red-tailed Hawks.  Most of us are happy to see an occasional Red-tailed Hawk here and there over the course of a year but on Saturday we were able to observe 20 or more at one time!  At the end of the day the official raptor counters recorded 251 Red-tailed Hawks.  

For that day, the official counters recorded 10 species of raptors and a total count of 381 individual raptors, a very good day!  The bird club was hoping to observe some new species for the year and we were rewarded for our effort. Late season specialties for Hawk Ridge include Rough-legged Hawk, Northern Goshawk, and Golden Eagle and all three made appearances for us.  The latter two species were new to the club for 2013, so 2 species were added to the club’s annual list, raising our total species count for the year to 184 species of birds observed during club outings.  In addition to observing raptors, other species of late season migrating birds also were observed at Hawk Ridge including Snow Buntings, American Tree Sparrows, and a Rusty Blackbird.  

Group Photo and Blog submitted by Discovery Center Bird Club Member, Guy David.

An Exciting River Find...

 

On a September 28^th Manitowish River canoe trip, Discovery Center staff and participants came across an interesting & elusive critter infrequently found in Vilas County.  We were putting in at the Hwy 51 bridge-landing area, when Maria saw a small round critter swim over her foot. Upon further inspection, it was identified as an Eastern spiny softshelled turtle hatchling!  The state DNR set their status in WI as common but declining, and only existing in a small portion of Vilas. Spiny softshells are found in larger rivers and lakes that tend to have muddy or sandy bottoms. The young turtles bury themselves in this substrate to blend in and remain concealed when they are not moving about the water. They eat many different things, including fish, invertebrates, mollusks, and carrion.

After showing the young critter to trip participants, Maria released the turtle back into the river.  About four years ago, another Discovery Center staff member was canoeing past that same point and came across an adult spiny softshell laying eggs in the gravel at the landing. What an exciting Northwoods find!

Interview Leads to a Naturalist’s Reflection

As part of a school project, I was recently interviewed by fifth grade SOAR charter school students.  SOAR (School of Options & Applied Research) is a first year fifth thru seventh grade charter school in nearby Land O’ Lakes.  Their recent curricula finds students researching a famous environmentalist, creating a timeline of their achievements, and dressing up as that person at a Living Natural History Museum program.  Another assignment was to interview a local environmentalist; and my niece Sofia, a fifth grader, chose to interview me as a naturalist. 

She had 31 questions that ranged from my background to why I chose to go into this profession. It was fun for me, as I have not reflected on some of these topics for a long time. One of her questions really made me think about why I do what I do…  She asked: “When was the first time you volunteered for the environment?”  It took me a minute, and soon I realized I hadn’t done anything until almost out of college! Growing up, I wasn’t exposed to such opportunities and didn’t realize my interest in the natural world until, ironically, I left the Northwoods and my passion really came to life.  Now I'm back in the Northwoods and upon further reflecting on Sofia's interview questions, I came to understand on a different level why I love doing what I do... going into schools, working with young students, exposing them to the natural world and getting them involved in projects that get them out there, learning and respecting our area…  I wish I had had those experiences and opportunities as a young person.  And, now I am ever-so-thankful to be able to provide these opportunities to young people today. 
 

Upon a Harvest Moon

Shine On Harvest Moon
By Nora Bayes and Jack Norworth (1903)

Shine on, shine on harvest moon
Up in the sky,
I ain’t had no lovin’
Since January, February, June or July
Snow time ain’t no time to stay
Outdoors and spoon,
So shine on, shine on harvest moon,
For me and my gal.

------------------------

 



The Harvest Moon, the full moon nearest to the autumnal equinox, came upon us September 18-19. So, what is it that makes the harvest moon unique among full moons?

You might have noticed the Harvest Moon rising around sunset a few days in a row. On average, the moon rises about 50 minutes later each day. However, when a full moon happens close to the autumnal equinox, the moon rises 30-35 minutes later daily for several days before and after the full Harvest Moon. This is due to the moon’s orbital path making a narrower angle with the evening horizon which results in shorter than usual moon rising times.

The mystique surrounding the Harvest Moon leads to thoughts of bigger, brighter & more colorful/orange moons. This illusion (the "Moon Illusion") is due to the location of the moon near the horizon. When you look at the horizon, you are looking through a greater thickness of the Earth’s atmosphere than when looking overhead. All atmosphere scatters blue light (causing the sky to look blue to us). Also, the greater the thickness of atmosphere at the horizon, the greater the amount of red light passing through which thus gives the moon an orange color as it rises. 

The Harvest Moon was likely named by farmers, who could harvest their crops long into the night with the help of the lengthier moonlight.


What's That Smell??

Recently, while leading a hike down the Discovery Center's Interpretive Trail, we came upon a fungus I had never seen.  At first glance, I thought it was a discarded cigarette. When I went to pick it up, I realized that was quite the wrong first impression.  It was, indeed, a fungus! 

I held it up for the group, and that is when we noticed it….the smell of rotting meat (and dare I say, poop!).  I quickly looked it up in my guide and we identified it as Stinkhorn fungus.  It had a skinny, spongy body & a slimy brown tip.  Come to find, the tip is the foul smelling part (at least to us); however it proves quite attractive to insects.  These insects visit the smelly tip, and then carry off the fungi's reproductive spores. 

Stinkhorn fungi are found on the ground or on rotten wood (we found this one on a rotting Aspen tree), and grow August-October. Look closely at this photograph and you will notice an American carrion beetle near the tip -- we ID'ed at least four others around the fungus.  What a cool find and fun to learn together about an organism new to us all!

Photo by Licia Johnson - Discovery Center Staff. 

You Otter Check This Out!

“What’s that in the water over by that log?” said a woman squinting out the side of the pontoon boat at a small brownish shape protruding from the choppy waters of Rest Lake. 

“I think it’s just a stump sticking out of the water,” said her husband, quickly dismissing the brown object. 

The woman produced a pair of binoculars to study the supposed stump more carefully. “Look, it’s moving! It’s a muskrat.  No look.  You really ought to check this out.” she said, beckoning with a free hand while keeping eyes glued to the binoculars and the scene in the water below. “It keeps diving down under the water and then coming back up again, and its body is really long.  I think it’s an otter!”

At idle speed we carefully navigated the pontoon boat a little closer to the sleek, mocha brown colored animal.  It was indeed an otter, and not just one.  There were three otters playfully arching out of the water and diving below to find food. 

One of the otters came up from the water below with a fish in its mouth and swam toward a log sticking out into the water from the shore.  There on the log, it began to tear the fish into bite sized pieces. 

River otters consume 2.5lbs of fish, crayfish, amphibians, mussels, snails, and aquatic insects each day.  These members of the order Carnivora belong in the Mustelidae family along with weasels and badgers.  Unregulated trapping and habitat degradation in the late 19^th/early 20^th century nearly eradicated river otters from large portions of their historic range in North America.  In 1915 the seasonal harvest was discontinued in Wisconsin for a few years and the river otter population began to make a comeback.  Now these playful animals, nicknamed waterdogs, are found in many rivers and lakes in our backyard.  They are a welcomed sight on our Rest Lake pontoon tours and Manitowish River paddles. 

- Heather Lumpkin, Research and Monitoring Coordinator