A Success Story

Standing in an oak savanna on a cool sunny afternoon this week I was watching one of my favorite birds hopping around on a dead oak snag. You can’t miss him as the sun reflects off of his bright white breast and vibrant red head. His head is a striking contrast to his black back with a white band across his wings.


This medium sized bird is a rare site across much of Minnesota and the overall population has been on a slow decline since 1966. We have a small population near Camp Ripley and a few scattered birds in the counties west of Minneapolis.


He sets out in flight to the next dead oak in a flight pattern that can be described as loping. A couple of quick wing beats followed by an arching glide and then, ending with several quick wing beats. He reaches into his cache in the fork of a tree and removes an acorn from behind some pieces of bark he placed to hide his stored food.  He hops on over to a limb and then spends the next twenty minutes breaking it apart and eating his meal.


I am watching a red-headed woodpecker winter in his chosen home range. Owned by the University of Minnesota, this oak savanna is in Cedar Creek Ecosystem Science Reserve located in central Minnesota. The open habitat of standing live and dead oaks is created and maintained through a prescribed burn program.  So often we tend to cut down dead trees for fire wood or remove them as unsightly. Not in Cedar Creek. The red-headed woodpeckers need both live and dead standing trees. This savanna is full of acorns from the oaks, grasshoppers, beetles and other grassland insects on the ground, and plenty of dragonflies from nearby Fish Lake. This diverse habitat also includes many plants, seeds and berries.  Cedar Creek’s savanna areas provide the red-headed woodpeckers with food, cover and roosting areas.


When you give a species the habitat that it requires, you can witness amazing results. Three years ago the wintering population was only 3 birds. Last winter we had 33 birds stay over. This year the wintering population is approximately 56 red-headed woodpeckers. According to a dedicated scientist, this represents 75% of all the wintering population in Minnesota. Most of these birds stay on approximately 220 acres. It’s unbelievable when you realize ¾ of the state’s population of these birds winter on only 220 acres.  With a very small territory which they defend from many species, he is quite happy and thriving.


These fascinating birds are currently being observed and studied by researchers and scientists from the University of Minnesota and other dedicated birding organizations. This is a rare opportunity to both learn about and educate others about a modern day success story.


Enjoy our woodland treasures, and take care of our natural resources.


Jim

The Whitetail Rut

“The Rut“. That special time in the deer woods that deer hunters all over North America live for. We dream about it. It consumes hours of our daily thoughts. We save our precious hard earned money and vacation time just to participate in it. We even talk about the rut endlessly often over analyzing it until we have talked ourselves into believing what we want it to be.

This annual autumn spectacular phenomena of nature cannot be described to the average wing shooter or berry collector. It must be experienced and lived. Often this takes years to understand and appreciate. Nothing in the hunting community is more magical or frustrating.

Yet we as deer hunters often live and hunt a rut of our own. This describes my 2011 whitetail deer season in Minnesota. I have spent years scouting year round, setting trail cameras, and carefully hanging stands in all the right places. I practice scent control and play the wind every time I sit in a stand. Even when I enter and exit my stand sites I try to be silent and careful with the least amount of disturbance. Despite all of this I just did not see the deer I expected to encounter from my stands. These stands are located in areas that have always been so productive for me. The buck sign I was used to seeing just was not present. I told myself the deer numbers were down.

I didn’t realize until the last few weeks while out shed hunting that I was the one in a rut. I started walking all the areas I usually expect to see deer travel and just like this past deer season, there was no sign. Then one day while taking a short cut back to the truck I stumbled onto a rub line with some of the biggest scrapes I have ever seen. They were within 75 yards and paralleling the very logging road I used to walk to my stands. Were these bucks watching me when I walked in and out of the woods? It sure seems like it. In the next few days I proceeded to check tiny spots of cover, unusual corners near roads and every woodland crawl space and unconventional deer habitat I could find. It was a real eye opener for me. The buck sign I could not find all season was there all the time. The deer had patterned me and adjusted to do what they do best, survive.

Never underestimate the whitetail deer. There are the smartest survival machines in all of North America. You must be on the top of your game every season when you enter their world. We always have to be learning and adjusting our tactics and skills. If you have ever closely watched a deer walking through the woods you know how alert they are to their surroundings. A whitetail will make changes every day if needed. As hunters we need to learn from these masters of the woodlot.

Next year the rut I hunt will not be my own.    

Enjoy our woodland treasures, and take care of natural resources

Jim

The Winter of 2011 – 2012 Part Two

For me this has been a very enjoyable winter. I have not missed the generous amount cold and snow we usually get here in Central Minnesota. Currently our high temperature today was in the forty’s again and the only snow we have on the ground is a trace in the shadiest corners of our woodlots. Welcome to February in Minnesota 2012.

As much as I have been enjoying our lack of snow this does alter more than a few natural dynamics of winter. This goes beyond the obvious lack of precipitation needed to recharge our streams, lakes and ground water supply. Waterfowl and other shoreline birds are then impacted with fewer locations to nest and safely raise their young. This results in a lower populations.

The lack of snow also affects many woodland creatures. Snowshoe hair that turn white in the winter lose their natural camouflage, making them susceptible to predation from many predators. Without snow ruffed grouse, mice, voles and shrews are just a few critters that lose valuable cover needed to hide them from hawks, owls or coyotes. Snow also acts as an insulation to help keep these animals and birds warm.

I have noticed that this warm weather has a few trees fooled into budding already. Our trees and fruiting plants are exposed to an increase of the possibility of frost injury. Actively growing trees or grape vines fooled into an early growth can suffer death of flowering buds if a hard frost occurs. Open blossoms may die if the temperature drops below 27 degrees F. This means fewer apples, grapes and plums.  Damage to shoots, fruits and broad leaf plants are also common anytime cold temperatures occur after a warm winter.

The effects of the winter of 2012 can even change our recreational habits and experiences. This mild winter means a longer tick season. In fact any time the temperatures are above 35 degrees woodland ticks are active and in search of a blood meal. This could be a banner year for these little forest draculas. One of my favorite treats, the morel mushroom, could also suffer from the lack of moisture. I sure hope we get a lot of rain this spring.

There is good news mixed in with this. All of the species will recover and grow again. After all, they have been doing this for a very long time.

Enjoy our woodland treasures, and take care of our natural resources.

Jim

Coyote out mouse hunting...