Many of you have enjoyed the Eagles in the area of the Chippewa Flowage over the years. Island nesting sites, Eagles feasting on a shoreline or a road kill, this 7 foot wingspan souring overhead, and the screech of an Eagle when taking off in flight----another treasured moment on the Chippewa Flowage. Where ever you maybe vacationing on the Flowage, you can be sure there is a nesting site in your area; I have been observing four territorial pair of Eagles in the northeast quadrant of the Chippewa Flowage over the years.

1/9/2008 Wisconsin DNR
• Legal status in U.S.: Threatened
• Legal status in WI: Delisted
• 2006 numbers in WI: 1,150 nesting pairs
• Length: Female34-43 inches, Male 30-35 inches
• Wingspan: 7 feet
• Weight: 8 to 14 pounds

An adult "bald" eagle, white head and tail contrast strikingly with its dark-brown body; the large bill, feet, and eyes are yellow.

Immature bald eagles are dark brown with scattered white on the under wings and tail. It will take four to five years before these eagles head and tail feathers turn a stark white in appearance.

Eagles feed primarily on fish and thus require open water year around. It is reported that many of our Flowage eagles migrate to open water on Wisconsin rivers and the Mississippi River.

During the breeding season, bald eagles establish and defend territories---mated adults usually return to the same breeding areas each year. Eagles generally mate for life, if one member dies, the other will remate and maintain the established territory. The territory must have suitable large trees, near water, adequate supply of fish, and an area that is somewhat isolated from human activity.

In February through March, Wisconsin eagles begin rebuilding or building a nest. Nests are made of large sticks and vegetation, forming a shell and lining that can be four feet wide and three feet deep. A territorial pair of eagles might build more than one nest site in their area, using only one nest for that season.

Usually two white eggs are layed in late March early April, about 3 inches in length. Both adults take turns incubating the eggs which requires about 40 days before the chicks are hatched. Feeding and providing skills for survival is conducted by both adults until the young eagles leave the nest and hunt on there own.

Look up; there is a good chance you will spot an eagle the next time whileout on the Chippewa Flowage----

For those of us in the north woods of Wisconsin, the annual tree leave color change in the forested areas is the official start of the autumn season. As the color change begins in the North, it will take about four to five weeds before the cornucopia of color spreads to southern Wisconsin.

The timing of fall color in the state's forested areas is determined more by the shortening daylight hours than by temperatures, with temperature and other conditions playing a role in the intensity and coloration of leaf colors.

State of Wisconsin DNR Forestry experts suggest the following formula for a spectacular color change; a warm and wet spring combined with typical summer conditions followed by mild, sunny autumn days and cool autumn evenings----with temperatures above 32 degrees----historically have produced the most dramatic color.

M. Mayo Back DNR Division of Forestry explains the color change; during the growing season, chlorophyll is continually produced and broken down within the leaf. The chlorophyll masks the carotenoids and anthocyanins in the leaf. As fall approaches and daylight decreases, production of new chlorophyll subsides, and the existing chlorophyll in the leaf breaks down, revealing other compounds in the leaves. Trees high in carotenoids, such as hickories, birch, poplars, and some maples have leaves that turn yellow and orange during the fall. Leaves that have high levels of anthocyanins, such as oaks, dogwoods, and the red maple have leaves that turn red and purple.

Come North next fall, look for the following conditions and enjoy a color tour------along with fishing, hunting, biking, hiking, canoeing, golfing, cranberry festivals, terrific restaurants, and pure relaxation.

Over the years I have observed a pair of Osprey, who has nested, raised their young, enjoyed their fishing skills, and marveled their acrobatics over the water on the Chippewa Flowage.

The Osprey, also known colloquially as fish fishhawk, seahawk, or fish eagle is a medium to large fish eating bird of prey. This raptor is found on all continents except Antarctica-in South America is occurs as a non-breeding migrant. The Osprey is widely distributed because it tolerates a wide variety of habitats, nesting in any location which is near a body of water and provides an adequate food supply.

The Osprey is a medium sized raptor, reaching 24 inches in length, weights in at 3 to 4 pounds, and a wingspan at about 6 feet. The upperparts are a deep, glossy brown, while the breast is white and sometimes tweaked with brown, and the underpants are pure white with a dark mask across the eyes, reaching to the sides of the neck. The irises of the eyes are golden to brown. The bill is black, with a blue tinge, and the feet are white with black talons. The Osprey has a short tail and long, narrow wings with four long fingerlike feathers, and a shorter fifth, give it a very distinctive appearance. The sexes appear fairly similar, but the adult male can be distinguished from the female by its slimmer body and narrower wings. In flight, the Osprey has arched wings and dropping legs and talons----giving it a gull-like appearance. The call is a series of sharp whistles, described as cheep, cheep or yewk, yewk. A frenzied call can be heard around the nest site as a chereek!

Osprey's diet consists almost exclusively of fish----it has evolved particular physical characteristics and exhibits some unique behaviors to assist in hunting and catching prey.

Its toes are of equal length and its talons are rounded rather than grooved. The Osprey is the only raptor whose outer toe is reversible, allowing it to grasp its prey with two toes in front.

The Osprey is highly successful to its tolerance of a wide range of habitats. It will nest in any location near a body of water which provides safety and an abundance of fish. Marsh, mangrove, swamp, cypress swamp, lake, bog, reservoir or river, even a man-made platform on high electric wire poles become nesting sites for the Osprey.

Fish makes up about 90 percent of the Osprey's diet. Typically takes fish weighing 6 to 10 ounces and about 10 to 12 inches in length. Prey is first sighted when the Osprey is about 30 to 40 yards about the water, after which the bird hovers momentarily then plunges feet first into the water. It is able to dive to a depth of 3 plus feet. The angle of entry into the water varies with the prey the Osprey is pursuing---whether it requires a deep dive or a surface snatch. After the catch, the Osprey requires considerable effort to get airborne again. As it rises back into flight the fish is turned head-forward to reduce drag.

The Osprey is particularly well adapted to a fish diet; reversible outer toes, sharp speckles on the underside of the toes, closable nostrils, and backward s facing scales on the talons which act as barbs to help hold it catch. Interestingly, the "barbed" talons are such effective tools for grasping fish that on occasion an Osprey may be unable to release a fish that is heavier than expected. This can cause the bird to be pulled into the water, where it may either swim to safety or drown.

The nest site of the Osprey is a large heap of sticks, driftwood, and weeds in trees, rocky outcrops, telephone poles, artificial platforms or off shore islets. Some nesting sites have been known to be active for over 70 years. Ospreys reach sexual maturity and begin breeding around age 3 or 4 years and usually mate for life. In the spring the pair begins a five month partnership to raise their young. The female lays 2 to 4 eggs, are whitish in color, and requires about a 5 month incubation period before hatching. The typical life span for the Osprey is about 20 to 25 years.

Osprey populations declined in many areas in the 1950's due to the toxic effects of insecticides such as DDT on reproduction----resulting in a thin-shelled eggs and easily broken in the nest or infertile eggs. DDT was banned in many countries in the early 1970's which has resulted in significant recoveries of the Osprey and other birds of prey species.

I look forward to each new spring season and the return of these wonderful creatures on the Chippewa Flowage---- the Osprey is another gift to enjoy on this treasured body of water in northwest Wisconsin.

My thanks are extended to Wikopedia and the Free Press Encyclopedia as one of my sources for this narrative.

I would like to thank Jim Edlhuber for allowing me to share these images with you which he photographed in June 2007 while vacationing at Treeland Resorts

The Great Blue Heron is known by a variety of names; big cranky, blue crane, crane, gray crane, and lone john. The Blue Heron, herodias, can be found all through North America, wintering in the south of the US with some species traveling to South America during the wintering period. Migration to the summer ground and reproduction takes place in the north of the US, the Midwest, and into Canada. The heron lives in and around salt and freshwater environments. The Great Blue Heron is blue gray in color with a black stripe above each eye extending to the back of the neck as a flume.

Black streaks occur on a white foredeck. The bill is long, pointed, and yellowish. The legs are long and grayish with reddish thighs. The Great Blue Heron stands between 38 and 54 inches in length-males being slightly larger than females. They have a wingspread of up to 6 feet. Studies suggest that about 68 percent of new born Blue Herons die in their first year. Adult herons can live up to 20years, are territorial, and choose a different mate each breeding season. The herons we enjoy on the Chippewa Flowage can fly upwards of 19 to 30 miles per hour---this might be hard to imagine as we generally see them in a docile mood; slow moving, cautious, and generally very guarded as we observe them in their loner path to a meal.

A meal for the heron consists of fish (about 78 percent), frogs, salamanders, snakes, small mammals, land insects, birds, and some plants.

Blue Herons nest in colonies, known as heronry, in selected tree tops, and are sensitive to human disturbances. The breeding period for the Great Blue is March to May in their northern range, females lay 2 to 7 pale blue eggs with both parents incubating the eggs. The incubation period is about 28 days. After living in the nest for about 2 months, the chicks are ready to fledge, which means they are old enough to leave the nest and try to survive on their own. Predators to the nest site are crows, ravens, Eagles, raccoons, bears, turkey vultures and hawks. The heronry on the Chippewa Flowage for our Blue Herons is located on an island just west of the bridge from The Landing located on Hy. CC. A few years ago an early spring ice storm destroyed the previous heronry, killing many adult birds and dismantling nesting sites, causing the surviving Herons to relocate. In recent years the numbers of birds we observe and enjoy on the Flowage has increased in numbers. It would be my guess that the existing heronry on the Chippewa Flowage has about 70 to 100 nesting sites. The Great Blue hunts for fish by day as well by night and two methods of approach to prey can be observed. When "Standing" it will stand motionless in a shallow pool of water, waiting patiently until a fish comes close enough to pluck from the water. When "Walking Slowly" it carefully treads its way through the water, keeping its neck stretched outward and forward. A small fish will immediately be swallowed; a large fish will be taken to bog or shoreline to be beaten into the ground and chunked up for consuming. Great Blue Herons are protected by the United States Migratory Bird Treaty Act.

While on the Chippewa Flowage----enjoy the Blue Heron; flier, hunter, provider, and a summer resident to our great Chippewa Flowage.

The remains of a Loon-like water bird that would look normal today were discovered as a fossil in a remote lake bed in China. This story was reported in the St. Paul Pioneer Press, written by Randolph E. Schmid. "A world lost for more than 100 million years was being revealed to us" as layers of sediment were peeled away like pages in a book, said Hu-InYou of the Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences.

It was reported that this finding could be the missing link on the evolution of birds as we know them, that this creature lived in northwest China and could be the earliest example of modern birds that populate the planet today. "Most of the ancestors of birds from the age of dinosaurs are members of groups that died out and left no modern descendants. But Gansus (Gansus yumenensis) led to modern birds, so it's a link between primitive birds and those we see today." Lamanna said. (Matt Lamanna of the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh)

Scientists reported that the bird fossil could be configured as about the size of a pigeon and similar to Loons or diving ducks of today. It was noted by the researchers that one of the fossils had skin preserved between the toes, indicating that it had webbed feet.

It was reported in this news story that these remains dated to about 110 million years ago, making them the oldest for the group Ornithurae, which includes all modern birds and their closest extinct relatives. It was further reported that Gansus was aquatic which could indicate that modern birds may have evolved from animals that originated in aquatic environments.

"Because these fossils are in such good condition, they've enabled us to reconstruct the appearance and relationships of Gansus with a high degree of precision. They provide new and important insight into the evolutionary transformation of carnivorous dinosaurs into the birds we know today". Stated Lamanna. The fossil remains were discovered in an ancient lake bed near the town of Changama.

The Evening Grosbeak is a plump, sturdy finch, the body about the size of a Robin, a short neck, and slightly forked tail. Grosbeak's prominent cone shaped bill is very large for this size bird. The plumage of the male Grosbeak is golden yellow body feathers and a conspicuous gold band across the forehead. The underpants are yellow, and the crown and neck feathers resemble glossy, rich brown velvet. The tail feathers are jet black, as are the wing feathers, except for a snow-white shoulder patch. Adult female Grosbeaks are comparatively subdued in appearance.

The Evening Grosbeck's bill is bone colored in the winter, but undergoes a dramatic change in pigmentation in early spring. Its new color matches precisely the green of fresh deciduous buds and leaves around the site where the bird's nest will be built. The Evening Grosbeck conceals its body in the trees and in order to see lifts only its head and bill, which looks like a young green spruce or balsam cone. This is another example of protection through appropriate coloration.

The flight of the Evening Grosbeak is undulating. These birds are noisy and possess a wide variety of calls and cries. The most typical call is a chirp that sounds some what like the chirp of a common House Sparrow.

It is most interesting to watch a Grosbeck select a plump sunflower seed, dexterously roll it over and over in the bill and roll it end for end until the seed lies along the bill's sharp edge with its peaked end pointing into the mouth. The bill then closes and shears the dry husk lengthwise. After a few more adept movements the unpalatable husk is spilled from the mouth and the tasty meat is swallowed.

In the pulpwood forests of Western Canada and some parts of the States, there exists a close predator-prey relationship with the spruce budworm, a serious pulpwood forest pest. Where a large infestations of the budworm exists, adult Grosbeck's can be found feeding on large numbers of larvae and pupae, the immature and inactive stage of the budworm. It is thought that the parent birds also feed these larvae and pupae to their nestlings. Because of its appetite for this destructive pest, the Evening Grosbeck is one of our most beneficial birds.

Evening Grosbecks are attractive and popular visitors to feeding stations. There favorite attraction is the stripped sunflower seed. Birdwatchers can spend a great deal of pocket change to keep a flock of Grosbecks at the feeder.

The opening in the embankment you are viewing is a resting place for a Wisconsin black bear. This bear den was discovered by Jan and Harold Treland; along with the family dog Ollie, in mid February on Darrow Island across from Treeland Resorts.

The black bear is Wisconsin’s largest mammal. An adult male black bear averages 54-70 inches and weighs about 250-350 pounds.

At three years of age the female black bear mates in June or July. Two or three cubs can be born to a mother bear in January or February while the mother is still in her winter sleep. At birth, bear cubs are only 6-8 inches long and weight 7-12 ounces. The eyes are closed, the fur is sparse, the cubs grow slowly for the first few days and then these little guys develop rapidly. Their eyes open after about a month and the cubs leave the den in late March to remain with their mother for a couple of years. After the second winter with the mother the cubs are chased off which can be initiated by an interested male bear on the prowl.

The black bear is omnivorous (eat both plant and animal matter) and will eat almost anything, varying their diet with seasonal food availability. Bears will tear open rotten trees and ant hills to feed on insects, eggs and larvae and will destroy bee hives to get at the honey. Sometimes the black bear becomes a nuisance as they interfere with the encroaching human environment. Damage to cabins in the woods, campgrounds and garbage sites occurs when seasonal food is in short supply.

During the winter, bears go into dens as is the situation in our photo above where they fall into a deep sleep----the bear does not hibernate. The bear’s body temperature, heart beat and respiratory does not drop to the level where hibernation occurs. Bears live off the body fat they accumulated in the fall.

Black bears were an integral part of the early history of Wisconsin among the Native American Indians and the early settlers. The Indians honored the bears as a supernatural creature and treated the bear hunt with great ceremony and respect. They prized the bear skin for clothing and the meat and oil for cooking, fuel and medicines.

With proper management, the black bear will continue to provide harvesting recreational opportunities as well as the thrill of observation of this great wild animal in our north woods wilderness.

You looking at a trap to lure in the Gypsy Moth. The Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCPO) annually conducts aerial spraying on Gypsy Moth populations in the central part of Wisconsin and in isolated “hot spots” in the western part of our state. The Department of Natural Resources coordinates a voluntary suppression spray program in the 23 quarantine counties in Wisconsin at the present time.

DATCP coordinates a statewide trapping program that helps get an area view of where the Gypsy Moth is and what damage it may be inflicting on trees. Seasonal workers place traps at regular intervals in all 72 counties (Wisconsin) in June and checks the traps for catches into early fall each year until the moth stops flying.

The DATCP also conducts egg mass surveys in areas with high numbers of trap catches during October and November to determine the extent of the moth’s presence. Survey data is used to determine which areas in central and the western part of Wisconsin will require aerial spray treatments to control the Gypsy Mouth population.

The caterpillar stage of the Gypsy Moth is when this creature defoliates various tree populations in our state. In 2003, 65,000 acres of wooded areas were defoliated by Gypsy Moth caterpillars, mostly in Marinette, Portage and Waupaca counties. Defoliation itself rarely results in the immediate death of a tree, but weakens it and leaves it vulnerable to other diseases and pests that may cause death over time.

You can find more information about Gypsy Moths in Wisconsin at the following Web Site: http://gyspymoth.wi.gov