Crane Lake Nature Blog

Unidentified mushroom: I’m still trying to find out what kind it is.

Fly Amanita: very poisonous

Hare Bells: not poisonous, just pretty to look at.

I took a little hike on Sunday morning on the Vermilion Gorge Trail. It had rained during the night and the forest was loving the moisture. The moss on the side of the trail was a brilliant green.

There were birds chipping all over in the brush and small trees. Many birds had their chicks out feasting on the bugs that happened to be abundant at the time. The winds were calm and the forest was hushed, even the birds were singing softly. It was magical!

The first family I happened upon were the Yellow-rumped Warblers, or the sub-species Myrtle Warbler. The male and female were present as well as one chick that I could see. It was interesting to note the differences in plumage.

Next I came upon a family group of Chickadees. They were chipping away in a small confier - there were at least 6 in this group. Finally one of the adults gave the alarm call: chick-a-dee, dee, dee;  but it was in a hushed version - very soft.

A little while later we came upon a couple birds right on the trail. The adult starting chipping loudly and both birds flew into the wet brush. The adult stayed up a little higher in the bushes and I could make out an adult Ovenbird. She started calling the teacher, Teacher, THEACHER song, but it was a subdued call. She must of had her fledglings out on the trail where it was a little drier. It was certainly where the mosquitoes were hanging out.

Then the highlight of the morning came when I noticed a BROWN CREEPER picking bugs along the trunk of a large pine. She then flew up to a White Pine where she fed a young bird clinging to the trunk of the tree. There were at least 3 baby birds clinging to the bark of this tree. An interesting tidbit of information about these birds is that they only creep up the trunk of the tree - they never go back down - they will fly down to another tree and creep up again. This behavior is unlike the Nuthatches who have the ability to go up AND down the tree.

Wild Iris is abundant right now. This flower of the wetlands can be found along the shoreline and in the marshes; look for it in wet roadside ditches.

The following photos may be a little terrifying, but keep in mind that these guys (or gals)are a part of nature too. They don’t attack people!

Who couldn’t love a face like that?!!

These photos were sent to me by an area fishing guide. The turtle was laying eggs in his yard!

Cookin’ for the Creek!   The whole ordeal took about 3 hours.  She laid 13 eggs that I saw.  That part alone took about 30-45 minutes.

The wildflowers are going wild!

Carpet of Twin Flowers

Lone Daisy on beach

June is an exciting month for new life in the woods. Babies can be seen everywhere begging for food. If they are out of the nest, they typically show the classic posture of wing fluttering whenever the parent bird is nearby. Parents have a hard time controlling their little ones now. This makes it easy to find nest holes etc. Unfortunately, it also makes it easy for predators too. Now is the time we see Bald Eagles going after baby ducklings and it is heart-wrenching to watch. But we must remember this is the balance or cycle of nature and Mother Nature is not always kind. Survival of the fittest comes to mind - however cruel that might be - it insures the survival of a species.

We had an interesting couple of weeks at an area Resort. An extended family of Common Grackles chose to locate their nest right by the front door to the lodge. Whenever anyone came in or out of the door, they would get divebombed by angry Grackles. It was close to a scene right out of the classic movie by Alfred Hitchcock “The Birds”. We tried to tell everyone that it is all part of the experience of the Northwoods, but these comments were largely ignored as people went screaming and running for cover. The drama is over now, the babies were only in the nest for about a week and a half.

The Vermilion Gorge Portage is also a very nice hiking trail. This little used portage follows the west side of the Vermilion River Gorge and takes you past the rapids to the placid river upstream. This upper part of the river is a good place to fish.

In case you were wondering how far 240 rods is, here is the formula:

1 rod = 16.5 feet
240 X 16.5 = 3960 feet
1 mile = 5,280 feet   

3,960 / 5,280 = .75 or 3/4 mile

So hiking the trail and back would be 1 1/2 miles. Not bad for a quick little hike in the woods. The woods are beautiful along this trail. Soaring pines and the mosses and lichen are plentiful. The usual boreal forest birds occupy this area: Canada Warbler (they are numerous this year), Mourning Warbler, Blackburnian Warbler, Hermit Thrush. We found some nice wildflowers including this Twin Flower.

These cute little flowers bow their heads down and grow in pairs, many flowering stalks arise from a creeping stem. I like the latin name for this plant: Linnaea borealis.

Another flower we found was the “Wood Nymph” or One-flowered Wintergreen. This diminutive plant can be found along this trail. Check out this link for some amazing information about this wildflower: Moneses uniflora

I heard about this Great-horned Owl nest located at the Heron Rookery up by Kabetogama. So I took the drive to check it out.

There are two baby owlets in this picture along with the adult owl. The twin owlet stayed hidden behind the tree trunk the entire time I was there, which wasn’t too long because the bugs were a buzzin’.

 It is amazing that the Owl nest is located among the Great Blue Herons nest - I think the Owls took over an old Heron nest. The Owls don’t seem to bother the Herons too much - the Herons were still tending nests.

While taking some photos I heard something grunting in the woods and then something went running through the brush. I think it may have been a bear! When I got back out to the road, there was a “waste canister site” right in line with where I had been.

Out in the ditch of the road, I found this nice clump of Yellow Lady Slippers.

We recorded 53 species on our walk for the Voyageurs National Park Birders Rendezvous at the Crane Lake Vermilion River Gorge Hiking Trail and at the Nelson’s Resort Hiking Trail. The following birds were heard and/or seen through out the day:

• Common Loon
• Mallard
• Wood Duck
• Ring-necked Duck
• Hooded Merganser
• Common Merganser
• Turkey Vulture
• Broad-winged Hawk
• Bald Eagle
• Osprey
• Ruffed Grouse
• Ring-billed Gull
• Ruby-throated Hummingbird
• Belted Kingfisher
• Common Flicker
• Pileated Woodpecker
• Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
• Eastern Phoebe
• Alder Flycatcher
• Eastern Wood Pewee
• Tree Swallow
• Barn Swallow
• Gray Jay
• Blue Jay
• Common Raven
• Common Crow
• Black-capped Chickadee
• Red-breasted Nuthatcher
• Winter Wren
• Robin
• Hermit Thrush
• Veery
• Golden-crowned Kinglet
• Red-eyed Vireo
• Black and White Warbler
• Nashville Warbler
• Northern Parula Warbler
• Yellow Warbler
• Magnolia Warbler
• Yellow-rumped Warbler
• Blackburnian Warbler
• Chestnut-sided Warbler
• Pine Warbler
• Ovenbird
• Mourning Warbler
• Common Yellowthroat
• Canada Warbler
• Common Grackle
• Brown-headed Cowbird
• Evening Grosbeak
• Chipping Sparrow
• Song Sparrow
• White-throated Sparrow

Last weekend was the 8^th annual Voyageurs National Park Birders Rendezvous. We had a bird hike on the Vermilion River Gorge Trail in the morning and a wildflower walk in the afternoon at the Nelson’s Resort Hiking Trail. What a great day! Our group was rather small, but that did not deter us from seeing and/or hearing 51 species of birds. We pretty much got every Warbler that breeds up here including a fantastic look at a Mourning Warbler. She came out on a branch right in plain view. She sat there for a long time and I was able to get her in the scope for everyone to view up close. I believe this picture is of a female because she doesn’t have the dark breast band like the male. Mourning Warblers seem to be everywhere in the woods this year. You can hear their loud song coming from the brush churree, churree, churree, turi, turi sometimes I think the last part of their song sounds somewhat like a Robin.