The Blundering Biologist

Good morning, Michael~


There is some prescribed burning here in the northeast - but much less, I believe, than down your way. Here it is done primarily for ecological purposes and in just a few fire-adapted communities such as Pine Barrens/Pine Plains. Re-setting succession and removal of invasive plants are common reasons.


Sounds like you and I time our habitat manipulations similarly. As I mentioned, most of my bush-hogging is done in early Spring - so wildlife could rely on the cover and seeds throughout the Winter. Maintaining successional stages and limiting invasives are big factors - in addition to aesthetics.


I let my farmers do what they need to do - but wish they could forestall their first hay cutting until much later - into the Summer. In addition to ground-nesting birds - including Turkeys - the mowers take a surprising number of fawns in some years.


All the best,


SJS

 
Jeff, I am one of the folks who drove through the founding of the UP Winter Habitat Work Group, with financial support through Safari Club International, through their representative, former Region 1 Wildlife Supervisor, Jim Hammill. Jim and I were sitting next to each other at a UP Deer Management update presentation. At that time he was a member of the MDNR UP citizen's advisory committee to the UP Wildlife Management Team, My attendance at the meeting was drivin by my interest in applying for an open seat on this advisory committee. I have known Jim for years, so I asked him point-blank whether it was worthwhile to apply for the opening. He smiled and said that he was leaving the group, largely because they had no interest in habitat management or habitat acquisition, just an ongoing desire to argue antler point retrictions (APRs) within the buck harvest segment as a means of management. Our ensuing conversation essentially focused on the sequential loss of deer yards and declining habitat quality of deer yards, now known as Winter Deer Complexes (WDC)

The UP of Michigan's deer herd is relatively unique, in that segments (subpopulations migrate from thirty to over 100 miles to overwinter in Deer Winter Complexes, or deer yards largely composed of cedar. John Ozoga referred to them as the "green barns".

In the mid-1990s there were close to a million deer in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. At that time, the UP had adequate Winter Deer Complex habitat to carry around 750,000 deer through a normal UP winter. After, the winters of 1995-96 and 1996-97 the population declined by over 500,000 animals. One of the conclusions the MDNR Wildlife Division personnel arrived at, from this die-off was that you cannot stockpile deer on the landscape without adequate winter habitat, as well as summer doe/fawn rearing complexes that would minimize cumulative fawn predation mortalities incurred from coyote, wolves, bobcat, bear, and eagles. After several failed initiatives directed strictly at WDC habitat quality mapping and block purchases of WDC lands in private or private corporate ownership via Natural Resources Trust Fund monies, the legislature blocked further land acquisitions, courtesy of State representative from a logging clan that had an "axe to grind" with Forestry. He secured a position as chair of the appropriations committee that oversaw department funding and pushed through the legislation that required the department to develop a working plan for every State owned parcel larger than 80 acres, prior being allowed to purchase additional holdings. It had disastrous consequences on the UP deer population, since many of these DWCs were on private, private corporate forestry company , and Federal Forest (Ottawa and Hiawatha) lands and logged over the interval. Prior Mead's corporate departure from the UP an internal memo. was leaked to the press outlining cutting of a series of drumlin uplands within the Hermansville deer yard primarily to destroy and eliminate overstory of hemlock and deciduous tree species on these drumlins and re-seed with red pine. There was quite a firestorm of controversy generated, yet still no overwhelming Public support for WDC preservation or enhancement among the sport hunting community. The turning-point was reached when the MDNR considered closing the deer season due to overall population numbers; setting their estimate of UP deer numbers under 150,000 in 2015.

The Upper Peninula Winter Habitat Work Group was formed in 2015, but the initiative actually started in 2012.. I have been attending meetings as a private citizen under the open meetings act requirements, since its formation. What Jim Hammill outlined in our conversation was an SCI financed grant to hire a wildlife biologist to map all historic DWCs. JR Richardson was able to secure additional monies from a Wildlife Habitat Improvement grant to fund the other half of this person's salary. What we eventually put forward to Natural Resources Commission, chair, JR Richardson was a comprehensive plan to initially map all DWC complexes UP wide, follow this up with a "boots on the ground" assessment of each DWC to first verify current use by overwintering whitetail deer, develop a DWC by DWC specific forest overstory map that reflected current conditions, each DWC that was mapped would then have a five and ten year management plan drawn-up. Once this phase reached completion, outreach meetings were held, preceded by mass mailings to all parcel owners with 80 acres or more owned within the DWC, as well as within 2 miles of the specific DWC outside edge boundary to physically attend, or request additional follow-up and contact via Soil Conservation Service, MSU Cooperative extension service regional office community foresters, or either of the two MDNR Community Foresters to conduct on-property walk through and subsequent forest habitat management plan write-up. All private corporate forestry company forest managers, as well as Federal Forest holdings foresters were invited to attend and participate in the DWC management plan write-ups as well as provide input on how to engage in forest habitat manipulations compliant with their overall management goals and procedures on DWCs that exist within their holding.

Fifty-seven DWCs have been mapped and ground trothed to verify current use UP wide. Fifty-two plus have completed long and short term forest management plans drawn-up for them. Four separate community outreach meetings have occurred for private landowners to request parcel management plan write-up. Over 80% of these contacted individuals have followed-up to receive field visits by a forester to aid in direction of habitat management plan development.

A separate sub-committee was formed to prioritize, via a scoring system, DWCs for habitat redevelopment initiatives going forward:

https://www.michigan.gov/...scoring_546424_7.pdf

In a separate initiative, the MiDNR Wildlife Division has contracted researchers from Mississippi State University to engage in a three-tier assessment of fawn predation, stratified by snowfall depth range. I have no idea how much population biology background you have, Jeff, so I'll do this via the standard logistic curve population growth model. The closer you can hold overall deer numbers to a population density where the intrinsic rate of increase is maximal or near-maximal, the faster the population will expand. Or, bottom-line, natality rate is easier to maximize or markedly improve via habitat manipulation, overwhelming senescence and instantaneous death rates, independent of compensatory mortality factors. In high snowfall latitudes, you simply cannot stockpile deer, particularly now in this era of climate change where the extremes of climate can vary this markedly. What the MSSU folks have found is that our wolf population (roughly 750 animals) has displaced much of the coyote population from their normal habitat, pushing them back into high stem count young(er) tree stands, also used as fawning and fawn delivery cover by doe bands. Seasonal mortality spikes are associated with black bear foraging in vernal wetlands, stumbling upon fawns in the surrounding high stem density scrub around these sites, and eating them. Bobcat are the most efficient fawn predators, but their low numbers keep their overall impacts down. Wolves are not obligate fawn predators, but are capable of seasonal spikes depending on winter severity influenced fawn and doe condition, I.e. in hard winters low body weight fawns, as well as does are easier prey. Eagles, too, have been documented to kill fawns, both bald and goldens.

This general trend appears to hold true thus far through the first two phases of their sampling and analysis, independent of snowfall depth, while percentage predation rates by coyote, bobcat, and wolves increase with snow-depth.
So, keep the stem count high and preserve natural blow-downs as well a augmenting thee with hinge cutting to create a three dimensional barrier, minimizing fawn
predation.

The other thing that has had a marked beneficial impact is the banning of whole-tree harvest during winter months in logging operations on lands within 2 miles of these DWCs...on ALL lands.

One thing to also be cognizant of as you go forward, Jeff, the corporate forest folks will want a specific description of what "finished" looks like, in terms of whitetail denity, since they are focused on adverse impacts of over browsing on their holdings.

Besides, brain worm induced mortality increases in moose as cohabitating deer density increases...something we learned from the moose transplant effort.
 
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Fawn and other wildlife mortality in "Cow County", from early mowing is staggering, and depressing.

Yet the DEC puts the onus on hunters - "Let Them Grow"

How about "Let Them LIVE!"

Fingers are pointed at easy targets (the hunters) that have no big $$$$$$$$ and political power to back them.

Classic case of $$$$$$$ talks BS walks.

The days of the Blue Collar Hunter are over.
 
Steve

As always I love reading your post. This one is a little different then most. Your a true lover of nature. Good for you. Woodcock are a great bird and you don't see them like you once did. Back years ago. I'm happy you saved them. Great job. I took a walk today with my better half and my dog. And I was so happy, because I saw more ducks today then I did all season . Not really but a lot. Mallards ,teal ,wood ducks,black ducks, and geese. Spring is here and so are the birds. I got so much joy in seeing birds around. On my small pond a pair of geese have been coming in for years. Then the fights begin when other geese try to land on the pond. Its so cool. Like planes in WW2 they fight right in the air. I could watch them all day. Thanks for a great post.
View attachment December 2018 photos from Galaxy 165.jpg
 
When I was a kid a field near us burned. My father and a neighbor went to put the fire out and found a burnt over Pheasant nest.
My dad brought the eggs home and put them in an old hat with a light on them to keep them warm. 13 Pheasants hatched which we raised in our greenhouse. They did escape and we saw them for a few years after around the yard. Unbelievable colors on the males.

Ken Yacavone
 
Good morning, Ken & All ~

Just an update. I thought I had probably doomed the Woodcock nest I exposed last week. I had not been back until yesterday - expecting to find an abandoned nest and maybe even broken eggshells. Instead, I found the Hen sitting motionless. I was within 6 feet. After about 10 seconds of savoring her big dark orb and the black bars across her crown, I withdrew.

I purposefully did not bring my camera - because I wanted to minimize any intrusion. So, the image resides vividly only in my Old Grey (White ?) Head....

All the best,

SJS

 
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Steve -

That is wonderful.

Bet it put a BIG Smile on your face.

Hope all continues to go well. We had a nasty storm here last night.


Best regards
Vince
 
FYI -

If you should look on the Southern Decoy Collectors facebook. There are photo's of a incredible Woodcock carving, by Mr. Bill Gibian.

Every time I see his work, I just gotta shake my head, the man is so good at what he does. Not only that, he is a Real Gentleman.
 
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