The DNR uses many methods to monitor Michigan wildlife populations, and two of the more interesting wildlife surveys – involving a bird’s intricate aerial dance and snagging bear hair – are taking place across northern Michigan in May.

The American Woodcock Singing-Ground Survey is performed annually across much of the northern United States, giving wildlife agencies an idea of this migratory bird’s breeding populations.

Woodcock return to northern locations like Michigan – a national leader for the number of young woodcock produced each year – from their winter homes in southern Gulf Coast states to find a mate and breed. Spring, when their unique breeding behavior can be seen and heard in the evenings, is the perfect time to count them. Just after sunset, males can be found in their singing grounds, or grassy openings, making a nasal, insect-like call known as a “peent” every four to five seconds and performing their spiral display flights.The singing-ground survey is performed annually along more than a hundred 3.6-mile survey routes.

For the bear hair snare survey, locations across the northern Lower Peninsula are baited with bacon and donuts and surrounded by barbed wire. In order to reach the bait, a bear will cross the barbed wire and snag hairs, leaving a DNA sample behind. DNR staffers will visit 257 baited locations six times starting the week of May 27 to collect snagged bear hair and send it to the DNR Wildlife Disease Lab for analysis, which will assist with future bear population estimates.

Results from both surveys will help to determine harvest regulations for future hunting seasons. Read more about the woodcock and bear surveys.

One of the state’s most distinctive signs of a new season is on its way – the brightly colored monarch butterfly. A well-known and beloved butterfly species in North America, monarchs, unfortunately, have become a much less common sight in recent decades.

The eastern monarch butterfly population has declined by more than 80 percent over the last 20 years, primarily from habitat loss, both in their summer range – including Michigan – and in Mexico, where they spend the winter.

“Adult monarch butterflies require a variety of flowering plants for nectar,” said Hannah Schauer, wildlife communications coordinator with the DNR. “Grasslands provide a mix of plant species that pollinators, like the monarch, need – with both early- and late-blooming plants and those that flower mid-summer.” Read more

The Michigan Department of Natural Resources is conducting two wildlife surveys across northern Michigan in May – the American Woodcock Singing-Ground Survey, which involves an intricate aerial dance of a migratory bird, and a bear hair snare survey, literally snagging bear hair on barbed wire.

“Wildlife surveys are one of the most enjoyable parts of our jobs,” said Dale Rabe, DNR wildlife field operations manager in Traverse City.  “Being able to hear or see the wildlife we manage or, in the case of the bear survey, being able to find evidence of their presence is a pretty good time in the woods.”

Annually, the woodcock survey is performed across much the northern United States, giving wildlife agencies an idea of breeding populations. Woodcock migrate annually to southern Gulf Coast states from eastern Texas to Florida and return to northern latitudes, including Michigan, to find a mate and breed. Michigan is a national leader for the number of young woodcock that are produced each year.

Spring, when their unique breeding behavior can be seen and heard in the evenings, is the perfect time to count male woodcock.

“Male woodcock will be in their singing grounds, or grassy openings, just after sunset ‘peenting,’ and they’ll start their spiral display flights,” said Bruce Barlow, DNR wildlife biologist in Gladwin. “While they are on the ground, they will call a ‘peent’ every four to five seconds.  You may have heard this nasal insect-like call before, but may have never realized it was a woodcock making that sound!” Read more

One of the principle benefits of mast orchards over food plots is that once established they require far less effort. However, maximizing the growth potential of your trees does require occasional regular maintenance, like fertilization. The best time to fertilize fruit trees is during the growing season in early spring after bud break and again in early June with the start of summer rains. Chestnut Hill Outdoors highly recommends that you use a quality time-release fertilizer properly balanced with minor elements.

With quick release fertilizers, beneficial elements are available to plants immediately, but only for as long as they remain in the same soil layers as the root system. This period varies with rainfall and temperature but typically isn’t long enough for plants to absorb and utilize all available nutrients. Time or slow release fertilizers have layers designed to melt away in sequence, gradually releasing active ingredients in somewhat the same way as time release medications. This allows your trees to utilize more elements over a longer period, and when they’re needed most. Minor elements are very important because they are often scarce or absent in certain soils, which can be a limiting factor for plant growth. Read more

Ithaca, N.Y.–What prompts birds to build nests where they do? Some of their real estate choices are real head-scratchers. That’s where the Funky Nests in Funky Places contest comes in. If you find a nest built in a quirky, even downright crazy spot, please share! The contest is hosted by the Celebrate Urban Birds citizen-science project at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Entries can be photos, poems, stories, or artwork. Past participants have found nests strategically placed on statues (as in the image above), in barbecue grills, traffic lights, wind chimes, golf shoes, and–pretty much anywhere.

The entry deadline is June 30.

Read more

MEMPHIS, Tennessee – May is American Wetlands month and as duck nesting season gets underway across North America, Ducks Unlimited and the rest of the world will celebrate World Migratory Bird Day (WMBD) on May 12.

“World Migratory Bird Day is a conservation initiative that focuses awareness on conserving migratory birds and their habitats throughout the world,” Ducks Unlimited Chief Conservation Officer Nick Wiley said. “The program is dedicated to international conservation efforts and environmental education all over the world, including North America, where Ducks Unlimited works every day to conserve, restore and manage wetlands and associated habitats for North America’s waterfowl.”

Since 1993, International Migratory Bird Day has been celebrated during the second weekend in May in the Western Hemisphere, coordinated by Environment for the Americas and sponsored by dozens of organizations dedicated to birds and bird conservation.
This year, Environment for the Americas joins the Convention on Migratory Species and the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds to create a single, global bird conservation education campaign. World Migratory Bird Day is now celebrated in May and October and brings attention to one of the most important and spectacular events in the Americas – bird migration. Read more